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Number of male employees for whom information was secured, by general nativity and race. [This chart shows only races represented by 50 or more employees.]

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CHAPTER II.

RACIAL DISPLACEMENTS.

History of immigration to the bituminous coal mines of the South-Period of residence in the United States of foreign-born employees and members of their householdsRacial classification of employees at the present time-History of immigration to the coal mines of Alabama-Present racial classification of mine employees in Alabama-Period of residence in the United States of foreign-born employees in Alabama coal mines-History of immigration to the coal fields of West Virginia-Racial composition of mine-operating forces at the present time in West Virginia-Period of residence in the United States of foreign-born employees in the West Virginia coal fields-History of immigration to the coal fields of Virginia-[Text Tables 464 to 480 and General Tables 203 and 204].

HISTORY OF IMMIGRATION TO THE BITUMINOUS COAL MINES OF THE SOUTH.

The development of bituminous coal mining during recent years and the increase in the number of employees have gone forward rapidly in certain southern States as well as in other sections of the country. The States in the South where the expansion of bituminous coal mining has been most marked and where the process of development is still in progress are West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. The annual production in West Virginia was about six times greater in 1908 than in 1890; in Alabama during the same period the yearly output was trebled; in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee combined it was increased about fivefold. The consequent demand for labor which has existed in the various States is shown by the fact that there were 59,029 mining employees in West Virginia in 1907 as compared with 9,778 in 1889; 21,388 in Alabama in 1907 as contrasted with 6,864 in 1889; 6,670 in Virginia in 1907 and 1,523 in 1889; and 29,023 in Kentucky and Tennessee together in 1907 as compared with 9,175 employed in the year 1889.

The

The class of labor which was thus utilized to make possible this extraordinary development of the coal resources of the South is indicated by the returns of the Eleventh and Twelfth Censuses. figures compiled from these sources and presented in the tables which follow show the nativity of all persons 10 years of age or over who were engaged in mining in the coal-producing southern States in 1890 and 1900. The figures include persons engaged in all forms of mining, but for the present purpose they are valuable in clearly indicating the composition by nativity of coal-mining employees who constituted the great majority of miners in the States under discussion. The first table covers the census year 1890; the second table affords practically the same showing for 1900.

"Texas and Arkansas have been classified under the Southwestern States.

The census returns for 1900 are not so satisfactory as for 1890 for the reason that the Country of birth of the foreign-born is not given in 1900, but the classification is made by birthplace of parents.

TABLE 464.-Number of persons 10 years of age or over engaged in mining in each specified State, by nativity, 1889.

[From United States Census of 1890, Population, Volume II, Table 116.]

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TABLE 465.-Number of persons 10 years of age or over engaged in mining and quarrying in each specified State, by nativity, 1899.

[From United States Census of 1900, Occupations, Table 41.)

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The clear inference from the above tables is that native whites and negroes were principally used in developing the bituminous coal resources of the South. Before the year 1890 there were immigrants from Great Britain and Germany in all the above States. Their presence was especially noticeable in West Virginia and Alabama, but in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia they were so few in number as to be of no consequence. By the year 1900 the situation in some of the States had changed. During the previous ten years the operators of West Virginia had increased their employees from Great Britain and Germany and had also employed a considerable number of miners of Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Russian, and Italian parentage. The number of mine workers in Alabama from Great Britain and Germany

had also been increased, and Alabama and Virginia had begun to employ miners of Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Polish extraction. Very little increase, if any, in either class of immigrants was noticeable in Kentucky or Tennessee.

After the census period of 1900 and during the period 1900 to 1907 the tendencies observable in 1900_became fully operative. Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe were employed in considerable numbers in Alabama, West Virginia, and Virginia to supplement the negro and native labor supply. In the States of Tennessee and Kentucky the former sources of labor were utilized and very few recent immigrants were employed to assist in the development of the mines."

PERIOD OF RESIDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES OF FOREIGN-BORN EMPLOYEES AND MEMBERS OF THEIR HOUSEHOLDS.

As regards length of residence in the United States on the part of the foreign-born coal and coke workers in the South, the following tables furnish an instructive exhibit, by percentages, according to general nativity and race:

TABLE 466.-Per cent of foreign-born male employees in the United States each specified number of years, by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. No deduction is made for time spent abroad. This table includes only races with 40 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

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The total number of employees reporting residence in the United States was 3,864. Of these about 48 per cent, or nearly one-half, had been in the country under five years; about 31 per cent, from five to nine years; 7.4 per cent, ten to fourteen years; 4.6 per cent, fifteen to nineteen years; and 8.2 per cent, over twenty years. As

"In the preparation of data, therefore, it has been thought that immigration to Kentucky and Tennessee coal-mining points has not been of sufficient importance to be studied. As a consequence these States have been eliminated and the discussion of immigration to the South has been confined to the States of Alabama, West Virginia, and Virginia.

48296°-VOL 7-11-10

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