TABLE 19.-Employees for whom information was secured, by sex and general nativity and race- -Middle West-Continued.

Of the 3,359 persons for whom information was secured in the above table, 3,097 are males and 262 females. Of the males, 85.2 per cent are foreign-born, 12.6 per cent native-born of foreign father, and 2.2 per cent white native-born of native father; while of the females 57.6 per cent are foreign-born, 36.6 per cent native-born of foreign father, and 5.7 per cent white native-born of native father. The Germans, Greeks, Poles, and Slovenians constitute by far the largest proportion of the total number of foreign-born males, while the Poles and Slovenians constitute the largest proportion of the total number of foreign-born females. Almost the entire proportion of native-born of foreign father, both males and females, is composed of those native-born of German father.

The table which immediately follows exhibits, by sex, the number and percentage of employees of each race for whom information was secured in all sections of the territory included in the investigation. TABLE 20.-Employees for whom information was secured, by sex and general nativity and race.

TABLE 20.-Employees for whom information was secured, by sex and general nativity and race-Continued.

The above table shows that information was secured from 12,839 employees in this industry, 67 per cent of whom are of foreign birth, 15.7 per cent are native-born of foreign father, 17 per cent are nativeborn whites of native father, and 0.4 per cent are native-born negroes of native father. Among the employees who are native-born of foreign father those whose fathers were born in Germany or Ireland show 8.2 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively, of the total number of employees for whom information was secured. No employees whose fathers were born in any other specified country show over 1 per cent. Among the employees of foreign birth the Poles show 21.8 per cent, followed by the German employees with 9 per cent, while no employees who are of other specified races show over 5 per cent of the total number of employees for whom information was secured.

CHAPTER III.

ECONOMIC STATUS.

Industrial condition abroad of members of immigrant households studied-Principal occupation of immigrant employees before coming to the United States-General occupation of males at the present time, in the households studied-General occupation of women at the present time, in the households studied-The first and second generations compared-Occupations entered in the industry-Weekly earnings-Relation between period of residence and earning ability-Annual earnings of male heads of families studied-Annual earnings of males 18 years of age or over in the households studied-Annual earnings of females 18 years of age or over in the households studied—Annual family income-Wives at work-Relation between the earnings of husbands and the practice of wives of keeping boarders or lodgersSources of family income-Relative importance of the different sources of family income [Text Tables 21 to 47 and General Tables 10 to 25].

INDUSTRIAL CONDITION ABROAD OF MEMBERS OF IMMIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

Before an intelligent conception of the economic status in this country of the foreign-born employees can be formed, or a comparison made with their condition abroad, it is necessary to understand the general industrial condition of the immigrant leather operatives and the members of their households before they came to the United States. In this connection, the first table submitted shows the industrial condition before coming to the United States.

TABLE 21.-Industrial condition before coming to the United States of foreign-born males who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

Of the 722 foreign-born males for whom information was obtained, only 1.4 per cent were without occupation, while by far the largest proportion, or 73.3 per cent, worked without wages, the proportion

working for wages and for profit before coming to the United States. being 17.2 and 8.2 per cent, respectively. None of the Irish or Slovaks, less than 1 per cent each of the Poles and Turks, and only 5 and 7.9 per cent of the Germans and South Italians, respectively, were without occupation abroad. As regards those working for wages, the Germans, with 75 per cent, show a very much larger proportion than do any of the other races, the Turks reporting the smallest proportion, or 5 per cent. The Turks, on the other hand, report 90.9 per cent who work without wages. This proportion, it will be noted, is considerably in excess of the proportion shown by the Slovaks, Irish, or Poles, and largely in excess of the South Italians or Germans. As regards those working for profit abroad, the South Italians report a considerably larger proportion than do the Slovaks or Poles, and a much larger proportion than do the Irish, Germans, or Turks.

The following table analyzes further the general industrial groups in the one immediately preceding and shows, by race of individual, the occupations while abroad of foreign-born males, in the households studied, who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming:

TABLE 22.-Occupation before coming to the United States of foreign-born males who were 16 years of age or over at time of coming, by race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

The above table shows that of 722 foreign-born males who were 16 years of age or over at the time of coming to the United States, 10.9 per cent were farm laborers, 0.7 per cent were general laborers, 1.8 per cent were leather factory operatives, 1.4 per cent were in hand trades, and 2.4 per cent were in other occupations. Those in the industries just enumerated were working for wages, the total proportion thus engaged being 17.2 per cent. Seventy-two and three-tenths per cent were farm laborers and 1 per cent were in other occupations working for wages, while 6.4 per cent were farmers and 1.8 per cent were in other occupations working for profit. Of the foreignborn male employees who were working for wages before coming to the United States the South Italians, Poles, and Slovaks show 19 per cent or over, the Irish over 16 per cent, the Germans 10 per cent,