PART III.-SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING IN KANSAS CITY, KANS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

The significance of Kansas City, Kans., as a slaughtering and meat-packing centerHouseholds studied-Members of households for whom detailed information was secured-Employees for whom information was secured-[Text Tables 192 to 196 and General Tables 110 to 112].

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KANSAS CITY, KANS., AS A SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT-PACKING CENTER.

The value of the output of the slaughtering and meat-packing industry at Kansas City, Kans., in 1905 was $88,446,141. This figure represents 9.7 per cent of the total value of slaughtering and meat-packing products for the United States.

In Kansas City, slaughtering and meat packing is not only the principal industry, but the only industry of importance. The returns of the United States Bureau of the Census show that in 1905 the value of the slaughtering and meat-packing products constituted 91.7 per cent of the value of all local manufactures. There were in the city at the time specified 8 establishments, and the total capital invested was $22,023,974. The expenditure for raw materials during the year was $78,367,026. Of the 8,637 wageearners reported by the census, 7,650, or 88.6 per cent, were men 16 years of age or over; 678, or 7.8 per cent, were women 16 years of age or over; and 309 were children under 16. At the last census of population for which the returns are available, that of 1900, Kansas City, Kans., had 51,418 inhabitants. While there may very probably have been an increase in population in the five years that followed, it is evident that in 1905 a very considerable proportion of all the inhabitants of working age were employed in the slaughtering and meat-packing industry. In 1905 the total sum paid to the employees of the industry in wages was $4,465,340.

HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

In the course of the study of the industry in Kansas City detailed information was secured for 7,023 employees, and 341 selected households the heads of which were employed in the slaughtering and meat-packing industry were studied in detail. The table next presented shows the households studied, according to general nativity and race of head of household.

TABLE 192.-Households studied, by general nativity and race of head of household.

It will be seen from the table preceding that 86.8 per cent of the households studied have heads of foreign birth, and only 13.2 per cent heads of native birth of native father. The small proportion of native households studied was due to the plan to secure only a sufficient number of such households for comparison with the foreignborn. The large proportion of households whose heads were Croatian is due to the numerical importance of the Croatians in the packing industry in Kansas City. The households of other races were also secured according to their local importance in the industry and for the purpose of comparing locally the racial tendencies, as well as for a comparison with the same races in other packing localities.

MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR WHOM DETAILED INFORMATION WAS SECURED.

The table next presented shows the persons in the households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household:

TABLE 193.-Persons in households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household.

The preceding table shows that of the 2,136 persons in the 341 households studied in this locality, a fraction over 90 per cent are in households the heads of which are foreign-born, while the remainder are in households in which the heads are native-born of native father. It will also be noted that a larger proportion of the total number of persons are in Croatian households than in all the other households combined; those in Irish households constituting the smallest proportion, or 2.4 per cent of the total number of persons in all households studied.

As regards those persons for whom detailed information was secured, it will be seen that the proportion in foreign households is but slightly lower than the proportion of the total number of persons in all households.

The following table shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the sex of persons in the households studied for whom detailed information was secured.

TABLE 194.-Sex of persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household.

The totals of the preceding table indicate about the same relative number of males and females of the households whose heads were native-born or foreign-born, the only features worthy of comment being the proportionately higher number of females than males in the Irish households and, on the other hand, the excess of males over females in the Polish households.