PART I-GENERAL SURVEY OF THE SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT

PACKING INDUSTRY.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

Growth and localization of the industry-Localities studied-Households studied— Members of households for whom detailed information was secured-Employees for whom information was secured-[Text Tables 1 to 8 and General Tables 1 to 3].

GROWTH AND LOCALIZATION OF THE INDUSTRY.

The slaughtering and meat-packing industry has been marked by a rapid development during the past forty years. The States where the greatest expansion has occurred have been Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska, and the communities where the industry has had its greatest establishment and growth have been Chicago and East St. Louis, Ill.; Hammond, Ind.; St. Joseph, Mo.; Kansas City, Kans.; and South Omaha, Nebr. The following table shows for the country as a whole the increase in the capital invested and the growth in the number of the persons employed in slaughtering and meat-packing establishments for the period 1870 to 1905, according to its census periods, and also exhibits the status of the industry in representative States during the year 1905.

TABLE 1.-Growth of the slaughtering and meat-packing industry in the United States, 1870 to 1905, and status of the industry in selected States, 1905.

[Compiled from Special Census Reports, 1905. Manufactures, Part III, Table 1, p. 459; Table 5, p. 463; Table 14, pp. 484–491.]

The extent to which the industry has expanded may be quickly seen from the fact that in 1870 the capital invested was only $24,224,692 and the annual value of products $75,826,500, as com

pared with a capital commitment of $237,714,690 in 1905 and an annual output to the value of $913,914,624. The average number of wage-earners in 1905 engaged in slaughtering and meat packing was 74,134, as contrasted with only 8,366 in 1870. As regards the distribution of the industry in 1905, slightly more than one-third of the total capital invested and of the total number of employees is shown for Illinois, Kansas taking second rank and Missouri third, according to the capital invested and the wage-earners employed.

LOCALITIES STUDIED.

In collecting data relative to the employees of the slaughtering and meat-packing industry and the members of their households information was gathered for employees throughout the United States. In the more intensive work covering racial displacements within the industry, working and living conditions, and the investigation of households the study was limited to representative communities such as Chicago, Kansas City, South Omaha, and East St. Louis. In preparing the data collected for publication practically the same plan has been followed, the first part of the following report being a general survey of conditions in the industry as a whole, and the succeeding sections a more detailed study of slaughtering and meat-packing communities of Chicago, Kansas City, and South Omaha.

HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

The following table shows the total number of households studied according to race of head of household:

TABLE 2.-Households studied, by general nativity and race of head of household.

Very nearly 90 per cent of the total number of households studied in this industry are households in which the heads were foreign-born, 9 per cent are those in which the heads were native-born of native father, and 1.4 per cent are those in which the heads were nativeborn of foreign father.

Among the foreign-born the Bohemian and Moravian households. studied constitute a larger proportion of the total number of house

holds than do those of any other race. Closely following the Bohemian and Moravian households are those of the Croatians, who constitute a slightly larger proportion of the total than do those of the Poles and Germans and a very much larger proportion than do the households of any other race. Of the other foreign-born households studied, the Irish constitute the largest proportion, or 5 per cent, and the Japanese the smallest, or 0.3 per cent, of the total number of households. The number of households selected for study in the case of each race and nativity group was based on the relative numerical importance of the race or group in the industry.

MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR WHOM DETAILED INFORMATION WAS SECURED.

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

TABLE 3.—Persons in households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household.

Of all the persons included in the above table, 91.8 per cent are in the households of the foreign-born, 7.1 per cent are in the households of the native-born of native father, and but 1.1 per cent are in the households of the native-born of foreign father. Twenty-one and four-tenths per cent of all the individuals are in the Croatian households and a slightly smaller proportion in the Bohemian and Moravian households. The proportion of all individuals in the households of each of the remaining foreign races ranges from 15.2 per cent

for the Polish households and 12.7 per cent for the German households to 0.6 per cent for the Russian households.

As regards the persons for whom detailed information was secured it will be noted that the Bohemian and Moravian, Croatian, German, and Polish households, in the order mentioned, include the largest and the Russian, Roumanian, and Magyar households the smallest proportion of all individuals, both males and females, for whom complete information was secured.

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

TABLE 4.-Sex of persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household.

Upon information secured from 4,904 persons, 53.6 per cent of whom are males and 46.4 per cent females, it will be noted that of both the foreign-born and native-born of native father the proportion of males is in excess of the proportion of females. Of the persons native-born of foreign father, the reverse is true, the difference in proportions of males and females native-born of foreign father, however, being slightly less than the difference shown by either the native-born of native father or the foreign-born. With the exception of the Russians and Swedes among the foreign-born and the Poles native-born of foreign father, each race shows a larger proportion of males than females. Of all races reporting a larger proportion of males than females, it will be noted that, with the exception of the Japanese, Roumanians, and North Italians, 98.7, 61.1, and 59.3 per cent of whom, respectively, are males, there is little difference in the proportions shown, these proportions, with the above exceptions, ranging from 54.3 per cent of the Magyars to 50.2 per cent of the Irish.