factories in the South. The exhibit made by the Mexicans is also due to the fact that all the members of this race for whom information appears in the table were coal miners in the Southwest and had to join the labor unions before they could secure work. The comparative tendencies exhibited by the races of the older immigration from Great Britain and northern Europe, and of the more recent arrivals from southern and eastern Europe, are set forth in the following statement: TABLE 64.-Old and new immigration compared with respect to affiliation of the foreignborn with trade unions, by race.

These figures must not, however, be taken as representative of racial tendencies except in a few cases, for the reason that the information shown for one race may be for but one or two industries in which the race is employed and which are so controlled by labor organizations that membership in the labor unions is necessary to secure employment. On the other hand, a race or several races may be employed in an industry or industries in which no labor unions exist. For example, the North Italians, who are extensively engaged in bituminous coal mining, are principally employed in the Middle West and Southwest, where the labor forces are controlled by the labor unions. On the other hand, the Slovaks are employed in largest numbers in the bituminous mines or coke plants of western Pennsylvania, where the influence of labor organizations is slight. The fact that certain races are most extensively employed in highly unionized localities and industries is indicative of comparatively greater assimilation and progressiveness on the part of the members of such races. For a more satisfactory study of racial tendencies in this respect, however, reference must be made to the situation among the wageearners in each industry where the variations in conditions of employment are unimportant.

RENT IN ITS RELATION TO STANDARD OF LIVING.

The rent payments made by the households studied the heads of which were wage-earners afford a valuable insight into the cost of living, but they are chiefly significant in their bearing upon standards and methods of living. Of the total number of 13,122 households studied which rented their apartments, the following table shows, by

general nativity and race of head of household, the average rent payments monthly per apartment, per room, and per person:

TABLE 65.-Average rent per month, by general nativity and race of head of household. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

In the foregoing table it is seen that the highest average monthly rents per apartment, per room, and per person are paid by the households the heads of which were native-born white persons of native father. The monthly rent payments per apartment and per room of the households the heads of which were of native birth but of foreign father are practically the same as those of the households the heads of which were of native birth and of native father, but the monthly rent out

lay per capita is somewhat smaller in the former class of households than in the latter.

Without the presence of any disturbing factors, the monthly rents per apartment and per room would be indicative of standards of living. It may be, however, that a high monthly rental is paid for an apartment, but a large number of persons live in it. On the other hand, in the case of the housing facilities in connection with some such industry as mining, the company-house system may be followed, and the only houses available consist of those upon which a fixed charge per room is made, the rental for any house being dependent upon the number of its rooms. Under these conditions the rent per person is the only criterion of standard of living.

As a matter of fact, in the case of the greater number of industries, the households the heads of which are of foreign birth adopt the practice of crowding as large a number of persons as is possible into the apartment or rooms in order to reduce the average outlay per person. As a consequence, the average monthly rent per capita affords an indication of the congestion and of the living arrangements not obtainable from the other two rent classifications. A striking illustration of this situation may be seen in the case of the Turkish households in the table. The monthly rent paid by the households of this race averages $13.70 per apartment and $2.18 per room, but the rent each month per capita is only $1.54, plainly indicating that a large number of persons are crowded into the apartments and rooms. The higher standard of living and smaller degree of congestion in households the heads of which were born in Great Britain and northern Europe, as compared with those of southern and eastern Europe, is exhibited by the following classification of some of the leading facts of the table. The average rent payments monthly per capita of the foreign-born of some of the principal races of the old immigration were as follows:

From the above showing it is seen that of the races from Canada, Great Britain, and northern Europe, the smallest degree of congestion and highest standard of living is exhibited by the Danish, Scotch, Swedish, and English households. A considerably lower standard is indicated by the Irish, Germans, and Welsh. The French Canadians fall greatly below the three last-named races. The contrast afforded by the comparison of the monthly rent payments per person of the foreign-born of the southern and eastern European and oriental races is as follows:

With the exception of the Armenian, Brava, Hebrew, and Syrian households, which approach 'the figures of the older immigrants in their monthly rent payments per person, the lower standard of living of the southern and eastern European and oriental races is apparent. This is especially noticeable in the case of the Croatians, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Mexicans, Roumanians, Servians, and Slovaks. The tendencies toward congestion and its effect upon living arrangements thus indicated become more manifest in the discussion of the subsequent tabulations having to do with the number of persons in apartments, rooms, and sleeping rooms of the households studied.

BOARDERS AND LODGERS.

One of the most significant features in connection with the house holds the heads of which were of recent immigration, as compared with the households of the older immigrants or native Americans, is the almost entire absence of a separate or independent family life. The system of living which prevails in the southern and eastern European households among the wage-earners in any branch of mining or manufacturing in any section of the country, is that of the boarding group. This method of domestic economy is termed in the idiom of industrial communities, the "boarding-boss system." It consists of a living arrangement under which the head, usually a married man, assumes charge of the household, and the boarders or lodgers, numbering from 2 to 20, pay a fixed amount monthly for lodging, cooking, and washing. The food for the household is usually purchased by the head, each member of the group reimbursing the head for the specific articles bought for his consumption; or the total cost of the food consumed is divided equally each week or month among the members composing the group. Many variations upon this arrangement are met with, but some form of it constitutes the method of living usually followed by recent immigrant households. The wife of the head, or some woman employed by him or the group, does the cooking, washing, and housework. This group system of living, which causes congestion and insanitary conditions, and renders impossible any satisfactory form of family life, is made possible by the low standards of the recent immigrants and by their desire to live as cheaply as possible, or, in the case of families, to supplement the earnings of the head as an industrial worker. In native American families, or those whose heads are native-born of native father, when boarders or lodgers are kept as a source of additional income the payment of a fixed rate of a specified amount for board during a certain period is the plan adopted. This class of families, however, usually derives its supplementary income from the earnings of the children. Of the total number of 17,171 families studied, the table next presented shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the number and percentage which had boarders or lodgers.

TABLE 66.-Number and per cent of households keeping boarders or lodgers, by general nativity and race of head of household.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[Information relating to boarders or lodgers covers only immediate time of taking schedule and not the entire year. Boarders are persons who receive both board and lodging.]

In the foregoing table it is seen that only 10 per cent of the households the heads of which were native-born white persons of native father and 10.9 per cent of the households the heads of which were of native birth but of foreign father have boarders or lodgers, as