PART I-GENERAL SURVEY OF THE BITUMINOUS COAL MINING

INDUSTRY.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

Expansion in bituminous coal-mining operations since 1860-Increase in number of employees-Geographical divisions studied-Households studied-Members of households for whom detailed information was secured-Employees for whom information was secured Comparative scope of the investigation-Method of presenting data collected-[Text Tables 1 to 15 and General Tables 1 to 3].

EXPANSION IN BITUMINOUS COAL-MINING OPERATIONS SINCE 1860.

During the past fifty years there has been a remarkable development of bituminous coal mining in the United States. The total production of bituminous mines in 1908 in round numbers was 332,000,000 short tons, as compared with 6,400,000 tons in the year 1860. The annual output has advanced by leaps and bounds, the increase for each decade between 1860 and 1900 being approximately 100 per cent. The rapid increase by decades, 1860 to 1900, and by years, 1900 to 1908, is made apparent by the following table:

TABLE 1.-Bituminous coal production in the United States, 1860 to 1908.

[From Production of Coal in 1908, Edward W. Parker. U. S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources of the United States.]

If the five principal coal-producing States in the territory east of the Rocky Mountains be selected and the annual production of each be considered during the past fifty years, the districts in which the expansion of the industry has taken place at once become evident. The tables on the page following exhibit the output in short tons of the States mentioned above during the period 1860 to 1908 and the per cent of the total production of the United States furnished by each designated State during the same period.

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TABLE 2.-Bituminous coal production in States specified.

From Production of Coal In 1908, Edward W. Parker. U. S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources of the United States.]

TABLE 3.-Per cent distribution of bituminous coal production in States specified.

Per cent of total output of United States from

36,957, 104

11,654, 324

36, 475, 060
38, 434, 363

41, 480, 104
51,317, 146
47, 659, 690

It will be noted that during 1908 Pennsylvania produced 35.2 per cent of the total; West Virginia, which in 1870 produced 3.5 per cent, had increased in relative importance to a position of 12.6 per cent of the total production in 1908; Illinois's percentage was 11.2 in 1860 and 14.3 in 1908; Alabama in 1860 produced only 0.2 per cent, and since 1890 has produced from 3.5 to 4.1 per cent. The total production of Ohio has increased, but her relative production has decreased from 19.5 per cent in 1860 to 7.9 per cent in 1908.

In addition to the five States given, others in the same territory experienced a similar development. The table on the page following shows the increase in production of a number of such States.

TABLE 4.—Bituminous coal production in States specified.

[From Production of Coal in 1908, Edward W. Parker. U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources of the United States.]

These statistics of the production in various States not only show the expansion in bituminous mining in recent and former years, but also show that the areas of the greatest development in the territory east of the Rocky Mountains are Pennsylvania, the Middle West, and certain States of the South and Southwest, such as West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

INCREASE IN NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES.

The significance of the remarkable development of the coal industry from the standpoint of recent immigration lies in the fact that, in addition to the investment of capital and the invention and use of machinery, a large and constantly increasing number of miners and laborers were required to make possible the expansion in mining operations. This fact is obvious, but the field of employment thus opened is shown in the following table, which shows the increase in the average number of wage-earners in the bituminous coal-mining industry in the States under discussion.

TABLE 5.-Average number of wage-earners in bituminous coal mining, 1870 to 1907. [U.S. Census: Industry and Wealth, 1870; Mining Industries, 1880; Mineral Industries, 1890; and Special Reports, Mines and Quarries, 1902. Also Production of Coal in 1908, Edward W. Parker. U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources of the United States.]

Some remarkable changes are indicated in the above showing. In addition to the large increase in the number of employees, due to the development of the industry in the various States since 1870, the immense growth in the number of employees in practically all the

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States during the two periods of 1889 to 1902 and 1902 to 1907 should be carefully noted. In none of the States was the increase in the average number of persons employed in 1907, as compared with 1902, less than 50 per cent, and in three States it was more than 100 per cent.

GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS STUDIED.

In view of the rapid development of bituminous coal mining, and the extraordinary demand for labor which was thus brought into play, an investigation was made by the Immigration Commission in the different coal regions to discover how far the races of recent and former immigration had entered the industry and what effects had followed their employment.

For purposes of investigation the country was divided geographically according to the distribution and localization of bituminous coal mining at the present time. This division was made for two reasons: (1) Immigrant employees were found in largest numbers in the districts where mining development had been most extensive; (2) the various areas represented different methods of mining and conditions of employment.

The arbitrary divisions thus adopted as a basis for a working procedure were:

1. Pennsylvania, bituminous mining and coke region.

2. Middle West, including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

3. Southwest, including Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. 4. South, including Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.

HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

The Immigration Commission secured detailed information from 2,371 households in the principal bituminous coal producing localities east of the Rocky Mountains. The races represented are shown in the following table:

TABLE 6.-Households studied, by general nativity and race of head of household.

Of the 2,371 households furnishing information in this industry, by far the larger proportion, 93.2 per cent, are foreign-born. Of the native-born, the American whites show the largest proportion, or 4.6 per cent, as compared with 1.1 per cent of the negroes and less than 1 per cent each of the English and Irish.

Comparing the foreign-born races, it will be seen that the Slovaks, North Italians, Magyars, and Poles constitute 56.7 per cent of the total number studied. The Slovaks, with 19.1 per cent, show the largest proportion. The Croatians, South Italians, and Lithuanians are the only races in addition to these reporting a proportion in excess of 5 per cent, while the proportions of the others range from 2.2 per cent for the Germans to 0.4 per cent for the Roumanians.

MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR WHOM DETAILED INFORMATION WAS SECURED.

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

TABLE 7.—Persons in households studied, and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household.