Year. 1860. 1870. 1880. 1890. 1900. 1901. 1902. 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.] 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908. PennYear. sylvania. Texas. 184, 440 968, 373 1,107,953 901, 912 926, 759 1,195, 944 1,200, 684 1,312, 873 1,648, 069 1,895, 377 Kan- Arkan- Output, in short tons. Indiana. 101, 280 1,454, 327 Texas. 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. 473,300 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. Okla- Ala- Ken- Ten- Vir- 1870.... 16,851 252 1880. 419 1,092 57 33,248 3,617 130 1,513 1889.. 53, 132 a5,956 677 543 1,862 6, 864 1902. 92,095 7,017 2,574 1,979 4,763 12,930 6,220 1907.. 163,295 12, 439 5,085 4,227 8,398 21,388 16,971 12,052 714 2,826 5, 144 9,077 4,031 43, 079 784,011 2,393,754 2,725, 873 3, 182, 993 3,451,307 3,410,914 4, 275, 271 4, 254, 879 4,710,895 4,259,042 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.] 642 120,947 869, 229 1,922,298 2, 421, 781 2,820, 666 3,517,388 3,046, 539 2,924,427 2,860, 200 3,642, 658 2,948, 116 1,140 7,567 1,369 6,301 4, 497 16, 331 4,496 16, 301 1,523 9,778 19,343 6,448 23,934 3,004 23, 914 25,963 10, 593 36,617 6,670 59,029 46, 833 21,022 65, 581 a Includes Nebraska. 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 48296°-VOL 6-11-2 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. 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. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED. English. French. German. Irish. Italian, North. Italian, South. 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. In the 2,371 households, consisting of 14,229 persons, 94.6 per cent of the total number of persons are foreign-born. The proportion of persons native-born of foreign father is I per cent, while that of the native whites born of native father is 3.5 per cent, and that of the negroes of native birth is less than 1 per cent of the total number of persons. As regards the foreign-born, it will be seen that the Slovaks, Poles, North Italians, and Magyars, each representing over 10 per cent, constitute 57.7 per cent of the total number of persons, the proportions ranging from 19.7 per cent for the Slovaks to 10.6 per cent for the Magyars. The South Italians show the next largest proportion, or 9.1 per cent, followed by the Lithuanians and Croatians with 7.2 and 6.6 per cent, respectively, while the proportions of the other races range from 2.1 per cent each for the Germans, Irish, and Ruthenians, to 0.4 per cent for the French and Roumanians. Of the persons for whom detailed information was secured, 93.7 per cent are foreign-born, 1.2 per cent are native-born of foreign father, 4.2 per cent are native-born white of native father, and I per cent are native-born negroes. Four of the foreign-born races constitute each more than 10 per cent of the total number for whom detailed information was secured; these races are the Slovak with 19.9 per cent, the Polish with 14.9 per cent, the North Italian with 12.5 per cent, and the Magyar with 10.1 per cent. The table which follows shows the number of households studied, by race of head of household, and the number of families included, by race of head of family. A household includes all the persons living as one housekeeping group, without regard to relationship or race. TABLE 8.-Number of households and number of families studied. In these 2,363 families there were 11,974 individuals for whom detailed information was secured. These individuals are classified according to sex in the following table. 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. (STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.) |