SILK GOODS MANUFACTURING AND DYEING.

PART I-GENERAL SURVEY OF THE INDUSTRY.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

Growth of the industry-Increase in the number of employees-Territory studied— Households studied-Members of households for whom detailed information was secured The preparation of the report-Employees for whom information was secured-[Text Tables 1 to 8 and General Tables 1 to 3].

GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY.

During the past thirty years the silk goods manuracturing industry has undergone a remarkable expansion. In 1880 the capital invested in the industry in the United States amounted to only $19,125,300 and the annual output was only $41,033,045, as contrasted with a capital commitment of $109,556,621 in 1905 and an annual production to the value of $133,288,072. The growth of the industry in the United States and in the principal silk goods manufacturing States during the period 1880-1905 is shown in the table which immediately follows:

TABLE 1.-Growth of the silk goods manufacturing industry in the United States and in selected States, 1880-1905.

From United States Census Report, Manufactures, 1905, Part III, Table 16.]

INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES.

From the standpoint of recent immigration the most significant feature in connection with the growth of the silk industry has been the resultant increase in the number of employees due to the fact that the necessary operatives have been obtained largely from among recent immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. The expansion of the operating force of the industry may be readily understood from the fact that only 31,337 wage-earners were employed in 1880, as contrasted with 79,601 in the year 1905. The table below shows the increase in the number of operatives in the United States as a whole and in the principal producing States during the period 18801905:

TABLE 2.-Increase in the number of silk goods wage-earners in the United States and in selected States, 1880–1905.

[From United States Census Report, Manufactures, 1905, Part III, Table 16.]

The investigation of the industry was restricted to the principal silk goods producing localities of the Middle and New England States, special emphasis being placed upon Paterson, N. J., and the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania.

HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

A total of 272 households the heads of which were employed in the industry, were studied in detail. In the following table the number of households studied is shown according to general nativity and race of head of household:

TABLE 3.-Households studied, by general nativity and race of head of household: Pater

son, N. J.

Of the 272 households studied in this industry, 92.3 per cent are households the heads of which are foreign-born and 7.7 per cent are those the heads of which are native-born of native father. Among the households the heads of which are foreign-born, the South Italian households constitute a slightly larger proportion of the total number of households studied than do the North Italian or Hebrew households, and a very much larger proportion than do the Armenian, Polish, or Syrian households, the Polish and Syrian households each constituting 9.2 per cent of the total number of households studied.

MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR WHOM DETAILED INFORMATION WAS SECURED.

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

TABLE 4.-Persons in households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household: Paterson, N. J.

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

TABLE 5.-Sex of persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household: Paterson, N. J.

The table next presented classifies the persons for whom detailed information was secured by general nativity and race of individual, instead of by that of head of household:

TABLE 6.—Persons for whom detailed information was secured, by sex and general nativity and race of individual: Paterson, N. J.

THE PREPARATION OF THE REPORT.

In preparing the data secured for publication the same divisions were observed as were followed in the study of the industry. The report as presented in the following pages therefore consists of three parts: Part I, General survey of the silk goods manufacturing and dyeing industry; Part II, The silk goods manufacturing industry in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania; Part III, Silk dyeing.

The general survey of the industry consists of the presentation of the statistical data secured from all the households and employees studied in all the localities investigated. Part II, which is a statistical survey of the operating forces in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania, has been introduced for purposes of comparison with Paterson and the industry as a whole. Part III is a statistical survey of the employees of the silk-dyeing establishments in Paterson, N. J., where the industry is more highly specialized than in any other locality in the country.