i I
I
PREFACE
THIS book is an attempt to describe the quality, the industrial efficiency, the social life, and the relation to the native-born of the men of the new immigration.
By the new immigration is meant the peoples emigrating to America from the countries of southeastern Europe. They first appeared in the immigration stream in the early eighties of the last century. At first they were few in number, but they steadily increased, and, in 1896, formed the major part of the immi- gration inflow; in the past decade they have formed about seventy-five per cent of European immigrants to the United States. The term " old in aigralkm " is applied to men emi- grating from nnrtlnwr'itGrn Fiiirnpr, who, up to 1880, almost wholly comprised the Immigration inflow from the old into the new world.
Many works have been published describing the immigrants in the homeland, their coming to America, and the difficulties they encounter before they reach their destination ; but few are the writers who have attempted to give a picture of the emi- grants of the last thirty years at work, in their homes, and in their social life. A knowledge of economic conditions and social life in the countries whence we get our immigrants is important; but the way immigrants are treated when they ^nter, the part they play in the industries of the United States, the way they live in American cities, the manner in which they ire treated by the native-born, and what all this means to America, is of far greater importance. The following pages giv^e a picture of the new immigration in America; it is not perfect by any means, but if it quickens the interest of the
viii . PREFACE
native-born in these sons and daughters of backward races, j so that telic action in their behalf is instituted, their hopes and! aspirations understood, and their desire to become Americans j intelligently met, my labors will not have been in vain.
I believe in the immigrant. He has in him the making of. an American, provided a sympathetic hand guides him and smooths the path which, leads to assimilation. The hand of' the native-born can best do this; and my main thesis is, that in every community where the men of southeastern Europe' have settled, the redemptive forces necessary to raise the for-j eigners from inefficiency and ignorance, from anti-social habits! and gross superstition, are available, provided they are m^r- shaled, supported, and set to work by patriotic men. Wherever) the native-born lie supinely, looking to state or federal gov-j ernment for relief from the ills precipitated by foreigners, their! expectations will not be fulfilled, and the ills they bemoan willj grow more intense. Foreigners in American cities will not throw off the slough of medieval civilization unless the native- born will help them.
My main purpose has been to give facts and leave most of the theorizing to the reader. Upon this question, as others of public interest, there is a division of opinion ; and yet every patriot believes his position best for the future well-being of America. We are a young nation ; no prophet has dared to predict the possibilities of the future; but the past industrial development of America points unerringly to Europe as the source whence our future unskilled labor supply is to be drawn, The gites will not be closed ; the wheels of industry will no1 retard ; America is in the race for the markets of the world its call for workers will not cease. Confronted by these con ditions, is it not the duty of the government to deal generousl) and justly by those who answer the call, and should not ever} industrial community adopt some definite plan for constructive work to raise the standard of the new immigration and speed on the process of assimilation ?
PREFACE ix
%
The immigration problem, however, will not be intelligently solved, until the civilized nations affected by it confer and agree upon regulations which are just to the weak as well as to the strong. The immigration policy of the United States will best comply with the demands of reason and justice, when the rights of other countries are recognized and the citizens of friendly nations are justly treated. Our legislators have usually considered only America's interests in enacting laws regulating emigration and immigration, but the time is come when they should also consider the interests of other nations. Immigra- tion is an international problem, and can only be properly treated by an international conference.
I owe much to my friends and associates for inspiration and suggestions in the preparation of this book. I have especially to thank Professor Annie Marion MacLean, of Adelphi College, Brooklyn ; Professor William -B. Bailey, of Yale University ; and Professor Daniel Evans, of Andover Seminary, for carefully reading the manuscript and giving me valuable suggestions.
PETER ROBERTS. NEW YORK CITY, 1912.
». ,
CONTENTS
PART I. INDUCEMENTS AND IMPRESSIONS CHAPTER I
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE
PACKS
Change to Steamships - Steerage Conditions — Improved Conditions — Center of Immigration — Change in Char- acter— Economic Cause — The Ambitious come — The Persecuted come — 'America attracts — The Land of Refuge — Aspirations and Hopes — The Power of the Letter — Prosperity promotes — The Gold Stream — Birds of Passage — Do we get too many? — Is the Stock Poor?
— Good Qualities . . 1-17
CHAPTER II
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE
Kills Island — Personal Cleanliness — Bitter Complaints — De- portation for Trivial Causes — Mistakes of Others — Some are robbed — Trying to Escape — A Sad Case — Mothers suffer — A Family divided — Some Fraud practiced — Contract Labor Law — A Broad Net — The Board of In- quiry— No Lawyer allowed — Traffic in Boys — Difficult Oses — The Hospital a Blessing — E 's Island Interesting
— Kindness Pays 18-32
xii COA TENTS
CHAPTER III
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
PAGES
States in Control — In Ellis Island — The Detained— Laws not enforced — The Commissariat — Railroads guard Immigrants — Clerks make Mistakes — The Immigrant Train — Some of the Tragedies — On the Train — A Kind-hearted Agent — The Foreigners' Address — Pro- viding for Immigrants — Foreigners have Feelings — The American Pace — Don't like the Rush — Standards of Living — They object to Waste — One Law for All . . 33-48
PART II. INDUSTRIAL LIFE CHAPTER IV
THE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER
America needed Laborers — Foreigners in Industries — Na- tionalities in Special Industries — In the Clothing Indus- try — In Disagreeable Work — In Construction Camps — Foreigners in Mines — In Coal Mines — In Pits and Quar- ries— In Iron and Steel Industries — In Plow Plants — On Railroad and Docks — In Brick and Clay Works — In Textiles and Refineries — Some Skilled Workers — For- eigners in Trade and Commerce — Debt to the Workers . 49-0(2
CHAPTER V
CONDITIONS OF WORK
Government Help — Labor Agencies — Graft in Employment
— Hard to find Men — Inhuman Treatment — Disagree- able Conditions — Injurious to Health — Wages are Low
— Wages vary greatly — Labor Troubles — Operators are prejudiced — Workers are prejudiced — Industrial Re- arrangement — Mixing the Nationalities — Foreigners sat- isfied— Some Disagreeable Habits — Wants a Fair Chance 63-7:
CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER VI
ACCIDENTS
FACES
European Workers Homogeneous — American Workers Het- erogeneous — Prime Cause of Accidents — One Language Needed — Foreigners take Risks — Industries Risky — The Hurry-up Habit — Electricity Risky — More Power means More Risks — Some Figures tell a Sad Story — ' Little Compensation given — Courts prejudiced — All Men Equal ? — Disasters fall on Foreigners — Foreign Hearts feel — Improvement is made .... 78-91
CHAPTER VII
EFFICIENCY AND PROGRESS
Industrial Discipline — Their Wages increase — Bad Qualities copied — Undesirable Qualities — Many Holidays — For eigners drink — Foreigners don't eat Enough — Some Foreigners Thieves — Foreigners not Truthful — Desira- ble Qualities— A. A. Paryski, Publisher — F. L. Frugone
— Efficient in Work — Mother Wit — Some have Busi- ness Ability — Fear of Socialism — Italians are Individu- alistic — Slavs not Socialists in America — Operators can
help .... 92-108
PART III. COMMUNITY CONDITIONS CHAPTER VIII
CAMP AND TOWN LIFE
A Mining Camp — A Construction Camp — A Lumber Camp
— A Monotonous Life — Other Camps — The Boss of the Camp — The Padrone is Gracious — In America, but not of it — Foreigners in Small Towns — Bad Example Set — Drink the Prime Cause — Good Men should lead — Schools in Small Towns — The Mother needs Help — Organize Good Women — Small Towns remembered . 109-123
XIV CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX
HOUSING CONDITIONS
How Single Men live — Men bent on Saving — City Quarters for Foreigners — Greedy Landlords — Some Crowding done — The Boarding Houses — Beds used Day and Night — The Boarding Boss is watched — Laws, Tools for Grafters — Foreigners rack Houses — Foreigners do not bathe often — Bathing Conveniences needed — Dirt and Disease — Foreigners serve us
CHAPTER X
HOME LIFE
Foreigners not Fastidious — Relation of the Sexes — Vice in Homes — Women are Drudges — Fecundity of Foreign Women — Child Bearing — Old World Customs — Dirty Homes — Superstition — The Married — A Wedding — Fraudulent Marriage — Foreigners adopt New Standards — Leaving Old Standards — Americanize the Home — Owning Homes — Homes transformed ....
CHAPTER XI
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER
The Industrial Zone — Foreigners in Every City — Foreigners colonize — Foreigners entering a Block — From Country to City — Processes of Graft in Cities — No English means Difficulties — The Family Income — Defectives and De- pendents — Boarders and Lodgers — Boarders crowd to- gether — Racial Groups live together — Standards of Cleanliness — Urban Advantages
CONTENTS XV
PART IV. SOCIAL RELATIONS CHAPTER XII
LEADERS
PAGES
The Leader in General — Women Leaders — Kinds of Leaders
— Leaders aid Employers — Saloon-keepers as Leaders
— Leaders as Politicians — Men who defraud — Jealousy among Leaders — Italians are divided — Leaders in Free Thought — The Priests as Leaders — Capable Men ought
to lead — American Leaders wanted — Community Work . 173-186
CHAPTER XIII
SOCIETIES
Religious Societies — Secular Organizations — Secular Socie- ties — Friendly Relations — Military Societies — Sokol Societies — Selected Groups — Clubs like Americans — Clubs as Gambling Dens — Labor Organizations — For- eigners in Labor Unions — National Societies — Pan- ethnic Societies — Helping the Unfortunates — Uplifting Agencies — A Leader who leads 187-199
CHAPTER XIV
CHURCHES
-• -
.an 'Catholics coming — Replacement of Worshipers — All Romanists do not agree — The Greek Orthodox — Foreigners have Many Faiths — Foreigners are very re- ligious — No State Church not understood — Drifting from the Church — Men who leave their Church — The Priests are capable — Fanatical Converts — A Sure Cure ^rotestant Pastors — Harmony needed — Agree inDo- iMGood 200-215
xvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER XV
BANKS AND SAVINGS
PAGES
Banks in Foreign Colonies — Banks and Company Stores — Foreigners bent on Saving — Simple Living — Necessity for Bankers — Immigrant Bankers meet a Need — Saloon- keepers as Bankers — No Interest paid — Bankers are Useful Men — Americans after the Trade — Banking a Side Show — Frauds practiced — The Amount of Fraud — Postal Savings serve Good Purpose — Legislative Safe- guards— State Regulations limited .... 216-232
CHAPTER XVI
CRIME AND THE COURTS
Facts published — Figures favor the Foreign-born — Nature of Crime — Brutal Savagery — Drink the Cause of Crime — Crimes Peculiar to Foreigners — Appropriating Fuel — Foreigners hide Crime — Foreigners escape — Murder is Murder — Foreigners keep Courts Busy — Environment and Crime — Crime begets Crime 233
CHAPTER XVII
POLITICS
Catholic Immigrants feared — America for Americans — Con- tract Labor Law passed — Retrogression or Progress — Naturalization more Difficult — Tests for Naturalization — Should Probation be Longer? — The Foreigners need Instruction — Small Numbers naturalized — Some For- eigners in a Dilemma — The Foreign Newspaper — The Saloon in Politics — Foreign-born Voters will follow Leaders — Wise Leaders do Good Work .... 248-26 j.
CONTENTS xvii
CHAPTER XVIII
RECREATION
PACKS
A Professor of Relaxation — Some Oriental Blood — Holy Days and Festal Days — Weddings and Christenings — The Saloon a Social Center — Italians and Gambling — Greek Enjoyments — Greek Wrestlers — Foreigners Fond of Music — Music has Charms — Love of the Drama — Italians are Actors — Amusement Places needed . . 265-277
CHAPTER XIX
CULTURE
Some Foreigners Cultured — Foreigners want a Chance — What does the Foreigner need to learn ? — Uplift Work not Easy — Must meet his Need intelligently — Socialize the Public School — The Roman Church can do much — Education and Crime — Employers are Good Helpers — Women should be educated — Relation to the State — America stimulates — Libraries do Good Work — For- eigners should choose the Books — Foreigners have Self- culture 278-291
PART V. ASSIMILATION AND HINDRANCES CHAPTER XX
RELATIONS TO AMERICANS
The Foreigner hangs on — They do what they are told — They are thrifty — The Evils Foreigners bring — Ameri- cans stand aloof — Foreigners will imitate — Quaint Ways among Foreigners — Persecution of Foreigners — Some Christians despise Foreigners — Some Christians help Foreigners — Native-born can lead — A Glorious Herit- age— Mixture Means Strength — Give the Foreigners American Ideals — Contrast — Preserve the Civilization . 292-307
xviii CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXI
REACHING THE NEWCOMER
PAGES
Study Each Nation — Know Your Town — Scientific Investi- gation — The Way Facts are gathered — One Organizer — Young People can investigate — A Committee at Work — Serve One People Well — The Work of the Y. M. C. A. — Work in Canada — Foreigners are followed up — Lectures to Foreigners — North American Civic League
— Other Agencies at Work — Work done by Churches — Foreigners are Religious — Proselytism will not win — Fundamental Principles — A Religious Family — United Effort Desirable — Let the Foreigners help — Personal Touch is the Solution 308-323
CHAPTER XXII
THE CHILD OF THE FOREIGNER
The Desire to excel — Temptations of City Life — No Disci- pline in the Home — Influence of the Press — The Juve- nile Courts — Let the Foreigner express himself — The Foreigner's Child not understood — In the Public School
— The Parochial School — Standards in Education — Lack of Cooperation — The Working Boy — Young For- eigners as Workers — Foreign-born Parents Ambitious — Americans can help the Boy — Boys made Men too soon
— Believe in the Sons of Foreigners — American Standard should prevail — American Laws should be enforced —
Moral Education needed 324-340
PART VI. CONCLUSIONS CHAPTER XXIII
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM
Scum of the Earth — Many return — Gold taken out — The Most Dangerous — Bad Effects — Racial Suicide — Li-
CONTENT!
censes given — Laws on Housing — Laxity of Laws — Work needed done — Philosophy and Practice — More Laws — International Relations — Other Recommenda- tions — Too Much Legislation — Private Efforts — The Public School— Private Agencies — Foreigners should help — Distribution of Foreigners — Personal Contact
XIX
PAGES
341-359
ADDENDA
Returning Immigrants — Im migration Statistics — Debarred and Deported — Manufacturing Experience in the Home- land— Industrial Expansion — Percentage of Families Having Lodgers or Boarders — Annual Earnings of For- eign-born Men — Fecundity of Immigrant Women — Pop- ulation of Lawrence, Mass., 1848 and 1910 — Percentage of Immigrants naturalized — Illiteracy of Immigrants — Ability to speak English — Children at Home, etc., Per- centage of Children in High School — Annual Wages of Heads of Families 36l~373
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TYPES IN THE NEW IMMIGRATION .... Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
BOSTON IMMIGRANT LANDING STATION 18
FOREIGNERS IN A MEAT-PACKING PLANT 54
STEREOPTICON LECTURE ON ACCIDENTS 80
THE SKILLED 100
THE UNSKILLED . .100
A CONGESTED STREET 130
MAP SHOWING IMMIGRATION ZONE . . . . on page 157
A STAG BOARDING HOUSE 170
TENT WORK IN PITTSBURGH 198
A GREEK ORTHODOX CEMETERY . . 204
SAVING THE COAL BILL 240
CLASS IN NATURALIZATION . . .
INDOOR AMUSEMENT ... .... 278
MEN OF THE FOREST .290
PITTSBURGH'S NATURALIZATION COURT 316
BOYS OF FOREIGN PARENTAGE . . 338
COMMUNITY MEETING 356
xxi
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
PART I INDUCEMENTS AND IMPRESSIONS
CHAPTER I
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE
THOUSANDS of cabin passengers cross the ocean for pleasure ; the steerage passengers, almost to a man, seek a better country. The steamship companies study the comfort and convenience of the pleasure seeker, but the necessities of the true emigrant have had the least possible attention. Steerage conditions have often been denounced as a disgrace to civilization and remedies have only been effected by the lash of legal enactment. Emigrants who came to America in sailing vessels previous to the sixties of the last century, can never forget the steerage conditions under which they came. The dread of hunger and of thirst, the terrible ravages of ship fever and epidemics, the absence of conveniences which common decency demands, — these ordeals still hang as a pall in their memories, and more than half a century of life in the United States has not been able to obliterate the impression. The throes of that voyage — made two generations ago — are still rehearsed with a feeling which can only be explained by the abject misery endured.
Change to Steamships. — Steamships, as soon as introduced, afforded better steerage conditions than sailing vessels ; but it always takes time for the new to displace the old. Steamers crossed the ocean and carried passengers early in the forties, but previous to 1850 they played <io important part in the trans-
-A
2 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
portation of steerage passengers to America. The swifter and better ships were first put at the service of men able to pay ; the real immigrants down to the later sixties continued to come in large numbers in sailing vessels and had to risk a death rate at sea which was appalling. It was only a question of time, however, when the passenger traffic of all classes would pass over to the better equipped and swifter vessels. In the year 1856, only
3 per cent of the passengers landing in Castle Garden were carried in steamships; ten years later the percentage was 67-9;1 and in another decade the sailing vessel as a conveyor of immigrants was practically abandoned. The better way had prevailed and steerage accommodations were greatly improved. No longer were hunger and thirst a menace ; fevers and epidemics were not banished from transporting vessels, but the voyage was reduced to a few days, and the terrible death rate at sea was virtually obliterated. Invention had made it possible for the real emi- grants to cross the ocean in safety.
Steerage Conditions. — Steerage conditions in modern steam- ships are not ideal, but they are steadily improving. A com- parison of the accommodations furnished at present by the better class of vessels with those found on all steamships in the early eighties of the last century, is the best argument of the progress made. In the early eighties, every steamship had compart- ments for steerage passengers, in which hundreds of men were huddled together in berths which afforded bare room to lie down. The berths were two deep, and each passenger paid a small sum for a mattress of straw made to fit the berth ; he also provided himself with platter and cup, knife and fork, and spoon, which he had to keep clean and stow away for safe keeping. There was no room provided to place hand baggage or small trunks save in the berth. When the man got in, the baggage got out, so that during sleeping hours the small baggage occu- pied the pathway leading to the berths ; if the vessel rocked hard during the night, the rattle of tins and crockery was great, and, in the morning, it was no easy task to locate the grip or small trunk that had slid away. Towels and soap, comb and brush, 1 See Immigration Comihfcsjon, Abstract of Report on " Steerage Legislation," p. 13.
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE
were nowhere in sight, and the washroom and toilet accommo- dations were far from decent. The air in the compartment was foul at all times, and every passenger spent as little time there as possible. None of the immigrants thought of undressing when they went to rest — they took off their shoes, removed their coats, and turned in, and with the dawn they were again on deck. No dining room was provided, but the space between the two rows of berths served as one. Some smooth boards, resting on wooden horses, served as a table. In front of the tables were benches. When the meal bell rang, a rush was made for these ; then the stewards brought bread, meat, vegetables, etc., each passenger in turn being served as the waiters passed from one end of the table to the other. The bread was good ; the meat, tough; the coffee, poor; and the tea — slop. All passengers counted the days as they plowed the deep, and the one consol- ing thought was, " It won't last long." Blessed were those who had provided some fruit and supplemental articles of diet ; some passengers found their way to the cook's quarters and secured dainties at a price ; others patronized the canteen and found cheer in strong drink.
Improved Conditions. — Compared with these steerage con- ditions, the new type is much better, especially that denominated " third class." In this are found inclosed berths to accom- modate from four to eight persons. Room is provided for small trunks or hand baggage, and there are hooks upon which to hang clothes. A stationary washstand with towels is furnished, and the button of an electric alarm is near each berth, so that the oc- cupant may, in case of need, summon a steward. The occupants of these quarters secure a degree of privacy that enables them to remove their clothes before they retire. The lavatories are de- cent, and the conveniences provided are ample and always usable. Regular dining rooms are provided, and the utensils used are furnished by the company and kept clean by the stewards. The food is ample and of good quality, providing care has been exercised in its preparation. These improvements are not common as yet — they are only found on some ships carrying steerage passengers from the northwestern countries of Europe,
4 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
but they are a promise and a prophecy of what will in time be installed in all steamships carrying immigrants to the United States. The ideal as presented by advocates of improved steerage conditions l is not yet reached, but a higher standard as to space, facilities, ventilation, and food obtains to-day than ever before, and the tendency is in the right direction. The steerage conditions ought to be to each immigrant suggestive of the standard of domestic, social, and moral life in the country to which he conies.
Center of Immigration. — Since 1880, the character of the immigrants coming to the United States has changed. Previous to that year most passengers knew the English language, and practically all of them were of Keltic and Teutonic stock; now about 75 per cent of the immigrants come from Slavic, Semitic, Roman or Illyric stock.2 The center of European emigration to America has steadily moved eastward. In the forties of the last century it was on the British Isles; twenty years later it was on the eastern shore of the North Sea ; in the nineties it had reached the border of Austria, and in recent years it has approached the northern arm of the Adriatic Sea. In the last decade, a gradually increased percentage of emigrants has been drawn from the Balkan States and Turkey in Europe ; as this increases, the center of emigration moves toward the Black Sea. With the change in the ethnic character of emi- grants came also an increase in volume. The total immigra- tion to the United States from 1819 to 1911 is nearly 29,000,000 ; but half of this total came in the last twenty years, and in the last decade the annual inflow has averaged nearly a million a year. In the year 1907, Austro-Hungary, Italy, and Russia each furnished more immigrants than all the northwestern countries of Europe combined.
Change in Character. — The difference between the immi-
1 See Immigration Commission, Abstract of Report on " Steerage Legislation, " p. 17.
2 In 1876 emigrants from northwestern Europe formed 99 per cent and those from southeastern i per cent ; in 1880 the proportion was 90 and 10 per cent re- spectively; in 1890 the numbers were about equal; in 1907 the figures were 25 and 75 respectively. — See Table II in addenda.
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE 5
grants from northwestern and southeastern Europe is marked. The percentage of illiteracy among the former is small, — less than 3 per cent, — among the latter it is more than 35. The num- ber of skilled workers from Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, and France is large; but the immigrants from Italy, Austro- Hungary, Russia, and the Balkan States are almost wholly unskilled. The immigrants from the first-mentioned countries come in families to make America their home ; a large percent- age of those from the last-mentioned countries come alone, with the expectation of returning to the fatherland after a few years' absence. The people of northwestern Europe brought with them religious and political ideals which made their assimi- •lation, comparatively speaking, an easy matter; but the peoples of southeastern Europe in these respects are much further re- moved from American standards, and the work of assimilation is a far more serious task. These differences justify dividing European immigrants into two classes — the northwestern and the southeastern ; the major part of the former came to America previous to 1890, and is called the old immigration; while the major part of the latter came since that year, and is called the new immigration.
Economic Cause. — Chief among the causes of this phenom- enal inflow of European peoples is the economic. The farther east we move on the continent of Europe, the greater the pov- erty and wretchedness of the people. We are told that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the Balkan States in general, fifty per cent of the people suffer the want of food in winter. An Ameri- can, while waiting to be served in a restaurant in southern Russia, saw a hungry man rush in, snatch the food placed on an adjoining table, and, while escaping, gulp it down as a fam- ished beast. Miss M. E. Durham,1 in her travels in the Balkans, saw depths of poverty and wretchedness incredible to men who have lived in more favored countries. Let the peoples of these impoverished lands hear the call for men from America, learn of the high rate of wages paid unskilled labor, and the lure that attracts hundreds of thousands is at work. The great motive
1 "The Burden of the Balkans."
6 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
power which has forced men to roam in all ages impels the men of the new immigration to come to America. They seek a better country, where the struggle for subsistence is not as hard and the fruits of one's toil are more secure. But while ac- knowledging this, we should not overlook the fact that among the new immigrants there are individuals who are moved to come to this democracy by as lofty motives as ever moved the Puritan Fathers.
The Ambitious Come. — A young Italian, living in Detroit, came to America at a great sacrifice. His father placed him in a religious college in Europe, and mapped out his studies for one of the professions. His young soul revolted against the management of the college, and he longed for freedom. He heard of the United States, and resolved to escape from the institution. He made his way to one of the ports, and then worked for his transportation over the sea and came to America. The young man had never done manual labor, but he had the right spirit in him, and was ready to pay the price of liberty. He began work for thirty dollars a month, and went to night school to study English. He is now studying law, and his am- bition is to become a leader among his people. He is happy in the enjoyment of freedom. In a lunchroom in New York City I met a young man — a foreigner — serving at table. I asked him: "Where did you come from?" he replied: "From Russia — from St. Petersburg." He was a fine fellow, a supe- rior kind of a man, fit for better things than waiting on table ; and in an apologetical manner he said : " I am a graduate of the gymnasium, and have a diploma as draughtsman, but I cannot talk English, and so must do this for a time." " Well, why did you come to this country? " " I wanted more educa- tion," was his reply, " and I am going to one of the colleges." He is now in college. When a school for foreigners was started in New Brunswick, N.J., a dozen young men came together, two of whom wanted to prepare for college — one was anxious to perfect himself in dentistry, the rudiments of which art he had learned in Europe, and the other wanted to perfect himself in civil engineering. A larger piece of bread and butter than
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE 7
they were wont to have in Europe is not the craving of thou- sands of youths who leave the old for the new world. Their ambition is to go to seats of higher learning ; but in Europe the cost as well as their social status is prohibitive. They hear, in the old country, of America and its democratic institutions, and, turning their faces to the west, they hope to realize their ambi- tion. And to the glory of America be it said that its colleges and universities have thrown open their doors to thousands of these young men, who are zealously improving the opportuni- ties offered them.
The Persecuted Come. — A Pole, not long ago, settled in Chicago. He was a teacher in Warsaw — a specialist in teach- ing the Polish language. Inactivity and success aroused the suspicion of Russian officials: They gave him notice to quit and closed his school. His income was two thousand dollars a year — a handsome income in Warsaw. In wrath he left the city and came to America, longing for a country where he could practice his art without molestation. He could not talk English, but began to study it, and while doing so worked for a dollar and a half a day. This exile still works, but hopes to become a professor. His wife and children are still in the father- land, but he longs for the day when he can bring them to Amer- ica, the land of freedom, and make this country his permanent home. I met a man in New York City who was the editor of an Esthonian paper. A class to study English was organized in his office, of which he and twelve other men were students. After one of the lessons the teacher sat conversing with the group that was rapidly mastering the English language. During the conversation, one of the men, pointing to the editor, said : " If he goes back to Esthonia, he'll be shot." We asked, " Why? " and his offense was, that as a patriot he had dared write some articles against the Russian government and its policy in his native country. To escape Siberia he came to America. I met a Russian, in Erie, Pa., an employee in a foundry, whose fine stature and military bearing attracted attention. On in- quiry who that man was the following story was told. The man belonged to the Russian army and was assigned to duty
8 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
in Siberia. He had charge of one of the mines in which several political prisoners were enslaved. His soul was stirred within him as he witnessed their toil and suffering. He conspired to liberate a troop of these martyrs, but in doing this he himself would have to flee. The prisoners made good their escape, and so did the soldier — all came to America, and the old guard was earning his bread in one of the foundries of this country. Was there any one in Erie who fathomed the depths of that man's soul, who had risked his life and sacrificed his living to save his fellow-men from a fate more terrible than death ? In one of the camps of New York State two Hebrews worked. They spoke Hebrew and were scholars, for they had taught in one of the colleges of Russia; but they were suspected of being advocates of anarchy, and had to flee if they valued life and lib- erty. These two men were not here from economic reasons. Who can tell how many among a million men, coming to North America, emigrate for other reasons than the desire to get more to eat and wear ? Finland and Esthonia, Lithuania and Poland, Dalmatia and Bosnia, Slovakland and Croatia, are ruled by foreign sovereigns, and patriots in each of these countries feel keenly the heel of oppression; when they speak or write against the powers that be, they are spotted men, and their peace lies in fleeing to another land, where freedom of speech and freedom of the press is the heritage of all its sons.
America Attracts. — The big loaf has its attraction, but America stands for much more than enough to eat and to drink. If we imagine that the majority of immigrants from southeastern Europe are devoid of imagination to appreciate the freedom and liberty, the education and the industrial organization, the democratic atmosphere and the opportunities America has to offer, we do not know the heart of the foreigner. Vallori says l that Italians in the United States " look upon their own country as a cruel stepmother, as a land of taxes, military serv- ice, and police, and associated with anarchists." They do this, for they have had a taste of better things in America. They have enjoyed the blessings of a higher civilization, and we
1 "Italian Life in Town and Country," p. 115.
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE 9
can trust them to write of these in the million letters that go back annually to the fatherland.
The Land of Refuge. — In a factory in Concord some Ar- menians were working. In conversation with the superin- tendent he told us of a Turk whom he had employed a few weeks previous, who was actually driven from the shop by the Arme- nian employees. The manager asked the leader of the group why they drove out the Turk ; the Armenian at once uncovered his neck, showed a hole that recorded a ghastly wound, and said : "A Turk gave me that and I can't work with one in the same shop." While visiting an Armenian family in New Britain, the wife told me of the cruel murder of her father and brother because they dared to believe in another God than that pro- claimed by the Mohammedan. And are there not thousands now in North America whom pious rage in blackest form drove from their native soil, in whose brain still lingers the image of the mangled corpse of their loved ones — murdered by Chris- tian hands ? These fled to the land where religious freedom is the right of all, where they enjoy its benign influence, after a long night of terror that still clings to the heart like a hideous nightmare when one awakens from sleep. Let not the economic argument lose any of its importance, but to impute this to all immigrants is to argue that man can live by bread alone. Mili- tarism, landlordism, taxation, espionage, oppression, religious persecution, are unpleasant facts to-day in southeastern Euro- pean countries, and it is not given to any one man or a body of men to say how far political and religious idealism are responsi- ble for the incoming millions.
Aspirations and Hopes. — The new immigration, as before stated, differs much from the old. The people of southeastern Europe are poor, illiterate, and unskilled as compared with those of the Baltic nations ; they have lived under forms of government which are oppressive and autocratic, their religious concepts differ widely from those of nations to the northwest; and yet 'these men of the new immigration have aspirations and hopes much like the immigrants of previous generations. A young Persian had learned something of America and its in-
10 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
stitutions, and his prayer was " O my heavenly Father ! Let me visit the country whose natives are enjoying the glories and blessings of liberty and freedom and whose hearts are full of love and patriotism. O God, let the blessed day come when I shall kiss the shores of that sacred country where Washington fought for the liberty of his nation." For years this dream haunted him. At last he reached a port and managed to get aboard a ship going to France. From that country he made his way to the United States, and when he set foot on land, he fell and kissed the soil, for the longing of his soul was realized. When Bulgaria, in 1908, was breaking the last links in the shackles binding it to the Sultan, and the Bulgarian prince aspired to the title of king, 10,000 of these people were in the habit of assembling on Sundays in Granite City, Illinois, to dis- cuss the affairs of their native land, to pass resolutions in behalf of freedom, and subscribe aid to the cause they loved. The Slovak National Society, the Polish National Alliance, etc., have carried and still carry on agitation in Europe in defense of freedom. Their influence for freedom is felt in legislative halls of Europe, confounding princes, disturbing autocrats, leavening the masses with new ideas of the rights of the people and social justice. These men are moved by motives which cannot be classified under the category of bread and beef. A professor in Galicia, writing of the benefit America confers upon the young men who emigrate, says : " There are so many good qualities not developed in our European conditions, as the spirit of intense working, the incomparable spirit of enter- prise, the energy, the faculty of correct observation, the re- sourcefulness, the powerful moral sense, the spirit of civil and human duty, the wonderful executive ability, and the American schools." These are thirds which perish not in the using, and as long as European and Asiatic young men know that they can enjoy these privileges in this favored land, thousands will leave their homes in quest of the light to be obtained in educational and industrial institutions developed by a free governing people on soil which knows not the heritage of autoc- racy and tyranny burdening older countries.
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE II
The Power of the Letter. — The most potent factor in swell- ing the stream of immigration are the letters forwarded to the old folks at home. And the contents of these millions of mis- sives sent across the sea, could we but read them, would reveal the heart of the foreigner as nothing else can. Joseph, one of our students, wrote to his brother, Michael, still in Russia, and this was the burden of his letter : " Michael, this is a glorious country ; you have liberty to do as you will. You can read what you wish, and write what you like, and talk as you have a mind to, and no one arrests you." Every fall tens of thousands of foreign-speaking young men attend night schools to learn the English language, and the instruction is, for the most part, free. Is there any wonder that they admire our public schools and praise America's institutions? In every public gallery in our large cities, foreign-speaking visitors are conspicuous. Trolley cars and trains, steamboats and ferries, on holidays and Sundays, are well patronized by the foreign-born. They enjoy themselves and feel perfectly free to do so, without fear of mo- lestation. Our parks and our amusement resorts appeal to them, and they are welcome there. America means perfect freedom to go and come in perfect peace - a thing not known in southeastern European countries, where conventionality, usage, social status, and bureaucracy prescribe limitations which weigh heavily upon the working classes. These privi- leges, this freedom, this democracy, are fully described in the letter sent to the folks in the fatherland, and it fires the ambi- tion, quickens the hope, and strengthens the will, of thousands to emigrate that they also may enjoy these blessings. The silent letter is the most eloquent advocate of emigration.
Prosperity Promotes. — The letter often carries news of prosperity, or, better still, contains a present to the folks at home ; then its charm is more potent than a hundred agents of steamship companies looking out for business. When Jan Smyda had received two barrels of Hungarian wine from his native country, I asked him, " Where did you get it? " He proudly replied, " From my farm." He had bought an estate in his native country in the hope of spending his latter days
12 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
there in peace. He had eight children, all born in America, so when it came to a vote whether or not they would settle on the farm in Hungary, Jan and his wife were outvoted, and the farm was turned over to his brother. That farm was one of the most potent agencies in stimulating emigration. Smyda was the son of a farm laborer. His father owned nothing but a pair of strong hands. Jan came to this country on borrowed capital, and spent the first night in an express wagon, for he did not have money to go to a hotel. But he had the elements of success in him, and the estate he bought bore testimony to the fact and proclaimed it to all within a hundred miles of that place. Thousands of others had emigrated to America from that neighborhood. Some of them had been heard from in a small way, most of them improved their circumstances, but the pos- sibilities of America were measured by Jan Smyda's success. " Big Sam " lives in Pittsburgh. He is a Croatian, and is chief of the Croatians in that part of the city where he resides. " Big Sam " owned a saloon and was prosperous. As he led us to the rear of the building where the family lived, we passed an aged woman at the hydrant, and Sam said: "This is my mother." She smiled and curtsied. I asked him, "Are all your folks here? " " Yes," was his reply. " I came first, and now all the family are here, and not only that, all the males among our relatives have come, so that you will not find a male Mamula in my native village from the age of eighteen to fifty, they are all in America." Sam had led the way and prospered; and his success had induced others to follow.
The Gold Stream. — This stream of gold — the measure of the thrift of the immigrants — flowing to the fatherland, is con- .stantly referred to as an objection against the new immigration. Would we have it different ? How can these young men, who come to us in the heyday of their strength, pay part of the debt they owe to home and fatherland, save by sending across the sea a part of their earnings? Has not the young man, who saves his hard earnings and sends a part of it to father or mother in Europe, qualities which add to his value as a prospective member of our family? Thrift, generosity, and filial affection
t
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE 13
are qualities we cannot get too much of in our land, and the thousands of young men, sending money across the sea, and thus in part discharging their obligation to parents, are practicing virtues which will bring forth a hundredfold when these men found homes of their own in the land of their adoption.
Birds of Passage. — There are thousands of other immi- grants who enter and never think of becoming members of our family; they come as pilgrims — for a season, work here and there, accumulate a few hundred dollars, and then return to their families. These are " birds of passage, " and come from the countries bordering the United States north and south, and also from European countries. It is commonly said that these men are no benefit to the country. The young man who comes to stay and found a family, although he sends money to his parents for a few years, will ultimately add to the strength of the nation ; but the " birds of passage " go out themselves and take their savings with them. The sum each man takes out may not be much, but the total amount runs up to the millions ; this is a loss to the country. In this connection it is well to recall the truth established when the old Physiocratic fallacy regarding the importance of gold to national prosperity was discussed, namely, that the prosperity of a country does not consist in the amount of gold it has, but rather in the amount of capital goods used in the production of wealth and in the freedom of trade and communication. If this truth holds good in the twentieth century — and no economist disputes it — then the men who have worked in mill and mine, in factory and shop, helping us to produce the sum total of the wealth of the nation, by going out of the country, taking their savings with them, have not left us poorer, but rather richer. We have more to enjoy and additional tools to produce more wealth because of their tarrying with us for a season. The Hudson Tunnel is an asset to New York City, it is an invaluable agency in the production of wealth ; and the Italians who dug it, if all of them had returned to Italy with their savings, would have enriched us by their toil.
Do We Get Too Many ? — Are there too many immigrants
14 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
coming? North America — Canada and the United States — comprises some seven million square miles of territory, and the total population is a little over one hundred million. That is, this continent, so highly blessed of God with boundless wealth and possibilities, has about fifteen persons to the square mile. When the Indians possessed the land, they were less than one to the square mile, and they thought there was no room for immigrants.1 We have justified our coming by saying that a hundred million persons using the seven million square miles is a better use of God's gift to man than the use made of it by the Indians. Have we come to the limit of the subsistence of this part of the earth now enjoyed by us? Is fifteen to the square mile all this favored land can support? Professor W J McGee says not.2 The countries from which we get the best class of immigrants have from 200 to 590 per square mile, and the sustaining power of the soil of America is estimated to be 500 to the square mile. We have shamefully wasted the re- sources of mountain and plain, forest and river, regardless of the claims of future generations. Our system of agriculture has cursed rather than blessed the land. We have abused the bounties of Providence and closed the door against those who would gather the crumbs that fall from our tables. Have we any moral right to do this, any more than the Indians had when they tried to close the door against the white men? We have a continent to subdue, and the wealth in mountain and stream is given of God to man and not to Anglo-Saxon, Teuton, or Kelt. The Southern states and those of the Pacific Coast suffer for the want of men, and they can take a million a year for
1 Professor W J McGee estimates that the aboriginal huntsmen occupying "what is now the mainland United States, were not over 2,500,000 (perhaps not more than 1,250,000), or much less than one per square mile." — "Soil Erosion," U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 71, p. 24.
1 "A five-acre farm supplied with, say, five feet of water, suffices for a family of five, or an inhabitant per acre (cities balancing more barren tracts) ; and on this basis the 5,000,000 acre-feet, constituting the total yearly water supply of mainland United States, would suffice for a population of about 1,000,000,000, which at the current rate of increase will be reached in some three centur:es, i.e. a future span equal to that passed since the Pilgrims landed on P' -mo th Rock." — "Soil Erosion" U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 71, p. 14.
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE 15
the next decade, and yet there will be room for millions more. We need better distributing facilities ; but to say that the land is too full is to talk without knowledge of the facts. Moreover, we would look in vain for an American who is not proud of the fact that the nation numbers 100,000,000 and every city in the Union that doubled its population hi the last decade advertises the fact and boasts of its growth. The foreign-born immigrant is an essential factor in the increase of population, and if our ambition is to be a strong and powerful people, the contribution made by European nations should not produce qualms.
Is the Stock Poor ? — Are we getting poor stock — men who are degenerate, diseased, vicious, criminal, etc.? Let us hear what the Immigration Commission has to say upon this point. " The present-day emigration from Europe to the United States is for the most part drawn from country districts and smaller cities or villages, and is composed largely of the peasantry and unskilled laboring classes . . . the present movement is not recruited in the main from the lowest economic and social strata of the population . . . (it) represents the stronger and the better element of the particular class from which it is drawn." 1 Furthermore we cannot be receiving the poorest of European races if the laws regulating the admission of immi- grants are enforced. " Idiots, insane persons, epileptics, and those suffering from a loathsome or a dangerous, contagious disease " are excluded by law, and the physicians carefully examine every applicant for admission ; if the physical condi- tion of an immigrant is such that he cannot, in the doctor's judgment, earn a living, he is marked " low vitality " or " poor physique," and is excluded. Any one visiting Ellis Island and watching the care with which the surgeons do their work will not assert that we are getting a degenerated and diseased stock. By the sifting process more than fifty thousand have been sent
1 Abstract of Report on "Emigration Conditions in Europe," pp. 11-12. This opinion of the Commission is very different from that recently expressed by Prescott T. Hall, who says: "They are the defective and delinquent classes of Europe — the individuals who have not been able to keep the pace at home and have fallen into the lower strata of its civilization." North America Review, January, 1912.
1 6 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
back in the last decade, and twofold that number was rejected by the sifting process instituted on the Continent by the ship- ping companies and the governments of Europe.1 And this is not the only sifting process. No sooner is the immigrant admitted than he is put to the test by our industrial organiza- tion.2 The strain and stress found in our mills and mines, in our shops and factories, are not met with in any other country. Thousands of foreigners every year fail in the test, and turn their faces homeward as soon as they can get money to pay transportation, and many of them go without paying for it. A young Russian, apparently strong and well built, came to my office recently, and his plea was to be sent back home. He had no money, neither did he have the heart to go to earn it in any industrial plant. That man had tried and failed. A doctor examined him, and said, " He's sound in every way " — he was afraid and could not stand the stress incident to Ameri- can labor. He represented thousands more. How often have we heard that the twenty-eight per cent returning are those who have made their " pile " and are going back to enjoy it. If this were true, no true American would object ; but it is not the fact. Among the throng are the unfit, weeded out by our
1 Few people in America have any idea of the weeding process going on in Europe before emigrants can secure a berth on a ship. The German government has thirteen frontier stations, and during the year ending in June, 1907, turned back 11,814 out of 455,916 intended emigrants. The Austro-American Company has a physician at each of its subagencies in Greece, and the emigrant must have a medi- cal certificate before he can be booked, and before he goes on board the chief phy- sician at the port of embarkation must pass upon him. "In ordinary years at least four intending emigrants are turned back by the steamship companies before leaving a European port to one debarred at United States ports of arrival." In a period of thirteen months 5301 more emigrants were turned back at European ports than were debarred at United States ports in three years (1907-1909) , and besides the 39,681 refused berths in eighteen ports, it is estimated that another 11,000 were turned back at the remaining ten ports not reporting. — See pages 37-41, Immi- gration Commission Abstract Report on "Emigration Conditions in Europe."
1 The Immigration Commission, commenting on the stream of young men going back to Europe each year, says: "It is not due to lack of opportunity for employ- ment . . . the movement is due to various causes, including dissatisfaction, ill health, the desire to rejoin family and friends, and the fulfillment of an ambition to possess a sufficient amount of money to make life at home less of a struggle." — Page 26, " Emigration Conditions in Europe. " See also note in addenda on Returning Immi- grants.
INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATE 17
industrial system, and they go back to Europe where the drive and hurry of American life are not found.1 If North Americans deal justly, execute impartially the present immigration laws, attend more carefully to the work of distribution, the incoming stream will in future, as in the past, be of incalculable value to the country. Of course, there will be some tares among the wheat, but taking the people as a whole, they, under just and impartial administration, will be a source of strength and wealth to the nation.
Good Qualities. — No quality that adds to the dignity of manhood is wanting in the new immigration. Courage, pa- tience, self-sacrifice, thrift, generosity, filial affection, obedience, ambition, aspiration, love of personal liberty, longing for free- dom of the press, of speech, and of religion, — all these quali- ties and concepts are met with to-day in many immigrants from southeastern Europe. To believe otherwise is a twofold wrong, — a wrong to the immigrant and a greater wrong to ourselves. Idealism has of old been a quality inherent in many of these people ; if we believe that many of these men are here in quest of higher things than the dollar, we will find in them " Coming Americans," and they will help to leaven the foreign colony with American ideas and ideals.
1 Herbert Francis Sherwood, who accompanied the Federal Immigration Com- mission on its European tour, writes : " The fact that sixty-eight, or more than one fifth of those on the Canopic, were leaving America because they were sick, taken with corroborating facts gleaned elsewhere, indicates that a portion of the normal eastward movement is a self-elimination of the unfit from our working force." — " The Ebb of the Immigration Tide," Review oj Reviews, December, 1911.
CHAPTER II
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE
THE detention of immigrants in Ellis Island is fraught with many hardships. All the detained bewail their misfortune; hundreds of them are bitter and resentful. The following letter received from one of these unfortunates is representative: " We are two young men, brothers, who suffer here very much for nothing. I had been in this country for ten years, and last October went to Brussells to see my parents. I brought my brother with me to put him in an American school: The immi- gration authorities excluded us. After three days they called us and they said we could stay if we appealed to the Commis- sioner. We wrote an appeal, but after he put us in jail between 300 and 400 men we did not hear from him since [twelve days later]. We stay in the same place until now helpless. They feed us poorly and sleep on beds which even those who committed crimes don't use. Living under such circumstances, we become sick both of us. We wish to go back or to be let free, otherwise we sure will lose our health forever." We have heard some- thing of the crowded condition of Ellis Island, but the half has not been told. A recent immigrant says : " Immigrants ar- riving at Ellis Island are crowded in pens by day and at night sleep on iron shelves."
Ellis Island. — - Accommodations on the Island have been en- larged, but they are still inadequate when the immigration in- flow is high. If in one day twenty-three hundred souls are detained and packed into the detention rooms, we are safe in saying that no part of New York City as more congested than the rooms these occupy on Ellis Island.^ This is not due to the
*" Frequently there are as many as 1800 or 2000, and yet there are on Ellis Island not over 1800 beds, almost all in tiers of three each. In the largest men's dormitory the beds number 432, and the width of the passageway between each
18
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE 19
men in charge of the station ; it is an inevitable condition because of the want of adequate space to meet the need. The accom- modations furnished are limited. <^Vhen the number of the detained passes beyond a thousand, there is congestion and consequent suffering. The air in the room where three hundred men are kept is foul and sickening. The government has tried to remedy this by installing suction fans, but the effort is not successful.X When hundreds of persons breathe continuously in the same room, a very effectual system of ventilation must be installed to keep the air sweet. Proper ventilation is as much the letting in of fresh as it is the removing of foul air, and the appliances to do this are wanting in the construction^ of the detention quarters on the Island. The present Immi- gration Commissioner, as well as his predecessors, is doing the best he can with the equipment at his command ; and before he or any other man can provide adequate accommodations to the detained, when immigration brings more than 100,000 per month, Congress must be more liberal in its appropriations, so that the necessary additions and improvements may be made.1 / Personal Cleanliness. — Every time one visits the deten- tion rooms, he feels that a system of enforced personal cleanli-
n in the MunicipiEcri^odging House,
_ _
would be a blessing. Bathing ^facilities are furnished the de- tained, but very few avail themselves of them. ^11 classes and conditions of steerage passengers are herded together in one room — the men in the room to the east, women and children
line of tiers is only 2 feet. When all the beds are occupied, as frequently they are, the congestion in this room is very great, and since it has only an easterly ex- posure the temperature on summer nights may be 100°.
" In addition the ventilation is very imperfect. Unfortunately it is necessary to use it also as a day room, though being encumbered with beds it is obviously in- appropriate for this purpose. It is often necessary to detain occupants of this room a week, especially those who are excluded, since the lines bringing them usually send out their steamers only once a week. The conditions in the other large dormitories are not unlike those just described." — Pages 4-5, Annual Re- port of the Commissioner of Immigration for the Port of New York.
1 Hon. William Williams, Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, has asked Congress for an appropriation of $788,000 for improvements necessary for efficient service in Ellis Island. See Annual Report, 1911.
20 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
in that to the west. The garments they wear are those they wore on the voyage, and that peculiar, reeking stench of steerage compartments still clings to them. There are accommodations furnished to wash clothes, but few of the immigrants have with them a change of apparel, so that it is impossible for them to put on clean garments. The men do not undress as they retire for the night -\ all they do is to remove their shoes, after the custom of southeastern peoples. When crowding occurs, the same room is occupied day and night. The combination of odors of twenty different nations is demoralizing, and the effect upon the weak and nervous is serious. sMen, are detained in these rooms from ten days to as many weeks.^ Most of them have not the faintest idea as to the value of personal cleanliness, or the necessity of a change of garments, or the need of keeping the room clean. The installation of a system of compulsory bathing, provision for a change of garments, and a more thor- ough cleansing and disinfecting of their clothes would impress these thousands with the idea that America stands for cleanli- ness in person and garment.
Bitter Complaints. — Of all the detained, the men from northwestern Europe are loudest and bitterest in their com- plaints. A young English artist, who was in straitened cir- cumstances, arrived and was detained for a week under the Contract Labor Law. His lot was cast in one large room among hundreds of foreign-speaking men of varied ranks and condi- tions. It was all he could do to stand this confinement without getting sick. His question was : " Is this the reception America gives Englishmen — to be imprisoned with unwashed foreigners in a room where the air is foul and sickening ? When at evening they take off their shoes, it's almost beyond endurance. I stand by the window, and spend most of the night out of the berth." I remember a woman, well-dressed and respectable, crying bitterly because she was detained. She protested most vigor- ously to " being put in the same room with Italians, Jews, etc., to sleep with them and to eat at the same table ; why could she not go to New York City? She had taken care of herself in London and Melbourne, and was able to do so here." Scores
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE 21
of English-speaking people thus detained protest vehemently against the promiscuous mingling of races. Scandinavians and Germans also complain. The standards of northwestern Europeans differ widely from those of southeastern Europeans, and they will not dwell amicably together. If ample room were provided, a segregration according to similarity of tastes might be possible.1 Detention at best is irksome, and immi- grants having pride of race highly developed will complain; but it is important that the quarters wherein they are detained — be their race whatever it will — should not be a menace to health.
^Deportation for Trivial Causes. — The work of deportation is accompanied by many hardships. Some men are turned back fo&. very trivial causes. ( Four Greeks came from Patras, a distance of more than 4500 miles, and their destination was Canada. The law of that country demands that each immi- grant going to a city in the Dominion must have $25 over and above transportation to destination. Each of these men had $24.37, and the four were rejected. A score of men, learning of their difficulty, would have gladly supplied the deficiency, but no, they could not enter. It was suggested that they apply for entrance into the United States, and one of the officials was consulted. His reply was : " We don't take Canada's rejected." The men were deported for want of the sixty-three cents each, although they were admissible in every other respect. The law of the United States does not specify any special sum which the immigrant must have ; but those who have little money and no friends are deported — the plea advanced is, that they are liable to become public charges, and have no visible means of subsistence. Immigrants who only lack money are sent to the temporary de- tained rooms. If they can find a relative who can become their security, or who will advance them a reasonable sum of money,
1 "It is also to be remembered that the habits of some immigrants are cleanly, of others filthy. The two kinds object seriously to detention in the same room, and those of cleanly habits often say unpleasant things of the others, yet we are unable, for lack of space, to separate them as they should be separated." — Pages 4-5, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Immigration for the Port of New York.
22 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
they will be admitted. A young Pole, eighteen years of age, who wanted to go to his brother in Weston, Pa., was detained for the want of money. He was a fine-looking man, and would land if he had some cash. Many persons were anxious to help him, but there were four Westons in Pennsylvania, and the question was, to which of these is he destined? Four letters were written, one to each of the four Westons. Six days passed by and no reply was received. The representative of the Government Employment Bureau visited the room and offered the young man work. He demurred, and said he wanted to go to his brother. On the seventh day he was removed to the deportation room to be sent back to Europe. That day word was received from his brother, and the young man was saved, just in the nick of time, from deportation.
Mistakes of Others. — 'Some men are detained because of the mistakes of others^? A young immigrant, who had $30 in his possession, entrusted it to the purser of the ship in which he came. The officer forgot to return the money, and the man was detained on the charge " no money." His story was be- lieved by one of the missionary agents on the Island, and the case was taken up with the captain of the steamship. The facts as stated by the man were true, the cash returned, and the immigrant landed. Another young man was one day found in great distress. He had $20 in foreign money, which he gave to a friend to change for him. The one was going to New York and the other to Chicago. They were separated, and the distressed young immigrant in the railroad room realized his plight — penniless and a thousand-mile journey before him. Again a missionary agent came to the rescue. He ran to the package boat about to start for the Battery, called out the name of the man, secured the cash, and returned it to its rightful owner. Another man was threatened with detention because he had lost his railroad ticket. A thorough search was made in the immigrant railroad room, but to no purpose. He was going to Johnstown, and was given the choice of either purchasing another ticket or going back to the detention rooms. There was no way to help the poor man, and from his scant supply of cash
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE 23
he had to pay $10.50 so that he might continue his journey. A Bulgarian was found in the detention room for the reason that, in his confusion when before the inspector, he could not tell where he was going.1 A missionary sat with him a little while, and soon the address was found. The case was explained to the proper authority, and the man was landed. Three men were found in the temporary detained quarters, because they did not have their medical cards. The ship officials had neglected to give these to them. The cards were procured, but the men lost three days' time through no fault of their own. A young Greek boy was coming to his brother. The agent who booked him advised the lad to say that he was going to his father. He did so. A telegram was sent to his father, but when the reply came the sender stated that he was not his father, but his brother. The boy was de- ported on the ground of moral turpitude.
Some are Robbed. — Sometimes an immigrant is robbed of all his money on the voyage. A young man had 200 francs stolen from him on board. He was detained for the want of money. He immediately communicated with his relatives, and after three days' delay was on his way to his brother. The most touching cases are those of mothers, with little children, waiting word from their husbands inland, so that they may proceed. One of these, a Swedish mother and four children, lost her money and the trunk in which the children's clothes were kept — all the garments the little ones possessed were gone, and a long journey to the northwest awaited them. The mother was helpless and in great distress, but the matron on the Island, together with missionaries, came to her aid. Proper clothing was secured, and kind-hearted friends contributed sufficient money to enable her to continue the journey.
Trying to Escape. — Immigrants are generally willing to do all in their power to get off the Island. It is called the " prison," and many are the tears shed by those who have no hope. The officials on the Island tell of a Russian who made a
1 All immigrants must have an address or destination, and of the new immigra- tion 97 per cent of the total admitted were destined to relatives and friends, and of the old immigration 89.4 per cent. — " Emigration Conditions in Europe," p. 30.
24 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
dash for liberty. He escaped the vigilance of the guard, plunged into the water, and swam to the Jersey shore. He was captured and deported, being afflicted with a disease which debarred his landing. Once on the Island, the chances of escape are few. Each must pass the examination prescribed by the government, and many are the friends who are divided. Two bosom friends may cross the ocean ; the one lands and the other is debarred. This is touching at all times, but when one child in a family cannot enter, and all the members are hoping against hope — then heart-rending cases occur.
A Sad Case. — A sad case was that of a woman with two children from the Barbadoes. She was detained for the reason that her husband did not accompany her. Before she could be deported, her two children were taken to the hospital with diphtheria, and for six weeks they were under the care of physi- cians. They were discharged, and mother and children were ready to leave. Before they started, however, the children came down again with scarlet fever, and were taken once more to the hospital. One of the little ones died, and after another six weeks the other was discharged. Again they prepared to sail, but before the boat started the mother was taken to the hospital, and there gave birth to a child. When she was discharged, the husband wired that he was on his way, so she and her children waited his coming. He took his wife and children from Ellis Island, where they had lived five months.
Mothers Suffer. — When a child is taken down with a con- tagious disease, and removed to the special hospital for these cases, the mother endures a trying ordeal. She cannot go to the child, she cannot give him a drink of cold water, she cannot say a cheering word to the child of her bosom — all she can do is to wait, and wait, and wait, and the hours are long, and the days pass so slowly. One of these mothers, on her way to join her husband in Minnesota, waited for two months for the re- turn of her child ; at last he came, and both mother and child joined the father. But when they don't come back, and the weeping mother has to go without the child of her love — then the heart alone knows its bitterness.
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE 25
A Family Divided. — To see a family divided is a sight few want to witness. Almost every mother with children crossing the ocean does so to join her husband. One of these came with four children, one of whom was pronounced mentally weak and could not enter. The mother and the other three were phys- ically sound, but deportation was the lot of the youngest child. What would she do, go to her husband in the West, or return to her native country with her child? She chose the former. When the hour of parting came, it was pitiful to see the mother clinging to that little weak one, whom she consigned to a friend to take back to her mother, who would watch over him. Another touching case was that of a little crippled girl who came to join her family in America. She was told that she dHkl not land. Her father and mother, brothers and sisters, ^K here ; she would be so glad to go to them. The case was taken to Wash- ington, and the humane feeling of the Secretary «fc Commerce and Labor did the ri At thing — the girl was landed after a delay of three weeks. ™
Some Fraud Practiced. — Sometimes persons refused admis- sion at one port will try another. Ellis Island has the repu- tation of having a more rigid examination than any other port on the continent. The personal factor in the enforcement of the law counts for a great deal. A lady who applied for admis- sion as a steerage passenger in Ellis Island was detained and deported because of a tuberculous condition of the glands of the neck. As soon as she reached the port of embarkation, she took passage, as a cabin passenger, in another ship, destined for another port, and was landed without any difficulty. While visiting Canada the following advertisement fell into my hand : " For a couple of dollars you can insure your furniture for three years. Agent for the Mutual Life Insurance Company at New York. Issue certificate of marriage, license, citizen papers. Make all kinds of legal papers, passports, give permits for old or crippled people to be allowed to land in Canada. Give papers to get into the States so you will not have to pay the $4. Can do almost anything you need done and not charge you too much." It is a difficult task to guard 18,000 miles of coast
26 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
line so that speculators will not take their chances to land men who cannot otherwise enter. Of course these persons are often put to considerable trouble and exp A friend of mine
living in a small town in Vermont said that the Chinamen in the laundry there changed very often. It is well known that no group of immigrants are more capable of making their way in the States than the Chinese, although it costs them large sums of money to open the gates. I met a stowaway in the de- tention rooms in Ellis Island who came from Cuba. He was to be deported, but he said : " Back to the States I come again." More than 15,000 seamen made good their entrance into the country lastvear ; the traffic still goes on, for it is one of the most difficult to be dealt with by law. l
Contracrrobor Law. — But of all the legal causes of de- portation, that of the Contract Labor Law is the most sweeping. Men who come with an assurance of work, or hi other words a sure means of subsistence, cannot entgjt if, on the other hand, the authorities see that they have no^lisible means of support, .they are deported. All men who sympathize with American ' workers feel that the purpose of this law is worthy, but the / means to attain it clumsy and crude. In all the volumes writ- ten by the Immigration Commission no saner word is found than the following : " Indeed, it is certain that European immi- grants, and particularly those from southern and eastern Eu- rope, are, under a literal construction of the law, for the most part contract laborers, for it is unlikely that many emigrants embark for the United States without a pretty definite knowledge of where they will go and what they will do if admitted." 2 This law works great hardship to many poor people. If a group of persons come, having the same address, it is presumptive evi- dence that they are under contract and should be deported. Many groups of immigrants from the Balkan States, whence our newer immigration comes, have suffered in consequence of this ruling. ; A single address is often used by these people be-
1 See abstract report on "Alien Seamen and Stowaways," by Immigration Com- mission.
2 "Emigration Conditions in Europe," p. 31, by Immigration Commission.
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE 27
cause they start from the same town or village, and have been in communication with a friend residing at the point of their destination, who writes from the store or saloon of a countryman, using his stationery. This address is sometimes written in one handwriting, and on the same kind of paper, for the men themselves are illiterate and cannot write, and the agent from whom they bought their tickets accommodated them in this re- spect. Many cases of violation of the Contract Labor Law have been uncovered, but with thirty-five per cent illiteracy among the men of southeastern Europe, it would hardly seem reasonable to rule that the same address, in the same handwriting, presented by ten men, is evidence enough to debar them. Scores of Bul- garian and Macedonian peasants have been deported upon this plea. The authorities believed they violated the Contract Labor Law ; but is not their innocency in presenting the same < address, presumptive evidence that there was no collusion on their part to defeat the spirit or the letter of the law ? All the deported are poor, they spend money and time crossing the seas, they are detained for days and weeks in Ellis Island, and deportation is a great hardship. The chances are that the loss each man sustains will impoverish him for life — the savings of years are lost by men who did not know enough to get separate addresses. It would have been great kindness to them if they had been saved the trip across the sea and the anxiety of de- tention. Men bent on collusion devise schemes which are not as easily detected as is similarity of addresses. Is not the reasoning equally good, that any immigrant having an address is prima facie evidence that he has a job in sight ? Immigrants come in answer to America's call for workers, and every letter that contains a steamship ticket, or money to secure one, con- tains also an implied or expressed assurance that work awaits the incoming party.
A Broad Net. — The words " induce or solicit to migrate to this country by offers or promises of employment or in conse- quence of agreements, oral, written or printed," give a wide margin to the inspectors and the boards of special inquiry. A young Englishman, who had a friend in New York City, came
28 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
as a steerage passenger. He was very anxious to enter, and, fearing deportation because he had no assurance of work, he answered the question: "Do you have any work in view?" by saying, "Yes, my friend said I could get a job." It cost him a week in the detention room, and his friend spent two days coming to the Island, to testify before the board that he was not an employer of labor, that he had no work for the immigrant, but that he was wilUing to help him to find a job. The Board of Inquiry. — The immigrant, when he appears before the board of special inquiry, must stand alone ; he can- not get an advocate, and the examination is conducted behind closed doors. Most immigrants, when summoned before the board, are so confused and excited that they prejudice their case. In Canada, a young man, appearing before the medical examiner, became so nervous that he actually collapsed. He was taken to the hospital, and within a week, under the fatherly care of the physician, was in good shape and admitted. But under conditions hi Ellis Island, when the detention rooms are crowded, what chance has a sensitive and highly strung young man to make a favorable impression on a board that is laboring under the impression that a certain percentage ought to be de- ported ? l These men on the boards of special inquiry are very human. They have their prejudices and their dislikes, as all other men have. Two of the three members decide a case, but the third occasionally serves the immigrant well by giving the suggestion : " If he appeals, his chances are good to be ad- mitted." The personal factor plays an important part in de- portation. The laws regulating the admission of immigrants were exactly the same in 1910-1911 as they were in the previous
1 " The time has come when it is necessary to put aside false sentimentality in dealing with the question of immigration and to give more consideration to its racial and economic aspects and, in determining what additional immigrants we shall receive, to remember that our first duty is to our country." — Page 16, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Immigration for the Port of New York. The fact that the members of the board of special inquiry are selected by the port commissioner tends* to " influence its members in a greater or less degree to reflect in their decisions the attitude of the commissioner in determining the cases." — Immigration Commission : " Conclusions and Recommendations," p. 24.
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE 29
two years, but the number deported in the former period was a hundred per cent higher than in the latter. The record of 50,000 l immigrants sent back in two years (1910-1911) is un- precedented in the history of immigration.
iNo Lawyer Allowed. — Of course it is un-American to de- prive a man of liberty and happiness without due process of law ; but that is done on Ellis Island every time a special inquiry j case is tried and the defendant is forced to be his own advo- cate. Alone, in secret session, he must stand trial^ No Ameri- can would be thus treated, and yet our Declaration of Inde- pendence affirms that all men are equal, — a fundamental fact in our democracy that is belied every time an immigrant is subjected to this process. He is allowed no advocate, and no friend can appear save at the summons of the board. The character of the boards is well set forth in the words of the Immigration Commission : " At all the important ports the boards of special inquiry are composed of immigrant inspectors, who are generally without judicial or legal training. This, together with the fact that they are selected by the commissioners of immigration at the ports where they serve, tends to impair the judicial character of the board and to influence its members in a greater or less degree to reflect hi their decisions the at- titude of the commissioner in determining the cases. The character of their decisions is indicated somewhat by the fact, that nearly fifty per cent of the cases appealed are reversed by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, whose decision, uiicler the law, must be based solely upon the evidence adduced be- fore the board. This record of reversals on appeal suggests that their decisions which are not reviewed may be equally wrong." In justice to the immigrant, and to the country as well, the character of these boards should be improved. They should be composed of men whose ability and training fit them for the judicial functions performed, and the provision compelling their hearings to be separate and apart from the public should be repealed. 2
1 See note in addenda on " Debarred and Deported."
2 See " Conclusions and Recommendations," p. 24, by Immigration Commission.
30 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
Traffic in Boys. — The traffic in boys — especially Greek boys — in recent years has given the boards some of the most perplexing and trying cases to decide. To find out the truth of this underground traffic is most difficult. The immigrant is carefully trained, the subtle brain that plans the collusion hides behind the screen, and the inspectors cannot detect the fraud, although fairly well convinced that it is there, if they could only go a little deeper. I saw six Greek boys hi Ellis Island, all under fourteen years of age, who said they came to their fathers. The six were detained, and brought before the board of special inquiry. For curiosity' sake I took the ad- dress of two of these boys in order to see the shelter the fathers had to offer the lads. The men lived in wretched quarters in the tenement district of New York City. The board decided that it was not good for lads, at so tender an age, to leave their mothers, come to a strange country, and be consigned to their fathers. They needed their mothers, and back to them they must go. The judgment was a beneficent one.
Difficult Cases. — The boards have no sinecure. Some difficult cases are brought which exact the greatest acumen and patience at their command. Cases of prostitutes are about as hard as any. I saw a girl, apparently all right in every respect, in tears because she was detained. She had no friend or relative to whom to go. She was twenty-five years of age and quick-witted. The authorities consigned her to the care of one of the missionaries stationed on the Island. She stayed in the missionary home for a couple of weeks, and then left. The missionary was responsible to the Commissioner, and kept track of her charge. A month had not passed before ample evidence was secured to deport her. When the authorities are suspi- cious of young women who come 4B>, they follow the cases, and the arm of the government is a long one. In one instance it reached clear across the continent, and finally deported two demimondes of whom the detective said : " There was no trick they did not know," but it took six months' silent hunt to se- cure evidence.
The Hospital a Blessing. — The hospital service on Ellis
THE TRIALS AT THE GATE
/ -
I3' -
Island is a Godsend to many. No matter what disease attacks the immigrant, he is treated, without money and without price. Some very sad cases are recorded. Many treatments are highly complimentary to the skill and knowledge of the men in charge. A Scotchman, doubled up with pain, was taken to the hospital. The attack came on suddenly while the man was waiting for the train. He had left a wife and bairns in Scotland, and was very solicitous about them. We wrote letters for him to the wife, and every time the poor fellow thought of his plight and his beloved ones across the sea, he could hardly control his feeling. When the day of dismissal came, and he was able to continue his journey, the gratitude he manifested for the kindness, Jie had received was beautiful. He could not find language^slrong enough to show his appreciation of how America had Seated him. This case is typical^ Patients treated and healed, when they land, are thankful ^B;^ the Christian kindness and treatment they have received in this institution. A foreign-speaking man who had some chest trouble was under the care of the physicians for some weeks. The case was a com- plicated one, and a surgical operation required. The man got well, and was landed. To see his gratitude and the expression of thankfulness on his face was the best deliverance one could ever witness on the blessing of practical philanthropy. The hospital is rendering services of the highest order to immi- grants, and we are safe in stating that all who leave it are favor- ably impressed with America.
Ellis Island Interesting. — There is no place more interesting in New York City than Ellis Island, and the machinery is ad- mirably adapted to do the work in hand. There are many hardships incident to the enforcement of the laws, but in the nature of the case it cannot be otherwise. It is a " Babel- mandel " — a gate of tears — to many. There are also some humorous cases. Deputy Hurley, of Boston, tells of the ar- rival of a young woman who was detained because of an affection of the eyes. A young Jew secured a pass to see her, and then busied hims&'f in trying to secure her admission. After the first few days' vain effort, he asked permission to bring in a
32 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
friend to see her. The request was promptly granted. The friend came, tarried awhile, and left. No sooner was he gone than the young Hebrew appealed to the Commissioner to allow his wife to land. The friend he brought was a Rabbi, who per- formed the matrimonial ceremony, and the young man, being a citizen of the United States, had a right to land his wife, and the Commissioner was helpless to refuse his appeal.
Kindness Pays. — The trials at the gate are many ; some are unavoidable because of the enforcement of the law, others are avoidable if the necessities of all immigrants are met. A fair trial by competent men ought to be given each of the detained. The first impression made upon the immigrant is lasting; if it is unfavorable, the effect upon the nation is far reaching, and it develops to be a source of mischief in industrial and social relations; if it is favorable, a million hearts will be predis- posed to friendliness and sympathy with all that is American. On no other occasion in the life of the immigrant will the United States government have as favorable an opportunity to in- fluence him for good as when he lands. He is receptive and ambitious to please. He asks for bread; we should not give him a stone. Money spent in giving him as just and generous a reception as possible is well spent ; it is seed planted that will ripen to good citizenship and bring forth a hundredfold in corn- ing years.
CHAPTER III
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
THE men of the old immigration were free from anxiety con- cerning the government examination for admission. None dreaded it, and during the voyage across the ocean none referred to it as a cause of anxiety. It is very different at present, especially among the men of the new immigration. Fifty thousand souls sent back to Europe in the last two years has had its effect both upon steamship companies and upon small communities. The former have become more careful in their examinations previous to selling tickets to prospective emi- grants ; the latter judge the chances of admission by the type of men deported, and are learning that the government of the United States is annually becoming more critical as to the qual- ity and character of men admitted.
States in Control. — The examination of immigrants landing in the port of New York previous to 1882 was in the hands of the state of New York. State sovereignty as regards im- migration was the rule. Each state having a port of land- ing had power to regulate immigration as it thought best. This was almost equal to no regulation, and the few rules that were enforced differed so greatly in the several ports that uniformity in the treatment of immigrants was a hope- less dream. Variation and confusion was the result, and as long as the several states had the regulating power, there was no deliverance. After much litigation and discussion, the Federal Government in the above year assumed control and uni- form laws were passed and enforced in all American ports. Many changes have been effected since the national govern- ment has taken charge ; but when a law regulating immigration is passed by Congress, it is equally applicable to the port of Galveston in Texas, as to that of Portland in Maine, or San D 33
34 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
Francisco in California. Up to 1882, little or no regulation existed, so that detention and its terrors did not affect the old immigration ; since then, the gates have been fairly well guarded, and the trend of laws regulating immigration is to make them narrower year after year. This increased restriction has kept pace with the increased inflow from southeastern Europe, and both are related as cause and effect. It is safe to say that the present laws effectually keep out the pauper and the physically un- sound. Criminals and moral delinquents have at all times been able to find entrance into the country. It is impossible to frame laws which will keep these out, but we have reason to believe that the vigilance of Federal officers and the three years' probation imposed upon all aliens have greatly reduced the number of criminals and moral delinquents entering the country. t
In Ellis Island. — r As before stated, the first impre'ssions made upon the immigrant are very important, and some of the deepest are made in the first few days after they are landed. Possibly the first is that made in Ellis Island. As the hundreds of thousands of steerage passengers file into this imposing building, they come for.the first time face to face with the United States Go vernmenty' Before they leave the boat, they put on their best clothes, for they are anxious to look their best and make as favorable an impression as possible upon the repre- sentatives of the government Abut we must confess that most of the officers handling the immigrants are wholly indifferent as to the impression they make upon those who pass through the gate. The commissioners issue orders to their men to be courteous and refrain from swearing; but courtesy and exple- tives cannot be regulated by orders from the chief. Some men are by nature discourteous and unkind, and somehow a few of them get into the employment of Uncle Sam. It is unfortunate that they come in touch with the immigrant as he enters, and have anything to do with the enforcement of laws governing his admission. If these people are patient under unkind treat- ment, silent when shouted at and pushed along, it is no proof that they are not conscious of wrong. Some people in this
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 35
democracy say of the foreigners, " They are like dumb beasts, and have been so treated in their own country," which is not true. There is more genuine courtesy among the working classes on the Continent than among their peers in America ; and when the poor of southeastern Europe come to the United States, it is a mistake to imagine that a surly, curt, and gruff attitude on the part of any officer will pass unnoticed. Dumb animals appreciate kindness; how much more these people who come from lands where courtesy is common. When Mike Petrovich lost his small trunk, containing all his worldly pos- sessions, he was very anxious to reclaim it. He went from official to official with his trouble, but all he could get was " Go on, go on," with a gesture in the direction he had to go. It is true, officers have no time to spend on such cases, and it is a boon to thousands that patient and genial missionaries supplement the work of government officials in ports of landing. Hundreds of men, who are in trouble because something has gone wrong, are cheered and comforted when the matter is straightened out. If these philanthropic agencies did nothing else than erase the impression made on scores of immigrants by the impatient and curt treatment of officials, they would serve a useful pur- pose both to the immigrants and to the country.
The Detained. -jA)etention is irksome and unpleasant, and the immigrant in the* detention room is disappointed and cha- grined. He expected to enter into the land of opportunity, and, lo ! he finds his pathway blockaded by an unexpected turn, the end of which he cannot see. Detention is imprisonment in every sense of the word, for the man is detained contrary to his will^^ye have spoken of the detention quarters in Ellis Island; wnen they are not overcrowded and conditions are of the best, the immigrant still feels that he would like to break away and be free. Detention quarters in minor ports are far worse than those in Ellis Island. In some of these, women and children, in the summer months, are kept in a sweat box and sleep on beds that are filthy and full of vermin? It is no justification of such conditions to say : " They donTstay long — a day or two, and then they are sent on." A day in Purgatory
36 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
is not forgotten, and the injury which can be done to a sensitive and nervous person in twenty-four hours may be irreparable. If, in addition to unpleasant conditions, the detention was un- justified, then the immigrant feels more keenly the deprivation of liberty and the wrong done to him. The law regulating immigration is not always observed in the case of immigrants. A group of Russians were detained, and the board of special inquiry decided to deport them on the ground that they came in violation of the Contract Labor Law. There was no evidence to justify the decision — it was only conjecture. The men filed an appeal. The law says that every appeal must be sent to Washington, to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, within twenty-four hours after being filed. The appeal of these Rus- sians was not sent on for six weeks, and when the reason was asked, the port commissioner said that he held the appeal pend- ing an investigation made by government officials at the point of destination of these men, to find out whether or not they were violaters of the Contract Labor Law. The action of the commis- sioner was wholly illegal, and the Russians knew this; what was the impression made upon the minds of these men as to the impartial enforcement of the laws of the United States? No officer in the employment of the Federal government has the right to suspend the course of justice to the inconvenience of the immigrant ; and when this is done, the effect is serious upon the detained. It is of the greatest importance to the nation that the immigrants from the beginning have respect and deference for our laws ; but if they see, as they enter the country, that their enforcement or suspension depends on the will of the executive officer, then no one need be astonished that the ranks of the lawless and disorderly are recruited from among recent aliens. f
Laws not Enforced. — r The impression of the lax enforce- ment of law meets the immigrant as he continues his journey inland in many other ways. In an important distributing center in Pennsylvania the men assigned to watch over the immigrants were in collusion with the restaurant keeper. The guides never failed to lead the victims to the eating house to be
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 37
bled, and never failed to collect the^ price of the fraud. The practice was discovered and stopped.^ The railroad now regu- lates the traffic.^)A substantial meafmust be served the immi- grant who wantsit, and the maximum charge is thirty cents. At another distributing point in the Middle West, the way immi- grants are defrauded and imposed upon is scandalous. The officers of the law are near, but they will not interfere. Hackmen and draymen grab the baggage of the immigrant, throw it into their conveyance, then pull in the owner, drive away, and charge whatever they will. Cases of gross fraud have been uncovered again and again, efforts have been made to bring the culprits to justice, but every obstacle is put in the way of the prosecutors { the cases are deferred again and again, and when brought to trial, the sympathy of the court is with the native-born as against the foreign-born.
The Commissariat. — The government has introduced at the chief ports of landing means by which the immigrant can purchase food at reasonable rates. The right to sell food at ports of landing is farmed out to reliable men. The quality of the food sold and the prices asked are carefully watched by the commissioners ; any attempt at fraud is promptly investi- gated. The commissariat at Ellis Island is a boon to immi- grants. The company having the privilege to sell puts up food in pasteboard boxes — the smaller sold for fifty cents ; the larger for a dollar. Samples of the food and fruit in the boxes are on exhibition in a glass case, so that each purchaser knows exactly what to expect for his money. All immigrants going to New York City pass from the inspection room to the package boat ; they are in sight of their destination, and no food is sold them. The men going to New England pass through the east room, and here they can purchase food for the remainder of the jour- ney. The majority of immigrants go to the west room, and here the commissariat does its largest business. Several persons are in charge of the stand, and during one of the busy days, when from three to five thousand immigrants enter, the volume of business done is very large. The men in charge of the counter are there for business. One of the force stands on the floor to
38 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
direct immigrants to the stand. As each passenger conies from the hands of the officials, who pin a card on his coat designating the railroad he must take, he is directed to the counter where food and drink — cider and soft drinks — are sold. Many of these people have the impression that this is a part of the process through which they have to pass, and so purchase a box more mechanically than intelligently. Some good people inland have inquired about the " graft " in Ellis Island in the sale of food. Foreigners have doubtless told them something, and, not knowing the situation, they conclude that there is graft. The impression rises from the fact that in the rush of business foreign-speaking immigrants do not buy intelligently. Whereas a fifty-cent box would be ample for their need, they get a dollar one. The commissariat is a great convenience; if a way could be devised whereby the box sold each passenger would correspond to his needs, much of the criticism now made by foreigners would be disarmed. All of it would not be re- moved, for the immigrants don't know the value of foods in this country, and a dollar paid for a box such as is sold them will always appear an exorbitant price. Then also the contents of the box are not to the taste of some immigrants, and they think that the money is largely thrown away. But all things considered, the commissariat renders a service of incalculable value to these people.
Railroads guard Immigrants. — Immigrants, while in charge of the railroad companies, are, on the whole, fairly well guarded. Each railroad on the Jersey shore has an immigrant room to which the newcomers are taken by ferryboats from Ellis Island. In these rooms the immigrants are kept under strict guard until the immigrant train is made up — invariably at night. Of course, it is almost impossible for the railroad companies to guard against an unscrupulous employee bent upon exploiting the immigrants. The custom was some time ago for the gov- ernment to put the passengers in charge of the crew on the ferryboat, without any of its officers on board. On one of the boats, some members of the crew formed a clique to collect twenty- five cents per capita from the immigrants. It worked well, but
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
was soon discovered; now a man wearing the uniform of Uncle Sam accompanies each boat. One of the railroads ; an interpreter in charge of its immigration room. One evening as the passengers were lined up and put on board the immigrant train, one fellow protested vigorously, saying that he did not get the front seat for which he paid. An investigation followed, and it was discovered that the guardian of the room had for some time wheedled many of these innocent people out of fifty cents by the promise of a front seat on the train.
Clerks make Mistakes. — Mistakes are sometimes made by railroad clerks. When we consider the large number of passen- gers carried, the frequency with which towns in different states have the same name, and the resemblance between names of towns, though widely apart, the wonder is that so few errors are made. The Pennsylvania Railroad handled in its Philadelphia immigrant depot 119,000 passengers in one year, and less than ten mistakes were made. On one of these trains a conductor mixed the tickets of two men — the one was going to St. Louis, the other to Pittsburgh. Each got to the wrong place, and it took some time and inconvenience to straighten out the tangle. Mistakes sometimes are wholly due to the willful conduct of passengers. A man may be going to West Virginia, and is placed in the right car by the conductor; but he has a friend who goes to western Pennsylvania, and he spies him in another car; as soon as the conductor turns his back, out the fellow goes to join his friend, and is carried to Pennsylvania.
The Immigrant Train. — Steerage immigrants must take the immigrant train or secure a first-class ticket on a regular train. Those destined to points within fifty miles or so of New York City are put on the first local train leaving after they are brought to the depot; but if they go eighty or more miles, they must take the immigrant train, which may be made up of a full complement of cars or of one coach which is attached to a regular train. The train starts at night, — about nine o'clock, — transporting to their destination the people exam- ined that day at Ellis Island. Immigrants going to places within one or two hundred miles, such as Trenton, Philadel-
40 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
phia, Scran ton, Bethlehem, etc., arrive at unseasonable hours, and unless met by friends they spend the night in the depot. Mr. Emory, in charge of the Philadelphia immigrant station, sympathizing with the immigrants landing there at midnight, asked the advice of one of the consuls : " What shall I do with these people arriving at midnight and going to parties hi this city?" His answer was, "Turn them loose on the road."1 That is exactly what takes place, not only hi the City of Broth- erly Love, but hi many other cities whither immigrants go. When they are landed in the depot, the railroad's responsibility ceases. It is then that tragedies occur.
Some of the Tragedies. — Two Polish girls, " turned loose " in Philadelphia, and confiding in a suave guide who promised to show them to the address they had, were taken to a bawdy house. One of them effected her escape, and was found by a police officer weeping on the street. The officer went imme- diately after the other girl, and rescued her — both were snatched from the jaws of hell ; but how many are swept along in the mael- strom of lust hi large cities where thousands of innocent immi- grant girls go annually? Another Lithuanian immigrant came to the same city, having the address of her brother, but she also was led by a vampire into a life of shame. The Lithuanian papers took up the case, but to no purpose. Three years passed, when one day a Lithuanian entered that bawdy house, con- ducted by a foreigner, met the young woman, and learned her sad story. The brother was communicated with, and came to the rescue of his sister. They refrained from prosecuting the seducer because of the publicity incident to a lawsuit. The League for the Protection of Immigrants in Chicago could not
1 The custom of bringing immigrants and turning them loose in depots at un- seasonable hours has been the subject of much criticism. Railroad companies generally look after the passengers, and allow them to stay in the depot until public conveyances and trolleys are/running. However, immigrants are impatient to get to the end of the journeyydnd often force their way out of the depot contrary to the advice of the agent. As long as immigrant trains are used to transport aliens, it will be impossible for railroads to land all immigrants at their destination at seasonable hours, for the train which lands passengers in Philadelphia at midnight will land others in Pittsburgh at noon the following day. And the same is true cf immigrant trains going to Scranton and Buffalo.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS ^
locate 1200 out of 7000 girls whose destination was that city. Of course all these were not lost to virtue ; but who can tell how many of them were the victims of harpies preying upon human flesh. And as long as railroad depots are infested by men and women whose sole business is to rob and ruin, the impression made upon tens of thousands of immigrants coming to Christian America will be that it is a land of pitfalls for the innocent and unwary. Every man and woman entering the country should be protected — protected until they are safe with their friends. The last cent collected by the four dollars per capita tax should be spent in their behalf ; and if there is not enough to protect the least of these people admitted by us, then a larger sum should be collected and the work done properly. Exploitation and seduction are evils that react upon the peace of society and bring discredit upon democracy. <
On the Train. — The immigrant train is a theater where all the qualities of human nature are seen at play. Immigrants who spend the night in coaches are dirty, tired, and sleepy. The coach also is dirty, for immigrants from southeastern Europe throw all waste on the floor. The greatest hardships, are endured by women and children, and it is astonishing what a fund of cheer is at their command. Conductors on immigrant trains are generally careful, courteous, and firm. Mothers with children, weary and tired, show their love by ministering to the little ones and consulting their comfort. Strong men, peasants, far from being refined in garb or speech, cheerfully help the weak and worn. There are no harsh complaints heard on these trains, but everywhere cheer and comfort, hope and faith. As an immigrant train drew near Irwin, Pa., the con- ductor took the tickets of an Italian woman and her son of twelve. This they interpreted aright — they would get off at the next depot. Immediately they began to talk excitedly, and their faces grew radiant, and both kept close to the window. No sooner was the train in the depot than a shout of joy escaped the mother, and both snatched their bundles and rushed out. How that mother ran to the arms of the young man awaiting her and kissed him — how he held her at arm's
42 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
length and kissed her again and again, whispering terms of endearment in his own sweet tongue ; and then turning to the boy he kissed him and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on that of his mother. That was not the only scene of affection witnessed on that train. Hardly did it pass a depot but a wealth of affection was manifested which set the heart aglow with stronger love for the immigrants, and thankfulness to God for such lessons hi the book of life.
A Kind-hearted Agent. — Railroad men are generally cour- teous to immigrants, but there are exceptions. I saw one with a club in his hand — a formidable weapon ; looking at it, I said : " Do you use that on the foreigners? " " Only to poke them," he replied. Some immigrants are trying ; they are pretty much like children, when told something they soon forget and dis- obey orders, and then the " poking " takes place. Some sta- tion agents have found exceptional opportunities to serve these men, and they have proven equal to the occasion. One agent found a foreign-speaking young woman on his hands at mid- night, when he was about to go home and close the depot for the night. She had an address, but he could not decipher it. What was he to do — turn her out and leave her to her fate in a strange city? The man was a Christian gentleman, and took the young woman home with him. His wife welcomed her, and lodged the stranger over night. The following morning both women went to a Polish saloon-keeper, and the riddle on that slip of paper was solved, and the girl joined to her relatives. That is a twentieth-century version of the Good Samaritan, and the Poles of that town have ever since ta^en off their hats to that station agent.
The Foreigner's Address. — Senator Dillingham tells us that the manifests in Ellis Island show that ninety-seven per cent of the immigrants have a definite address and that ninety-four per cent of them go to relatives or friends, but the difficulty often is to de- cipher the address. A young immigrant came to Chicago, having the address of an uncle, residing in a village of which none in the depot knew. The young man was helpless, and went to the Young Men's Christian Association building for counsel. Abra-
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 43
ham Bowers, immigration secretary, took his case in hand and after a few days' search found the uncle. The following address was brought to H. A. McConnaughey, of the Central Building of the Young Men's Christian Association in Pittsburgh, Pa. :
Pittsburgh, Pa., Panewna Stait 16 Babereia. 47
Franciszek Pisczatowski., which, after two hours' work, was deciphered to mean :
Penn. Ave., i6th Street, Mulberry Alley.
Riddles of this character can only be solved by gentlemen pos- sessed of the Christian spirit, whether they be Jew or Gentile. Of the 7000 addresses sent to the Immigration League of Chicago, the officers were only able to decipher 700. The immigrants have their own way of spelling the names of towns and streets ; and the situation is still further complicated by some foreigners, after residing in America awhile, changing their names. A Mac- edonian, located in Chicago, changed his name from Mitro Petroff to Mike Peter. Mitro's brother arrived with the old name and an old address — Mike having changed his boarding place. Leaders among the Macedonians were consulted, but no one knew a man of that name. After a search of six days some one solved the problem, and the brothers were brought together. Government and railroad officials don't generally spend much time with a man having a defective address. It is much easier to deport or turn him loose. But there are men and women willing to help a foreigner to find a Mr. Grey when the immigrant shows the name of Graykauskas ; or Mr. Pass, when the foreigner has the name of Passkeiros; or Mr. Duley, when the man carries the name D'Aulizio. Judge Mack believes that the Federal Government ought to establish a bureau in Chicago, " large enough to enable all immigrants to come there directly from the train, remaining there during the entire time under government supervision, with provision for housing and feeding them if they are compelled to remain there overnight, and with opportunities for all properly regu- lated and authorized philanthropic agencies to confer with them at the government headquarters under supervision —
44 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
a place where their relatives and friends to whom they are destined in Chicago may meet them, and from which, if they are not met, properly authorized philanthropic organizations can conduct them to safe homes." This should be done, not only in Chicago, but in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Philadelphia, St. Louis, etc. — in every city that is an important distributing center in the country.
Providing for Immigrants. — The best and most considerate provision made by any railroad company to meet the needs of immigrants is the waiting room assigned for this purpose in the new Northwestern Railway Company's depot in Chicago. The room is ninety by three hundred feet, well ventilated, fur- nished with twenty-seven rockers, four large sofas, writing tables, etc. On the one end is the women's room, having four chambers furnished with bath tubs ; twelve porcelain wash tubs where gar- ments may be washed and a steam dryer to dry them. At the other end is the men's room, furnished with shower baths and a place where they can wash articles of clothing. In another part is a lunch room, where the passengers can get rolls and cof- fee for ten cents, and a substantial and wholesome meal for thirty cents. This intelligent and humane consideration to meet the needs of immigrants brings its reward in good will and gratitude.- Such appliances for the convenience of newcomers imply respect for humanity and faith in the immigrants; too long have transporting agents thought that anything is good enough for the southeastern European; a better conception of the rights of men should prevail, and the above accommoda- tions are a good introduction to the standard of living and com- fort common among Americans.
Foreigners have Feelings. — The Chicago Tribune preached one of its most effective sermons the morning after the wreck of an immigrant train, when fifty immigrants were killed. It was a cartoon showing an immigrant ship, and on shore a mother, with her little children clinging to her skirt, waving farewell to the father of her loved ones on his way to America. " Only an Immigrant " was the caption of that car- toon, and it told of hopes and longings of fathers — tens of thousands of them — in America, toiling hard and long that the
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 45
wife and little ones may have a better chance. Those new- comers in the wreck were of that number ; but before they reached the haven of hope, they were hi eternity, and not a line written home to loved ones. There is no heart under the sun bigger than the American heart ; but it often forgets that the immi- grant is a man with the same sentiments and affections as other men. /
The American Pace. -^Another impression made upon the immigrant is that of the pace at which everything moves in America. Europeans move leisurely, and especially is this the case among peoples of southeastern Europe. A Hungarian thought it a great joke when he heard an American say, " It takes not only money, but time" The proverb, "Time is money " is incomprehensible to an inhabitant of the Balkans; and an Italian tradesman who stops work to discuss with the passer-by the topic of the day has no conception of the value of time. ^ But when they come to America they soon learn that time is tin important factor in every department of life. The first sentences learned by many foreigners hi the industries are " hurry up," " move quickly," " rush," " speed on," etc. In trains, on trolleys, crossing streets, the foreigners soon learn that the pace they observed in Europe will not do here. In restaurants, hotels, and coffee houses in Europe, men take life easy ; they come to chat, lounge, and sip coffee. But in restaurants, hotels, and cafes in America men eat and drink at the same pace as they do their work. AVhen the immigrant enters the shop or the factory, the mill or>iie mine, there he comes face to face with the stress and strain of American workmanshipX The pace in workshops is confusing, and it takes some time oefore the foreigners get used to it, and before they get accustomed to the drive many of them are hurt. Arhey are children of the farm, where they are not trained to\hink quickly and move rapidly A When they are warned of danger, or where they see it pending, they cannot escape injury as men who think and act more quickly can. Here lies one of the chief causes of the large number of accidents to the foreign-born in the industries.
Don't like the Rush. — The immigrants don't like the rush
46 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
of things in America ; many of them fall in with it because of necessity, but though they make their home in this country, they ever condemn the stress and strain of industrial life in the United States. J. F. Fraser says that the pace set in the industries of America accounts for the fact that " in big indus- trial concerns, you seldom see an old man." " In energy, in whirl, in desire to do things passable and quickly, to turn out articles by the million . . . the workers of the United States stand at the head of mankind." l It is this stress that drives many foreigners back to the fatherland and others into lines of work where the pressure is not felt. Italians, GreekSj^Arme- m>ns, J>iw?v SyriQncj frf.j d^- not readfly adapt tbemsfly*?8 t" th A, whirl in fartorieSj^jind prefer a small business _to_ which they .devote .iQUit£en_hours a day tor seven daysln the week, but in j^chjthey^dojiot feel thejdjajnjfodripnt to the drive in American workshapsZir~?
Standards of Living. -4 The immigrant is also impressed with the standard of living of American wage earners. yNever did they see men working for hire live as comfortably as they do here, and they infer that it is a rich country and a pleasant place to dwell in. This is not strange, for the men of the new immi- gration come from countries where the conflict for subsistence is severe, and where many honest workers come short of the necessaries of life. " In the mountains of Montenegro it is a struggle to get enough to eat and a roof overhead . . . corn comes chiefly from the lower plains and there is often lack of bread." 2 The struggle for bread in Galicia is still more intense. When these poor people come and see how wage earners in the United States live in commodious houses well furnished and surrounded with comforts, how well they dress and live, how many luxuries they enjoy which are not within reach of the well-to-do in agricultural countries in the south and east of Europe, they are impressed with the wealth of the land and the happy lot of its workmen. And the foreigner is soon influenced by this higher standard of living. Many cling tenaciously to
1 "America at Work," pp. 190 and 258.
a "Through the Lands of the Serbs," p. 277. M. E. Durham.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 47
the standards which obtained in the land of their birth, but they soon find that the hard work demanded of them necessi- tates better nourishment than they were wont to take in the homeland, so they eat more meat and a greater variety of vegetables ; but they never will rise to the level of the standard of living of the native-born wage earner. Indeed, many for- eigners would have conscientious scruples about eating as many Americans do. Many Italians and Greeks think it next to mortal sin to eat eggs, meat, butter, and cheese at one and the same meal. It is well known that the anxiety to save leads many aliens to cut down their means of subsistence below the line of physical necessity, but it is equally true that the variety of rich food found oh the table of American workmen far exceeds the need of the physical organism. If the one suffers for the want of sufficient nourishment, and has recourse to stimulants, so does the other suffer from superfluity, and has recourse to bitters. The extremes of want and luxuries meet in physical deterioration.
They object to Waste. — The immigrant also has little sympathy with the waste which is common in American homes. Never, possibly, in the history of the world have men in the common walks of life been blessed with the bounties of nature as in America, and it is also true that never have men been so wasteful. The men of the new immigration will use the gifts of nature more carefully and less wastefully than those of the old immigration. They bring with them a larger measure of the virtue of thrift ; it is ingrained in their nature by the hard dis- cipline of want in the fatherland. If this new immigrant wage earner will teach the native-born to live more economically and use less prodigally the gifts of nature, it will be a contribution to the economic life of the nation that is worth while. All wage earners in America agree that it is not as easy to make a living to-day as it was twenty years ago, and the dollar does not go as far now as it did then. The conflict for subsistence on the part of the wage earner is growing more stern as we increase in numbers and industrial life becomes more complicated, and the fact must be faced that the vast army of workers must live
48 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
more economically if peace and well-being are to prevail. The immigrant has the advantage in this respect, for he is careful and makes the best use of the resources at his command.
One Law for All. — There are other impressions made upon the immigrants, but the ones described are the most important as bearing upon the relation of this man to the new world. America cannot afford to wrong immigrants nor let them be robbed ; it cannot afford to connive at pitfalls for unwary for- eigners nor shield the criminals who oppress the stranger within our gates; it cannot afford to have its streets desecrated by violence to innocent aliens, nor its shops stained by the blood of the sluggish newcomer; it can afford to learn something of immigrants, and their good will and friendliness will be enlisted in behalf of all that is best and noblest in America if there be in the land one law for the home- and the foreign-born. "All men are born equal " is the ground upon which the immigrant asks for a square deal, and every genuine American believes that he ought to get it as he enters the land and as long as he abides in it.
PART II INDUSTRIAL LIFE
CHAPTER IV
THE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER
'
LTHE^new immigration in one respect differs very markedly from the old; the percentage of farmers and farm laborers in this new stream is sixfold what it was in the olo^Jn the last decade, the countries ol southeastern Europe have sent us two and a half million men, who, in the old country, were tillers of the soil; but it is safe to say that the number following that occupation in the new world is insignificant. They are employed in industrial plants^Sn which their labor brings quick returns, and if dissatisfied with wages and conditions they can, in a day, pull up stakes and go elsewhere. The new imrni^rq.tinn rnn- sequentlvjxmtains more unskilled work^ tV>qrt fhft nlri The vast majority of men entering the industries do so as unskilled laborers. Fifty-five per cent of the old immigration was un- skilled, bHt/the percentage of the unskilled workers in the new is 8 1. y In" the last ten years, no fewer than six million un- skilled workers have been recruited into the industrial army of the United States — a phenomenon unprecedented in the his- tory of any industrial nation in the world. This was possible for the reason that America is not handicapped by convention-
1 In the old immigration the average percentage of farmers and farm laborers was 10.7. The Irish are omitted from the count, for they resembled the new immi- gration in having more than half their numbers farm laborers. In the new immigration the average percentage of farmers and farm laborers is 68.7. The Hebrew are omitted from this count for they resemble the old immigration in having more than half their number trained in manufacturing. — See Table VII in addenda. .
E 49
50 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
ality and tradition in industrial relations ; its genius for indus- trial organization is most highly developed; and the practice of installing improved machinery and standardization of prod- ucts, so common in the United States, reduce complicated operations to simple mechanical action, demanding a minimum of intelligence in the operator — these facts enabled the unskilled southeastern Europeans to find a place in our industrial army. America needed Laborers. — America, two generations ago, was an agricultural nation ; to-day it stands in the(yan~of the industrial nations of the earth. ,This marvelous development, the astonishment of the civilized world, could never have taken place, if Europe and Asia had not supplied the labor force. From 1880 to 1905 the total capital in manufacturing plants increased nearly fivefold, the value of the products increased more than two and a, half times, and the labor force about doubled.1 ^America could never have finished its transconti- nental railroads, developed its coal and ore deposits, operated its furnaces and factories, had it not drawn upon Europe for its labor force; for it was impossible to secure "white men" to do this work.^ The same is true in almost all our industries. While talking to a patriotic employer in the business of tanning, employing 1500 men — all foreigners, I asked him, "Do you prefer this class of la]x>r? " "No," was his reply, "but I can't get anything else^The Irish and the Germans are gone ; if this plant is to run,'italians, Lithuanians, and Poles must do the work." American industry had a place for the stolid, strong, submissive, and patient Slav and Finn; it needed the mercurial Italian and Roumanian; there was much coarse, rough, and heavy work to do in mining and construction camps ; in tunnel and railroad building ; around smelters and furnaces, etc., and nowhere in the world could employers get laborers so well adapted to their need, as in the countries of southeastern Europe. The new immigration has admirably supplied the need, and at present, there is not an industrial community east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers, where the " foreigners " are not found.
i See Table VIII in addenda.
THE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER 51
Foreigners in Industries. — Louis N. Hammerling, President of the American Association of Foreign Newspapers, appearing before the Federal Commission on Immigration, said : —
(1) Sixty-five per cent of the farmers owning farms and working as farm laborers are people who came from Europe during the last thirty years.
(2) Of the 890,000 jniners^ mining the coal to operate the great industries, 630,000 are our people.
(3) Of the 580,000 steel and iron workers employed in the different plants througliouT""the United States, 69 per cent, according to the latest statistics of the steel and iron industries, are our people.
(4/ Ninety per cent of the labor employed for the last thirty yearsTft building the railways has been furnished by our immi- grant people, who are now keeping the same in repair.^
Senator Dillingham, of Vermont, said that the Immigration Commission investigated the leading industries in a geographical area, interviewing 619,000 employees, employed in thirty-seven industries, and found that 59.5 per cent were foreign-born/in view of this fact TJte New York Observer fittingly remarked that, " the increase of our manufacturing industries reveals a debt to these foreigners. It is apparent that without these foreign-born laborers the growth of the nation would be handicapped." jS,
NationalitielTin Special Industries. — (Some nationalities fol- low certain callings. The Bravas and Portuguese are 'in the textile industries; the Cubans and Spanish in cigar manufac- turing; the Mexicans in mining and railroading in the south- west ; the Finns are in iron ore and copper mining, and smelt- ing plants ; the French Canadians in cotton mills, shoe plants, collar factories, on railroads and in construction camps; the Slovaks and the Russians are in coal mining and in iron and steel plants ; the Russian Jews are in the clothing trades ; the Mag- yars are in coal mining, sugar refining plants, in steel and plow plants, and in silk dyeing ; the Lithuanians are in coal mining,
1 Hearing before Committee of Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, Sixty-first Congress, p. 128.
52 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
sugar and oil refining, clothing manufacturing, slaughtering and meat packing, and furniture plants ; the Roumanians are in steel plants, repair shops, and in construction work; the Croatians, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, are in steel plants, coal and ore mining, slaughtering and meat packing, leather manu- facturing, and oil refining ; while the Poles and South Italians are in almost every line of mining and manufacturing.1
In the Clothing Industry. — The Lithuanians of Baltimore are largely in the clothing trade, and when, in 1909, they called a strike, the clothing business was paralyzed. I called on one of their labor leaders and asked : " Can you control the cloth- ing trade in the city? " " Yes," was his reply, " the business cannot go on if the Lithuanians stay away." This may be too sweeping an assertion, but some operators of large establish- ments acknowledged the truth of this statement. It is true, however, that the foreign-born control the trade. The census of 1900 showed that 75 per cent of the tailors of the country were foreign-born. The investigation of the Immigration Com- mission showed 72.2 per cent of the workers in the clothing trades foreign-born, and another 22.4 per cent was made up of the children of foreign-born parents ; thus 94.6 per cent of the men and women who manufacture ready-made garments are of foreign parentage. Rousseau said of his Emile, that he would rather see him dig than ply the needle and that a young lad should never aspire to be a tailor; the above statistics imply that there is a like aversion on the part of the native-born to the tailoring trade; they leave it wholly to persons of foreign parentage — Jews, Italians, ^Lithuanians, etc.
In Disagreeable Work. -^No other industry is so completely in the hands of the foreign-bcfrn as the clothing, and yet they are found in large numbers in other occupation^ Wherever unskilled work is needed, the foreigner is the one who does it ; but the managing force is generally madey up of the native-born or, at least, of English-speaking peoples/CIn the clothing trade the foreign-born is a skilled workman ; in every other industry
1 See Abstract of Report of Immigration Commission on "Immigrants in Manu- facturing and Mining," pp. 58 and 219 f.
THE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER 53
he is the man who carries the heavy burden — he is the toiler, the drudge, the " choreman.''^n the slaughtering and meat packing industry, the foreign-born comprise about 60 per cent of the labor forceybut if you want to locate the sons of the new immigration in a plant of this character, you must descend to the pits where the hides are cured, generally located in dark and damp basements. The hides are piled on each other, and the foreigners shake, count, and pack the slimy, slippery, disgusting things. Go to the fertilizing plant where the refuse of the slaughter house is assembled, and amid the malodorous smells which combine into one rank stench tabooed by all English-speaking men, you find the foreigner. Go to the soap department, where the fats are reduced and the alkalis are mixed — a place you smell from afar and wish to escape from as soon as possible, and there the foreigner is found. These dis- agreeable occupations " white people " have forsaken, and the sons of the new immigration do the work uncomplainingly for $1.50 a day.
In ConstrjicJioii-Cftmps. — While riding on a Fourth Avenue car, inlnecity of New York, I saw a number of " foreigners " entering the car, to the disgust of a fastidious lady, who ex- pressed her sentiments in a very unladylike way. An old Irish woman sat next to her and said : " And what would ye do without the foreigner? " The superintendent of a chilled steel wheel plant, where many foreigners earned from $3 to $5 a day, expressed the same sentiment when he saipl, " You can't get English-speaking men to do the work." <sJVherever digging, excavating, constructing, machine molding, and mining go on, there we find the foreign-born.^The patient, willing, and constant labor of the Italians maoe possible the subways of the great metropolis of the nation ; the Bronx Sewer was dug by Italians, Austrians, and Russians. These are the workers who enlarge the Barge Canal and build the Aqueduct to carry an adequate supply of water to the millions of New York City. In lumber camps, in mine patches, in railroad construction work, the foreigner is found. He displaces colored labor in construction camps in the South j and, in the West, he does the unskilled labor
54 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
unless a legal barrier has been erected to keep him out. The labor force in the woods of Michigan and Minnesota, of Maine and Vermont, is preponderatingly made up of foreigners. Tens of thousands of these men, in isolated camps and mine patches, far removed from the pale of civilization, deprived of the com- forts and conveniences of life, submit to barbarous conditions and harsh treatment that would raise a revolt within a week if English-speaking men were the victims.
Foreigners in Mines. -^The aliens are the backbone of the mining industry^ Calumet, in the northern peninsula of Mich- igan, is a foreign city of 45,000 souls. There are sixteen different nationalities represented on the public school teaching force, and the pupils in the high school represented twenty different races. It is difficult to find an American in the place. The workers go down into deep shafts, reaching far under Lake Superior, following the veins of copper — all virtually foreign- born or the descendants of foreign-born parents. If you want to find the native-born, you must go to Houghton, the capital of the county, where the doctors and lawyers, engineers and professors, retired capitalists and the leisure class, live. In Ishpeming, one of the centers of iron ore mining, we went down one of the shafts to see the way they followed the hidden pockets of ore, which have puzzled the skill of geologists. Our guide was the captain of that mine, in which 280 men were employed. I asked him, " How many foreigners are in this mine? " His reply was, " We're all that here." " How many of your men are able to talk English, so that you can get along? " " About 50 per cent," was his answer. And it is the same in the min- ing camps all through this upper peninsula of Michigan. The men who dig the ore, load it and clean it, who burn the powder and remove the rock, who crawl through dog holes and climb numberless ladders, are foreigners. The only crowd met with in the territory not of foreign parentage are the young college graduates, incipient civil engineers, who put into practice the theories they were taught in college. These are native-born of native parentage, and so are also the 10 or 15 per cent employees enlisted in the clerical, supervisory, and managing
THE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER 55
force ; such as engineers, mechanics, and company store man- agers. But the 80 per cent in the pits, in the face, around the shafts, are men of foreign parentage.
In Coal Mines. — The same is true, generally speaking, of the coal mining industry. The only exception in the Alleghany range is the Cumberland Coal Fields, where few foreigners are found. They have been kept out, just the same as they have been from parts of the Hocking Valley. It was done by the English-speaking mine workers, who have found favorable working conditions in these rich coal fields, and as primes occu- pantes they know how to hang on. Things are very different, however, in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and southern Illinois. Here town after town may be found, made up of foreigners, and hundreds of pits, slopes, and levels are wholly dependent upon their labor. When immigrants first located in the anthracite coal fields, they came to the southern and Lehigh regions. The employers in the Wyoming Valley would have none of them, and for years they stopped the flood from entering their territory. It was only a question of time, however, when they had to give way. The seams changed, there was more brawn needed, more powder per ton of coal must be burned, and " white men " refused to work under con- ditions that meant more labor, more expense, and less pay. Then they called in the willing Slav and submissive Lithuanian, and the work was done. They bent their strong young backs under the load, and black diamond has been dug from deeper depths, from smaller seams, and from more dangerous places by men of the new immigration than was done by the men of the old.
In Pits and Quarries. — The growth of the bituminous in- dustry, its matchless development in the last forty years, was only possible by the incoming of men from southeastern Europe. In the coal fields of West Virginia, 25 per cent of the working force is made up of Slavs and Italians, and the employers want more of this class of workers, for they are more reliable and steadier than the negro, and more amenable to discipline and better workers than the mountain whites. The Colorado Fuel
56 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
and Iron Company has found in the man of the new immigra- tion an employee who is willing to live and labor in peace and contentment in isolated places. When visiting Hibernia and Wharton, in New Jersey, I asked the general manager of the six shafts where iron ore was mined, " What people compose your working force? " His reply was : " Magyars, Slovaks, and Poles. They have replaced the English, Welsh, and Scotch." Small mining villages, near the Richards Mines, are wholly made up of these peoples, and they are like hundreds of mine patches in the coal fields of Pennsylvania. In the marble quarries of Vermont — Barry, Montpelier, Proctor, etc., are found representatives of sixteen different nationalities. The foreigner is down in the hole, handling the raw material ; he is in the yards and in the shops, doing the chores incident to marble production, and the finished article is the work of his hands. Fully 60 per cent of the labor force in the mining and quarrying industries are foreign-born, another 20 per cent are the sons of foreign-born men. When the coal production of the country leaped from 70,000,000 tons in 1880 to 500,000,000 in 1910, it was the presence of the Slav and the Lithuanian, the Magyar and the Italian, that made it possible.
In Iron and Steel Industries. -^In the iron and steel in- dustries, the foreigners form 58 peT^cent of the employees, and another 14 per cent is made up of the sons of foreigners^ Here again they occupy places where most dirt and heat are found. Around blast furnaces, where seven shifts of twelve hours each is the week's round of toil, these men for twenty years did the work quietly and faithfully, and not a voice was raised against the load that brutalized men and crushed all the aspirations of man's soul — the protest came from a band of patriotic, God- fearing men and women, who called attention to the wrongs inflicted upon foreigners in America. In iron and brass foun- dries, where machine molding is carried on, the foreigners form from 80 to 90 per cent of the labor force. The American Car and Foundry Company has seventeen plants ; in the ones located in the northern and middle states fully 50 per cent of the working force is foreign-born. In the Berwick plant, twenty-two different
THE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER 57
nationalities are found, and the percentage of foreign-born is over 60. In the yards, where much heavy lifting and shifting is done, the force is wholly foreign. In that part of the works where the heavy parts of the cars are hoisted, placed, adjusted, reamed and riveted, the foreigners are in the majority; where red and black paints are used, foreign-born hands daub it on cars — and clothes ; it is only when we enter the shops, where the more refined work of finishing subway cars and coaches is done, that the foreigner disappears and the native-born worker is in the majority.
In Plow Plants. — The same is true of the personnel of employees in plow plants located in Chicago, South Bend, Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island. In one of these plants in the latter place, the percentage of foreign-born men was more than 70. In the foundry the Belgians predominated, and the foreman said, "They like this work — they like the dirt." In the grinding department, where the sparks fly and the air is laden with particles of steel dust, all are foreigners. In one of these grinding rooms 150 men were employed, swinging to and fro the various parts of the plow to polish the steel blade, amid a roar and a clatter that was deafening, and not one of them English-speaking, not to mention native-born. In an- other department, where the casting was clipped and cleaned, and where minor parts were put on the emory wheel, the for- eigners predominated. A lonely Irishman — an old man — was the last of his race in that shop ; and his comment was : " The foreigners take everything. I hang on, for it's late in the day for me to change." In the department where nuts and bolts were made, where powerful machinery bent and twisted red ribbons of iron and steel to the proper shape, and where hammers stamped by one mighty blow a sheet of steel into the required angle — here the employees were English-speaking, and many of them were native-born.
On Railroads and Docks. — Tens of thousands of men of thr""ftew immigration are in the employment of the railroad companies in North America. \In the railroad car shops, in the machine shops and round kmises, 39 per cent of the employ-
58 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
ees are foreign-born, and another 24 per cent are sons of foreign- born parents. The employees, in the maintenance of way de- partment, in railroads traversing the north Atlantic and north Central states, are 54 per cent foreign-born. The Italians are in the lead, but representatives of seventeen peoples from southeast- ern Europe are found among the working force. A census taken in 1909, of six centers on the Delaware, Lackawanna and West- ern Railroad, showed 2950 foreigners in its employ. The races represented were : Italians, 1515; Poles, 1240; Austrians, 88; Slovaks, 90; and Hungarians, 17. In railroad yards, the men who handle the oils and the grease, the ashes and the coal, the ice and the snow, are the foreigners. On the lakes and in our coast traffic the foreign-born form a large percentage of the employees. The New York State Immigration Commission found that 80 per cent of the cattle men attending the ships transporting cattle across the sea are men of the new immigration. On the lakes the foreigners are in the majority. The men employed on the ore boats and ore docks are foreign-born. The Finns and Swedes were largely employed up to 1890, then the new immigrants began to displace them, and to-day thousands of Magyars and Slavs live in small port towns.
In Brick and Clay Works. — Many foreigners are employed in brick plants. Along the Hudson, where there are many brickyards, the foreigner is displacing the negro, who used to come up from the South at certain seasons of the year to do this work. In plants making refractory brick, the men doing the heavy work are the Slavs and the Italians. In Barberton, Ohio, the Sewer Pipe Company has a large plant employing 300 men, and two- thirds of them are foreign-speaking. This is a foreign town, and every industry in it depends largely upon foreigners for its labor force. The Pittsburgh Valve Company, the Boiler Works, the Chemical Works, and the plant of the Diamond Match Company, each drew from 30 to 50 per cent of its labor force from the foreigners. Pottery works, where labor is well organized, are closed to the foreign-speaking, but one of the terra cotta plants in Chicago has 80 per cent of the laborers foreign- born. •
THE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER 59
In Teitiles^flniLP ftfineries. -+JThe peoples of the new immi- gration" are found in large numbers in the textile industries, in shoe and rubber factories, in oil and sugar refining establish- ments, in tanneries and furniture plantsX Fifteen hundred for- eigners in a cotton mill in New Englandrendered efficient serv- ice in turning out all woolen blankets. The Greeks in Lowell and Manchester, in Nashua and Lynn, form a large percentage of the mill hands. In St. Louis, in one of the shoe plants, fifty Greeks are found in the heel department, pounding and twisting, at a pace that is truly American, and the manager said : " I never got a better force of men to do the job." The city of Bayonne, where oil refining is carried on, is a foreign city, resembling a port town, only still more cosmopolitan. The sugar refining plants at Greenpoint, Jersey City, Philadelphia, etc., are manned by foreign-born labor.
Some Skilled Workers. — All the men of the new immigra- tion are not unskilled. While visiting Ashokan Dam, in New York State, I went into the smithy, and the master mechanic said, pointing to the head blacksmith : " That man is a Russian, and is the best blacksmith I ever had." Mr. Forsyth, superinten- dent of the repair shops of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, at Aurora, 111., pointed out a Magyar, of whom he said : "He can do anything ; if he has no tools to work with, he'll set to work to make them." A Polander, ignorant of the English language, but a skilled mechanic, came to Brooklyn, N.Y., to look for employment. He had to begin work at $5 a week, but as his knowledge of English increased his wages advanced, and, within six months he was getting $15. In Concord, N.H., an Armenian who was a printer could not Sry his craft because he was a foreigner — native-born printers refused to work with him. The artists in the marble works of Vermont are Italians — their executions adorn a thousand cemeteries and buildings. The old immigration brought in many thousands of skilled work- ers, and the number of skilled and semi-skilled men in the new immigration is larger than our statistics show. The farm hand is more or less accustomed to work in wood and iron, and the ease with which he adapts himself to work in shops and factories
60 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
in the United States is due to this training. No nation has a monopoly of mechanical capacity; there is much of it in the men of the new immigration, although so large a percentage is classified as " unskilled " ; American employers have discov- ered this, and semi-skilled positions are at present largely manned by Magyars, Slovaks, Italians, etc. Two obstacles stand in the way of a larger use of the mechanical capacity of immigrants — ignorance of our language and prejudice against the foreign- ers in shops, factories, and unions.
Foreigners in Trade and Commerce. — Among the new immigration are found Russian Hebrews, Syrians, Armenians, and Greeks, thousands of whom do not take their place in the industrial army, but who show remarkable aptitude for trade and commerce. They represent peoples who have survived the rise and fall of kingdoms, and are equally at home among eastern or western nations. The Syrians and Armenians are scattered over the land, and few are the colonies formed by them. The Greeks are also scattering more and more in our cities and towns, opening restaurants, candy stores, shoe-shining parlors, and conducting fruit stands. In South Bend, the Stude- bakers opened their shops to many Jews, giving them a chance to learn a trade. The superintendent told me, " They only stay a little while — as I walk along the business street, I recognize Jews who once worked here." In New Haven, the shoemaking and repairing business has passed almost wholly from the hands of Germans and English-speaking men into those of the Italians. In 1910, out of about 500 establishments, 450 were in the hands of Italians, who put on old shoes some $5000 worth of leather a week. In New York City, and indeed in every city of any con- siderable size, along the lines of the New York Central Railroad as far as Buffalo, the Italians are fast monopolizing the barber trade. The push cart trade of New York City is in the hands of Greeks, and it is affirmed that the shoe-shining parlors in Chicago are in the hands of a Greek company, which reaps a harvest by gathering in the nickels and dimes. In these / ancient peoples there is what may be called a parasitic streak, which enables them to live by catering to the minor wants of
TEE INDUSTRIES THEY ENTER 6l
Americans. They begin by working in a factory, but it is only to get a start; when the opportune time comes they launch into business, which often means a long and strenuous struggle. Two brothers, Greeks, began work in a mill in a city in Illinois. They saved $2000 and opened a store. One of the brothers attended to business, and the other kept on working in the mill. For the first few years it was nip and tuck to keep floating. At length trade came their way, and now both are in business. An Armenian who had left one of the New England mills to open a small restaurant gave as his reason for the change : " The mill was too much like prison." The blood of the Orient does not like the pace set by industrial America. The Syrian and Greek, Armenian and Hebrew, prefer to sit at a small stand for sixteen hours a day, catching the trade of the passers-by, in hope that the turn of the/ tide may lead them to fortune.
Debt to the Workers. —(The United States owes much to •, the man of the new immigration. No true American will with- ; hold the tiaeelbof praise due this man.j We may yearn for a more intelligent and better trained worker from the countries of Europe, but it is questionable whether or not that type of man would have been so well fitted for the work America had to offer. The Slav and the Magyar, the Italian and the Lithu- anian, the Hebrew and the Roumanian, the Greek and the A1-, banian, supplied the call for men, strong of body, docile of heart, ' willing in disposition, to do coarse, dirty, and dangerous work, j The consensus of opinion of superintendents and foremen who have used these men is, that they have played their part, with a devotion, amenability, and steadiness not excelled by men ! of the old immigration. There are some operators who mention exceptions, but they are few. The physical endurance of the Slav and the Italian will compare favorably with that of the Irish and the German; the native ability of the Lithuanian and the Magyar will compare favorably with that of men of the same social status and previous training, from other coun- tries of Europe. I The courage and loyalty of these men were tested and tried and not found wanting. They have not shrunk from the dangers of the mines nor the heat of the mills ; hun-
62 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
dreds of them have been killed on railroads ; and still the for- eigners do the work, and the disagreeableness of foundries and meat packing plants has no deterring effect upon them. Let us be just to the workers of the new immigration and pay the tribute of praise due them for the part they have played in the indus- trial expansion of which we are proud.
CHAPTER V
CONDITIONS OF WORK
IF the sweeping interpretation put upon the Contract Labor Law were strictly enforced, few of the millions who have come to America since its enactment could have landed. Laws en- acted contrary to economic forces will be evaded. Russia and Turkey do not recognize the right of people to emigrate, and yet there are thousands of their subjects in North America. The Immigration Commission is right when it says : " It may be said that emigration is recognized as a phenomenon contr'ofed almost entirely by irresistible economic forces which practically compel an attitude oi: acquiesence on the part of governments ?T; but now lew of our legislators and labor leaders believe this? Napoleon said that men have from the earliest times " marched on their stomach," regardless of the barriers built to stop them. Men, half starving in the Balkans, will make their way to the land of plenty, no matter what laws governments will pass. Every letter sent to Europe is an inducement to an immigrant to come to the new world, for it contains, either expressed or implied, the promise of work. Every immigrant who comes confidently believes that employment awaits him as soon as he reaches his frienclsl The greatest labor agency in the coun- try is the blood bond.
Government Help. — The Division of Information of the Im- migration Bureau is an effort in the right direction. It has in it great possibilities; but hitherto it has done little moreyin the port of New York, tharfoffer an opportunity of worOo immi- grants who are temporarily detained. If branches were opened in the leading cities of the Union, and the scope of its services en- larged, the department could be of incalculable benefit to new- comers who have not, as far as employment is concerned, realized their expectations.
63
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
Labor Agencies. — The labor agencies are largely used by immigrants, although gj£ j>er cent go directly to friends who willingly aid them to secure employment. Ol course, tn'q^jga^ dronp- system still plays a part in immigration, notwithstanding 'alTerlorts to crush it. It is a part of the industrial system in southeastern European countries, and if wisely and honestly administered, is of great service to the immigrant. Many Italians passing through Ellis Island carried the address of a party hi Buffalo. When in that city, I went to the address and found a store and steamship ticket agency. I asked the proprietor the whereabouts of ten men who carried the address of his store. He at first did not seem to know the men; then recollecting some of the names he said : " Gone out to work on road and in camp." Many employers in the mining industry, the iron and steel industries, railroad work, quarrying, etc., are, in prosperous times, looking out for workers, and many foreigners have proven themselves very efficient as agents in this respect. A superintendent of a foundry said of Mike, a Hungarian saloon-keeper : "He never fails to round them up — he has a rake-off, but we get the men." Another foreman said : " When short of men I go to Maroff's saloon and yank in the fellows." The manager of a glass plant said that he invariably went to the saloon to round up the men he needed, and he sel- dom failed to get them.
Graft in Employment. — The men who are the intermediaries between employer and employee, finding jobs for newcomers who could not themselves find work, often play upon the cre- dulity and anxieties of immigrants. One of these men, in a city near Chicago, makes a study of the labor conditions in his city. He is very skillful in placing men, but he charges each $5 for the job found him, and beginning with the second pay he charges $2.50 per month as an insurance that he can keep it. A group of Greeks, working in a railroad yard in southern Ohio, were in charge of a leader to whom the company paid a dollar per head for the men he secured. Then he charged each Greek, as long as he worked in the camp, a dollar a month for acting as inter- preter for him. The leader was an educated man, and thought
CONDITIONS OF WORK 65
that the money he collected each month from his countrymen was for value received. In Kansas City the number of Greeks in the city in winter is more than double what it is in summer. They hibernate here, awaiting the opening of another season; as soon as work begins on railroads, the agents of the companies come to the leaders, agree to hire so many men, and assign them their task. This is done in every large city in the north and west which is a railroad center.
Hard to Find Men. — When times are prosperous and labor is scarce, it is exceedingly difficult for certain industries to secure a complement of men to operate the plants. Foremen in foun- dries, linoleum factories, and tanneries, where the work is dis- agreeable, even to men who " like dirt," found considerable difficulty in 1907 in finding an adequate supply of men. In the fall of that year the manager of a glass factory in western Pennsylvania offered inducements to foreign families to locate in his town; and Jack Shay, manager of a bituminous coal company, still boasts how he " stole " a troop of workers con- signed to a rival company, by boarding the immigrant train before it reached its destination and offering the men higher wages. One of the chief characteristics of the workers in the • new immigration is their instability; they move from place to </ place constantly; the vast majority of foreigners do not take root in the place where they first live. News of higher wages and better conditions a hundred miles away will immediately influence them. I met one Martini in Bridgeport, Conn., who had traveled extensively both in Canada and the United States. He began his life in America, in Bridgeport, then he went to Meriden, from there to Boston, then to Canada's leading cities, then to the West and then back to Chicago, then east to Water- ford, and then back to the starting point. While he related the story of his peregrinations, six other foreign-born men were in the room. I asked each if he had been to many cities in the Union, and five out of the six could match Martini's story of wanderings. One only out of the seven had worked con- tinuously in the town in which he first settled. The experiences of these men were typical of those of thousands of foreign-
66 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
born single men in the United States. They are constantly migrating.1
Inhuman Treatment. — Thousands of immigrants are sent out annually to mine patches and camps, and given a reception that is not human. The following experience of a group of eighteen men sent to one of the coal fields of Virginia is not exceptional. " Each of us got a loaf of bread and a pound of sausage as we left Jersey City the afternoon of December 12. We arrived at our destination about 10 P.M. the following day. We were given some pickles, cheese, and bread in the company store. Then we were told that they did not expect us so soon and consequently had not provided boarding places, not even beds, so the eighteen of us were shown to an empty house and bidden good night. The house was worse than the stable my father had his horses in. One could see through the clefts be- tween the boards, and glass windows were a luxury. A darky nailed a few planks across the window openings and covered them with some stuff. No blankets, no beds or mattresses, no pillows, no stove, although a heavy snowstorm was setting in. We huddled together like sheep in a fold, clothes and boots on, not washed since we left New York, and not an ounce of any- thing warm within us." Another coal company, having im- ported a number of foreigners, made no provision whatsoever to house the men, and the poor fellows gathered what boards they could find, put them together in a nook on the hillside, and lived there until shacks were built for them. Some operators justify such treatment by saying : " They didn't have anything better in their old homes." The question is not what these men were accustomed to in the fatherland, but rather what is
1 The Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on f Immigrants in Cities " says: "All immigrant races except the Irish and the Magyars report more than one half of their households as having no residence outside of the neighborhood where they now live." This is true of the family, but it is just as true that the working population of the new immigration is shifting in America as in no other country, especially so in mining and quarrying. "This tendency is strongest, of course, among the foot-loose single men, " who form so great a proportion of the working force of the new immigration. — See "Immigrants in Cities," p. 10; also "Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 84, " p. 360.
CONDITIONS OF WORK 67
the reception given them by Christian America? We are judged by the accommodations placed at the disposal of these men in camps and mine patches, and we have seen villages, bunk houses and bull pens, that were a disgrace to civilization. If the patient Slovak, the meek Ruthenian, the good-natured Croat, the happy Italian, submit to these things without a murmur, let us not deceive ourselves that they are indifferent to the inhuman treatment ; they know the wrongs and impositions, and will remember them as long as they live.
Disagreeable Conditions. — Industries . in their very nature unpleasant, are manned by foreigners. " White people " will not perform certain kinds Of wuik, aitd the employers must hire foreigners to do it. When once they take up a line of work the English-speaking forsake it, for they think it below their dignity to work alongside of recent immigrants.1 In a large room in a cotton factory, where the nap was made on the cloth, fifty foreigners were employed. The air in that room was laden with floating particles of cotton, and appeared like the atmos- phere on a winter day laden with fine snow. The men with every breath of air breathed some of the lint, and breathing some 10,000 times in ten hours I wondered how much of that lint they would carry away in their lungs in a year. I told the foreman : " This is bad breathing." " Yes," was his reply, " but the men don't seem to mind it." In a hat factory the guide took me down to the cellar where the felt was soaked and passed through certain processes. The place was wet, the atmosphere laden with steam, and the stench of glue was decidedly disagree- able. All the employees, both male and female, were foreign- born. The women tied some linen over their hair to protect it from the moisture — all were more or less wet, they could not avoid it. In talking about these conditions to the foreman, his comment was : " They don't mind it — they are tough." Foreigners operate in furniture plants, where the fine particles of wood floating in the air light on both man and machine, covering them with a coating of. sawdust, so that it is necessary,
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on "Immigrants in Manu- facturing and Mining," p. 225.
68 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
every once in a while, to clean up that the work may be con- tinued. In a large furniture factory, down in the room where the veneer was fastened to certain parts of wood, a row of men stood, each performing his part as the articles on which they worked passed along. It was a dirty place. Varnish, glue, paints — all forming a sticky, slimy combination which clung to bench, block, wood, and sides, giving the place a filthy ap- pearance that was disgusting. The men worked under pressure
— each had to keep up the pace to save congestion at his bench
— and the varnish, glue, and paints were spattered over apron and garments, hands and arms, and the face was not exempt ; they could not save themselves, speeding work as they did. It was disagreeable work, and "white men" had forsaken it. There are certain operations which necessarily involve dirt and disagreeable odors; they cannot be avoided if the work is to be done.
Injurious to Health. — In lead and chemical plants, many foreigners make good wages, — from $5 to $6 a day, — but they continue at work only from five to six months, and then — a funeral or incapacity for life. Superintendents and foremen sympathize with the men, but the ease with which they can replace the incapacitated relieves them of the necessity either to eliminate this cause of human waste or find substitutes for a commodity produced at so great a cost. Of course there are unavoidable evils incident to some processes in manufac- turing. You cannot get rid of the dust in coal mining, of heat in iron making, of acid odors in pickling tin or in galvanizing iron ; but every work injurious to health conditions may be improved by forethought, intelligent cooperation, and the ex- penditure of money. It is safe to say that improvements, suggested by science or sympathy, are not made, for the reason that " hands " from foreign lands are so easily obtained. High wages will induce men to risk life and limb. This is especially true of the illiterate and untrained immigrant who cannot understand how breathing particles of dust or eating with un- washed hands will injure his body. The operator, however, knows the danger and has seen its effect, and the ease with which men
CONDITIONS OF WORK 69
can be replaced in work injurious to health should not act as a deterrent to improvements to conserve human life and energy.
Wages are Low. — The wages paid foreigners vary greatly, but in every industry they get the lowest wage. The poorest paid immigrant0! are tho GroHn and thf^Mnrpdrminrn ThT impression is common that $1.50 a day, of 10 hours' work, is the standard in the United States for unskilled labor. There are thousands of foreign-born men working for less. Foremen generally say that they pay unskilled labor $1.50; but we have found men in the plants having this standard getting only $1.30, which the boss explained by saying : " Yes, he is a green hand and cannot do the work yet. As soon as he can, he'll get $1.50." Foremen, who want labor cheap, as good Americans, don't like to confess that men work for less than $1.50. Un- skilled labor on the Barge Canal, in New York State, is paid at the rate of 15 cents an hour, but the men only work 8 hours, which makes the daily wage $1.20; but there are plants pay- ing foreigners that wage for 10 hours' work, and running a com- pany store besides. In one of the quarries on the Hudson, common labor is paid $1.35 for 10 hours' work. An Italian carpenter, in a construction camp, working side by side with a native-born, doing exactly the same work, received 5 cents less per hour than the American. The foreigner was a skilled workman, had received better wages elsewhere, and there was \ no apparent justification for this discrimination.
Wages vary Greatly. — Wages vary greatly in the same industry. I have known foreigners to work for less than a dollar a day in coal mining and lumbering, while men of the same race in the same industry got $1.80 a day. The wages earned by foreigners do not depend so much upon their effi- ciency as upon the character of the industry in which they work. Magyars in cotton mills get about $8.92 a week, but in iron and ore mining they earn $13.96, and in oil refining $14.61. The southern Italians earn in cotton mills only $7.68, but in copper mining and smelting $13. 89.* The best wages are
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on "Immigrants in Manu- facturing and Mining," pp. 108 f.
70 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
paid in mines, glass works, oil refining, cigar and tobacco manufacturing, slaughtering and meat packing houses and oft ore docks; the lowest wages are paid in cotton and woolen mills, in leather plants, furniture factories, in most camps, and in railroad work, repair shops, and in iron anff'steel industries. Seventeen and a half cents an hour would bp a^air average wage for men working in mines and on docks, b|i^ they have to contend with intermittent labor. The thousano^' working on the ore docks on the lakes are lucky if they get seven months' work in the year ; in dull seasons it falls to four and five. The packing houses have placed most of their employees on the hour basis; and, during dull seasons, the men are fortunate if they get half time. In quarries, in brickyards, in sewer pipe works, in coal mining, in construction camps, and in maintenance of roadway on railroads, the men are laid off for from two to four months in the year. This cuts into the wage, for the man and his family must live the year round. In discussing the annual wage of immigrants, the Immigration Commission says : " ^is_ji^triking^actjthat of ^e^to^lmimberof foreign-born wage earners^ 77.9 per cent £eceiy.ed under $6^ojger_Yeart aii6rj^?'per_cent TimderJ^oo . ' ' But these figures do not bring out the~ more striking fact lhat 2OLer rPnt 'jJJl** mfin •-ftf-4fr4*--w»wpT immigrntion..rpreivf> less than^$2po per year, and 70.1 per cent receive less than $400,
cl:r^ the_j|iooo markT~~
Labor Troubles. — A prolific source of trouble in our indus- tries is the foreigner's ignorance of the English language. In a shoe factory in New England the firm introduced an innova- tion under the suggestion of " scientific management." The labor force was largely Greek, and immediately the men went on strike. Passions were aroused and riots threatened, so that a guard was necessary to protect the superintendent on his way to and from the factory, and a watch set at his house. The trouble was not concerning wages, and native-born men in the
1 See Table IX in addenda. Also Immigration Commission's Abstract of Re- port on "Immigrants in Manufacturing and Mining," pp. 131 f.
CONDITIONS OF WORK 71
city had no idea what the difficulty was ; but for two weeks a reign of terror prevailed in a section of their town. The Greek consul of a distant city was summoned, and the situation ex- plained to him. He called his countrymen together, had a talk with them, explained the attitude of the company, and the following morning they were back at work. The chief source of trouble was suspicion of the company's motives, a distrust of a new adjustment of forces, and a general misunderstanding because the superintendent could not fully explain the change to the men. The foreigners are often like children, and must be so handled. A group of Slavs, working in a factory, were supplied each morning with a quantity of iron for the day's work. The management, one morning, did not serve the men in their turn, and gave the men they called up first more iron than the rest received. The foreigners immediately thought that they were discriminated against, and struck. The employer called them together, and, having secured a reliable interpreter, explained the reason why this was done. The men understood the situation, and the trouble was adjusted. That operator did in his plant what he was in the habit of doing in his home when the children disagreed.
Operators are Prejudiced. — Many operators are preju- diced against the foreigners, and would not employ this class of labor if they could otherwise get along. Prejudice on the part of the employers is like the wind — none can tell where it falls. In St. Louis a manager told me, " Give us the Greeks every time;" but inMoline another said: "No Greek can get work in this plant." There are two plants in a city in Ohio, the one making rubber goods, and the other, cloth ; in the former, Italians largely make up the labor force ; in the latter, not an Italian is found. The manager of the rubber works said: " Tlie Italians are good workers," the one in the cloth works said : " No Italians for me — I can't trust them and won't have 'em." A silk plant in one of the cities of New York, employing some three hundred Italians, paid the men in the dyeing depart- ment $8.20 a week — the men struck for $9. Terror seized the community, a citizens' league was formed, fifty special deputies
72 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
were sworn in, and every family in town was in fear lest, per- chance, the foreigners would break loose. The fear was ground- less, no act of violence was committed and when the head of the concern called a meeting, the men came together, calmly discussed the question of wages, accepted a compromise, — $8.70 a week, — and the mill was started the following morning. After the martyrdom of President McKinley, an employer in New England called his general manager and said : " I want you to dismiss all Poles in this plant." The manager asked, " Why? " The operator said : " I'm afraid, and won't have them around." The subordinate left, looked up the number of Poles in the plant, and the following morning told the operator : " If I dismiss the Poles, it will mean a loss of $75 a day." That settled it — the Poles stayed, and the order was toned down to " let no one of them carry a knife."
Workers are Prejudiced. — Many English-speaking workers are prejudiced against the foreigners. This has a greater justi- fication than that of the operator, for the immigrant has affected wages and conditions of labor. In the mining industry the foreigners have taken work which the English-speaking quit because they could not make a living wage. The immigrants entering the iron and ore industries have checked the demand for better conditions made by the men of the old immigration. Workmen, sometimes, injure their cause by ill-advised legisla- tion, which works in favor of the immigrant from southeastern Europe. The miners of Pennsylvania thought they safe- guarded their interests when they secured the enactment of a law making two years' apprenticeship necessary before a man, no matter what his previous experience in mining was, could get a chamber. They effectually barred out English, Welsh, Scotch, and German miners, trained in the old world, and opened the door for the Slavs, Lithuanians, and Italians. A practical miner from England or Wales would not work as a laborer for two years before he got a chamber of his own, but the southeastern European would. The foreigners entered, and the day came when the control of the industry passed out of the hands of English-speaking men. The trades unions,
CONDITIONS OF WORK 73
in many of our cities, have followed an equally fatuitous policy. Foreign-born craftsmen have been driven to unskilled labor, for the conditions imposed upon them by wage earners were utterly beyond their reach. Artificial walls of this character, put up by English-speaking men, will give temporary relief; but the foreign mason, painter, plasterer, etc., in time, come to their own. A colony of Japanese is found in South Omaha, every member of which is employed in one of the packing houses. These men were brought there during the throes of a strike, and for months after the labor trouble was over, no Japanese dared to appear in town after dark. To this day many workmen curse the colony. Thousands of English-speaking workers in the iron and steel industries, in the textiles, in the shoe and rub- ber plants, curse the foreigners, for they say : " They take the bread out of our mouths, they take our jobs, they cut our wages, and they have no standards to go by," and impartial men who have studied the cause of the English-speaking know that there is much truth in the indictment. The old immigrants are learn- ing a lesson, however, and are making friends of the new. Under economic pressure the links of the fraternal union of all nations are forged.
Industrial Rearrangement. — The coming of this new im- migration, untrained, unskilled, stolid, but docile, has effected many changes in industrial life. One of these is the elimination of mechanical skill and experience, formerly required in a large number of industries by the invention of mechanical devices and processes l which enable employers to set the foreigner to work. But a greater change is the placing at the head of a group of unskilled foreigners a skilled workman under whose direction they perform work formerly done by skilled workmen. Mr. F. W. Taylor, author of " Principles of Scientific Management," says that the best kind of a man to do certain types of work should " be so stupid and^so phkgmatic^thatjiejnore nearly resembles hi his make-up thej>2L-ihan any ntbpr *ypp " A type towEom you can talk as^ou would not dare talk to " white
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on "Immigrants in Manu- facturing and Mining," p. 221.
74 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
men." That has been the character of many men of the new immigration, and the genius for organization in American entrepreneurs has made good use of the type. In one of the New England towns, an ex-clergyman was manager of a shop, making carpenter's supplies. In one room there were many ingenious machines, set in a row, all operated by foreigners. I asked him : " Do these men know anything of the machines they operate? " " No," was his answer. " Well, suppose one of them gets out of order, what do you do ? " He explained : " We put one skilled workman in charge of from nine to twelve machines. It is his business to set the machine in order, so that the foreigner may keep on doing that one thing. We pay the mechanic the standard wage, but low wages to the foreigners." The old way was to put a skilled worker in charge of each machine and pay him the standard wage, but with the incoming of immi- grants the present method was introduced and the labor cost reduced. In the tube works, under old-time regulations, the order was a man for every furnace ; now it is a man for ten or more furnaces — the skilled heater gets $7 a day, and his helpers (foreigners) from $2 to $3. This practice to cut down the cost of production is introduced in many industries. The skilled workers in steel mills are now heads of gangs and not individual workers ; the same is true of skilled men in tin plate mills, in the textile industries ; the same arrangement is found in rubber plants, in supply plants, in aluminium works, in quarrying, etc. The high-priced man, highly trained and capable, becomes the director of low-priced men, and the more implicitly they obey his instruction, the better for the concern. It is a system that multiplies the skill of the trained man tenfold and saves 50 per cent on the labor cost. If American employers were compelled to draw their labor supply from native-born whites of native parentage, it is very questionable whether or not they would have been able to perfect this arrangement; the new immi- gration placed at their command an abundant labor supply that resembled in its " mental make-up the ox," and their scheme was perfected without any of the upheavals which dis- organize and demoralize industries.
CONDITIONS OF WORK 75
Mixing the Nationalities. — The operators also have learned how to mix the various nationalities so as to prevent cliques and conclaves that may disturb the operation of the plant. While talking to the superintendent of a large ore dock on Lake Erie, I asked him : " How do you get along with the half dozen peoples of different tongues; do you keep them separate? " " No, sir," was his reply ; " I mix them up. I get better results. Put six of the same people together, and you won't get the work out of them." The superintendent of a rubber plant in Connecticut found that one of the departments of the mill had fallen into the hands of Italians ; men of other nationalities were in the plant, but not one of them could enter that depart- ment. Trouble came which threatened to demoralize the whole plant, and before the management could break up the combi- nation that caused the mischief, it was necessary to double the number of hands in the affected department and drive out the coterie. The same experience has come to managers of con- struction gangs on railroads, so that it is now generally under- stood that a rnixj^j^jjra_js_b_ejtj:er than a homogeneous one. Of course some nationalities will not mix. The Pole and the Lithuanian, the Slovak and the Magyar, the Italian and the Austrian, the Turk and the Armenian, the Hebrew and the Pole, will not, if they can help it, work together. Two Jews were set to work in a car shop among scores of Slavs, but these so tormented the Hebrews that within two days they quit work. Sometimes people of the same nationality will not work amica- bly together. A southern Italian found employment in a web factory near New Haven ""where many northern Italians were employed, but these made the life of the " new hand " so wretched the first day that he did not come the second. The foreman asked the northern Italians why they objected to the man ; their answer was : " We don't want no Dago here." A foreman on the Baltimore and Ohio pitted a gang of Italians against an equal number of Austrians, then played upon their racial prejudice and hatred, and got more work from each.
Foreigners Satisfied. — Southeastern Europeans have one quality in particular which commends itself to operators. When
76 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
one of them advances to the dignity of a machine operator, he seems to have reached the acme of his ambition, and is content. They are also far more easily satisfied than the native-born. An intelligent operator, comparing the foreigner with the native- born workman, said : " A slow horse that's safe is better than a fast one that's frisky." The new immigrant will not compare for a moment in industrial efficiency and adaptability with the native-born ; but thousands of operators prefer to put up with the slow Slav or the sluggish Finn, rather than endure the vex- ation incident to the restlessness and self-assertion of native- born workmen.
Some Disagreeable Habits. — Foreigners have disagreeable habits. One of them, in charge of a room where young girls operated machines, smelt so bad that they carried the com- plaint to the superintendent. The man was summoned to the office and asked : " John, how often do you wash — once a month?" "Sometimes," was his reply. "Well," said the manager, " you must wash at least once a week or look for another job." The man quit. In one of the factories of New England where a large number of foreigners worked, the fol- lowing notice was put up : /*For smell of garlic — 5 cents' fine ; for smell of beer — 5 cents' fine ; for combination of garlic and beer — 10 cents.. "/ In a touhoTfy in Baltimore, the superin- tendent *put up a notice, prohibiting smoking. One fellow per- sistently disregarded the notice, and Mr. Weber, the manager, resolved to catch him in the act and make an example of him. The opportune occasion came ; he saw a cigarette in his mouth, and hurrying across the shop he stood in front of the man, but could not locate that cigarette — the fellow had swallowed it, light and all. Foreigners will bribe foremen, and the boss who has no moral stamina, is seriously tempted. Some foremen find money in their pockets ; a venal boss forms a pact with a saloon- keeper to collect bribe money. Some foremen, given to drink and lust, find men who pander to their weakness. Most immi- grants will drink. When Mr. Houston, of Coatesville, tried to get the men employed in the steel plant to give up drink, a Slav told him : " No beer, no whisky, me no work." Most of the
CONDITIONS OF WORK 77
new immigrants believe that alcohol strengthens them and makes them more efficient. The Slav is especially fond of strong drink. Some foreigners are also passionate and resent the horse play of their fellow workers. One of the saddest tragedies ever known occurred in a mining town in Pennsylvania, be- cause of horse play. An Italian boy worked in the breaker, and, one afternoon as he was leaving for home, some one threw a shovelful of fine coal dust on his head. The victim of the joke looked up and saw a face laughing at him from above, He did not go home, but hid among the cars waiting for the boy with the smiling face to come down. As soon as he came the Italian lad stabbed him to the heart. The criminal, cast into prison, was beside himself with grief when he heard of the fatal result of his attack, and during his trial his agony was pitiful. He was convicted of manslaughter, and is now serving his sen- tence in the penitentiary.
Wants a Fair Chance. — The foreigner is with us and is an important factor in our industries. He is made up of good and evil, the same as the rest of us, and these qualities manifest themselves in shop and mine. What he asks of America is a square deal. He is patient and long-suffering, and endures stoically hardships and inconveniences in making a living, but his meekness and silence should not justify barbaric treatment. He does not ask charity of Christian America, he wants justice ; he wants to be dealt with as " white men " are dealt with, and not as a beast of burden. He takes the lowest wage uncom- plainingly, but when intermittent labor cuts into his living, he suffers the same as the rest of us. Give the foreigner a fair chance as far as conditions of employment, a living wage, and just treatment are concerned, and he will ask no more ; with these he is well able to take care of himself and make good in America.
CHAPTER VI
ACCIDENTS
No reliable statistics of accidents in the industries of the United States are available. Special studies of particular callings have been conducted here and there, and the gruesome tale has made us shudder. Statisticians have refrained from generalizations, for the figures were too appalling. When re- liable information has been collected and the figures are com- pared with those gathered in a like industry in Europe, men are made still more conscious of the enormous waste of lives in the industries of the United States. A prime cause of this mournful record is the heterogeneous character of America's labor force. It is nothing unusual to find a mine, a mill, or a factory in which representatives of twenty different nationali- ties work.
European Workers Homogeneous. — On the continent of Europe or in Great Britain, the employees differ greatly from those found in the United States. In the old world, in mine and mill, a homogeneous working force is the rule ; the foreman knows his men and can talk to them without an interpreter; the men know each other from boyhood; they were raised in the same schools; lived in the same town and have for years worked side by side ; they understand each other and have ties — legal, social, religious, etc. — which bind them and make life joyous. In a coal pit in England, where I once worked, all the employees were pretty much like one family. We knew each other and had common interests. Many men and boys were related by marriage ; a still larger group were worshipers in the same church, all read the paper which discussed matters pertaining to the industry, such as wages and conditions of employment. When calamity overtook a family, we all knew it, and aid was promptly furnished. In one of the drifts, when
78
ACCIDENTS 79
a young boy of sixteen years was killed, work was immediately suspended, and all employees followed that young corpse from the mines.
American Workers Heterogeneous. — Conditions are very different in a plant where a heterogeneous labor force is found. The workers are not only divided by language, but by previous culture and often by racial antipathy. In the coal mining industry men of thirty-three different tongues work; thirty different races are represented in the cotton mills of New England ; eighteen different peoples work in factories for tanning and currying leather; and in the iron and steel industry, the complexity of tongues is as great as in mining. Each race lives its own life and follows its own habits and customs. The men seldom meet in social gatherings, races do not intermarry, they worship at different altars, and the sorrows and trials of the homes are seldom known beyond the small circle of the racial group. The result is the loss of industrial group consciousness, of sympathetic touch, of fraternal feeling, and of common interest in things which concern all the workers in the same plant. If one is killed, the calamity appalls not — no one thinks of suspending work. When men change in a mine or mill, no one cares, for they are for the most part strangers to one another. A gross wrong done a foreigner passes unnoticed, for who can understand his jargon should he try to explain? Under these conditions a foreman who is inclined to drive and abuse has a free hand, while the matter of a roster of the maimed and killed is no one's business, for the mourners of foreign-born victims live three thousand miles away.
Prime Cause of Accidents. — One of the prime causes of accidents to foreigners, as before stated, is their ignorance of the English language. Foremen try to explain, and the foreigner, anxious to please, says, " yes, yes," and at the same time he does not understand what the boss is talking about. A Greek, in Norwich, Conn., was put in charge of a machine in a cotton mill, at the extreme left end of which was a box, covering the gear. The boss told the Greek, " Don't touch this," laying his hand on the box. No sooner was he out of sight than the man
8o THE NEW IMMIGRATION
went to the box, lifted the lid and looked in. He saw some lint on the machinery and put his hand in to remove it — the hand came out a shapeless mass of mangled flesh. In the investi- gation it was discovered that the Greek did not understand a word of the warning. In one of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Com- pany's ore pits, in Ishpeming, five foreigners and an English- speaking leader were sinking a shaft from one level to another. They had bored five holes, put in the cartridges and fired them. Two of the holes missed fire, and the boss swabbed one out with a stick. He was called to another part of the mine, and leaving two men to swab out the remaining hole, he turned to the more intelligent, put the stick in his hand, and told him what to do. No sooner was the boss gone than the foreigner deliberately laid the stick one side, took a drill, put it in the hole, and told his friend to strike. The hole went off instantly, and both men were maimed for life. Here again the investigation showed that the men had not understood the captain, and, anxious to expedite work, they thought they would clean out the hole quicker than the boss did — and they succeeded. A Hungarian in the Richard's Mines in New Jersey sat upright on the car about to be hoisted up the slope. The footman shouted to him to lean forward with the incline of the slope; he simply shrugged his shoulders and laughed The car went its way, and a beam struck the young man on the head, killing him instantly. Did he understand? Did he willfully make that his last ride? Six Italians were drowned in Aspinwall dam near Pittsburgh, simply because they did not understand English. The foreman in charge of the crew saw their danger ; he called to them to follow him to safety ; they did not understand, and found a watery grave. A foreigner has asked us " Suppose the English-speaking workman saw the following sign, what would he make out of it :
HOrMBEJb
and still there are thousands of foreigners in mills and mines to whom the word
DANGER means just as much."
ACCIDENTS 8l
One Language Needed. — The state of Pennsylvania has tried to meet this difficulty by printing special editions of the laws regulating the mining industry in foreign tongues. The United States Steel Company has done the same, issuing its regulations in several tongues for the use of its employees. Notices may be seen in iron and steel mills printed in five and six different languages. All this is admirable, but two facts defeat the end in view. The one is, the illiteracy of the for- eigners. From 35 to 75 per cent of the men from southeastern Europe are illiterate, and to them rules and regulations printed in their mother tongues will do no good. The other is that in every industrial plant the safety of all demands a common medium of communication, so that each may understand a warning when given or comprehend simple instruction when the boss explains. In the East St. Louis aluminium works, a Pole, in charge of a loaded car transporting the product from one part of the plant to another, saw a fellow workman repair- ing a pipe lined on the wall close to which the car was to pass. He shouted in Polish, " Get out of the way," but the other man, being a German, did not understand. The car caught the poor fellow, and crushed him fearfully against the wall. A hundred men in one plant must cooperate if the work is to go on smoothly ; but if they speak ten different languages, how can they cooperate ? Print the regulations in as many tongues as there are races em- ployed ; that will not help men who must in the daily process of production communicate with one another. They must have a common medium of communication, and the only rational solution of the difficulty is to teach all foreigners employed in hazardous industries enough English to enable them to under- stand simple instruction, to read simple warnings, and to com- municate one with another. This is feasible, and, if accomplished, would reduce the accidents in every risky industry where for- eigners are employed. Should employers of immigrants assist in an undertaking of this character, it would be possible, within six months or a year, to teach these men enough English to com- prehend simple instruction given by the boss and carry on ordinary conversation.
82 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
Foreigners take Risks. — Increased linguistic capacity, how- ever, will not eliminate all accidents. Some industries, in their very nature, involve risk, and some men, in their make-up, will take chances. Capable English-speaking miners, seeing a piece of rock hanging, will risk life and limb rather than take time to do what their judgment suggests. Some foreigners are the same. It is a part of human nature to take chances. Then immigrants are anxious to please, and the " hurry-up " habit of American foremen is responsible for many calamities. A Slav, employed in a manufacturing supply company, was told to stop his machine thirty minutes before quitting time in order to clean up; the man, anxious to please the boss by running his machine to the limit, tried to clean up while the machine was in operation; his hand was caught in the cogs and was torn fearfully. A foreign-born young woman operating a ma- chine in one of the factories of Passaic, N.J., was given a brush with which to clean the machine when the engine shut down; she, however, used her arm instead of the brush, and was caught when the engine started unexpectedly — she is to-day armless.
Industries Risky. — Pennsylvania mine inspectors have for many years declared that 70 per cent of the mining accidents are due to the willful neglect of employees. They overlook or forget the risky character of mining when making that state- ment. We are liable to err in judgment or fail to see a pending danger. I once operated a steam pump hoisting water from a shaft 200 feet deep. Attached to the rocking beam were large rods which were hoisted and lowered with the piston ; attached to these rods were steel arms which opened and closed the steam valves. I saw those arms rising and falling a thousand times a day, but that did not prevent me in a thoughtless moment from bending directly under one of them and being laid pros- trate on the floor. Was it willful neglect ? I am sure I did not want to be killed or injured. A foreigner, working in one of the steel plants of Pennsylvania, was on the night shift. He had a few moments' rest, and so sat in a wheelbarrow and slept. The large crane, carrying its load of steel, came that way, and when above that sleeper, the chain slipped, and down came the
ACCIDENTS 83
load, crushing him to death. Was that willful neglect on the part of the sleeper? So the company adjudged, and refused to pay his widow and orphan children a cent of compensation. A foreigner, working in a wire mill, pulling wire through the machine to get rid of the kinks, knows perfectly well that the end of that coil is liable to spring ; but in a thoughtless moment, when, perchance, he thinks of the girl he left behind him thou- sands of miles away, the wire springs and tears out his eye. Yes, he may be guilty of contributory negligence ; but are not these thoughtless moments very human? In a plow plant, in Rock Island City, one of the machines was idle. I asked the foreman : " What is the matter with this machine? " " A man was killed there two days ago," was his answer. Other monsters like it were going full speed, and I thought, if one of them clutched me what chance would I have to live ? The men in charge of these machines are told to oil them from the rear ; the operator of this silent one tried to put some oil on the bearings while standing in front of the monster; his sleeve was caught, he was whirled around, and before he knew what happened to him, he was no more. Of course, he had no business to stand in front to oil the machine ; but which of us is always right to the handle in the discharge of our duty? A miner bores a hole, but before he gets in the powder, some annoying sulphur has exuded on the sides so that the cartridge will not go in ; it is more than half in, and the man takes the drill and gives it a few light blows; he strikes a little harder than he thought, the cartridge explodes, and he is a lifeless mass under the blasted coal. No, he should not have touched the charge with the drill — he should have spent an hour or two, if need be, to swab out the hole ; but was not that act of his very human ?
The Hurry-up Habit. — An Italian boy, only six months in America, lying in a hospital, suffering from an injury he had received, had learned three words in English : " hurry up " and " boots." Was he there because of willful neglect or because of the hurry-up habit in the United States? Arthur Shadwell, in " Industrial Efficiency," commends the leisurely way Ger- mans carry on their work. They do not shout, or rush, or drive,
84 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
and still they do things. How different with us ! It is " hurry up " on all sides. A foreigner is employed to manipulate the chain of a crane, and before he has taken his hand off the hook, the signal to hoist is given and his fingers are caught. A foreigner is ordered down to the pit of the flywheel to do some cleaning ; but before he has time to come up, the signal to start is given ; the poor fellow is caught by the wheel and hurled to eternity. A foreign-born helper is told by his chief to clean the machine ; he goes to work and is busy, when the leader, forgetting the foreigner, touches the lever and starts the machine — he re- members when a cry of agony rends the air and the poor man has lost a hand. A foundry in Pennsylvania has the record of " one a day " when in full blast, and the record is largely due to the fact that heavy cranes let fall a part of their load on foreigners who don't know enough to get out of the way, or because the crane driver, in a hurry, forgets to ring the bell to warn men to get out of the way. A gate guarding the mouth of an underground shaft was broken, but " Hurry-up," the fore- man said ; " we must get out the coal — we'll repair it later " ; but a Slav, working there for the first time, did not know that the gate was broken. He came, leaned against the gate, and fell down the shaft. " Production," " tonnage," that is the talisman in the life of so many managers who want to make a record, and they forget the men who ought to count for more than production. In a coal shaft where the labor force was al- most wholly foreign, the man in charge wanted to make a record. " Get out the coal " was the order, and the wheels were running at their swiftest. A boy came and said, " There's fire on level three " ; and the foreman said, " It's a mistake ; get out the coal." An hour passed, and then another warning came ; but the word was passed, " Go ahead, we are breaking the record." Another half hour of rushing out the coal, and then came the cry of horror, " The third level is full of smoke." The wheels were stopped, but it was too late ; no word could be sent to the men in the face ; the air current had turned, and none of the men on that level would escape. The manager made a record — a record so gruesome that ninety million people felt the shock
ACCIDENTS 85
the following morning. Put man first and tonnage second, and many accidents will be prevented. We have kept the wheels of industry running, and also the hearse. We have made records, and so has the recording angel.
Electricity Risky. — The introduction of new appliances in production increases the number of risks to men of the new immigration. Electricity to-day is the favorite motive power. Its use in mines has a great many advantages over compressed air or steam, but it enhances the element of danger. The eleva- tion in most mines is none too great, and a live wire attached to the roof is a constant menace. When a Slav, raised on the farm, sees a little wire above him, he is not likely to regard it as a thing fraught with danger, much less with death. You tell him about it, and he cannot understand. When he enters the mine, carrying a keg of powder on his shoulder, and thinking little of that wire, something is going to happen. Many warn- ings have been given by mine inspectors against the use of elec- tricity in mines ; but it is more and more installed, for it is cheaper and more convenient than other sources of power. A plant that had, for many years, used compressed air for riveting, reaming, hoisting, drilling, hauling, etc., has recently installed electric power, for its chief engineer computed that it would be 50 per cent cheaper than compressed air. Seventy-five per cent of the employees of that plant are foreign-speaking, and when I asked, " Will it not increase the risk to these men in your plant ? " " Yes," was the reply ; " but they'll soon get used to it." Sixty-five per cent of these men in the fatherland were farmers, or farm laborers ; they are awkward in their movements, they are not quick, they respond slowly, and when working alongside of the fluid that partakes of the nature of the light- ning flash, some of them will pay a great price before they get used to it. In a steel plant a live wire broke, and, falling upon another of the same .character, formed a short circuit of great power. A foreigner saw the wire falling, and went to throw it off the track. Some one shouted, " Beware, let that alone." He was ignorant ; it was only a wire, and he took hold of it and with one yell fell dead.
86 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
More Power means more Risks. — The power per man used in the industries to-day is larger than ever before. When under control, it multiplies human strength many hundred fold ; it enables man to produce an amount of wealth which was only hinted at by magicians and alchemists in former generations; but where used by the sons of Russia, sluggish as their own Volga ; by the Serbs, reckless as the torrents in their mountain home ; by the Ruthenian, stolid because of centuries of oppression, it means increased risk. When one is caught in a modern machine, there is very little hope for him. A foreigner, operating a machine which was driven at a high speed, ought not to have worn a loose blouse in the presence of that monster, but he did. It caught, and instantly he was whirled to eternity. Speed and a superabundance of power are often messengers of death to workmen. We don't find fault with either improved machinery, or with increased power per man. They are necessary accompaniments to industrial development. But if it is a crime to put poison in the hand of a child, is it not also an equal crime to harness an ignorant farmer to an electric rod or a dangerous machine, and let him take his chances ? Wherever there is risk, the men taking it ought to be intelligent enough to understand what the risk is and be forewarned. That is not done with the new immigrants who so freely sacrifice life and limb in the industries of North America.
Some Figures tell a Sad Story. — We have not, as before stated, reliable statistics of accidents, and yet the Italian consul for western Pennsylvania says that five hundred Italians lost their lives in that state in one year. The Austrian consul, in the same district, recorded the names of eighty-two men killed in ten months. A Servian priest counted in his parish record twenty-eight violent deaths among his people in a year. In the last decade 7500 foreign-born men have been killed in the coal fields of Pennsylvania. But in West Virginia, in Colorado, in the ore mines of the upper peninsula of Michigan, the number per thousand killed is higher than in the Keystone State, and in these fields the number of foreigners, wage earners, is not far short of fifty thousand. Add to the number of the slain in the
ACCIDENTS 87
above industries the list of men killed in iron and steel works, on railroads, in grinding trades ; and the vicarious sacrifice of the foreigners in the industrial life of America is appalling. In one of the industrial plants of the Middle West, the Poles were largely employed in the grinding department, when one Sabbath morning the priest advised his flock, " to get out of the grinding shop," and they obeyed. One of the superinten- dents asked the priest, why he urged the men to get out of the grinding department, for they made good money. " Yes," he answered, " but they don't enjoy it long " ; and pointing to the cemetery on the hillside he added, " Four hundred of my people lie yonder as a result of work in the grinding depart- ment." These Fathers of foreign-speaking flocks know what the death roll is. When those located in industrial centers are consulted, they count the fallen in mill and mine, for whose repose their prayers are offered.
Little Compensation given. — We are fast coming — and none too soon — to the place where the social conscience of the nation will insist that the compensations due the sufferers because of industrial accidents shall be a part of 'the cost of production; but in the matter of compensation the nation has set its face against the foreigners. Few courts in the land give alien prosecutors as fair a hearing as they do the native-born. The courts of Pennsylvania for three generations closed their ears to the cry of widows and orphans lamenting, in foreign lands, the death of hundreds of foreigners annually killed in mills and shops, mines and quarries, railroads and construction works in the state. The case of a foreigner killed at work, whose next of kin resided abroad, was, up till 191 1,1 outlawed in the courts of Pennsylvania, no matter how gross the negli- gence of the company might have been. An Italian, while working on a railroad, was run down by a shunting engine and
l" Until June g, 191 1, the non-resident aliens, i.e. relatives living abroad, had according to the ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania no right of action against American corporations. This ruling excluded about 60 per cent of cases, where foreigners were involved, of any possibility of recovering damages." Quoted from letter of Edgar Prochnik, Acting Consul of Austria-Hungary, in Pittsburgh, Pa.
88 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
killed. No warning was given the man — the gong of the engine even did not ring. He left a wife and child, but the company refused to pay anything save $200 for funeral expenses. A young Slav, employed as a teamster in the mines, was bringing a trip of cars from one of the headings to the foot of the shaft ; one of the cars jumped the track, and the driver was caught between the rib and the load and instantly killed. The cause of the accident was a defective frog — known to be in bad shape before the accident ; but it was not fixed until the mis- chief was done, and then repaired hurriedly. The foreign consul took up the case with the owner of the mine, who refused to do anything save pay the customary $200. Two Slavs, working around a converter in a steel plant, were fixing a rail so that the carriage bearing the ladle might be brought up to the right place. The stay under the rail shook, and one of the men, losing his balance, fell; the rail also fell and instantly killed him. When the case was brought before the company it refused to consider it. When a young Italian was killed in a construction camp through willful negligence on the part of the company, his parents tried to recover damages, but were referred to the Manufacturers' Insurance Company. This con- cern said that the appellant had no case, that no damages could be collected, and that it would not pay a cent — it kept its word. Courts Prejudiced. — Talking to one of the foreign consuls in an industrial center, I asked : " How is it that so many cases are settled for $200? " His answer was, " The companies esti- mate that it will cost about that to fight the case in court, and if the claimant will settle for that amount, they part with the $200 that way." " Couldn't you get more on a good case by appealing to the court? " I asked. He shook his head, and said : " The court is against the foreigner, and favors the corporation. You cannot get a jury to give damages to foreigners. They say that too much money goes to Europe now, and they won't increase it by a verdict for the plaintiff." Another consul wrote me : " In general you can say that the life of a foreign laborer is not valued over $200 in Pennsylvania." This is not the exact truth, for some foreigners recover damages. A young
ACCIDENTS 89
Slovak, in Pittsburgh, having lost his leg in unprotected machin- ery, recovered $1000 damages.1
All Men Equal? — " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." These sentiments of the fathers are to-day repudiated by some of the sons ; but the treatment given the foreigner is the most general and direct repudiation of this fundamental principle of this democracy. When he lands he is not given equal rights with the native-born ; and when he goes inland he finds his footsteps dogged by ex- ploiters. In social and industrial relations, a different moral code is applied to him from that applied to " white people " ; but in no relation of life is the principle belied as in the courts of the land. The foreigner cannot get equal justice with the native-born, and the gross wrongs perpetrated against immi- grants in the lower courts of our cities and small towns are tolerated by public opinion because we are indifferent to the rights of aliens. " All men are equal " is the cornerstone of this democracy; upon it the fathers built, and it was their shield and buckler when they appealed to Christendom in de- fense of their protest against discrimination and injustice. To depart from this is to undermine popular government, for we cannot hold true in a national sense a principle we belie in our treatment of individuals.
Disasters fall on Foreigners. — Every great industrial calam- ity in the life of America, in the last decade, has fallen heaviest upon the foreigners. The Morgana, the Hardwick, the Cherry, the Throop, and the Chicago disasters, connected with shafts and mines, fell almost wholly upon foreigners. The victims of the holocausts in the Brooklyn and Newark factories were all of them foreign-born, or the children of foreign-born parents.
1 The sentiment against foreign-born workers is well illustrated in the com- pulsory compensation act recently passed by the Kansas legislature, which pro- vides that dependents of the victim of a fatal accident shall receive a sum equal to three years' wages, not to exceed $3600, but to non-resident alien dependents the sum shall not exceed $750.
— Survey, Sept. 23, IQII, p. 860.
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When these people perish, the calamity does not strike home as if they had been of our own flesh and blood. Some persons heedlessly say, " These people have no fine feeling, they are near the brutes." That is not the sentiment of the American heart, and those who make such unkind remarks have never known the foreigner. When the cribbing in the shaft on the side of the lake in Chicago took fire, and more than forty foreigners were either burned or smothered to death, the streets of South Chicago were filled with terror-stricken people, and women were beside themselves with grief. I have seen a mine disaster in England, and know how women and men of Keltic and Anglo-Saxon stock act under such an ordeal ; and when that dreadful calamity fell upon the Slavs in Chicago the wives and mothers, relatives and friends, acted pretty much the same. Pale with fear, women wrung their hands in agony, and moaned, prostrated with grief, weeping over their dead. When the day of the funeral came, South Chicago was in mourning. The streets were thronged with people of all nationalities, but it was not a festive day — it was a day of sadness and gloom, for widows and orphans cried, and there were none to comfort them. Amid that throng there were hearts as sympathetic with their fellow men as were found among any people in similar circumstances. Foreign Hearts feel. — The family tie rudely torn in a mo- ment by a dreadful disaster strikes terror into all hearts, and to imagine that the Slav and Lithuanian, the Magyar and the Finn, the Italian and the Greek, differ in this respect from the English-speaking, is a mistake. In the Throop disaster, when kind hands ministered to the families of the dead, two women came to a house where a victim slept the sleep of death. There was only a little girl in that home, and she could not wake her " Pa." They asked her, " Where is your mother? " and the child said : " I don't know. She's out." The women asked the neighbors : " Where is the wife and the mother ; surely she could not have been so cruel as to desert her home on such an occasion ? " The neighbors assured the succorers that she was not a woman of that kind — she was around somewhere. They searched, and at last found her outside the town, wandering
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in the bush — insane. The cords of that heart did not break, but the shock was too great for a loving mother and wife. The one great Father has made us all alike, and when distress or calamity befalls us, we feel it. If we remember this, and give the foreigner who sacrifices so much in our industries a " square deal," he will feel happier, and so will we.
Improvement is made. — The bitter cry of foreigners in- jured in mines and mills has long been heard in the land. Foreign governments 1 have protested against discriminations and in- justices. Philanthropic and Christian agencies have cham- pioned the cause of the alien victims, and have argued that they deserve equal justice with the native-born industrial workers. We believe that marked improvement has been made in this respect in recent years, but there is still much territory to be covered. Protection against injury has become the watchword of the twentieth century, and rapid strides are made in the conservation of life and limb in the industries of America. But the needs of the foreign-speaking workers have not had the attention they deserve. They demand special study, for by previous- training and culture these men differ widely from the native-born or from the English-speaking immigrant. They are ignorant of our language, of our industrial life, and think and move slowly. The antidotes to these ills are sympathy and education. The foreigners employed in hazardous indus- tries should have a knowledge of English. In certain callings this should be made compulsory. The dangers also incident to risky employments should be fully explained and demonstrated. Protective measures of this nature would reduce the number of accidents, would instil into the employees of a plant or a mine the spirit of watchfulness and cooperation, would make each worker conscious that he is responsible for the safety of his fellow worker, and the motto " no accidents," would soon become the pride and joy of all industrial workers and their employers.
1"The Austrian government issued an order January, 1912, to all its cousuls and immigrant agents in the United States not to send an immigrant subject of Austria to the mills or mines of the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, for the reason that the number of Austrians killed in these states was appalling and the number of the maimed returned to the fatherland was large."
CHAPTER VII
EFFICIENCY AND PROGRESS
THE men of the new immigration are workers. If Rousseau's maxim, " Every idle citizen is a knave," were the measure of these people's value, they would all be classified as loyal citizens. The vast majority of them come from agricultural communities, where the virtues of simplicity, family affection, capacity for work, courtesy and gentleness, plain living and thrift, are cultivated ; and these qualities, if conserved and fostered, should help them to efficiency and progress in the new world. Of course, there is a vast difference between people and people. The Finn is so stolid that you can slap him in the face and he will not wince ; but I saw an Italian waiter turn pale when reminded that he had neglected to bring a guest a napkin ; the Greek will not drink, but he will lie ; a Pole will do both, and still work hard ; an Armenian is calculative and humble ; a Lithua- nian submissive anoTgenerous ; a Jew will talse everything you give him and be grateful ; a Magyar stands on his dignity and believes in quid pro quo. And these racial qualities mark the people desirable or undesirable, and spell success or failure in the group. Every race in the new immigration is put to the test in our social and industrial life : if they manifest qualities that build up and strengthen society, they enrich the nation ; if degenerating qualities predominate, they become a curse.
Industrial Discipline. — Nothing in modern life is more splen- did than the sight of a thousand men in an industrial plant, each doing his part in a process which converts raw material into finished products. The evolutions of a disciplined army, under skillful commanders, is as nothing compared with this army of producers under captains of industry, marshaled each morning at a stated hour, and making possible the continuous flow of wealth enjoyed by men. All the problems incident to
92
EFFICIENCY AND PROGRESS 93
making a living are involved in the activity and endeavor of these men, and the peace and prosperity of this democracy depend more upon the quality of men earning their bread by the sweat of their brow than upon any other group. The for- eign-born workers form an essential factor in the thirty-seven million workers of America ; and the country is interested in the industrial efficiency of the men from southeastern Europe and wants to know what progress, if any, they are making — these are the questions discussed in this chapter.
Their Wages Increase. — The wage earned by men is, in a general way, an indicator of their industrial efficiency. A study of the wages earned by the men of the new immigration reflects the value placed on their service by society. The lowest wage in the land is paid the men of southeastern Europe, and more than 90 per cent of them get less than $400 a year. There is a great difference between the wage of these men and that of men of the old immigration, and a still greater difference be- tween it and that of the native-born. The new immigrants, as before stated, are the men who suffer most from intermittent labor. The work they do is unskilled, but employers in- variably say that they are faithful and persevering. Those who stay in the country long enough and prove that they can adapt themselves to our industrial life, rise in efficiency and get a higher wage. We have no reason to believe that the men of the new immigration will turn out any worse than those of the old, and a study of the lowest wages paid shows that very few of the English-speaking immigrants are at present in that class. There was a time when they occupied the lowest economic level ; but they have disappeared from this, and the new immi- gration has taken their place. It is only a question of time when the newcomers will increase in economic efficiency and rise to higher levels. The question, whence will America draw its labor supply to fill these lower levels as the Slav and Italian leave them, ought not to concern us. What is of vital interest to all just now is, how can this unskilled foreign-born worker increase his efficiency and thus increase his earning powers? However, income is not the right criterion by which to measure
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a man's value to society and his future possibilities. A Slav digging coal is of far greater service to society than a rich liber- tine who cannot find ways varied enough to spend his money and kill ennui. A family of workers may have in it far greater promise than a stem of an old house that is fast dying out. Industrial efficiency and promise of progress are dependent on moral far more than on physical qualities. The men of the new immigration have in them good and bad characteristics; but we believe that the good predominates and if properly directed will prove an asset of great value to America.
Bad Qualities Copied. — Mr. Weeks, a superintendent of one of the Subway Coke Company plants, said : " The first thing a foreigner learns is to count money, and the second, to say Jesus Christ." Foreigners who cannot talk a word of English are able to calculate so accurately the two weeks' pay coming to them that a mistake of an hour in their time or of ten cents in their pay is discerned. As for swearing, many foreigners innocently contract the habit, knowing not the meaning of the words they use. They learn also to smoke and chew, drink and gamble, more profusely in America than was the custom in the homeland, because they have more money to spend on luxu- ries. They imitate undesirable external qualities in Americans of the worse sort, and imagine that they are better workmen because of it. The American wage earner has his excellences — his intelligence, his power of self-direction, his self-reliance, his ingenuity and intensity, his courage and application, are conspicuous; but the foreigners as a body do not appreciate these qualities and emulate them, but the gross and undesirable characteristics of the careless and thriftless native-born worker are marked and copied. The southeastern Europeans are not profane ; but thousands of them in the mining and steel indus- tries have contracted the habit, and have attained a proficiency that is painful and humiliating. The new immigration is capa- ble of far better things, and can be molded into better habits if given wholesome example. But, unfortunately, the foreigner, in industrial life, has often fallen into the hands of men who care more for tonnage than human rights and character ; and,
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in social life, the Americans they meet are the remnant of an older immigration, still living in a neighborhood forsaken by the English-speaking, and incapable of economic advancement or social efficiency. Generally speaking, the social and indus- trial efficiency and progress of the foreigners has been wholly left to chance. No systematic effort has been made to train this man as a worker or as a member of society. This mass of humanity, coming from agricultural communities, is plastic and capable of being molded into the standard of American manhood. We cannot expect, however, that these sons of backward peoples will themselves shape their lives according to our ideals. Before the man can conform to the best that is in America, he must be touched by the right kind of men in the shop, in the court, in business and community life; and this costs effort. Weeds grow of their own accord ; good wheat and corn are the result of careful planting and hoeing.
Undesirable Qualities. — The new immigrants bring some qualities which interfere with their efficiency — they need lop- ping off. The racial hatred and jealousy before referred to is un-American and out of place in factory, mill, or mine. Cliques and combinations along racial lines to defeat men of another nationality is annoying to the management and interferes with the efficiency of the plant. The foreigner needs to be taught that the accident of birth is not a determining factor in American manhood. A foreman who, in order to get more work out of his men, stirs up old-world prejudice and racial hatred, is also out of sympathy with American ideals. Race antagonism has no place on American soil, where, from the beginning, white men have freely mixed to produce the present type; and all agencies promoting racial jealousies and hatreds are checks to the development of the best and noblest in humanity.
Many Holidays. — The foreigners also have many holidays, which are an annoyance to many employers. The Greek Church has more than eighty festivals in the year, and immigrants of this faith were in the habit of celebrating them in the old country ; when they come to America, they cannot do so and render efficient service in our industries. In the Balkans one of
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the most serious hindrances to economic prosperity is ecclesi- astical restriction, from both Christian and Mohammedan sources, upon the number of work days in the year. Men, ac- customed to these suspensions, feel they can do the same in America. Some mining shafts in which one-fourth of the labor force is Greek Catholic are forced to shut down when these men celebrate a f easfc I once visited a Polish priest, in the coal fields of West Virginia, on one of the feast days of the Church. I asked the gentleman if any of the Poles worked that day ; he looked at me in amazement, and said : "No, they would rather die than work on this holy day." Captain Daniels, in charge of one of the ore mines in Michigan, had considerable trouble with Greek Catholics celebrating Christmas and New Year according to the Greek Calendar. His labor force was practi- cally disorganized for several weeks when these holidays occurred, for both Roman and Greek worshipers followed the tradition of the Fathers. The captain, however, called the men of the latter faith together, and gave them the choice of celebrating these festivities at the same time as the majority of the mine force did or looking for other jobs. The economic appeal settled all religious difficulties.
Foreigners Drink. — The drink habit of many foreigners interferes with their efficiency. The Finns and Slavs are heavy drinkers, and some of these immigrants have contracted the habit of buying alcohol to mix with their coffee.1 A decade ago the port towns of Lake Erie were scenes of many orgies. The dock workers believed that a vessel could not be unloaded unless they had from four to five kegs of beer. The sailors thought that a good time in port meant a staggering drunk and a brutal row. Saloons flourished, and so did bawdy houses. The companies operating the docks and the vessels took the matter in hand, and the foreigners in these port towns to-day are decent, if not sober. Drunkenness and debauchery were a menace to
1 In the iron ore fields of Michigan, one of the operators found his supply of paraffin stolen for drinking purposes. Paraffin was also used in Russia to dilute vodka before its sale was taken over by the government. See "The Russian People," p. 58, by Maurice Baring.
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property and a serious hindrance to industrial efficiency, and the management put a stop to them. The foreign-born em- ployees, however, on ore docks still drink. A Pole, who had quit the ore docks, gave the following reason for so doing : "I make $1.70 a day, and spend a dollar of it on grog." The Mary- land Steel Company at Sparrows Point regulates the drink habit of its employees by favorable geographical conditions. It occupies a piece of land in shape very much like a bottle, the narrow neck of which connects it to the mainland. No saloon can locate on this property, and no drink can be sold within a radius of three miles. If the men want booze, they have to go to Baltimore for it ; and if under the influence of liquor when they return to the company's property, they must behave themselves. Contrast this with the mining towns of Pennsyl- vania, where it is nothing unusual for judges to grant a license , ; for every hundred persons — men, women, and children. These towns, wholly occupied by foreigners, on pay nights, are full of drunkards, and the orgies begun on Saturday continue till Sunday night, when stupor and slumber silence the revelries. This drink habit is un-American, and unless curbed it threatens large sections of our industrial population with a curse more terrible than the white plague.
Foreigners don't Eat Enough. — Many foreigners don't eat enough nourishing food to keep up the strength of the body. Those who have recently come over are inclined to eat as they were wont to in the fatherland, not thinking of the stress and strain of American industrial life and the need of more and better food to stand it. Two Syrians, looking for employment, came to the office of Mr. Breece, the employment agent of the Ber- wick Steel plant. He immediately " sized them up," and said: " No, you're too weak, you don't eat enough." Turning to me, he said : " Syrians are no good in the mill. They may be all right for peddlers. They can't stand hard work." One of the foremen of the International Heater Company was in the habit of going around when the foreigners ate their luncheon, and his observation was that the Italians made a meal on bread and pickles. The same low standard is practiced by many
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Greeks. A proverb says that " A Greek can live on the smell of an oiled rag ; " and the standard hinted at in it is practiced by these men in small trades and stores. A low standard of living is the rule when foreigners first come ; but it is not long before they change for the better. This, again, is a matter of education ; and it is hopeless to expect foreigners to give up their craving for stimulants until they are taught to eat nourishing and wholesome food.
Some Foreigners Thieves. — Many of the foreigners from southeastern Europe are inveterate thieves. Mr. Wyllie, fore- man of the Norfolk and Western yard at Portsmouth, Ohio, lost two trucks. A gang of Greeks worked near by, elevating the tracks, and he said, " They have them." He ordered his men to search the camp, and one truck was recovered, but the other was safely stowed away beyond recovery. These men lived two miles away from town, and a railroad truck was just what they needed to get in their supplies. A plant in Erie changed its motive power from steam to electricity, and Super- intendent Walker got a seamless leather belt, eight inches wide and half an inch thick, to carry power from a large dynamo to the shafts. One morning, as the men assembled, the belt was found on the floor and a piece eight feet long cut out and stolen. In a large rubber factory, when German and Irish girls made up the labor force, the management had no complaints of theft and no demand for lockers. But in recent years thefts are common. Ribbons, feathers, and hatpins disappear, and the company has put in lockers to protect the property of English- speaking girls in their factory. While passing through the Finishing Works of Passaic, I saw the names of eight men posted in several places throughout the factory. I asked Mr. Ketchum, the manager, what it meant, and he said : " Two wagons would not carry the goods we took from those men's houses — goods they had stolen from the factory." Each man was fined $50 and sent to jail for thirty days. A foreigner, one evening, was brought into the superintendent's office and seventy yards of mercerized linen unwound from around his body. The man explained that he wanted to give a wedding
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present to a young Polish girl about to be married. This thieving propensity of employees from among southeastern Europeans is a subject of general complaint among employers. A superintendent of a brass foundry in the West went to the priest and complained of the theft of the people. The Father preached a special sermon on honesty, which had its effect, but the employer said : " It lasted only about two weeks — they are at it again." The sense of property rights is wanting or else very slightly developed in many of these peoples.
Foreigners not Truthful. — They also have no right concep- tion of veracity. They will deliberately lie, and be as calm and self-possessed about it as if they knew no compunction. A settlement worker in New Haven, located among the foreigners, asked the girls in her club if they told the truth. They said, " No," and then added, that no one told the truth but " the Sisters in the school." A superintendent of a leather factory in Nashua, complaining of the Greeks in his plant, said : " They have no sense of honor; you can't rely upon them; they lie and do it cunningly." Judges in the courts have observed the same thing. When a case was tried in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, a foreigner, the star witness for the prosecution, was tampered with while at luncheon. The man was summoned to the stand and testified that a countryman had approached him. saying: "An oath in the courthouse is not an oath in the church." Every judge having experience with foreigners is convinced that they are unreliable ; and not only is this the opinion of the judges, but court interpreters also affirm that the average man from southeastern Europe seldom tells the truth if the matter in hand affects him or his countrymen.
Desirable Qualities. — There is another side to the shield — the new immigrants have many desirable qualities. As before stated, the nationalities of the new immigration are found in the basic industries, such as coal mining, iron and steel plants, meat packing, slaughtering, tanning, etc. Those who enter these employments are hard workers, regular, uncomplaining, and submissive. It was once thought that coal could not be mined save by expert miners from Great Britain ; but to-day
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seven times as much coal is mined as was mined thirty years ago, and 75 per cent of the labor force is made up of men from southeastern Europe. Experienced foremen say that many Poles, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Croats, etc., make as good miners as ever handled a drill. Most of these men never saw a coal mine before they entered one in America ; but thousands are now experts in the art. We have spoken in the previous chapter of accidents to foreigners. It is worthy of note, however, that the number per thousand killed to-day in the mines of Pennsylvania is not greater than it was twenty- five years ago, when the industry was in the hands of Kelts and Teutons. Mr. Huston, of Coatesville, Pa., has seen the old and the new immigration enter the steel industry, and his conviction is, that the Hungarians are more intelligent and effi- cient than the unskilled workers who came from the British Isles thirty or forty years ago. The Magyars are capable men. In an axle works in the Pittsburgh district these men were put to forge axles, which requires special skill; they did the work and are still doing it. Men of the same nationality were em- ployed in Barberton, Ohio, to make casting. The manager told me that they did twice the work done by English-speaking men, and reduced the loss due to carelessness to nothing. Dur- ing the last twenty-five years, when the southeastern Europeans have been pouring into the country, the production of mill and mine, of factory and shop, has increased per annum more than $679 per employee, and it is the best testimony possible to the efficiency of the foreign-born workers, who form so es- sential a part of the working force of the nation.
A. A. Paryski, Publisher. — If we measure the potentiality of a race by the individuals who have made good, there is hardly a people in the new immigration that has not its representative. A. A. Paryski, the proprietor of the Polish Printing House of Toledo, is a man of whom the city is proud. He prints every year more Polish books than any printing house in Poland, and conducts a business that annually amounts to nearly three quarters of a million dollars. Thirty years ago he came to America to escape military service, and began life as a farm
EFFICIENCY AND PROGRESS IOI
hand in Michigan. After two years he came to Toledo, learned the printing business, and is the possessor to-day of a plant worth more than $300,000. He has fought his way to the front, triumphed over his foes, and to-day is one of the most potent forces in shaping the Poles of America into loyal citizens of this republic. M. B. Slyzynski, of Chicago, is another Pole, who is a wise leader and capable guide, having the confidence of his own people and that of Americans.
F. L. Frugone. — F. L. Frugone, another newspaper pro- prietor, edits one of the most influential Italian papers in the Union. When seventeen years of age he landed in New York City. His destination was the coal fields of Pennsylvania, but he was robbed on board the ship of every cent he possessed, and could not leave the city. All he possessed were the clothes he wore ; but he had two strong arms, and he was not afraid of work. His first job was in a printer's shop at $4 a week. He advanced steadily until he knew the trade and was promoted to the position of foreman of a large shop. During the Spanish- American war he started an Italian paper, and has published it since. His influence among his people is wholesome ; he touches nearly 200,000 of his countrymen in America ; he has the con- fidence of his countrymen because of his broad sympathies and common sense ; his aim has always been to lead his readers into sympathetic relation with all that is American. Ernesto Fabri, Cavalier Grilli, Dr. Antonio Stella, etc., are Italians of great worth and of whom all Americans who know them are proud.
In every city in the North Atlantic and North Central States, where the new immigration is found, we meet substantial, pro- gressive, loyal citizens among the Slavs and Lithuanians, Ital- ians and Greeks, Jews and Armenians, etc., — men who would be an honor to any country and who are respected in the com- munities where they live. They are born leaders of the right kind to their countrymen, they prosper by thrift and business ability, and they love the country of their adoption as loyally as any native born of native parentage.
Efficient in Work. — The foreigners in the rank and file of
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workingmen are honored and appreciated by fair-minded men. An Irishman, bossing in a steel mill, was prejudiced against the foreigners, and did not want any on his force ; but during a scar- city of " hands " he was induced to take a few on, under protest. Within two months all the men under him were foreign-born. The superintendent one day twitted him by saying : " Mike, I thought you didn't like these Hunkies — have you changed?" " Sure," was his reply. " I like them now, for they do what you tell 'em and they don't talk back." In a shoe firm, the manager gave a young Greek the task of measuring leather which the firm purchased, and his testimony was, "He is the best man I ever had to do the work," and he gave the following reason for the statement : "An American young man, if he sees that the measurement does not correspond with the invoice, will make it correspond, but this Greek, if there is a discrepancy of a foot, will begin all over again and carefully see where the error is." " Dago Joe " is a factory hand in Buffalo, but he is keen, capable, and careful, and he is the expert operator in one of the depart- ments. His task is to plan work and see that the workers do it in the most expeditious way — expert, if you will, in " Scien- tific Management." His employer believes him to be one of the most capable men who ever entered the works, and the employees all swear by Joe. John Giffert is a young Slav, and came. to this country when fourteen years of age. He hung arduna automobile shops, for he had a bent for mechanism. At|length he became a chauffeur. He got into the employment of k. rich man who knew the worth of the boy. John knows an automobile now, and can fix them up. He is buying old ones, fixifcg them up, and selling them again. He is about thirty yea» or age, but he owns a house worth $11,000 and is now set np in business for himself.
Mother Wit. — Mother wit is also not wanting in the men of the new immigration. The manager of a factory in Moline wanted a larger water supply for the plant, and so drilled a well in the cellar of the boiler house and secured a fine flow. He was anxious to learn how large was the output of the well, and the men in the office, college graduates, spent a day constructing a
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weir by which it could be measured. The mechanism was put in order, and complicated mathematical formulae used to com- pute the outflow ; but the answers varied and no accurate figures secured. All were tired and chagrined, when the Slav, who tended the boilers, appeared on the scene. He had watched their work, and saw their disgust, and so secured a barrel, which he brought with him to the cellar. He placed it by the four-inch pipe through which the water flowed. He turned to the man- ager and said, " Time, please," then he lifted the pipe to the barrel and filled it. " How much, boss? " said the foreigner. He then emptied the barrel, placed it in position again, and once more said, ' Time," as he lifted the pipe and filled the barrel the second time. He than asked: " How much, boss? " and got the same answer as before. The capacity of the barrel was known, and the outflow per minute secured. The Slav bowed, and went back to the boiler house, while the manager laughed at the crestfallen college graduates.
Some have Business Ability. — Many of these people show considerable business ability and enterprise. A Russian in Lowell, Mass., has been there for less than five years, but he is one of the substantial citizens of the town. He started life in America as an employee in a shoe factory, for $6 a week ; but before the end of the year he was making double that. He then went into the bakery business, learned the trade, and within two years was getting $25 a week. He then opened a bakery of his own, and soon found that his success depended upon his getting a kneading machine worth $500. He went to the bank to borrow that amount, but the manager wanted security. The foreigner had a friend in the foreman of the shoe factory, where he formerly worked, and he asked him to become his security. Both went to the bank, and the native-born said to the manager, " I'll back this man to the extent of $5000, if he wants it. He is one of the best men I ever knew." A Greek in Milwaukee leads the Greek community in that city. He landed in New York with seventy-five cents in his pocket — if he came to-day he would be deported. He set to work and saved a few hundred dollars, but in the panic of 1893 all his savings were lost. He
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suffered much during that crisis. He slept in odd places, tied old rags around his feet to keep them from freezing ; but he had courage, and worked his way to the West. He is to-day the proprietor of two stores, and is prosperous. No nation among the new immigrants displays greater enterprise in this respect than the Greeks. One of them rented a store on the main thoroughfare in Kenosha, Wis. The proprietor wanted refer- ence before he would lease the property to a foreigner. The Greek said: "Will this do? " as he counted out six months' rent in advance. Another Greek in an industrial town saved $2000, and rented a store for which he paid $125 a month. The fixtures, soda fountain, and stock were valued at $5000. He risked his savings and launched into the deep, and is going forward fairly well, working sixteen hours a day for seven days in the week. The ability to save has characterized immigrants for Ihe last hundred years, but no nation oi me old immigration has ^manifested such business enterprise as thafshowiTby'Greeks and~Armenians. Syrians and Jews, Italians and Persians: The average number of people in any group given to trade and com- merce seldom exceeds 10 per cent, but among the nations above mentioned it is from three to four times greater. Hun- dreds of these men from the ranks of labor risk the savings of years and launch upon an unknown sea ; they are willing to work and wait, and it is safe to say that from among them in due time will arise men who will have a voice in the financial and commercial world of North America.
Fear of Socialism. — Everywhere the bugaboo of socialism is associated with the foreigner. Operators and members of the leisure class again and again say : " They are dangerous — they are socialists and anarchists." Those who know the foreigners also know that there is no cause for apprehension in this respect, providing the door of opportunity is kept open to the alien. When a corporation hems in on all sides its employees, so that they can call nothing their own, is it strange that the men talk and listen to advocates of some other industrial scheme in which the individual may have a better chance to come to 'possession of something else than moveable chattels ? A steel company
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that has done much for its employees, in the way of building model houses for workingmen, keeping the yards, lanes, and streets clean, caring for the garbage, fixing a standard for the public school that is high, and keeping fatherly watch over the Ish- maelites of the group so that the criminal may have a chance to reclaim his good name — this company, however, owns all the land, owns every house in the place, and no one can sell a pound of sugar without its consent. The natural result is that even families who have lived there ten or more years say : " We go occasionally to visit our home and meet our friends." All feel that they are strangers and pilgrims in that mill village, they take no root there, they have no community feeling, no love of place, for they have nothing to which to attach themselves. When men thus situated talk about socialism and communism, and long for some plan by which they, as sons of earth, may call a part of it their own, and have a voice in the management of the community, is it a strange thing? — are not their longings right and just ?
Italians are Individualistic. — Whether or not this foreign- born brother is to be swept into the unknown sea of socialism depends largely upon ourselves. I have heard entrepreneurs talk of Italians as socialists. There was never a greater mis- conception in the world. The Italian is the most individualistic of any group crossing the ocean, and it will take a long time to make him a socialist. Italians have their socialistic clubs ; but these groups are nothing more than labor organizations held together by common economic interests. The Italian saves his money, puts it into land and home, either here or in Italy, raises a family, and cares for his own business ; and that is not socialism. If everywhere in this land the native-born and foreign-born men of affairs should give this foreign-born brother his full wage and let him spend it as he pleases, give him also an opportunity to invest his money in a home to shelter himself and family; give him a voice in the management of the town and the public school ; and give him a larger interest in the plant than the weekly wage implies, they would do more to brush off the horizon the socialistic bugaboo than by hiring a thou-
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sand speakers to talk it down, or try to smother it under tons of anti-socialistic pamphlets.
Slavs not Socialists in America. — The Slavs in America num- ber about 4,000,000. It is of this people that Bakounin said : " They are and always have been socialistic . . . because they live under the regime of communal property" ; and some friends of the prince in this country have expected recruits by the thou- sands from among these people, but their hopes have faded into iridescent dreams. In Russia, where communal property ob- tains, where a communal form of government — the " mir " — dominates the social order, and where the unit of the industrial organization is the "artel "with its "starosta," there the masses, by a federation of communes, may awake and overthrow oli- garchy and install a more democratic government — perchance, a kind of socialism; but in America all this background is wanting, and the Slav in the United States, to a remarkable degree, falls into the ways of a social order that has its roots in individualism — each man having the opportunity to use his talent as he thinks best and to enjoy the fruits of his labor as he pleases. The Slavs will join the union and fight for higher wages and better conditions, and in the conflict the communal habit inculcated in the fatherland welds them together into a soli- darity that is not known among Anglo-Saxons ; they will follow a labor leader with a devotion that is religious; they have patience and can suffer in the cause they champion; but all this is done from economic motives. The Slav loves the dollar, and will keep it when the conflict is over. Let men try to lead him along the road of socialism, and he will not go ; his practical judgment rebels, he prefers to buy a lot, build a house, cultivate a garden, rejoice in the presence of his wife and children, enjoy the rights of property, and go his own way. A Slav in North America — the land of opportunity — is a very different being from what he is in Russia — the land of oppression and custom. When a Ruthenian came to Canada and was given a farm, he fell on his knees, kissed the soil, and said, " Mine, mine." There are tens of thousands of foreigners who own their own homes in America but possessed nothing in the fatherland ; and
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every time they repair the roof or fix the door, plant the garden or build a fence, they rejoice in their possession, and have joined the company of men who believe that the progress of the world depends upon the integrity and honesty, capacity and thrift of the individual, more than upon an act of legislation or upon the benignant and paternal promises of the dreamers of Utopia. What we pray for is that the leaders in the industrial and finan- cial world should make up their minds to launch a practical scheme, based on business principles, to help the foreigners to secure homes and land in America.
Operators can Help. — When an operator was approached upon the matter of education for his foreign-speaking em- ployees, so that they might be brought under the influence of American ideas and customs, he said : " We make steel here." Another employer met these advances by saying : " We don't conduct a school here, it is a manufacturing plant." The number of these men in America is not large — men blind both to the needs of their brother man and to the future of this in- dustrial organization of ours ; sordid men whose puckered souls are dead to patriotic sentiment and spiritual values. They do not represent the American heart, and there are thousands of employers who are broader and larger. This is one instance out of many. In a steel plant in Ohio, some hundreds of Magyars have worked for some years. When first they came, they were undesirable in many ways, but the superintendent felt that it was his privilege to give these men something more than the market wage. He entered into their life, became a member of their lodge, advised them as to their investments, put his name down as a charter member of their church, loaned them money at a nominal interest, built them a hall, called experts in to plan amusements, educational work, and lectures. This sympathetic and intelligent agency has been at work for some years, and the following is the manager's testimony: " After twelve years' experience our works have gathered to- gether a splendid force of men. We started with a small read- ing room, had competent instructors in English, and found it necessary to build a larger building. Through your excellent
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work they (Magyars) have succeeded in building two churches, have a number of beneficial societies, and I want to say to you that they are better citizens and better workmen. I can only add, if it could be made possible for every large factory or large concern employing this class of labor to see the splendid results which we have obtained, I feel sure that they would not hesi- tate to put forth every effort to extend the work. While we have expended quite a large amount in this line, we find that it is one of the best assets we have."
These Magyars are just the same as others who have come to us from Hungary ; the superintendent did nothing exceptional — he gave the men Christian sympathy and practical helpful- ness; the educational work has been done by ordinary men. Everything done hi the above instance can be repeated hi a thou- sand industrial plants in the land, if the managing force has the right point of view coupled to willingness to spend some money to help men. It would mean in every community in- creased efficiency and steady progress. The employers of America have offered work to the new immigration, and have given it the market wage. Do their obligations cease there? Is it too much to expect from them intelligent and sane co- operation in giving " Coming Americans " an opportunity to come in touch with something that is of more value than the dollar — our democratic institutions, which are the achieve- ments of brave and benignant ancestors, the star of hope for the civilized world, and the assurance that self-governing men are able to manage their affairs without the intervention of titled nobility ?
PART III COMMUNITY CONDITIONS
CHAPTER VIII
CAMP AND TOWN LIFE
HUNDREDS of thousands of men of the new immigration, employed in the mining and lumber industries, in railroad con- struction, on canals, aqueducts, reservoirs, sewers, etc., live in camps, which may be close to a town or city, or they may be several miles away; in the former case, the town becomes on pay night the rendezvous of men inclined to dissipation and gambling ; in the latter, they find these diversions in the camp itself, unless strict discipline is enforced. The immigrants in camps, for the most part, lead an isolated life. Removed from the diversions found in cities, living under special regulations for the good of the camp, sleeping and eating in barracks or shacks, forced to buy their provisions from the commissariat or take the board provided for them by the company, working generally under a contractor who is their taskmaster, and often forced to submit to conditions that are barbarous — these men have little or no chance to know what America is. The life of the average camp may be summed up in work, food, and sleep. Few camps have a place set apart for amusement, diversion, or instruction, and have a man employed whose business it is to divert the thoughts of the employees from the monotony of daily toil to higher things. The rule in many camps is seven days of toil ; in those where six days is the rule, Sunday is used by the men to wash their clothes, shave, do some mending, play cards, and drink.
A Mining Camp. — The men of the new immigration are
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found in the mining camps of the Northwest. The Finns and the Swedes live in villages having clean and well-kept homes, but the Bulgarians and Croats, the Montenegrins and Serbs, are in camps where every degree of filthiness is found. The bunkhouse is made of wood ; on the end is the kitchen, separated from the sleeping quarters by a partition. The bunks are generally double-deckers, and between the two rows is found the dining table where the foreigners eat. Some twenty or thirty men occupy one of these buildings, sometimes run by a boarding boss and his wife, and sometimes by the men them- selves. When a woman is in charge, it is impossible for her to keep the place clean, and the men won't do so. Some companies appoint an inspector to see that the camp is kept in a sanitary condition ; but it is well-nigh impossible to comply with the laws of sanitation in these places; and still in the Northwest the filth and squalor do not breed disease such as would inevi- tably be the case in a southern climate. The only way sanitary conditions can be secured is by exercising, in the first place, greater care in the construction of the camp ; and in the second, rigid discipline enforced by an intelligent inspector, who would keep a constant and sharp eye upon the occupants. Few em- ployers, however, go thus far hi the care exercised over the health of then* employees.
A Construction Camp. — Railroad companies generally pro- vide in construction camps large buildings for their employees, in which forty to fifty men can be sheltered. In a railroad camp, not far from an eastern city, ninety Austrians were em- ployed in construction work. The skilled workers at the drill, the steam shovel, in the smithy and machine shop, were English- speaking, and boarded in houses about half a mile away from the scene of operation. A little way from the cutting was the main bunkhouse, where forty men were housed. On the first floor was the dining room — not clean by any means ; the long dining room table had much grease upon it, and along it ran benches on which the men sat to eat. Back of the dining room were two rooms set apart for the boarding boss and his wife. The bunks, where the men slept, were on the second floor,
CAMP AND TOWN LIFE III
lining two-deep the sides of the building, and on either end of the passage way between the bunks was a window about three by two feet. The odor in that loft was bad, but what must it have been when forty men slept there, and the windows, after the manner of the southeastern Europeans, were tightly closed ? The camp had an ample supply of water, but no pro- vision for bathing. At the close of day, one of the men used the end of an empty beer keg as a wash basin, while another tried to wash his feet in a ten-pound lard pail. There were several other buildings in the camp, some of them occupied by families who took in boarders. Some shacks were occupied by single men who waited on themselves. There was a commis- sary on the field; the supplies for the camp were purchased from a firm which supplied all camps on the company's system ; prices and the quality of goods sold were regulated by a general agent of the commissary service of the company. Each man paid $2 a month for his berth, coal, and oil. The men lived on the communal plan ; if the woman did the cooking for a group of men, each paid her $i a month ; at the end of the month the total bill for food was presented and each man paid his pro rata share. The men who lived in shacks had their individual account with the store. The number of boarders in the strict sense of the word was small. The men were bent on saving, and this was the place to do it.
A Lumber Camp. — In a lumber camp in New Hampshire, life was far more lonesome than in this railroad camp. The men were ten miles away from a small country village, which was the terminus of the railroad. We reached camp about noon while the men were eating their dinner. It was one big family of strong men blessed with good appetites. We were invited to sit down also, and a tin platter, cup and spoon, knife and fork, were set on the table and a place assigned us on the bench. The table was clean and the floor kept in good con- dition. The dinner consisted of potatoes, with their " jackets " on, good bread, beef — a little tough — good coffee, and a piece of ginger cake. It was wholesome food, and plenty of it. There was no commissary here — the company furnishing bed and
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board to its employees and paying an average wage of $25 a month. The majority of the workers were French Canadians, but among them southeastern Europeans were also found. The water supply was ample, but here also no conveniences for bath- ing were provided. There were no women in this camp. We found two men there from Boston, who had escaped from the luxuries of city life to the mountains to renew their strength. All the force, clerical, skilled, and unskilled, lived in the camp, so that the cultured as well as the illiterate had to rely upon their own resources for diversion and entertainment. There was no booze in the place, and the men at the end of the season gen- erally left camp having with them nearly all the money they had earned — this was especially true of the French Canadians, for they kept clear of all gambling.
A Monotonous Life. — The chief criticism of these two camps is not of what they had, but of what they did not have. Bath- ing facilities, such as shower baths, would be of great value to the men ; they would also appreciate a room set apart for read- ing, writing, and amusement ; while an effort to bring before them, in picture form, lessons from the great book of life would enrich their lives and make them more useful members of society whenever they returned to their homes. None of these things were found there. The men worked, ate, and slept, day in and day out, during the life of camp.
Other Camps. — Conditions in the camps on the Barge Canal in New York State were very different from those found in railroad and lumber camps. The Italians formed the major part of the labor force, and the accommodations furnished most of them were shameful. We saw men crawling into pens which few Christians would have their dogs occupy. The work- ers improvised a kitchen by putting a few boards together, over which they nailed sheets of tin to guard against a possible conflagration. The cooking these men did was not elaborate ; it was easier and pleasanter to get a loaf of bread, a piece of bologna, and a bottle of beer in the commissary's booth. Few camps had a supply of water convenient to the men, and no provision was made for bathing. The men washed their hands and faces
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at the close of day, at the barrel or tank holding a supply of water for the engine or drillers, and soon after supper they turned into their bunks. In many camps no conveniences were provided for the men, and the surroundings resembled those of some Italian cities, without sewers or vaults. In one place thirty men lived in an abandoned house on the bank of the canal, and both the dwelling and the surroundings were filthy. No woman was near, and the men did their cooking. The wonder was that they could live and retain their health under such conditions. In these camps the commissary is supreme, and the men must buy from him if they wish to retain their job. He has wet and dry goods for sale, and believes in charging what the traffic will bear. One of these parasites col- lected a fixed charge from each man for whom he found a job ; then he charged each employee bunk rent, no matter whether he occupied it or not ; and unless he dealt in his store he could not long hold his job. If any man believes that America gets the physically degenerated from southeastern Europe, let him visit the camps on the Barge Canal, and he will soon be convinced of his error. Men who can do this work and live under condi- tions of board and lodging that are barbarous must have con- stitutions of iron, else they would die of hectic fever, diarrhoea, or some loathsome disease. Conditions of this kind can only be duplicated in some towns in southern Italy ; and the padrone in charge of such a wretched camp is able to carry on business because his victims are the sons of a backward civilization and know not what twentieth-century living is. But to have medieval conditions of filth and uncleanness set up in America is a thing that should not be tolerated for an hour.
The Boss of the Camp. — The success or failure of every effort made in behalf of men in camps, under the control of a commissary, depends on the disposition of the man in charge. He is the intermediary between the contractor and the men, he is responsible for the men being there, and it is he who keeps up the supply of laborers. His services are compensated by monopolistic concessions. He collects the rent for the bunks, he has full control of the supplies of food and luxuries, nothing can
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come into the camp save through him, he knows the men and can converse with them, his store is the rendezvous for the men in the camp, and, there, all matters of importance are discussed and settled. This man is jealous of any outside influence. He has full control of the men, and does not want it disturbed. Some of them practice crooked ways which flourish best under cover, and no outside parties may raise the lid. When we remonstrated with one of these grasping men, he turned and said : " Don't you Americans do the same? I want to be American." Most men, however, in charge of foreigners in camps are not dishonest. They have their prices, their rates, and adhere to them ; but their stay in the camp depends upon their ability to hold the men, and they guard their power very jealously. It is really their living and their hope of gain. When times are brisk and industries call for men, it is not easy to keep up the comple- ment of laborers in a group that is ever shifting. I knew one camp where the average stay of the men was about two weeks. If the commissary cannot get the men and hold them, his use- fulness to the contractor ceases. As long as he does this, the management gives him a free hand, and he is happiest when outsiders do the same.
The Padrone is Gracious. — The padroni are very diplomatic. Few of them are discourteous. They will graciously listen to propositions for the introduction of ameliorating agencies for the men. I asked one : " Will you let us bring in some papers so that the men can get something to read? " " Sure," was his reply ; " send them me and I'll see they get them." He got the papers and stowed them away — he forgot all about them. " Can we use your store to give these men some lessons in Eng- lish? " " Sure " ; but in the second or third lesson the benches were all removed. Of course we interfered with his business somewhat, but it was the only place available in that camp, and we thought we would try to do the work there. Our effort at introducing stereopticon lectures and phonographic concerts has been met in the same way — apparent willingness, but in a quiet way the man influenced the workers to keep away and to look upon our efforts with suspicion. This has been our ex-
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perience in camps made up of Italians, Austrians, Slavs, etc. Before good work can be done in camps of from 60 to 200 men, under the control of the commissary, this man must be dis- armed of all suspicion, his good will must be enlisted, and a place must be provided where educational and social work can be carried on. In lumber camps, which are generally under the direct control of the owner, the way for the introduction of ameliorating agencies is much easier. If he furnishes the funds to put a man in charge, efficient service can be rendered. In railroad camps the key to the situation is in the hands of the officials. The power of the commissary in charge of these is limited, and whatever order the railroad company issues is promptly obeyed. The influence of contractors in small camps is also potent ; but these men seldom interfere between the pa- droni and their men. The average commissary is very suscep- tible to pressure from above; when that is secured, he will support any work installed to help the employees. If this is not secured, the time and money spent in the effort do not give satisfactory results, and often it is difficult to find the reasons for failure.
In America, but not of It. — No statistics are available of the total number of men employed in camps ; but it is safe to put it at half a million, and it may be considerably more. Half a million foreigners in America, but not of America. They are removed from all agencies that mold and shape " coming Americans " in cities and towns ; they are deprived of the refining influences of women and the soothing touch of childhood ; camp life is an unnatural life, and in it the coarse, vulgar elements of human nature come to the fore ; the indecent story, the vulgar joke, and the immoral picture are introduced and passed around. If intoxicants are within reach, the men will drink and gamble. They are the only diversions the men have. Into camps far removed from cities, demijohns are occasionally brought and a happy evening spent. Generally the monotony is oppressive; with no literature, no pictures of the right sort, no systematic and earnest effort made to bring these thousands to a knowledge of the language of the country, of the things
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America stands for, of the achievement of free men in self- government and industrial development, and of spiritual realities which have played so important a part in the history of the Union, how can it be otherwise? When the foreigners came to America they saw Bartholdi's statue on Staten Island ; its meaning was possibly explained to them ; and they were sent to camp where no ray of light reached them. America, if true to that symbol, should bring the light of its laws and its constitution to bear upon every man who comes here from the backward countries of southeastern Europe. This will only be done when camps are constructed according to sanitary principles and regulated by men versed in the laws of hygiene ; instruction, amusement, and diversion need intelligent direc- tion, and above all do the employees need the personal touch of a man of strong character and high ideals. The step taken in this direction by the city of New York, in camps on the Aque- duct, is in the right direction.
Foreigners in Small Towns. — The new immigrants found in the mining industry generally live in small towns. Of the 600,- ooo so employed, 70 per cent live in towns of less than 5000 population. Beside these small mining towns, hundreds of small communities have, in recent years, grown around indus- trial plants transferred from large cities, and with the plant the foreigners also moved. Around Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Chi- cago, St. Louis, etc., many such plants are found. They have been well called " satellite cities," for industrially they have to depend upon the parent city. Besides these there are paper plants, quarries, brickyards, textile mills near available water- falls, chemical works, tanneries, etc., found in many small communities, and foreigners have been attracted to them. The character of these towns depends upon three main factors : the character of the company that runs the plant ; the nature of the industry; and the quality of men the industry attracts. In a small town in Wisconsin, made up largely of Finns, one of their number had built a Russian bathhouse in the rear of his dwelling, for the use of his countrymen. This man also organ- ized a temperance society, which met every Sunday evening for
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culture and some kind of entertainment. The gardens of the town were well taken care of and the houses kept clean. The community had a character and a tone that guaranteed prog- ress in decency and self-respect, and it was largely due to the initiative of the men themselves. In another town about equal in size, made up largely of Slavs, everything indicated a moral breakdown. The streets and alleys were dirty — empty beer kegs, old tin cans, ashes, refuse of every character, were thrown anywhere. The houses were dilapidated and dirty. There was no provision there to bathe and no appreciation of culture. A general moral laxity — men and women soaked in beer and profanity, drifting into degradation and dragging their sons and daughters with them. The Finns had character — these none.
Bad Example Set. — In a mining town in Illinois, largely made up of foreigners, but with some families of English-speaking persons of the worse sort, the operators, conscious of their responsibility for the intellectual and moral condition of their employees, engaged a young man to do social work in the vil- lage. His efforts were very successful for the first year, at the close of which he married and brought his young wife back to the mine patch. That night, the English-speaking men sur- rounded his house and demanded beer money, in order to cele- brate his wedding. The young man refused to give them any, saying : " It won't do you any good." They became ugly and began to throw stones, breaking windows, etc. The young wife in terror fled through the garden, and it was only when the Ital- ian constable came on the scene that order was restored. The foreigners would never have acted thus; but what was the influence of such conduct on the part of English-speaking men who, to the immigrants, represented America? In every com- munity where foreigners live there are found English-speaking men who have lost all moral fiber and live on a low plane to which, unfortunately, foreigners descend. Their example de- grades the simple, receptive immigrant, who also becomes profane and dissipated and thinks he is being Americanized. Wherever this process of degeneracy goes on, the standard of
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morality is low. In one of these towns, where low English- speaking persons lived with foreigners, the doctor, speaking of the character of the young people, said : " There is no virtue in this place." That might have been too sweeping a statement ; but the moral tone of small industrial towns where the foreign- born mix is generally low.
Drink the Prime Cause. — The prime cause of this moral degradation is drink. In their cups, men forget that they are fathers, and do abominable things which blast every hope of virtue that might grow in the lives of their children. The de- cent, respectable folk desert a town where drunkenness and pro- fanity abound. They flee as if from Sodom, and tell their children to keep out of " little hell." While visiting one of these disreputable communities, I called on an American lady, who was the last of the self-respecting group that once lived in the village. She lived on the outskirts of the community. A wedding was then hi progress and many of the foreigners were drunk; the noise of revelry drowned the tones of the stringed instruments that furnished music for the dance; the festivities continued for three days — Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. This became the topic of conversation, and the lady said : " I must get out — I can't stand it — it's awful." I said, " Is there anything, Mrs. Richards, we can do for these people ? " She looked at me, and said, " You don't think they have souls, do you? No, they are beasts, and in then* lust they'll perish." She moved out, and the last example of de- cency, cleanliness, and godliness left that town. The drink evil in towns where new immigrants live works havoc. There are towns where the operators have shut out the saloon, but no sooner is that done than the " blind pig," " blind tiger," or " speak-easy " takes its place. When ten or twenty boarders live in a house, it is pretty hard to draw the line of demarcation between lawful and unlawful use of the beer keg delivered to that dwelling. It is not only in mining towns that this evil prevails, but also in new industrial centers, such as Gary, Moline, Granite City, Madison, East St. Louis, etc. In one of these towns a foreigner told me : " There, two men were killed in a
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drunken brawl; there, a man was robbed last week; there, a shooting fray over a woman happened last month ; there is a bawdy house and a block away is another," etc. These evils are found where foreigners live. White and black vampires gather in centers where these innocent people settle, and carry on a nefarious trade that must have heralded the doom of Gomorrah; the decent people live on Quality Row, where the saloon is tabooed and the bawdy house carefully watched. But why should we, hi this Christian country, allow these commissaries of Hades to fasten on the foreign colony and de- stroy the material that has so much promise for " coming Americans " ? l
Good Men should Lead. — The absence of good men, as much as any other cause, accounts for this drifting of so many foreigners to dissipation. If there were ten righteous men in most of these villages, they could be saved. All the foreign-speaking men in a village are not given to drink. Thirty per cent are given to booze ; but we generalize and say " all gone to the devil." It is not so. The trouble is the absence of good and exemplary men and the presence of so-called " Americans " who are shift- less and thriftless and dissipated. Given a dozen English- speaking people who are virtuous and law-abiding, and around this nucleus the foreigners, disposed to decency and sobriety, could rally, providing the " Americans " have sympathy with the immigrant and treat him as a brother. In Rockland County, N.Y., a foundry, employing from eighty to ninety Poles, is the economic basis of a flourishing town. Some of the company owning that plant live on the field, and they are interested in the well-being of the workmen. The houses where the men live are kept in repair, each family has a garden, and the superintendent gives several small prizes every year to the family having the best garden, or the best yard, or the
1In Lackawanna City, near Buffalo, there are 128 saloons in a population of 15,000. The municipality comprises five distinct centers : the Old and New Villages built by the Lackawanna Steel Co. ; Rowland, the business section, and the boarding house section. In this last live the foreigners, forming possibly a fourth of the population, but among them are found 117 out of the 128 licenses.
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best flowers. It does not cost much, but its effect is wonder- ful. One of the families put up a library in memory of a son who died on the threshold of manhood — a neat, clean, well- furnished building — too good for the foreigners? No, the company does not think so, for the foreigners use it. The Poles come there to smoke, to read, to wash, to amuse themselves, to learn English and something about American ideals, cus- toms, and institutions. I was invited to address this body of men, and seventy came together — a finer group of working men could not be found anywhere. They were clean, decently dressed, clear-skinned, and all in the pink of condition. In that meeting also were the superintendent of the shop and one of the chief stockholders of the company. As the men filed out, they re- spectfully bowed to these men, and their greeting was returned with a pleasant smile. After the meeting we spoke to these men, who showed their faith in and appreciation of the foreigners, in such terms as " Fine fellows," " We have no trouble," " We like the Poles very much," " They appreciate all we do and they deserve it." I mentioned this to another firm not very far away from that plant, but this superintendent said : " Yes, but that company has a better group of Poles than we have — these men are no good." Some Americans are no good at get- ting out the best that is in a man. Never has the law " to him that hath shall be given " been better exemplified than in the treatment afforded the foreigner. Dogs respond to kind- ness and sympathy, and so will every class of foreigners in the land. Ameliorating work needs careful planning, the expen- diture of money, and intelligent loving-kindness and super- vision. Hard blows never called out the angel from the rock, and no more will curses, curtness, and cruelty call out the angel in the soul of the foreigners. If entrepreneurs believe in the Slav and the Italian, the Lithuanian and the Magyar, the Greek and the Albanian, and give them the sympathetic hand, as well as appliances for and opportunities of self -improvement, prom- ising future citizens will rise in plenty in our small towns.
Schools in Small Towns. — The women and children in small communities demand consideration. The average school in the
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mining village or camp is poor. The school is not in session more than five or six months, and the quality of the teaching done is inferior. The trouble sometimes is with the county school directors, and sometimes with the company, which is too niggardly to grant the necessary appropriation to carry on the work. It is also true that the school laws are not observed in small towns, for there is no one to compel the children to attend. The foreign-speaking mother, burdened with many children and the care of the home, is liable to keep the girl of ten home to help her ; and the father, anxious to get the help of the boy, will start him to work as early as possible, and there is no one to check these wrongs to the growing child. These conditions work much mischief. Many children of foreign-born parents in small towns profit little by an institution which is the boast of every true American. A foreman in one of these mining towns told me : " Lydia does not learn anything in school — I'll send her to town." But there were forty families of foreigners in that village who did not know enough to know that their children did not learn anything, and who could not send their children to town to school. How much better would it be, to awaken public sentiment in that village, remove the inefficient teacher, and bring about better conditions for the wards of the State ? Unfortunately, nepotism too often controls the appoint- ment of teachers, and the game of politics is played in small towns as insidiously as in the other parts of the country.
The Mother needs Help. — The life of the foreign mother in small towns is hard and dreary. The home has many births and many deaths. The burdens these mothers carry are very heavy, and there are none to help. It requires an intelligence beyond what these women possess to understand how to adjust life in a new environment, so that the children may live and not die. Foreign women are hard workers, but they are just as meek and submissive in the home as the men are at work. Many of them are clean, some of them are dirty. It depends largely upon the nationality. What this foreign-born sister needs is example and sympathy — some one who will kindly take her by the hand as a sister and lead her to the better way
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of happiness, health, and comfort. One woman, with goodness, sympathy, and common sense can do much in this respect. I know such a one, who has some knowledge of medicine and who is a guarding angel to many foreign homes. She is not afraid of dirt or vermin, and for years she has carried on as valiant a fight for cleanliness and health as ever knight did in days of old. Some foreign mothers protest against all she does by saying, " Some good in vermin." But her sweetness wins out, the parasites go, and the children improve in health. Her worst enemies are superstition and ignorance, but she is patient and brave. She teaches the mothers that pickles, bananas, beer, and whisky are bad for the children; and that milk, bread, and fruit are food for them ; and the number who come to believe this grows larger each year. The foreign-born mothers come to her meetings, washed, and with a conscious effort at neatness. The homes grow bright and a little more cheerful under her touch, and the burdens grow lighter. That woman has a ray of sunshine in her life which no obstacles and difficulties can drive away ; she believes in the foreigners, and her encouraging smile and word transmit her own joy and cour- age to scores of mothers who knew nothing but drudgery and dreariness before she touched them.
Organize Good Women. — There are thousands of such women in America. Many of them find their way to foreign shores and shed the radiance of their lives in loving sacrifice for women steeped in superstition and ignorance in heathen lands. But they don't all go abroad ; there are hundreds here in every city, who, if once organized for service, would redeem every foreign-born sister in America, bearing the load of super- stition and ignorance bequeathed her by the backward coun- tries of Europe. Hitherto, a few here and there have seen the opportunity for service; we look forward to the day when the best women of the land will hear the call and respond in the name of our country, humanity, and our God. In this work for the home, as in that for the camp, the factors that count for most are sympathetic interest and self-denial. Devout women, consecrated to this work, would not only influence the foreign-
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speaking mother and wife in America, but also those in Europe, and speed on the coming of a better day for the nations that now lie in darkness and the shadow of death.
Small Towns Remembered. — Americans, discussing the needs of the new immigration, pay particular attention to the cities and their foreign colonies. The foreigners in camps and small towns are seldom mentioned. These men demand at- tention if the work of assimilation is to be effective. Men of the old immigration have, in some instances, been left to them- selves in isolated communities. Where this was done stagna- tion followed, and to-day we witness a bit of eighteenth-cen- tury civilization in the twentieth. We cannot afford to do this with the men of the new immigration. They are more backward than races that came to us fifty years ago, and the hope of then- redemption lies in contact with the best types of Americans of both sexes. It is important to touch the men, the producers, but it is equally important to touch the home and bring the family within sight of the standard of the American home. This can only be done by organized effort, personal consecration, and funds. Before these agencies the bad in camp and small towns would soon give way to the good, and it drink and profanity, gambling and lewdness cannot be stamped out, they will be driven to hiding and the rising generation brought face to face with the better and sweeter side of life.
CHAPTER IX
HOUSING CONDITIONS
IN one of the lumber camps the following notice was posted : "This is your home while you are here, treat it as such." The men were housed in the barracks, but there was nothing there to suggest home. The shelter given the men in a camp may be an old car, or a large building, or shacks, or individual pens ; but whatever it be, it is their house ; the men themselves keep it clean and supply whatever comfort they wish to enjoy. I saw a bunk in a lumber camp, covered with pictures from the Police Gazette and other like sources. It was an effort on the part of the man to decorate his home and make it a little more attractive. In a camp near Detroit, an old car was used as a house for a gang of foreigners ; no picture was in it. The men did all the cleaning, the cooking, and the washing, and the con- dition of the house was not at all inviting. One of the best samples of housekeeping I have ever seen was done by the 140 Japanese who lived in the House of the Good Shepherd in South Omaha. A board of managers had charge of the affairs of the group. The secretary of the board kept all records, accounts, and transacted all business with outsiders ; the com- missary had charge of the feeding of the group ; the cooking, washing, and scrubbing were systematized ; and each member was bound by a set of rules that secured peace and order. The men were constantly changing, some going and others coming ; but the total number in the colony remained about the same. Whatever differences and difficulties arose, they were settled within the group. If any member got into trouble, the colony was back of him to the fullest extent. It was the most perfect organization on the communal basis I have seen, and, as far as I know, nothing like it is found in America among the peoples of southeastern Europe.
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How Single Men Live. — The negroes from the South, mi- grating to the brick yards on the Hudson, manage their house- keeping in a fairly systematic way. The barracks in which they bunk are placed at their service by the proprietor of the brickyard. In one of these fifty men were sheltered. They lived a communal life. A man and a helper were assigned to do the cooking, their wages with their keep being part of the contract. One of the members did the buying. The total cost was summed up at the end of every two weeks and divided according to the number of 'men in the group. In this way each man was able to live for from $2 to $2.50 a week. In Sparrows Point, near Baltimore, the company built shacks to house single men, both foreign-speaking and colored. In each shack four men were accommodated — four bunks, two on either side, set one above the other. A little stove was a part of the outfit, a bench, a few necessary utensils, and on the side opposite the door was a window, for purposes of ventilation. Some of the men cooked their meals, did their washing, and kept the shack clean. Others boarded in a house run by a colored family to accommodate the men. The real estate agent said that it kept him busy watching the foreigners in the shacks : they would break the bunks into kindling wood, put the mattress on the floor, and sleep in peace. In one of the camps on the Barge Canal, the men went on strike for the reason that they were charged bunk rent when they slept elsewhere. In Rock- land Lake quarry, single men are given a house which they are expected to keep clean — each man his own corner. Single men do their own cooking, but few of them exercise that art to any great extent, for they live chiefly on canned goods. Men at the close of day make their evening meal on bread, bologna, and a bottle of beer. The washing and mending, in these houses, were done by the men themselves. When Miss Sarah W. Moore taught English to some Italians in Ashokan Dam, a part of the lesson was practice in conversation, so she asked them, u What do you do in the morning " — " Awake, dress, wash, etc. ? " but one of the pupils replied, " Sew me pants." That is a necessity, and many men do it as deftly as the average housewife.
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In the camp of the Delaware Breakwater Co., near Wilming- ton, Del., the evening meal of the Slavs was a loaf of bread, a can of sardines, and a bottle of beer. They opened the loaf, poured on it the contents of the can, and ate the combination with relish, washing it down with lager.
Men Bent on Saving. — The question of housing and house- keeping in camps is reduced to the simplest form in hundreds of instances. Thousands of foreigners do this voluntarily, for they are anxious to cut down their expenses to the minimum. Men who earn less than $400 a year must practice rigid economy in camp, if they wish to save any part of their income. It does not require much of an effort for single men to get through that amount in a year. Many of them also regard this kind of lif e as a makeshift from which they hope to escape as soon as possible. Thousands of immigrants look upon camp life as a necessary sacrifice for wife and children, and the economy they practice is for their sake. It is not home, and never will be in any sense of the word. Many English-speaking men in the moun- tains of Colorado or in the Cordilleras live in camps, doing their own cooking and mending, but it is done for a purpose; is this not the case with the vast army of the men of the new immi- gration in camps in America? In every camp economic forces are at play. The commissary wants to make as much as he can by housing and selling provisions to the workers ; the men want to save as much as they can by buying and paying out as little as possible ; the interests of both parties conflict. The padrone we censure, but when he has to deal with men who cut down their living to ten or fifteen cents a day, and use his store as their dining hall, his profit on feeding them is not very large. The spirit that rules the camp is mercenary. Every one there wants to make as much as possible. You cannot legislate this spirit out of men, and from it comes nine- tenths of all the ills of camp life. Pass laws in every state in the Union regulating housing accommodations in camps, the kind of building to be used, air space per man, sanitary regulations as to waste, water supply, etc. ; if the men of the camp and the contractors are not disposed to live as human beings ought to live, the letter of the
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law will be complied with, but the camp will still be infectious. Police power, in order to be efficacious, must be in the hands of intelligent, sympathetic, and honest men. The salvation of housing conditions in camps is not to come from the politicians, but from scientific men. The lives of the men will not be en- riched and made normal unless the expert leader, from philan- thropic and humanitarian motives, gets to work to do for these men in a social and moral way what the companies are trying to do with the rock, the dirt, etc., — bring order out of chaos that human happiness may be enhanced. The immigrants have never learned how to live, and they must be taught before the homes of these men in isolated places will be fit to live in. City Quarters for Foreigners. — Housing conditions in towns and cities differ greatly from those found in camps, for in the former the dwelling is in the hands of the boarding boss and his wife ; in the latter, the men wait on themselves. The legisla- tors of New York State, in 1857, passed a law, the purpose of which was " to prevent drunkenness," and in order to accomplish this the order was issued to " provide every man .with a clean and comfortable home." Of course, it did not say who was to provide this. But suppose the state and city of New York had enforced that law in every camp, what blessings would have been conferred upon the foreigners ! If this were the rule of action in the housing of immigrants in our cities, they would have been healthier and better. We have been taught that " no person should be allowed to live in a dwelling that is damp, dark and not ventilated, because these breed diseases and this is bad for the community " ; and yet there are thousands of foreigners living in dwellings that are all this and more ; what hope is there for " coming Americans " under such conditions? In large cities, the old sections which were built two or three generations ago, when sanitary regulations were little thought of, are to-day inhabited by foreigners. In Philadelphia and Baltimore, the sections having surface drainage and where disagreeable odors are common all the year round, are inhabited by foreigners. Wherever cheap rents are found, there the immi- grants live ; this desire for low rent often brings them into the
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redlight districts, where the temptations are many and the standards are low. In Kansas City, the Greek colony is in the very heart of the worst section of the city. In Pittsburgh, the section where the demimondes cluster is the place where the Syrians and Italians, Jews and negroes live. In many other cities the same is true, and the reason for it is the low rents common in a section that is struck with moral leprosy. Low rents mean low standards all around. The Italian colony and that of the negro, in city after city, are adjoining — it is bad for both peoples. In Chicago, there is a colony of Per- sians in the very heart of the worse plague spot in the city, and many of these young men have gone, and others are going, to the devil. If men who say that we get the dregs of Europe in the new immigration were to consider how we consign them to the dregs of our population in large cities, they would revise their judgment. The simple, strong, innocent country lad, placed in a neighborhood that is fouled by the breath of lust and lech- ery, will not long retain his innocency and strength.
Greedy Landlords. — Back of these habitations that are not fit for men to live in is the greed of the landlord. He wants to make all he can out of his property, and into it he packs the for- eigners, who pay a higher rent for the space they occupy than is paid by respectable citizens in decent portions of the city ; and this rent generally goes into the pockets of the native-born. The foreigners pay a higher rent per room than do native-born, and this drives them to crowding to reduce the rent per roomer. Hence we have 33 per cent of the Bulgarian households studied by the Immigration Commission using all rooms for sleeping purposes. The Roumanians and Servians had more than nine persons to the household, while the Turks and the Croats were close seconds. These new immigrants were men huddled to- gether ; they did not object, for they wanted cheap rent, and the landlord did not object as long as he got high rent; between both forces housing conditions prevail in the twentieth century that are barbarous. The foreigners, living in the oldest and most dissipated part of town, also occupy houses that are di- lapidated and rickety, wholly unsuitable for human habitation.
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The Immigration Commission could not find a tenement occupied by the native-born in order to compare it with that occupied by foreigners. No native-born persons of native parentage live in tenements in America. English-speaking persons are found there ; but go to dark alleys and cellars, to rickety attics and dark hallways, to places not fit for horses and cows, and there you'll find the foreigners. Houses in the last stages of habitable- ness are occupied by the recent immigrants. The houses are not always safe. In a town on the Hudson, a row of houses stood near a bank that was being dug. The contractors came too near the row, and in a moment it went down and forty ten- ants were killed, most of them foreigners.
Some Crowding Done. — Instances of crowding are frequently found. In a tenement house in South Chicago, more than 300 men lived, most of whom " batched." They lived cheap and saved for dear ones in the fatherland. In South Omaha, the health officer received complaints concerning a small house that was occupied by Greeks. He investigated and found 46 men in it. A Ruthenian, wife and 2 children and 7 boarders occupied one room in one of our cities, while two foreigners, housing some of their fellow-men, put 42 ui four rooms each, 13' X 13', while 24 others were put in one large room 15' X 18'. In Tomkins Cove, N.Y., the minister was called to baptize a babe a few days old. 'The family lived in two rooms, neither of which was more than i2/Xi2/. The room in which the ceremony was per- formed had a bed, a stove, and a chair, and the preacher had to squeeze in between these to come to the babe. He marveled how they could get along with such cramped quarters ; but he was still more amazed a few weeks later when the family took in 4 boarders. In Camden, N J., a friend of mine had occasion to go, late at night, to a house occupied by Slavs. He entered one room where he counted 32 men. They had arranged boxes for beds, and were lying upon them in every possible shape. The room was very dirty and smelt offensively, the only redeem- ing feature being the strong smell of tobacco used by the men. In Harrison, Ohio, a group of Austrians and Italians lived ; the former in company houses and the latter in shacks in the woods.
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When the rush season comes on, the number of employees doubles, the accommodation is scarce, and houses are overcrowded. A family in Pittsburgh had 7 children and n boarders, and the house in which they lived only had three rooms. Of course the beds worked double shift. A two-family house in Aurora, 111., was occupied by 60 Roumanians. In another house, a family of 8 occupied three rooms having two beds.
The Boarding Houses. — The prevalence of these boarding houses depends upon industrial conditions and the nature of the colony. In Madison and Granite City, for instance, where Bulgarians and Macedonians have flocked in the last eight years, many such boarding houses are found. The same is true of Greek colonies in Lowell and Manchester ; but jn colonies where newer immigrants have not seftled in large numbers in recent years, the number of stag boarding houses is diminishing. This is true of the coal fields of Pennsylvania ; it is also true of South Side Pittsburgh. TnXT?"grar>t<T from new source^ such as Croatia and Dalmatia, Bulgaria and Roumania, Greece and Turkey, following^ the ^. mvajiabie iaw^nat_ tne males come alone leaving their wiv^s ar^ chiMre.nr mothers and sisters in the old country — these are the ones which to-day torm boarding Thouses where males crowd. The Immigration Commission found 40 per cent of homes of the foreign-born having boarders or lodgers, while the number of persons to the sleeping room among the foreigners was 2.89 as against 1.96 among the native-born. The crowded stag boarding house is a makeshift. As the people settle, bring over their families, or found homes hi this country, the boarders scatter and the foreign-born conform more nearly to the standards of modern civilization. The worst conditions are found among the Roumanians, Servians, Croatians, Lithuanians, Magyars, Russians, and Ruthenians, among whom more than 50 per cent of the families have boarders.1
Beds used Day and Night. — Sometimes when crowding is great, the beds, as before stated, work double shift. The fore- man of a glass factory in western Pennsylvania called on a boarding boss, who supplied him with laborers, and said : "I » See table X in addenda.
HOUSING CONDITIONS 131
want six men for the day shift." Mike replied : " Can't get 'em. Can get you six men for night shift." " Why can't you give me the men for the day turn? " " Well," said the board- ing boss, " all my beds are used at night, but I have room for six more in the day." In the city of Columbus, Ohio, a Magyar was injured. The foreman advised him to go to the hospital, but he insisted upon going to his boarding house. The man worked the night shift, and on the second day the boarding boss came to the foreman and said : " John must go to the hospital." "Why ? " asked the boss. "Well," was the reply, " his work was night and sleep in the day, but now he is home night and I have no place for him to sleep." These, however, are excep- tional cases, and are only found in industrial centers when the industries are flourishing and more men come in than can find boarding places. Sometimes lack of work drives men into greater crowding. When boarders flee, because of an industrial slump, two families will move into one house and thus save one rent. In Buffalo, a philanthropically disposed woman, knowing of the crowding prevalent in West Seneca, gave a large house for reasonable rent to a foreigner who was above the average in intelligence, with the understanding that the number of boarders was not to exceed two to a room. At midwinter she was in- formed that the rooms in the house were crowded. She investi- gated and found five men in one room, but estimating the total number of boarders in the house the number per room was just two. She asked why they did not use all the house, and the boarding boss replied : " Burn too much coal to keep warm." He had closed up more than half the house, and the family huddled together in a few rooms which could be kept warm at low cost.
The Boarding Boss is Watched. — The boarding boss is the one who gives greatest concern to the municipal authorities and also to the landlords. Forty per cent of the foreign-speak- ing families have boarders or lodgers ; but that statement does not give a correct idea of the situation. In a city like South Bend, Ind., or in Meriden, Conn., where the Poles have lived for many years, the boarding house evil is an exception. In a city
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like Gary, Lorain, Barberton, Lackawanna City, etc., it would be the rule. In Woodsrun, Pa., the foreigners crowd into houses when the steel industry flourishes, but during the slump there is ample room for all. In young industrial communities as Moline, East Moline, East St. Louis, Steelton, etc., the housing problem is amost perplexing one — the people say, " There are no houses to be had ' for love or money,' " and when crowding takes place it is due to the incoming foreigners who huddle together. The health officers in cities where the foreigners live in large numbers must be vigilant, if the health of the city is to be safeguarded. When Delray was incorporated into the city of Detroit as the 1 8th ward, it was the same as if a part of backward Europe were attached. The problems which the i8th ward brought to the city were many, but none greater than the question of sanita- tion. This foreign-speaking colony had built homes without any regard whatsoever to the laws of health ; to whip them into line as demanded by the city regulations required a long and patient struggle, and in many cases the strong arm of the execu- tive department was summoned.
Laws, Tools for Graftctrs. — Many towns pass laws regulating air space per man in boarding houses. A boarding boss who persistently violated the municipal ordinance was brought before the judge, fined $25, and ordered to take out half the number of beds in each room. A week later, and the old order was restored ; again he was brought to court, fined $50, and told if again he appeared, a jail sentence would be imposed. The beds were permanently removed, but the total number of boarders was not reduced — he scattered them around and the men slept on the floor. In most places the law against crowding is a dead letter. In one town I found that it was used as a means of graft. Eighty Syrians were in one house in this town, and the group was " pulled " one Saturday night, after the wan- derers and their packs had all come home. The authorities held them and demanded of each man $9 for fine and costs. About a fourth of the men paid, but the remainder affirmed that they had no money. The mayor sent for the " king," and de- manded of him that he should redeem his people at the above
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rate per head. He would not do it. The town officials had sixty men in jail that Saturday night, and there was more congestion at police headquarters than would have been in the house from which the poor fellows were taken. Sunday morning, the mayor again sent for the " king." What would he give him for the release of the whole " bunch " ? He went in and consulted the men, and the bargain was struck for $80. That was a process of graft, pure and simple, and it was not the first played upon the foreigners by these native-born politicians. Laws of sanita- tion are good, but it requires eternal vigilance to enforce them in foreign colonies where the people are like the sands on the sea- shore, ever shifting; but in many rapidly growing industrial communities, where a multitude of grafters, tricksters, parasites, and vampires congregate for loot and blackmail, the very laws for the protection of the community become cloaks for the de- generate to exploit the ignorant foreigner.
Foreigners rack Houses. — The foreigners, as before stated, pay more rent generally than the English-speaking. Wherever there are boarders, the wear and tear of the house is such as to justify this increased rent. Some English-speaking landlords rent a house to a boarding boss and his wife on condition that they get a dollar per boarder per month. " The more the mer- rier." Mr. Crocker, house agent of the Berwick Car Co., said that the foreigners with boarders were hard on houses, and in order to teach them to be careful, he established the rule that all charges for repairs were to be paid by the boarding boss. In another town, wholly occupied by foreigners, the company tried to clean up the houses, in the spring of the year, by doing some whitewashing. The men came and began work. The foreign wives objected, and within an hour the whitewashing crowd was on the run, dodging flying missiles and pursued by demonstra- tions that were menacing. A landlord who had rented to for- eigners justified the advance in rent from $12 to $15 a month, on the plea that the house could no longer be rented to English- speaking people and that the cost of maintenance was twice what it used to be. A landlord in Dayton, Ohio, spent several hundred dollars to fix up houses rented to foreigners. He
134 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
thought he would raise their ideals of care of property by starting them off in houses newly papered, painted, and repaired. It was not long before he said : "It's no use — they're as bad as ever." Many of these people have never been used to houses plastered, papered, polished banisters, nicely adjusted locks and knobs ; and when they put their foot through the one and wrench the other out of joint, we can't understand how it is done and they don't understand us when we get " furious." James R. Forbes says that it is not enough to give these people decent houses in which to live, but that it is necessary also to teach them how to live in them and how to observe the laws of sanitation. A man in Chicago told me lately that the foreigners who live in some of the model houses in Pullman City use bath tubs to stow away useful things for the household, such as coal, potatoes, etc., and go without bathing. There is need of teaching families how to live. Healthful and safe communities in which foreigners live will only be possible when wise landlords furnish a sanitary instructor and supervisor whose duty is to teach the tenants how to live aright. This man will make it easier for the rent collector and will add to the security of property.
Foreigners don't bathe Often. — All foreign-speaking workers are not clean. The Finn, who comes from a country where every " family has its ' sauna ' or bathhouse (which) is the first place built and the family live in it until the rest of the house is built," is very different from the Bosnian or southern Italian, who has an aversion to water. The Slavs do not bathe as they should, and they will not until they are taught the utility of it. Mr. Shadwell says of the Germans : " To any one who remem- bers the Germany of old, when no one could swim, bathing was thought a proof of insanity and washing a dangerous eccen- tricity — no change is more remarkable than the conversion in this respect." If in the memory of man such a change has been wrought in Germany, by instruction and example, the same result may be attained by similar means instituted among Slavs and Italians, now in America, who do not know how cleanliness pro- motes health. A certain college in the United States, to which Italians go in large numbers, makes it a part of the schedule to
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bathe twice a week. That is practical " homolavics," and may be more productive of good than homiletics. A foreign-born man of the right kind is in charge of a settlement house in one of the cities of the Middle West, doing excellent work among his countrymen. The young fellows delight to come to the gym- nasium and play, but the condition upon which they can come is that they take a bath every time they play. In this way, this social worker is cleaning up the second generation from back- ward homes. A young Pole was induced to go into the swim- ming pool in a Young Men's Christian Association ; after that he kept away from the building, and the secretary went to find out why he stayed away. The mother of the lad met him, gave him a piece of her mind, that he dared make her boy take a bath in winter time, " Did you want to kill him? " Thousands of immigrants from southeastern Europe do not appreciate the value of personal cleanliness. When visiting Ashokan Dam, I went to the hospital and saw the doctor washing the feet of a lusty young Slav. I asked the physician if the man was injured ; he said "no." "Well, what's the matter with his feet?" " Didn't wash them," was the reply, and the doctor kept on scrub- bing with the brush. The young fellow was working on the dam handling cement ; the fine dust got into his shoes and socks, then worked into the pores of the skin of the feet, interfered with the circulation, and produced swelling accompanied with intense pain. If the young man had known enough to wash his feet clean every night, he would have avoided the pain he suffered and the loss of work. There is one fact that a doctor in Chrome, N.J., brought to my attention. He said that the foreigners there were dirty, especially their feet, but he said, " Their skin is soft as that of a babe, much softer than that of an American." He could not explain the reason, but raised the question as to the frequent use of soaps by the latter.
Bathing Conveniences Needed. — The question of bathing will never be solved unless conveniences are given the men to bathe. Miss F. A. Kellor tells of a contractor on the New York Aqueduct, who did not believe that the foreigners in his camp wanted to wash, but at the suggestion of some friends of the aliens
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he consented to put in some shower baths. At the end of two weeks, he said, he had to increase his water supply, " for there was not enough to go round." In Aurora, 111., the city fathers did very differently. The foreigners on Broad Street and up back of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy shops were crowded into small houses, many of which were dilapidated and dirty. The board of health took up the matter, and called the atten- tion of the council chamber to the conditions ; every member thought something should be done, and a law was passed stating that every inhabitant of the city should take a bath at least once a week. These native-born councilmen went to their homes, provided with bathrooms, conscious of having discharged their duty, and none asked whether the foreigners had bathing facilities or not. Baltimore does things very differently. There is a man in that city who knows all about bathing and public baths. His name is Thomas M. Beadenkoff. He prepared for the ministry and preached for some years ; but there has not been a better or purer Gospel preached by any of the ministers of that city than that preached by this man. His teaching is, that public baths are necessarily related to the health and morals of the people, and that the municipality should provide these to the people who cannot provide them for themselves ; and that $1000 put into a bathhouse is better than $50,000 put into a court- house. He had a long fight, but has won out ; and the people of that city are back of him. In summer he rigs up a corrugated steel structure on an empty lot in that part of the city where the foreigners or the poor live, has a stove in the rear of the building to heat the water, hangs up a simple apparatus for shower baths, and tells the people : " Come in and be clean." An outfit of that kind does not cost more than $300 or $400, but it is a God- send to the poor who are sweltering on summer days in a crowded city. How much better would it have been for the city fathers of Aurora, and those of every other industrial center where foreigners congregate in large numbers, had they made an ap- propriation, installed a dozen shower baths, and said to the people who were dirty, " Come and be clean ! " Dirt and Disease. — It is our interest, as well as that of the
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foreigners, to see that the laws of sanitation as laid down by modern science are enforced. We do not know where diseases caused by dirt and filth, dampness and slovenliness, may strike. Some Hungarian women, living in unsanitary quarters, worked in a factory that produced supplies for bandaging wounds, etc. An injured man, using one of these bandages, contracted a dis- ease which puzzled the doctor. Being a scientific man, he imme- diately set to work to discover the cause, and finally came to the factory producing the bandages. He then came to the Hun- garian workers who lived in unsanitary quarters, and his con- viction was that they were the medium by which the poison was transmitted to the bandage and thence to the man. In one of the towns of Pennsylvania smallpox broke out in the foreign quarter. There was a butcher shop where one of the most refined girls of town acted as cashier. She was taken sick, and within two days died of that dreadful disease. The question was asked by all, how did she contract it? She was not near the houses where the disease was quarantined. No, but some of the money used by the people near the disease came to her hand, and that was enough. A friend of mine went into a restaurant to get some oysters. While waiting, he heard some one in the rear pounding, so he went to see what was doing. There he found a foreigner opening the oysters which were to be his meal. He saw something on the man's hand, and on examination found that he suffered from tertiary syphilis.
Foreigners serve us. — There is not a hotel, a restaurant, a clubhouse, in our large cities, where the foreigner is not found. They do the menial service in the kitchen, in the chamber, in the hall, and around the barroom. They come in the morning, from where the men who hire them know not. They go at night to their homes, in the congested portion of the city, where sanitary laws are not observed. We have the knowledge and the experience — purchased at a terrible cost — to make the homes of the people safe and healthful ; and yet there is not a city where foreigners live, in which cellars and attics may not be found breed- ing diseases which may strike innocent parties without a mo- ment's warning. We guard diseases from barn and farm, and it
138 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
is well we do ; we guard against diseases from ships and steamers, and the nation says it is well done ; we strictly inspect the meat that is served us by the packing houses, and we are the better for it ; we have passed laws requiring that the food and medicine sold to the nation shall be life preserving and not life destroying, and we say it is wise ; but there is no poison as deadly as that arising from human filth, no disease so fatal as that engendered by man's uncleanness, no fever more consuming than that con- tracted in damp, dark, unventilated rooms ; and every year we pay a fearful price in human health and happiness, because we despise the foreigner and say " leave him in his dirt." We have yet to learn that the moment a foreigner enters the country, he is one of us for good or evil. Those from southeastern Europe do not know how to live in congested quarters, and should be taught ; they cannot defend themselves against avaricious land- lords, and should be protected ; they do not know the relation between cleanliness and health, and should be educated. They are plastic and teachable. To teach them how to live is to pro- tect ourselves. To permit medieval sanitary conditions in America is to court danger and disease. Twentieth-century sanitation should prevail, and the foreigner will comply with the demand if he is shown how.
CHAPTER X
HOME" LIFE
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THE Anglo-Saxons proudly say that a man's home is his castle. It is the one spot that is sacred and is so regarded by all the members of the community ; no intrusion is allowed, and none enter save at the invitation of the lord of the castle, no matter how humble it may be. These are not the ideas of south- eastern Europeans. The home to them is more of a social center, one into which friends have a right to enter without invitation, and the claims of hospitality are recognized far more generally than among us. In the coal fields of Pennsylvania, it was noth- ing unusual for Slav beggars to open the door and come into the house ; English-speaking beggars would knock and stand at the door. An Armenian came to New York and was introduced to a friend of mine. The newcomer was looking for work, and said to his new acquaintance : " You take me home with you and let me stay with you until I get work." A Syrian peddler calls in my house. She never knocks or rings the bell, but simply walks in, piffcsX^own her pack, and takes a chair. She had only been in the house three times all told, and yet she calmly said : " Now I'll eat my dinner," and pulled out a few crusts from her pocket and sat at table in the kitchen where the family dinner was being prepared., After she was through, she sat down in the sitting room to rest, and then wished us good- day and continued her journey. It was not " gall " nor was it done in a brazen way, but in the most natural way, as if it were the right thing ; and it was so as far as custom regulates domestic relations in her country. The Slav and the Italian, the Magyar and Lithuanian, the Greek and the Roumanian, have a strong mixture of oriental blood in their veins, and their conception of the sacredness and exclusiveness of the home is not what it is in the Anglo-Saxon mind.
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Foreigners not Fastidious. — These people are not as fastid- ious as English-speaking people, and their ideas as to the amount of room a family needs and the privacy necessary for the members are very different from ours. When Miss Reming- ton took over the Italian barracks on Canal Street in Buffalo, in which more than noo people were packed, she began to set things in order by attacking the first floor : put out the tenants, rearranged things, and appropriated three rooms for herself and assistant. When the tenants learned that she had set apart three rooms for her use, they commented, " What extravagance ! — what will they do with all that room ? " and they concluded that a millionaire had taken possession of the house. It was not strange, for on one of the floors one room was occupied by five families. Thousands of these peasants from southeastern Europe were raised in one large room, which in winter was shared by the pigs, rabbits, chickens, and geese. Take the following description of a typical hut of a mushik : " One square earth- floored room, the unplastered walls and low ceiling of which were black with smoke. One-fourth of it occupied by a large brick oven, another fourth taken up by a large bed which was com- monly known as the ' family bed/ and the remaining space filled by a long unpainted table with a rough bench along each side of it, a pail of water, a manger for the pigs, and a wooden dish for the rabbits that were crowded together in a corner . . . and the chickens (were) in the coop under the oven." The English-speaking, not very long ago, used to share the room with the pigs and the chickens. The parents of an editor whom I know, a man of sterling worth, were in the habit, forty years ago, of giving the pig shelter over night on the family hearth. Some of these people do that to-day. Dr. Herdon found three pigs sheltered in the home of a foreigner in a New England town ; he called them " twentieth-century pigs," but they were pigs in every sense of the word. It will take time to bring these people to a right idea of what a home ought to be, for they were raised under standards very different from those obtaining in America.
Relation of the Sexes. — The one-room home also has its effect upon the sensitiveness of the relation of the sexes. Men
HOME LIFE 141
and women raised under one-room conditions act in each other's presence very differently from those who are reared in homes where the sexes are strictly segregated. Magyar, Slav, and Rou- manian, single men and women, occupying the same house, pass to and fro in each other's presence, dressed in a way that would be considered extremely vulgar by English-speaking wage- earners. It is not uncommon for a boarding boss and his wife to share the same room with boarders : the man and his wife oc- cupy one corner and the boarders' beds are in the other corners. This is abominable from our viewpoint, but it does not neces- sarily imply a state of immorality in or of polyandry among — as some have inferred — the occupants. Absolute purity is not found among foreigners any more than among English-speaking peoples ; but the percentage of domestic infidelity and immo- rality among Magyars and Slavs, Lithuanians and Italians, is not greater than it is among English-speaking people in the same social status. The Italians live in as crowded quarters as any race of the new immigration, but no people among the old immigrants have more virtuous wives and daughters. A Polish priest in Baltimore told me : " The Polish girls are at a premium : young men who want them must marry them. It's not so among Americans." Races have varying standards in social and domestic life, and it is both unkind and unjust to charge peoples of a different race with immorality, because they allow the sexes to intermingle more freely than is the custom among us^) When an English lady traveling in Servia was entertained over night by a farmer who lived in one room, she slept on the floor, as the father, mother, and two daughters did. She says : " My host took off his coat and spread it over me, wrapped himself in his great coat and lay down by my side. ' So thou shalt be warm,' " l he said. And this simplicity is characteristic of the way the new immigrants live in America.
Vice in Homes. — There are instances of irregularities among
all these peoples. In Coatesville, Pa., some Roumanians lived
as husband and wife without marriage. A gentleman asked
them why they lived so, and they explained that it was not an
1 "Through the Lands of the Serbs," p. 340-
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uncommon thing for men and women in Roumania to live to- gether without marriage, for the matrimonial ceremony was too expensive for poor people. He suggested that it was indecent and contrary to law to live so in America, and that they would better marry in the regular way. " Sure," they replied ; and a clergyman performed the ceremony in the presence of the chil- dren of the home. In Detroit, a foreign-speaking woman, whose husband was in an insane asylum, had to keep boarders for a living, and is rapidly raising a family of illegitimate children. Another foreigner visited the old country, leaving his wife in charge of his brother. He was gone for a year. When he re- turned his wife had a baby two months old. He was very angry and wanted to know who was the author of the wrong ; but the thought of leaving his wife and getting a divorce never entered his mind. A case of infidelity recently occurred in Dayton, Ohio ; the wife left her husband and children and eloped with one of the boarders. She was gone two weeks ; then the wan- derer returned, and the former husband took her in, and life went on as before the desertion.1 Some English-speaking people violate the sanctity of the foreigner's home, and there is reason to believe that this is done with the knowledge and consent of the husband, who has received favors from the boss in the works. Cases of this character are rare, and it would not be difficult to duplicate instances equally abominable among English-speaking peoples. Vice and sin are the accompaniments of every social order, no matter what the race be or where they live.
Women are Drudges. — The condition of women in the homes of foreigners is not the best. The wife is a drudge, and slaves incessantly for her household. Among the Slavs she is not indulged in any way ; the burdens she assumes as a matter of course, and if her husband abuses her, there is no complaint and no arrest. If a Slavic or Italian woman causes her husband to be arrested for abuse, it is proof positive that she has adopted
1 Some Russian Jews, in the Ghetto of New York City, go to the Rabbis for a divorce and get it ; they then put away their wives and marry other women. This was possible in Russia and they cannot understand why it is not lawful in the United States and ask why should the government interfere with their liberty.
HOME LIFE 143 -1
American standards of marital relation. Among the newer immigrants, such as the Bulgarians and Macedonians, Greeks and Roumanians, Turks and Albanians, the number of women is very small. The few who have accompanied the immigrants are enslaved as wives of boarding bosses, and their lot is most wretched. A Servian priest in Johnstown, Pa., said : " Twelve of our women have died in the last year — killed by work, run- ning boarding houses." To cook, wash, do the chores and keep open house for twenty or thirty men is no small task. The boarders work night and day, and it is meals at all hours. The wife is the only one who watches over the fire, gets ready the water for the men to wash, and prepares the food. Night men come home any hour in the morning, and the woman must be there to wait on them. They are burden bearers in the most literal sense. In many of the New England towns it is nothing unusual for a mother to work in the mill with her husband — working to within a few weeks of her confinement and starting in again as soon as possible after the birth of the child, leaving the children in the care of an elderly woman or a girl of ten or twelve. These conditions are not conducive to cleanliness nor the proper care of children.
Fecundity of Foreign Women. — The foreign-speaking woman is a child-bearer. The rule is " bearing or nursing"; if con- scious efforts are made to check the birth rate, it is evidence that the woman is copying some other standard than that of her own people. The number of barren women among the foreign-born is small compared with that of those of native parentage : in the former it is only one in fifteen, in the latter it is one in six. Ten foreign-born married women have an average of 47 children ; but the same number of native-born women of native parentage have only 24. Ten married women of native birth but of foreign parentage come in between these two extremes, having on an average 35 children. Polish women show the greatest fecundity, having on an average a child every 2.3 years during the period of child-bearing, while women of native parentage only bear one in 5.9 years. It is also interesting to observe that the women of the old immigration differ greatly from those of the new in this respect.
144 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
In the latter one in ten women is barren, in the former one in five, while the number of children born per marriage is as 4.9 to $.$,1 Child Bearing. — It is astonishing how little the incident of birth interferes with the running of the home in many Slav families. It is not unusual for a woman to give birth to a child to-day and be about her household duties to-morrow. A woman in Passaic left her loom and went to a back room. Soon the cry of a baby was heard, and there the woman had the child in her hands. Women who do this have very different ideas and notions about child-bearing from those entertained by our women. Among the English-speaking in like extremities both mother and child would perish. Foreign-speaking women, as soon as married, assume the function of child-bearing in the most naive manner, and would regard it as next to a calamity if they could not present their husbands with many children. They seldom call in the doctor. In New York State : " Until 1907 there was no official recognition of her (midwife's) existence de- spite the fact that 94 per cent of the Italian births, 60 per cent of the Austro-Hungarian and Bohemian, 31 per cent of the Rus- sian, 31 per cent of the German, and 42 per cent of all births in New York City were attended by midwives."2 And in every state where foreigners live, the conditions obtaining in the Em- pire State are the rule, unless laws are enacted and enforced to exercise supervision over midwives. The fecundity of the for- eign-born mother means a high birth rate, but this is also accompanied by a high death rate. It is nothing unusual to find a death rate of 20 per cent among children under one year old, and the still-born and prematurely born form another 8 per cent. This is a terrible waste. Compare it with the 2 or 3 per cent deaths among the children of well-to-do families. Among the causes of a high death rate may be mentioned the unsanitary conditions of the home, the drink habit, the frequent child-bearing of the mother, and the service of an ignorant mid- wife — these quench many a flame which otherwise would pos- sibly bless the home and the world.
> See Table XI in addenda.
2 See "Report of Commission on Immigration," New York State, p. 18.
HOME LIFE 145
Old World Customs. — The woman of the home clings also to old country ways and customs. The immigrants soon copy their neighbors in dress, but they cannot throw away customs and habits of the old country as they throw away their garments. The spirit of the race rules the lives of men though living in the new world. The ancestral sway brings many contentions into homes of foreigners. When the children grow they copy Ameri- can ways more freely than the parents can or will ; the young people want to bring these-irrto" the home, but as long as the foreign-speaking mother is in control, standards of the homeland will prevail. New standards cannot be introduced in homes as new furniture can . Racial tastes differ, methods of preparing food differ, and the dishes prepared after the manner in the fatherland > are long adhered to after the second generation have controlled the external appearance of the home. A Roumanian mother baking bread in olive oil and giving some of it to her four-year- old child to eat appears little less than criminal, and yet it is their practice in this country. When Americans go to a Turkish restaurant and order a regular Turkish dinner, few of them feel particularly happy as they wrestle with the dishes put before them, which differ greatly from the style of cooking they have been accustomed to. In Aurora, 111., the Roumanians wanted bread baked after the manner of their homeland. A German baker supplied them with good bread, but they wanted the Rou- manian kind and asked him to prepare it for them. The Ger- man was a good baker, but a poor business man. He refused to comply, and lost the trade. One of their own number took the hint, supplied the demand, and has built up a flourishing trade. Even in the killing of pigs racial peculiarities come in. A clergyman in Dayton, Ohio, was busy preparing to slaughter one when we called on him. He said : "I have a Hungarian butcher to do the killing after the Hungarian fashion. He will burn off the hair with straw so as to make the skin soft and tender, and the meat will be sweeter." Of course the articles of food on the table of the Slav and the Italian, the Magyar and the Persian, may be more abundant and varied than was the custom in the fatherland, but the ways of preparing foods are those
146 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
imported from across the sea. In customs surrounding birth, marriage, and death, the usages of the old world dominate. The relation of the home and the church is wholly dominated by old world ideas — the custom of blessing home and basket, ceremonies of purification, are bits of the old in the new world. When the family break away from these customs, they move out of the foreign colony, live in a better home, purchase carpets and furniture as Americans do ; then the family is no longer foreign, it is run by the native-born of foreign parentage, and the old folks, if they still live, are in the background. Few of the new immigrants have come to that stage ; they are swayed by the customs and habits of the old world, and no one can spend a day in any of their colonies without feeling this.
Dirty Homes. — Many of the housewives of the new immigra- tion are dirty in the home. A social worker who has devoted the best years of her life to work among southern Italians said : " The average Italian woman is dirty ; there are exceptions, but, taken as a whole, their homes are dirty." She said that mothers were afraid to wash the crown of the head of the child, imagining that the soft part of the skull might be injured ; the consequences are often serious. Many Slav women are unclean. One of these was hired by a friend of mine to do housework in Chicago. It was not long before the wife could not tolerate her in the same room. She asked her to wash, bought a cake of sweet-smelling soap as an inducement, told her that there was plenty of warm water for her use — but no, she had to get rid of her. All nationalities among the new immigrants are not dirty. An in- surance agent who has worked among them said that the hall and the yard may be very dirty while the interior of the house may be comparatively clean. In the investigations of the Im- migration Commission the relative percentages of dirty apart- ments found among the native-born, native-born of foreign-born parentage, and the foreign-born were as 6.8, 7.2, and 13.4. If, however, we take the peoples of the new immigration and com- pare them with the native-born of native parentage, the percen- tages of dirty homes are 23.1 and 7.8 respectively.1 Men who
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract Report on "Immigrants in Cities," p. 35.
HOME LIFE 147
have known certain races in the old immigration say that they were as dirty as any now coming from the backward countries of Europe. Of course, the foreigners are not the only dirty ones. The following is from Mr. ShadwelPs " Industrial Efficiency " : " English workmen love to be dirty all the week ; they seem to take pride in presenting a ruffianly appearance. It is the mark of their calling, the honorable badge of toil, the privilege of the horny-handed."
Superstition. — Some of these people do things that show gross neglect and ignorance. A doctor living in Steubenville, Ohio, was called to the home of a foreigner to treat a child suffering from scarlet fever. One morning he noticed a big lump in bed with the child. He sent the mother for some water, and looked to see what the lump was — it was the kneaded dough put in a warm place to rise. In Ishpeming, Mich., I saw a child with a scalp as bare as the palm of my hand. I inquired, why was the child bald? They replied that the teacher in school told the parents that they must use something to kill the vermin on the child's head — something strong. They followed instruction, and in their ignorance killed all the roots of the hair in the child's head. In Omaha, Mr. Bingham, secretary of the Help- ing Hand Society, visited a foreigner's home, and found a baby sleeping on the floor and the cat tied to the leg of the table close by. He asked the mother why she did this. "To keep away the rats from my child," was her reply. The foreign-speaking mothers love their children, and are anxious to guard them against all evil. This is why so many charms are used to ward off evil influences. When a physician was called to treat a child in one of the cities of the Middle West, he found him on the floor surrounded by a circle made of chalk with mystic signs — they were trying to charm away the demon. The mother was also sick abed, and the people expected her to get well, for the priest had been there with consecrated water to drive away the power of evil. Mothers put amulets on their children to ward off the influence of the evil eye ; and if they imagine the child suffers from it, they summon an old woman to counteract the influence. While we sat one day chatting with an ex-priest,
148 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
one of the company sneezed, and immediately the foreign-born said, " God bless you " and put up two fingers. The blessing was the antidote necessary to check the power of darkness summoned by the sneezing. In every department of life, charms, amulets, and blessings are used, to counteract supposed powers of evil, which ever threaten the lives of the new immigrants.
The Married. — Seventy-five per cent of the new immigration is male. Many of these men have wives in the fatherland, but the average age of the immigrant is about 23 years, so that the vast majority are young men in the prime of life, seeking better economic conditions hi a new world. The investigations of the Immigration Commission into the conjugal condition of immi- grants reveals that the proportion of foreign-born persons, 20 years of age or over, married, is much larger than that of the native-born : in the one case it is 82.8 per cent and in the other 67.6. As before stated, the custom is, when a nation begins to emigrate, for the males to lead the way, and among the new im- migration a large number of married men, an average of 22.7 per cent, have their wives across the sea : but of the married Bulgarians, 90 per cent are so situated ; of the Macedonians, 96 ; of the Turks, 84 ; of the Montenegrins, 76 ; of the Greeks, 75 ; and so on through the list of married men of the newer immigra- tion. Here again we have a striking contrast between the new and the old immigrants. Sixty-one per cent of the more recent married immigrants from southeastern Europe have their wives in the fatherland, but only 2.7 per cent of the married men of the old immigration are so situated.1 Thousands of young men who come to marry in America find wives either among single women of their own people in this country or import them from the fatherland. An Armenian told me how difficult it was for him to get his prospective wife from Armenia, and how much it cost him to bribe Turkish officials who handled passports. I suggested, "Why not marry an American woman? " and his reply was : " No good — she arrest husband — Armenian women die first." It is not always easy for a young man to import a
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on "Immigrants in Manu- facturing and Mining," p. 171 f.
HOME LIFE 149
young woman from the fatherland ; but in this custom rules, as in all else. A young Italian in Ohio wanted a wife. He sent a request to his parents to choose him a young woman, and, accom- panying the letter, he sent $150 to pay for her transportation to America. The young lady came, but before the ceremony was performed, she visited Joliet and there met a young man whom she knew in Italy, who asked her to marry him. She came back to the young man in Ohio and told him the situation, and asked for her release. " All right," said the man ; " if he pays me my $150, you can go." The Joliet man did not have the cash ; " Well," said the original suitor, " I'll marry you" ; so he took her to the priest, who tied the knot ; and they live peacefully. Romance and sentiment do not play as great a part in the marital contract among these people as among ourselves.
A Wedding. — While visiting a foreign colony last winter we were invited to a wedding which was to take place on a Satur- day afternoon. The bridegroom and his best man spent the morning going the rounds to invite the guests. At the appointed hour we were in church, witnessed the ceremony — the crown- ing of the bride and bridegroom, the partaking of the Commun- ion, the pledging on bent knee — and we heard the exhortation, which was so solemn that both parties were affected to tears. It was indeed a solemn ceremony, far more so than that generally performed in Protestant churches, providing the parties go to church. That night we went to the hall, hired for the occasion, where the friends of the bridal couple celebrated the wedding. Much beer was consumed amid clouds of smoke, and all present danced. Four musicians with stringed instruments were en- gaged to discourse music, and the performance was continuous. The bridal dance was started. The master of ceremonies had charge of the bride, whose praises he rehearsed, and members of the company, both male and female, came up to dance with her, for which privilege each paid a dollar. If no guest danced with the bride, the master of ceremonies did so, keeping her in step until an applicant appeared. If the bridegroom is a popular young man, from $200 to $250 will be collected in this way — all of which is given to the bride. I asked one of the leaders,
150 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
"How much does a wedding of this kind cost? " He said, " A hundred dollars, maybe $120." It was a joyous crowd, all happy as children — their chief trouble rises from booze. When in drink the beast is aroused, and then quarrels ensue. On the following Monday, while visiting the foundry, we saw some of the men who had attended the wedding. I asked a young Magyar, " When do you expect to marry? " " Not in America," was his reply ; " it costs too much."
Fraudulent Marriage. — Some of these young men anxious to wed are deceived and defrauded by men of their own nation- ality. Not long ago the law got hold of a company of men and women who made a business of fraudulently marrying young men, securing their money, and leaving them penniless. The scarcity of brides among certain peoples makes fraud of this nature easy.1 Daughters among foreigners are expected to do as their parents say. The elders arrange the marriage, and fre- quently the bride is not consulted in the matter. One of * these compulsory marriages took place in western Pennsylvania. The bride stood at the altar, and at the last moment she resolved to disobey. She broke loose from the bridal party, and escaped from the church. The bridegroom turned to the bridesmaid and asked her, "Will you marry me?" She said "Yes," and the ceremony was performed. The fellow was a married man, and that night was arrested for bigamy, and later sentenced to a term in the penitentiary^ While I was visiting the Salvation Army home for girls in Pittsburgh, the matron told me of an inmate, a young Magyar girl, who was deceived by a country- man. He enticed her from her parents' home in New York City under promise of marriage. He did not marry her, and when she was with child the fellow left. In a city in Pennsylvania, a young Italian paid attention to the daughter of a native-born engineer. The father in his indignation told him that he should not visit the house, and put him out. Within a week the father was found dead in the engine house. The lad made his escape, but the indignation of the people was such that they rose against the Italian colony and demanded that they leave the city. An immigration that is preponderatingly male has far more serious
HOME LIFE 151
consequences on society than one made of families, and in this respect the new immigration is open to grave criticism.
Foreigners adopt New Standards. — The foreigner finds it difficult to adjust his religious customs to our industrial system. It is well known that orthodox Jews, employed by Christians, lose two days in the week. They won't work on Saturday, be- cause of conscience' sake, and on Sunday they are compelled to remain idle because of the Christian's conscience. A business man in a western city told me of some orthodox Jews who ob- served Saturday as the Sabbath ; but, said he, " they come quietly to collect their bills on that day." It was the first step, under economic pressure, from the orthodox faith. During the two long annual fasts ordained by the Greek Church the men are supposed to eat no animal food, not even butter and eggs are to be touched — linseed and olive oil being the substitutes ; but men working hard in mill and mine in America cannot sub- sist on diet prescribed for European agricultural workers under no industrial strain. This immigrant farm hand employed as an American wage earner must eat better and richer food than European customs, both social and ecclesiastical, prescribe, if he is to keep step in the industrial army in the United States. This matter of food concerns the foreign-born housewife as much as the worker. It is a domestic question, and can only be solved when all the members of the home are enlisted in the solution. Business reasons sometimes influence a change in diet. The Italians, as a rule, like highly spiced food flavored with garlic, but the sons of Italy carrying on the barber trade in the cities of the land know that they will not get the English-speaking trade if they follow their national taste for garlic. Many mothers give their children black coffee, boiled the night previous, and the little ones show the effect in puffy, sallow, and anaemic faces ; others feed them beer and whisky. Instances are known of little ones coming to public school under the influ- ence of intoxicants.
Leaving Old Standards. — Against these abuses of childhood the standards of American homes are making their way. A hundred agencies are besieging the foreigner's home, and a
152 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
perceptible change is seen in many of them ; they are gradually rising to the levels of those of their English-speaking neighbors. The lower standards are most persistent in foreign colonies in the East. The foreigners who move West leave the standards of the old world far quicker than their brethren in the cities on the Atlantic coast. The spirit of the West is a mighty solvent of national customs. An intelligent Lithuanian, living in South Omaha, had been a wage earner in the mines of Pennsylvania. I asked him why he moved West; he replied, "Too much kill in the mines." One of his sons was assessor of the ward, and another was in the printing business. Many Lithuanians lived in that part of the city, and their homes were more comfortable and cleaner than those of their countrymen in the coal fields of Pennsylvania. If, however, the new immigrants from the Bal- kan States go directly to the West, they live pretty much the same as they do in the East. In St. Joseph, near the stock- yards, there are as dirty aggregations of Roumanians and Mace- donians as are found anywhere hi the land. In Armourdale, Kans., there are groups of Greeks and Croats living in as foul quarters as are found in the East. But among the Pole and Lithuanian, the Italian and the Magyar, who served an appren- ticeship in the East, improved their economic status, and then moved West, we find a much nearer approach to American stand- ards. They know some English, they secure their own homes, and their standard of living is much higher than that of their countrymen in the East. If the congested sections of eastern cities where foreigners live could be relieved by making it pos- sible for immigrants to move West, the effect would be whole- some on the aliens and gratifying to the nation.
Americanize the Home. — When the foreign-born secure a plot of ground and build a house on it, the process of American- ization goes on very rapidly. The house may not be much at first, but it calls out the best that is in the man, and as he in- creases in riches the house improves in appearance. Hundreds of foreign-born men of southeastern Europe in New York and Pennsylvania have built comfortable homes which will compare favorably with those erected by English-speaking men of the
HOME LIFE 153
old immigration. Thousands of such homes have been built, and their number is annually increasing. They are hostages to the nation — an assurance that the immigrants are on their way to become full-fledged Americans. No better instance of this can be found than in Brown Park, in South Omaha, which has been improved by the Bohemians, Poles, and Lithuanians. That which, a few years ago, was a rolling prairie, is to-day studded with neat and well-kept homes, schools, and churches, having well-cultivated gardens and flowers, all of which conform to American standards among the wage-earning class. The same may be said of the Italians in Rockland County, N.Y., in Providence, R.I., in Rosetta, Pa., and elsewhere. These immigrants have their gardens, no matter what the soil is ; they will till them with a care and love that stands in striking con- trast to the careless and forlorn appearance of properties owned by many English-speaking men of the old immigration. One of the great hindrances to this process of Americanization of the foreigners is the acquisition of property in the neighborhood of large cities by land-holding companies. These grab up large tracts of land and keep them in an unimproved condition, whereas, if they were sold on reasonable terms to foreigners,they would blossom as a garden and produce food for the millions in congested cities. The Poles on the abandoned farms of New England, the Italians on the swamps of New Jersey, the Portu- guese on Cape Cod, have shown what they can do under con- ditions which drove "white folks" from these holdings. These alien lovers of the soil, by persistent toil and careful living, have made the earth yield wealth which crystallized into homes and barns, horses and cattle. They raised large and healthy families as loyal to the Union as any found in America. And can there be a better use made of superfluous wealth, much of which is spent in very questionable forms for the uplift of the lower tenth, than to open up rural communities, establish villages, where the tillers of the soil from Europe may have a chance to reclaim land which has been inconsiderately exploited by previous gen- erations ?
Owning Homes. — These men are worthy of help. They have
154 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
the old virtue of thrift well developed, and they invest their money in homes in America. Real estate agents in the North Atlantic and Central states say that the foreigners are the only ones who save money. Wherever they are given a fair chance to secure homes they rapidly avail themselves of it, and invest. The investigation of the Immigration Commission in cities as to the percentage of the foreign-born owning homes shows the following : 4.2 per cent of the native-born of native parentage owned their homes, but the percentage of native-born of foreign parentage was n, and that of the foreign-born ic.4.1 We have seen that the lowest wage is paid the foreign-born, and yet the number of these families owning their homes is more than double that of families of native-born parentage. These fig- ures show how strong the love for home is in the immigrant and how anxious he is to give protection to his family. They have made good use of their opportunity in the new world ; and we are safe in saying that the men of the new immigration will not be behind those of the old in this respect.
Homes Transformed. — Communities of foreigners will respond to higher ideals if the right influences are brought to bear upon them. Three years ago, a town* of 2500 souls in west- ern Pennsylvania was as hopeless a place as any ever popu- lated by " Hunkies." When the man in control of affairs was asked for the use of the schoolhouse, he turned and said : " What's the use — you can do nothing with that kind of people — the only thing for them is a club." When the truant officer was consulted as to the possibility of doing anything for the people, he said: " Hunkeyville is drunk half the time." The first night workers went into the town, special deputies were assigned to watch and see that no harm was done. Every English-speak- ing man who had anything to do with that community regarded the foreigners as a lost hope. They saw no goodness in them ; they were despised, they were consigned to the devil. The night welfare work began, the people were kind and courteous ; not an insulting word was heard on the street, no man or woman
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on " Immigrants in Cities," p. 36.
HOME LIFE 155
behaved indecently. Three years have passed, and the com- munity is changed. Those who knew it three years ago cannot say that it is now the same town. The streets and alleys are clean. The lawns before the homes are sodded, and trees have been planted. More and more are flowers planted around the houses, and the gardens are cared for as never before. The men responded last summer to the request of the leader to grade a plot where the little ones can play, and the man who said " what's the use " has revised his judgment, and is putting money into swings and apparatus for the boys to play. The mothers and children are neater and happier. Drink is not abolished, but the jamborees that made "Hunkeyville drunk half the time" have ceased. They have developed a community conscience, and take pride in the town ; they are anxious to keep it up to a standard that means moral and physical health. What was done in " Hunkeyville " can be done in every community where the foreigners live. In communities where single men live in large numbers, special treatment is needed ; but in com- munities where the new immigrants attempt home life, all they need is leadership ; — sympathetic, strong, patient, and self- ;' abnegating, and they will respond. Leave this simple, confiding ' child of nature to the selfish, grasping, degenerating influence of booze and profanity, and he quickly copies all that is degrading ; give him a chance to copy the decent and healthful in strong men and women of the right type, and there is not a field in the country where kindness and wholesome example will bring quicker and more gratifying results.
\
CHAPTER XI
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER
THE stream of immigrants coming through Ellis Island ever reminds me of a river flowing into the ocean. The waters come from various sections, forming here rivulets, there tributaries, and yonder mountain creeks, but all converging into one mighty stream that loses itself in the sea. So does this stream of immi- gration, gathered from many lands, bury itself in the human mass of this continent. No sooner are they landed than they scatter. The railroads and boats take them into various parts of the country /but the territory where nearly 70 per cent of them go is well defined — they are destined to the New England states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois/ The territory in New England, into which most immigrants go, are the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut ; the other states included in this geographical division have few foreign-speaking people, and the number going there is small — excepting a few cities such as Manchester, Nashua, and Berlin in New Hampshire, the marble quarries of Vermont, and the lumber camps of Maine. If a line is drawn from the northwest- ern corner of Minnesota to the southwestern corner of Illinois, and then eastward to the Atlantic, passing between the cities of Washington and Baltimore, we cut off less than one-fifth of the area of the United States, but in it is found more than 80 per cent of the new immigration. This may be called the zone of the new immigration. The remaining 16 or 17 per cent is divided between the Southern states and those west of the west- ern boundary of our angle. A little more than 3 per cent is found in the South, and a fraction over 13 per cent is found on the Pacific Slope and in the western and Rocky Mountain states.
156
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER
157
158 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
The Industrial Zone. — ;What may be called the industrial zone of America is also within the above angle. The workshop of the United States is in the territory cut off by the lines above suggested. In eleven of the states from 55 to 75 per cent of the male workers are employed in industrial pursuits) There are important manufacturing centers outside this area, such as the cotton mills of North Carolina, the steel industry of Alabama, the mining interests of the Northwest and the South- west, and the industrial activity of Colorado ; but these are insig- nificant as compared with the mining, iron, and steel industries of Pennsylvania, the manufacturing of Rhode Island and Massa- chusetts, the commercial importance of New York, Boston, Buffalo, and Chicago. More than 80 per cent of all the coal mined in the Union is dug in this territory. More than 90 per cent of all the iron and steel products of the country is pro- duced here, while the great throb of commerce in the ports north of the Potomac, on the lakes and by rail in the great industrial centers, is felt here more than in any other section of the land. We have in the Union fifty cities of 100,000 and more population, and thirty-two of these are in the territory under consideration. These cities are the industrial hives whence manufacturing prod- ucts are sent in a continuous stream to enrich this and other nations of the earth. Around these flourishing centers of popu- lation, raised as by the wave of a magician's wand, satellite cities are rapidly growing where giant industries are taking root, in hope that the industrial supremacy of this area may still be main- tained for coming generations. The one great factor that has made possible the industrial development of this part of the United States is the inflow of 80 per cent of the new immigra- tion coming to America. The brawn and sinew of the peoples of the plains of the Danube, the Carpathian Mountains, southern Russia, the Balkan States, and the Italian peninsula have been freely drawn upon to man mine and mill, shop and factory, railroad and lumber camp, and never did any civilized nation get an army of more docile, industrious, and efficient workers, to be yoked to the industrial organization perfected by American ingenuity.
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER 159
Foreigners in Every City. — The foreigners are in every city in this angle, not equally distributed, by any means, but present in every one of them. Some of the cities, such as Albany and Harrisburg, the Springfields of Illinois and Massachusetts, are not important industrial centers ; and yet the foreigners are there in domestic service, in hotels, around public buildings and private estates, in barber shops and shoe-shining parlors, doing the chores in saloons and stations, conducting fruit stands and candy stores, restaurants and pool rooms, repairing shoes and pressing clothes, etc. In urban communities in this section of the country, you may as well try to escape the air you breathe as to escape the foreigner. On the business streets of industrial towns on a Sautrday night, the clatter of foreign tongues is everywhere heard. On the streets of industrial centers in New England around which the most precious memories in American history associate, a cosmopolitan mass moves to and fro in the shadow of monuments erected to the memory of men of glorious achievements. If men who knew Holyoke, New Bedford, Man- chester, Bridgeport, etc., fifty years ago, were to walk the thronged streets of these mill towns on a pay night, they would imagine themselves in a port city of the old world, and not on sacred ground trodden by the feet of the Puritan Fathers. Law- rence, Mass., is typical of the changes that have taken place in every industrial center into which the foreigners have come. The following is a comparison of population in this city for 1848 and at present.1
1848 1910
Americans .... 3750 or 63.3 % Americans . . . 12,0000114.1%
Irish 2139 or 36.0% Old Immigration . 52,000 or 61.1 %
All Other Whites . 34 or .7 % New Immigration . 21,000 or 24.8%
Total .... 5923 100. % Total . . . 85,000 100. %
This onrush of Continental nations into territory that is sacred to the memory of men who laid down the foundation of this republic has changed New England and given it a cosmopolitan character which seriously concerns every patriot in this part of our country.
i See Table XIII in addenda.
160 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
Foreigners Colonize. — In every city the tendency of the foreigners is to colonization. The units cohere, the mass crys- tallizes, and stands apart from other elements of the population. It is a process of segregation. | A nucleus comes from Europe and takes up a house ; other groups, coming from the same vil- lage or province, gather around this center ; it grows, pushing out the former occupants of the block, working ever from the inner courts and alleys out to the main streets or avenues, until at length the block becomes preponderatingly foreign, and stands there,, as related to the city, like a flint surrounded by a bed of chalk } It is seldom that all the block is taken up by one people, although it may be known as Hungarian, Italian, Hebrew, etc. Take the following enumeration of a block in South Chicago, and it is typical of those in foreign colonies in large cities : —
Servians 354 Slovenians 8
Croatians 204 Germans 8
Montenegrins 57 Hungarians 8
Hebrews 27 Russians 5
Macedonians ...... 22 Roumanians 4
Bulgarians 18 Lithuanians 3
Irish 14 French i
Total ~733
In this complex population there were 123 children, 87 women, and 523 men. In every colony there is a residuum of the older residents, the ones who could or would not get out, men who found it more in line with their tastes or purposes to tarry with the foreigners and pose as representatives of America — a re- lationship unfortunate both to themselves and the new residents. The agents of the Immigration Commission, when studying congestion among recent immigrants in seven cities, found it difficult to locate a crowded block having " racial uniformity." When they thought they had what they were looking for, they found on closer study " families of other races " which they had to omit in the study in order that data having " racial homogene- ity " might be compiled. Foreign colonies resemble a field ; one growth — be it of wheat, rye, or millet — gives it its character, but on close inspection we find much else growing there also. The Jew is the natural complement of the Polish, Ruthenian,
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER l6l
Lithuanian, Roumanian, etc., immigration, and he is invaria- bly found in a foreign block. Thousands of English-speaking saloon-keepers have found their property appreciating amid the general depreciation because of the invasion of the new immi- grant ; they retained the property and stayed there to reap a golden harvest. Other English-speaking peoples have retained property in sections where immigrants settle, adapted the houses to the needs of the newcomers, and have more than doubled their income. Political aspirants also have found it to their advantage to stay in the ward that is fast changing and dominate its politi- cal interests. These men have made friends of the foreigners and have come to like them as neighbors ; all the varied interests ruling the lives of men come into play, and the English-speaking have not been slack to turn their superior knowledge and expe- rience into profit.
Foreigners entering a Block. — Many changes take place when the foreigners come into a block. The English-speaking do their best to keep them out, but some one wants to sell and gets more for his property from a foreigner than from a " white man," and the highest bidder gets it. In a section of Pitts- burgh, the "Ginnies " rent the houses in the alleys which are vacated by the English-speaking residents ; not long after the " white folks " in the houses facing the street imagine that strong odors crawl over the fence, strains of weird music, so very different from that they are accustomed to, are heard ; men sing and the songs die away about midnight — they can't stand it and out they go. Then begins a remodeling of the houses — many cunning devices are introduced, for the for- eigners " love to crowd." A house occupied by one or two families is arranged to accommodate five or eight families of for- eigners. A section of New Haven, Conn., was twenty years ago occupied by the native-born. The Italians are in possession of it to-day. One of the residences was being remodeled a year ago. It was a good house, built of sandstone, occupied by one family, but when rearranged five Italian families moved in. Three people occupied the house before the exodus, now thirty souls are in it. A wagon upon which a load three times the weight it
1 62 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
was designed to carry is placed generally breaks down, and so does a house built for one family when occupied by five. The plumbing soon shows the strain, the hallways become recep- tacles for all trash, the stairways get out of order, the yards are filled with rubbish, the gate and fence break down, and the city authorities add to the process of dilapidation by conniving at conditions in sections where the " Dagoes " live. The result is that a street which once was a pleasure to behold, and homes that were a joy to the ocoroants, become eyesores, and we all say the " dirty foreigners/'' ^Few of us think of the greedy landlord, the indifferent Board of Health, the indolent street cleaner, and the absence of the garbage man. About 70 per cent of these people, as before stated, lived on farms before they came to America, and to put them down in a crowded city is like trans- planting tropical plants to temperate regions : they exist, but are far from flourishing
From Country to City. — A foreigner wrote to the New York Survey saying : " Scientific teachers should instruct foreigners how to live in tenements : the use of gas, the disposal of garbage and refuse, the use of plumbing, of pulley clothes lines and fire escapes ; the rules regulating school attendance and vaccination ; how to secure birth certificates and working papers." That is a voice crying in the wilderness of the tenements in New York City, and it represents millions of inarticulate, wretched aliens, who in ignorance and helplessness are groping in the dark, doing their best to live under conditions that mean discomfort, suffering, and death. I once visited a school on the East Side of New York City where foreigners were learning English. The teacher asked one of the pupils to form a sentence using the word " beautiful," and he falteringly said, " How beautiful is the country." Was it an accident? No, that young soul, trans- planted from where the trees blossomed and the grass grew, from where the flowers bloomed and the birds sang, to acres of brick walls and no trees, miles of asphalt pavement and no green grass, myriads of harsh noises but no song of the birds, felt a longing that was like that of lost souls in Inferno yearning for the light of the sun. Laura B. Garrett, writing about the Poles
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER 163
of Baltimore, tells how they love the birds, and that many brightly colored songsters are in cages hanging by their windows, and adds : " One of the saddest sounds of the district is the whistle and call of these birds." That is true, but a still sadder thing is the sup- pressed agony of these thousands of souls who try to bring a wee bit of nature into their homes by imprisoning the songsters to revive the memories of rural scenes of boyhood days. These brave souls long " for fresh air and sunlight and freedom," and city life to thousands of them is an imprisonment from which they long to be delivered. If they knew how to get to the land, they would gladly leave the crowded tenements. A Slav walked on the Common in Boston, saw the tame squirrels, and playing with one of them, he caught it and put it in his pocket. A "cop" saw him, brought him before the mayor, and the poor fellow had to pay $25 fine. Of course it is necessary to protect parks and the squirrels; but did the "cop " and the " judge " think for a moment that here was a lad raised in the country, and when he saw a bit of it in the heart of Boston, possibly for the first time, he thought of home and the days of boyhood, and how nice it would be to get something in that tenement around which this love of nature could crystallize — the squirrel would do it, — and the " cop " cured him of his weakness. The city has no place for the god of nature — the god of the dollar is enshrined there, and the foreigner soon learns it.
Processes of Graft in Cities. — The city does not improve the foreigner. Rousseau said, " Cities are the graves of the human species " ; our cities are the graves of much that is good and vir- tuous in the foreigner as he comes to us with the smell of the heather on his garments. When this helpless, inarticulate mass of foreigners invades a section of our cities, the birds of prey — both foreign and native-born — are there to feed upon their ignorance, weakness, and vanity. When visiting one of these hives where foreigners live, the people took me for a physi- cian, and led me to a room, made out of a section of an old hall- way, dark and without ventilation, and on the bed I saw a young woman in the prime of life, raging in the grip of typhoid fever. There was no hope for that poor soul ; and she represented thou-
1 64 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
sands of foreigners who have been killed in our congested cities by contaminated water, supplied either by greedy corporations that put money before men or by inefficient municipalities manned by political parasites. A foreigner in Boston com- plained to a friend of mine that he had to pay a bonus every month to the foreman else he had " no show " in the shop. This was brought to the attention of the superintendent, who was a native-born and a Christian ; but he would not believe it, and said to my friend : " The foreigner lies — they are liars anyway," and that foreman continues his system of piracy. In a strike in Brooklyn, in which the foreigners to a man were involved, two men came to union headquarters with bandaged heads. I asked, " What's the matter with these men? " " They were clubbed yesterday on the public highway near the works," was the reply. The proprietor of the works involved, when dis- cussing with another gentleman the rights of the foreigners, took a big wrench in his hand and said, " Their right is this, and this they'll get." That man was a native-born of good native-born blood, but he had drifted far from the spirit of the men of '76. When a foreigner wants a license to sell anything in the city he has to pave the way green, and when he knocks at the door of the court for admission into privileges of citizenship, it opens in crowded cities to the man who tickles the palm of the door- keeper. Wherever the law of the land places an obstruction in the pathway of the foreigner, it becomes an occasion of graft. The Chinese are shut out as a nation, and the few who pass the gateway must submit to have their pictures taken for filing pur- poses as we do with criminals. In Fall River, there are some Chinese, and one day two men came into the city — deputy mar- shals of the federal government — to inspect the landing licenses of the Chinese of the town. Consternation seized every member of the group ; those who feared the test tried to escape, but six men were cast into custody — they could not show a properly certified landing license. The deputies early the following morn- ing took their prisoners from the cells, liberated them, and left town with about $3000 — they had worked the Chinese, and many good people in that Christian community think to this day
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER 165
that it was a good joke on the foreigners. When I protested to a semi-official whose duty it was to guard the foreigners from exploitation, he said : " You go to their country — they'll do the same to you." This innocent farm hand in our cities is dealt with by a different ethical code from that applied to " white folks." Is it strange that he cherishes resentment in his soul, that he does not think America a Christian nation, that he believes the god of the dollar supreme and that he will reach Elysium when he also gets his pile ? -
No English means Difficulties. — frhe ignorance of the for- eigner is often the occasion of great suffering and privation. A young foreign-speaking woman was taken into the home of a foreigner and hired out to service. She was paid $4 a week : for five days she went out to wash and turned in her earnings to her lord ; on the remaining two days she did the washing and clean- ing in the house of her benefactor. She had to sleep in the cellar, which contained the only accommodation for the neces- sities of seven men who boarded in that house. The woman was helpless in the grip of that vampire until a foreign-born health officer happened to get knowledge of the case, found out the sit- uation, and liberated the victim. A doctor, called to attend a foreigner in one of our large cities, charged him $10 for the visit. The physician gave him some pills, and wrote in English the instruction how to take the medicine. The man did not know that language, and there was no one to read those hieroglyphics. Being a foreigner, he did not know anything about taking medi- cine — he knew it was to be taken, and so swallowed the con- tents of the box at once, which well-nigh proved fatal. A man and his wife who occupied two rooms in one of the tenements of New York City lost their only child. When death came, they were helpless, they did not know what to do. The only thing they thought of was to call in the police officer and give him the little body. Was it heartless? No, it was poverty and igno- rance. We hear much of the hoarding of the foreigners, we sel- dom hear of their suffering — suffering incident to getting a foothold in a land whose tongue is wholly different from their own, and in an atmosphere that is hostile if not antagonistic.
1 66 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
An educated Magyar came to one of our cities with a wife and three little children. He had to work for $1.30 a day. It was hard living, but when he lost that job and could not find another, the struggle was too much for his wife — she broke down and be- came insane. She was removed to a hospital and became a public charge, then the authorities started proceedings for deportation, and back to Hungary the iive were sent — not as they came. The Family Income. — yThe Immigration Commission found that the average income per annum of foreign-born husbands living in cities was $452.) The man and his family must live on $1.50 a day, and 45 per cent of the men studied had to keep house on $400 a year. From this wage they must pay each month an average of $2.86 per room for rent, which consumes fully one-fourth of the family income. YlJnder these conditions it is impossible for the foreigner to keep the wolf from the door un- less the income is supplemented by die, rent paid by boarders or the earnings of the wife and children^ (The Immigration Com- mission tells us that 38 per cent of the foreign-born families depend wholly upon the earnings of the heads of the homes, as against 60.3 per cent of native-born families) ^2 per cent of the families of foreign-born must be supplemented in one way or another). While interviewing the chief officer of a charity organization in a large city, I asked : " Do the foreign-speaking of ten call for help?" " No," was his reply. " If the father works regularly they keep going, but if he is sick or injured, then they come." ! Nothing between them and contingency. Foreign- born families walk in sight of the last dollar, and sometimes out of sight of it. When an Italian in court was questioned about his income and expenditure, he said : " Can't save, girls want much in America." We hear often that these people are loath to call in the physician in cases of sickness ; what wonder is it ?
1 Of the charity seekers investigated by the Immigration Commission in forty- three cities, 38.3 per cent belonged to the foreign-born, 10.7 to the native-born of foreign parentage, and 50.8 to the native-born of native parentage. In fifteen of the cities in the immigration zone, from 50 to 67 per cent of the cases were foreign- born. The Commission gives no figures as to the percentages of foreign -born in these cities, but the census of 1900 gives us an average of 34 per cent. Among the foreign-born the members of the old immigration form 75 per cent of all cases. — See Abstract of Report on "Immigrants as Charity Seekers," pp. 16 f.
CITIES WHERE THEY GATHER 167
If the foreigner consults a physician in a first-class city, it costs him from $2 to $5, and if he asks him to come to his home, it will be from $3 to $10 : two days', or possibly a weeks', pay to this poor man. Hence if any member of the family is sick, they re- sort to patent medicines, liniments, plasters — anything to avoid the visit of the doctor. This low annual income also explains the anxiety of these people to send their children to work so that their earnings may make the struggle for subsistence a little easier. Does it not explain the crowding of foreigners in a few rooms ? Families that live within sight of the starvation line have to calculate carefully how to make the best use of the dollar.
Defectives and Dependents. — The immigrants form a large percentage of the population in hospitals and institutions for defectives and dependents. The figures collected by the Im- migration Commission and by the Department of Commerce and Labor bring out this fact very clearly. A study of the charity hospitals of New York City showed that 52.3 per cent of the cases were of foreign-born persons, and 28.5 per cent were native-born, but of foreign parentage. The new immigration furnished 37.5 per cent of the foreign-born cases, while the men of the old immigration comprised 62.5.1 The figures from insti- tutions and asylums for the insane and feeble-minded show also that the inmates of the old immigration far exceed those of the new, the percentages being 76.8 and 23.2 respectively; and of the total population in these institutions in continental United States, 60.4 per cent were native-born, 10.5 were native-born of foreign parentage, and 29.1 were foreign-born.2 The percentage of foreign-born persons in these institutions is higher than in the population, but we should expect it so, just as we expect to find in these places a larger percentage of industrial workers than any other class in the population.3 The foreigners work
1 See Abstract of Report on " Immigration in Charity Hospitals," pp. 8 f .
2 See Abstract of Report on " Immigrants and Insanity," pp. 15-20.
8 " The non-English speaking Poles and Bohemians ... are the scapegoats of the whole metallic manufacturing industry. Their sick and disabled make them the leading nationalities in our dispensaries, county hospitals, and other charitable institutions." "The Brass Moulder's Secret, " E. R. Hayhurst, M.D., Survey, Sept. 23, 1911, p. 881.
1 68 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
in dangerous places, get the lowest wage, suffer from intermit- tent labor, and many of them are under a serious strain in the conflict for subsistence. In an investigation conducted into the causes of dependence among the foreign-born, 59.8 per cent was due to lack of employment ; 30.2 per cent due to the death or disability of the bread winner ; while they fall below the native-born by five points under the heading " bad habits." 1 ^Boarders and Lodgers. — The married men of the new immigration accompanied by their wives keep boarders ; but many, as before stated, live in stag boarding houses. ) The Immigration Commission found 70 per cent of the Lithuanian families having boarders, 47 of the Magyars, 42 of the North Italians, 41 of the Slovaks, and 37 of the Slovenians. But when it comes to the study of Greeks and Servians we are told that only 1 8 per cent of the former and 27 of the latter keep boarders. This would imply that conditions among these two last peoples are far better than among the Lithuanians or the Poles with 35 per cent of the households having boarders ; but any one ac- quainted with the problem knows that the contrary is the case. The Commission investigated to discover what congestion there was among the members of this new immigration, and for this purpose took families in certain blocks in seven cities, selecting racial groups from among the old and new immigration for com- parison. Among the racial groups of the new immigration, we look in vain for the Bulgarian and the Macedonian, the Rou- manian and the Turk, the Croat and the Albanian, while of Greeks and Servians only nine households in each group were studied. Among these people are found the worst housing con- ditions in the country, for the reason that they are the newer immigrants, coming with less than 5 per cent women, and living under conditions far below anything hinted at in the abstract report of the Immigration Commission. In scores of industrial centers in the immigration zone representatives of the above races live under conditions none would ever suspect by reading the abstract of the Commission's report on " Immigrants
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on " Immigrants and In- sanity," pp. 8-9.
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in Cities." The stag boarding houses are invariably dirty, filthy, crowded, and filled with vermin. Every room is filled with beds, and once those beds are seen, the sight never fades from one's memory. Of course, there are not many such houses in any one locality, but they are found far too frequently for the health of the community in industrial centers in the immi- gration zone. You cannot find many of these groups among the Lithuanians, Poles, and the Slovaks. These peoples have passed through that stage in immigration, the Magyars are fast passing beyond it, but the Servians and the Croats, the Bulga- rians and the Macedonians, the Albanians and the Greeks, are in the very midst of it, and these are the ones that give rise to the public impression that there is great crowding among immigrants.
Boarders crowd Together, -f- On the same night in one block in the city of Toledo, we visited four boarding houses of these newer immigrants, and in each instance the rooms were crowded. A house in Dayton, Ohio, sheltered thirty of these men. When one of the constables went there on a Saturday night to arrest one of the group, he found them around a beer barrel carousing. He had to beat a swift retreat in order to save life and limb. He returned with six other men and secured the culprit, but it was only by laying low some of these men in their booze. Any police officer in an industrial center can give records of conditions in these stag boarding houses that are a disgrace to any civiliza- tion, and as long as these continue the public impression as to crowding, filth, and dissipation will continue./
Racial Groups live Together. — Can tnese stag boarding houses be obliterated? No, not as long as men come without their wives. Is there an English-speaking home in any of our cities that will take in a Croat or a Ruthenian unskilled worker ? And it is just as true that no Croat or Ruthenian would take boarding in an English-speaking home at $18 or $20 a month. They could not afford it, and they are here for another purpose. Suppose these people were to try their Polish or Slovak brothers for boarding, would these open to them ? No, men of the same blood, coming from different countries, have no fellowship with one another. Again the Croat and Ruthenian prefer to form
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groups of their own, just as Anglo-Saxons and Americans do in foreign countries. Common interests and tastes bind men of all nations away from home. Racial groups, coming without women, will cling together and live in houses with or without a boarding boss and his wife. We can, however, regulate these houses, provided we have honest men in municipalities to exe- cute beneficent laws. In most municipalities confronted with the task, both the laws and the men are wanting, and the case of regulation is hopeless. The stag boarding house is an evil which has always attended immigration. It existed among the men of the old immigration, and it is still with us. Two reasons make it more acute at present than ever before : the volume of immigration from southeastern Europe and the preponderance of males in the inflow. These conditions will pass away in the life of the new immigration as they have in that of the old. How- ever, as long as America will draw upon the nations farther east in Europe, this necessary evil of stag boarding houses will con- tinue until the day dawns when industrial communities regard the immigrant as a man worthy of conditions that mean health in social and industrial relations.
Standards of Cleanliness. — The Immigration Commission also studied the homes of immigrants as to their cleanliness, and the generalization is that only 13.4 per cent were bad. The generalization, however, takes in the Bohemian and the German, the North Italian and the Swede, peoples we all know are up to the standards of any civilized nation in cleanliness. The pub- lic, however, is concerned about the newer immigrants ; what about these? What about the Greek and the southern Italian, the Bulgarian and the Roumanian, the Ruthenian and the Croat, — are they within the class having only 13.4 per cent dirty homes ? The Commission examined 49 Greek homes and found 20 per cent bad and 67 per cent fair ; the 33 Servian homes ex- amined had 30 per cent bad and 27 fair ; and the 1908 southern Italian homes examined had 19 per cent bad and 46 fair. Of th j other racial groups we learn nothing, and yet some of the dirtiest and filthiest places on this continent are found among the Rou- manians and the Croatians, the Macedonians and the Turks.
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Standards of cleanliness vary. There are dirty Poles and clean Jews, but the one came from Russia and the other from Germany. The country from which the people come has much to do with being clean. A physician said : " I can tell immediately the men of military training among the foreigners. They are better developed, and they are cleaner." A social worker among southern Italians said : " Taken as a whole they are dirty in the home, but there are exceptions." A physician, practicing among the labor camps of the Northwest, when called upon to treat an injured man, always asks, " What is he, Finn or Pole? " If the former he takes his time, for, said he, " The Finn is clean and I fear no complication, but if it is a Pole, I run, for he is unclean and the result may be serious." Dr. Kendrick, in charge of a divi- sion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, said that he examined thousands of foreigners entering the service of the company, and found them just as clean and their skin just as white as that of the average English-speaking. And yet, physicians in charge of emergency hospitals connected with industrial plants where foreigners work, invariably say that the foreigners' feet are unclean, and if injured in foot or leg the member must always be washed before treatment begins. Standards of cleanliness are, on the whole, low among the men of the new immigration, and before these can be corrected, they must be taught the bless- ings of cleanliness, and facilities for bathing must be put within their reach. The experience of cities which have opened public bathing houses for foreigners proves how eager foreign-born men are for these privileges. The patronage given is far more liberal than the advocates of public baths ever hoped for. It is the privilege and duty of every municipality to help these men to standards of cleanliness which moral as well as physical well- being demand. The new immigrants in congested sections of our cities will rise more rapidly to American standards by frequent- ing a well-regulated bath-house in charge of sympathetic men of strong common sense than in any other way.
Urban Advantages. — The men of the new immigration reside in industrial centers. They can easily be reached and the remedies for the evils incident to their coming are more available
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in populous centers than elsewhere. The best brain in the coun- try is in the city, and so also is the highest executive ability ; the wealth of the nation is more concentrated in urban communities than elsewhere, and nowhere as there are eminent educators and leaders found. These are the tools with which to wage war upon the superstition and ignorance of the immigrants, the unclean- ness and unsanitary dwellings of the aliens, the helplessness and inefficiency of the foreigners' homes. Another twenty-five years of conditions too common among foreigners in congested quarters of large cities will bring a slum situation that will be a check to our progress and a menace to our industrial peace. The best prevention is to cure the present condition of the repre- sentatives of backward races now in the tenements of our cities — a task that is not insuperable and much easier now than a quarter of a century hence.
PART IV SOCIAL RELATIONS
CHAPTER XII
LEADERS
EVERY foreign group has its leader who interprets America to his followers and who stands between them and the new world. The Slav has been used to leadership, for he comes from a social organization that is wholly dependent upon the guidance and counsel of the man chosen to be the head of the village com- munity. When a company of Slavic workers look for employ- ment, they have their leader, whose duty it is to bargain with an employer for work on the best possible terms and see that his com- rades carry out the contract. When a group of Slavs came to New Brunswick, they tarried around the depot a long time, and the station agent was about to drive them out. He patiently waited, however, and kept an eye on them. After a while, he saw one of the company returning ; the man talked to the group, and imme- diately each took up his baggage and followed him. This man was the leader, who had located the foreign colony, found people of his own nationality, and was able to take his friends there. Every group of foreigners coming to the country has its leader. If he is able to talk a little English, his followers are as children in his hands, but whatever his linguistic capacity his word goes with the company. One of the missionaries working among immigrants on Ellis Island approached a company of fifteen Poles going to one of the cities of the Middle West. He gave each man a card of introduction to a representative of his organ- ization in that city, who would gladly help them to find work and render any other assistance they might need. The men
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seemed pleased and grateful. Half an hour later they all returned their cards, giving no explanation for so doing. The missionary learned later that the leader of the gang, who was absent when the cards were distributed, returned and told each man to give back the card, and they immediately obeyed. When a class to study English was organized among a group of young Slavs in a city in Pennsylvania, the leader was not magnified as he thought he ought to be, and the class vanished. If successful work is to be done among foreigners, the leader of the group must be consulted.
The Leader in General. — We have found almost invariably that the "king" is genial, aggressive, shrewd, and capable. When visiting a railroad camp on the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, near New Bedford, I called on the commissary, who showed me every possible courtesy. He took me through the camp, showed me the bunkhouse and the indi- vidual shacks, answered freely every question asked, took me through the store, showed me the goods he carried, and told me what the men generally purchased. When about to leave, he said, " Won't you take a bottle of beer?" "No, thank you," I said. " Well, I have some good whisky here ; will you take a glass? " " Thank you very much, but I don't drink." "Well, I have some fine Italian wine, let me get a bottle." " You are very kind, but I cannot take any." "Well, take a cigar." It was not difficult to find out the secret of that man's power over his men. And this geniality, courtesy, and kindness is found among leaders of all nationalities. A Servian leader took me to his home, introduced me to his family, and brought out the best that he had in his house to welcome the guest. When we called on a Magyar in St. Louis, and inquired concerning his people, all the information he had was willingly given. He had some picture postal cards for sale — scenes in Budapest — which I admired. I chose some of them and was about to pay their price, when he politely said : "No, they are yours," and inclos- ing them in an envelope, he bowed gracefully and gave me the cards. We wished him good-bye, but he accompanied us to the sidewalk and invited us to accompany him to the saloon
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two doors down — he wanted to " set 'em up." We called on a leader in Steubenville, who sold steamship tickets and also had some books for sale. Among other books we saw one entitled, " English for Magyars." It was a new book, just out, and I asked the price of the copy in my hand ; immediately the proprietor said: "It's sold, I gladly give you a copy." When we called on A. A. Paryski, the Polish printer before mentioned, one of the most influential men among his race in America, he gave me seven books, all printed in his plant and illustrating the excellent service rendered by him to his countrymen. They all treated of America and American institutions.
Women Leaders. — The leaders are generally male, but some women are the most influential members in a colony. One of these was in a town in Ohio. She was called the Italian Queen, and recognized by all as the most influential person in that colony. We called to see the queen, and found a very capable woman. She spoke English fluently, knew every Italian in the colony, carried on a large business, and was consulted on all occasions by the Italians of that settlement. She was married, but the husband stood in the background all the time we inter- viewed the queen. When she spoke the men were silent. Whatever she suggested was acquiesced to by the men. She was court interpreter and had the confidence of the bench and the members of the bar. A court official, when asked what he thought of her, said : " Oh, she's bright — she's as good as a lawyer." She was worthy of the position she held and the Ital- ians swore by her. Another Italian woman, living in a city of 120,000 population, is more influential than any man in the Italian colony. She came to the United States when a child, worked in a factory, was loud and uncouth as other girls, and her qualities for leadership were not developed until she was married and the support of the home fell on her because of the failing health of her husband. With the responsibility for the support of the family came also a quickening of her mental facul- ties, and by the help of a refined American lady she began to educate herself. Her skill and taste for nursing soon brought in more than enough to support the family, so that she laid aside,
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in a few years, a sum large enough to enable her to take a course in obstetrics and secure a diploma as midwife. She is to-day a refined, forceful character, her judgments are generally right, and her knowledge and experience enable her to be a guide to those ruled largely by superstition and tradition. In another town in Pennsylvania, a Magyar woman conducts a large steamship agency, and her common sense and business judg- ment are consulted by the Slavs of that community.
Kinds of Leaders. — There are some unscrupulous leaders — men who prey upon their fellow-men in a shameless manner. Many native-born defraud and exploit foreigners, but they suffer tenfold more from their own countrymen. Indeed, it is safe to say that few Americans can exploit the foreigners without the cooperation of a cunning knave who knows the ways of the foreign-born. A shrewd Slav, in western Pennsylvania, became an "ambulance chaser" for a couple of young lawyers, and was able to clear each year about $2000. No one knew the amount of business he brought the legal firm by his success in leading innocent and confiding people into the net. Many Jews are leaders among the foreigners : they know how to handle these men, can talk their languages and dialects, and know how to cater to their weaknesses. A Jew working in the port of Phila- delphia, having command of many languages — that is, some distinct tongues and several dialects — had occasion to call on Archbishop Ryan. As he left the parish house, the church dignitary asked him how many tongues he spoke; he replied, "fourteen." "Well," said the Archbishop, "you must have been in Jerusalem when the Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost." This linguistic capacity of the Jew, as well as native shrewdness, qualifies him to be a leader among the im- migrants.
Leaders aid Employers. — Employers make use of leaders, as before stated, to secure men for shop or mine, factory or mill. One of these men in an industrial city, in Ohio, has prospered greatly, although he has made many enemies. He wields great power, and his riches give him influence among the foreigners. The man first came to the city at the invitation of the superin-
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tendent of a large foundry who needed a man of linguistic capacity. When he came to town he was poor and had nothing ; he wanted a pair of suspenders very badly, and the superinten- dent advanced him fifty cents to buy them. He found the men the firm wanted, acted as interpreter for the company, and was given the privilege of opening a store to supply what the for- eigners needed. The men traded with him, for he gave them em- ployment, he interpreted their wants, he spoke their language. The man waxed strong, became influential, and increased his power by opening a saloon. It was not long before his grip on the company was such that he virtually dictated terms as to who should work and who should not. The superintendent told me "he thought he owned all." At the end of four years the company had to get rid of him else he would ruin the plant. Mark was " bounced," but he was now able to stand alone. His power among the men was great, and another firm in the city, hard pressed for laborers, made a contract with him to furnish it the necessary unskilled labor. He laid down his terms : the company was to advance him money to build a town to shelter the men he would bring, and give him absolute control over it. The company complied, and a town was built where three thousand people could be housed. Around that town Mark built a fence, and no vehicle had the right to pass the gate to sell goods to the people of " Hunkeytown." The boss built a large store, a large saloon, and a hall where dances, meetings, and shows could be held. Mark was king of that village ; never had a sovereign in Europe more power over the lives of men. He furnished the operators the men they wanted, and furnished the foreigners all the food, clothing, furniture, drink, etc., they needed. He alone in " Hunkeytown " could open the gate and say who should enter, and when he said go, none could revoke the decree. The connection between the company and the king was direct. Men dared not trade elsewhere if they wanted to work for that company and live in the fenced village. Any one who left the inclosure had also to leave the work. Many people believed that Mark exploited the ignorant foreigners in divers ways. No concrete instance of exploitation has been
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substantiated. Of course, he worked " Hunkeytown " for all there was in it, but within the limits of the law. His prices were a little high, but not higher than those of some company stores elsewhere. The rent of the houses was not exorbitant. The chief objection to the man was his scheme for hemming in on all sides these helpless immigrants so that they could not move save as he willed. The fence he built around the town gave offense to every American who passed that way. As he increased in riches his enemies increased in number. Men whom he had ruthlessly crushed because they dared to assert their independ- ence plotted against him. He lived in fear and trembling for several months, and asked for special police protection for himself and the magnificent house in which he lived. Promi- nent Americans protested against the fenced town — it was contrary to the spirit of the country ; but Mark manipulated the members of the council so cleverly that every measure proposed to tear down the fence was defeated. He had made his pile, but not a good name. He is not as grasping as he was : his stand- ing in the community and the influence of members of his family have assuaged his greed and forced him to conform more closely to American standards than once he did.
Saloon-Keepers as Leaders. — English-speaking saloon-keep- ers often employ leaders among the foreigners to tend bar in order to catch the trade of their countrymen. In Taft, Mont., a saloon-keeper employed an Italian for this purpose. The proprietor knew that the foreigner was robbing him, for he caught the fellow taking money on more than one occasion, but the proprietor did not discharge him, for he said: "He draws the trade, and anyway I make enough to stand it." One of the qualifications of this son of Italy was his success in operating a gambling device by which he wheedled the cash from out the pockets of his countrymen. The saloon-keeper admitted that the gambling device brought in $80 to $90 on pay day. An- other foreign-speaking leader ran a saloon of his own, but differed from the average saloon-keeper in trying to meet the need of his countrymen in a sympathetic and intelligent way. He fixed up a large room as a center where the men could meet and read
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the dailies as well as papers from the homeland ; he also furnished stationery, pen and ink that the men might write to the folks at home. He had great influence with his people, and the politi- cians courted his friendship. The men had no other social center, and the saloon-keeper rendered a service to his countrymen by providing one. In Rock Island, a Belgian saloon-keeper was so powerful in politics that he carried the ward in which he lived in his vest pocket. He was reputed to have broken well-nigh every commandment in the decalogue, and yet escaped trial be- cause of his political influence. His saloon was notorious, but the officers of the law connived at all his doings. Lithuanians, who have influence with their countrymen, are especially attracted to the saloon business, and the public house is a favorite rendez- vous of a large number of these people. In the license courts of Pennsylvania, the foreign-speaking applicant advanced the argu- ment that a license should be given him for the reason that Americans do not know the tastes of their countrymen and hence cannot concoct the drinks to supply them. It was also argued that men preferred to patronize their countrymen rather than men of other nationalities and that a drinking place for each nationality promoted peace and order, for men having racial antipathy meeting over their cups invariably quarreled.
Leaders as Politicians. — Politicians make use of leaders among foreigners. They are their satellites and handle the for- eign votes in the colony. One of these political leaders in Bridge- port was in the newspaper business, and was the recognized leader of the Democrats among his people. When asked how long he had been in the country, he said, " Seven years ; three I put in the mill for $1.35 a day, four in the newspaper business." He was acknowledged by the native-born to be a shrewd leader. He has his circle of workers for whom he has secured municipal jobs, through the men higher up. Many leaders, however, or- ganize political clubs on an independent basis. One of these controls such a club in a New England town having 150 elec- tors of Magyar blood. When asked if they were Republicans, he said "No." Democrats then? "No; we're independent, and vote — well, you know how it is." Yes, I knew many such
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clubs in Pennsylvania, and they generally voted for the man who put up the most beer. These political satellites imitate the na- tive-born politicians and carry on the game of politics along lines commonly practiced by ward heelers who speak English and hang around saloons. Some of the foreign-speaking leaders aspire to office, and it is pitiful how they are beguiled by tricky politicians. A genial Slav, a recognized leader among his people in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, has been used for many years by local politicians to rally the foreign vote. He aspired to a county office, and the party leaders, thinking his services deserved recognition, gave him the nomination on the Republican ticket. When the returns came in, every candidate on the ticket was elected save the foreigner. It was a political trick. The English-speaking politicians of both parties got together, agreed to cut the Slav and put one of their own people into office. The party leaders freely took the money of the gullible foreigner, and used it to defeat him at the polls. The apprenticeship which these people are serving, however, is not in vain; they are becoming annually more influential, and their presence in poli- tics must be more and more counted with each year.
Men who Defraud. — Some leaders abuse the confidence placed in them by their fellow-countrymen. In a city in the Middle West, a very peculiar construction was on exhibition in the foreign quarter ; on inquiring I was told : " It is a new wind- mill, invented by a Pole who has organized a company and is selling stock to his countrymen." The stockholders got nothing but wind for their money. An Italian writing from Italy wanted to know what was the status of the " Chicago Air Line." He had been induced by another Italian, selling stocks, to put $3000 in that concern — all the money he had saved during a long stay in America. He said he wanted the money back and would gladly waive the interest promised if the original sum were returned. The stock at the time of inquiry was worth less than ten cents on the dollar. One of the worst cases of fraud ever perpetrated on foreigners happened to the Poles in the Pitts- burgh district. The leader was connected with one of the priests, who helped him in his schemes. He wheedled out of the
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poor Polish laborers in that district some $200,000, and then left town. Hundreds of these poor people trusted him, as they trusted the priest, who was his relative, and when he became insolvent, all the savings of these hard workers were swept away. It is remarkable how credulous the foreigners are and how readily they trust their money to leaders. An immigrant in Pennsyl- vania set himself up in the banking business, but it was some time before he got the money of his countrymen for safe keeping. He secured their confidence by buying a large safe, which he placed in his store, near the front window, so that the passers-by could see it. The money soon began to pour in, not because he was an honest man, but because he had a big safe in which to keep it. Reverses come, and honest men are involved ; I have seen some of the best leaders of the foreigners go under, and none were more grieved than they themselves
Jealousy among Leaders. — The leaders are often jealous of each other, and their rivalry defeats the best interest of the people. The best example of this isThe situation among the Greeks of New York City. There are between 20,000 and 25,000 Greeks in the city, but they have no national organization which either looks after the interest of the Greek immigrants on Ellis Island or does anything for those who land on the Battery. The reason for this is the jealousies of the leaders, who are at dagger's point and malign each other in an irrational and foolish manner. Because of this unfortunate state of affairs, no race in the new immigration is more subject to insults and wrongs in New York City than the Greeks. Many of them are detained on Ellis Island, and, knowing not what to do, they tarry there helpless until deported ; whereas, if the Pan-Hellenic Society were well organized so as to be able to place a representative on the Island, their unfortunate countrymen could be helped and many sorrows spared. A young Greek recently landed from whom an agent in Patras had taken $125 — all the money the young man could command. He had the address of a Greek in the city, who, the agent said, would see him landed in America. The young man found himself penniless on Ellis Island, and the party whose address he had repudiated all responsibility. Such
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a gross wrong would be impossible if a disinterested Pan-Hellenic Society were to investigate the conduct of crooks who rob the unwary. Many Greeks landing on the Battery are shamefully defrauded by runners, for there are no responsible persons at points of destination, either to advise them what to do or direct them safely to their friends. The Greek colony in the metrop- olis is hopelessly divided because the leaders cannot agree. Their quarrels enter into business and social relations, and have penetrated into the sacred precinct of their spiritual life; the two Greek churches in the city represent the division found in the Greek community.
Italians are Divided. — The Italians are also troubled in this respect. The leader of a Calabrian group will have no good word to say of the leader of a Neapolitan crowd. A leader will readily help men from his own province, but men from another province he does not know. When a class in English was organized among a group of Sicilians in one of our cities, the organizer thought that a similar work should be started in another colony of Italians within a few blocks of the first and, finding the leader, he inno- cently told him of the work among the Sicilians. That settled it, — if we were friends of those "Dagoes" there was no opening for us among these Italians. This is not strange. For centuries Italy was divided between petty potentates whose interest it was to keep alive the flame of hate between the inhabitants of the several provinces, and those living near each other cherished deeper enmity against their neighbors than against their coun- trymen residing farther away.
Leaders in Free Thought. — Among the Slavs and Magyars religion plays an important part in their life, and leaders are divided upon this question. Religious divisions are frequently found among the Poles. An influential layman may oppose the rule of the priest, and if his following among the members is strong, he will either disrupt the organization or drive out the priest. In Utica, there was a man of this type, influential, reso- lute, intelligent, and a good Catholic. The priest was wholly unworthy of his office, and the layman felt that he could not stand to see a man drunk at the altar ; " what effect will that
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have on my children? " he asked. So he headed the opposition to put the man out. The opposition thought it had gained victory, when, lo, at midnight the priest again returned to the parsonage. No sooner was the news spread that he had returned than the leader and his friends assembled and drove him out the second time. Among the Lithuanians much radicalism is found. These men criticize the church and the clergy, and have organ- ized themselves into a society of free thinkers. One of the leaders of this movement was for many years active in Shen- andoah, Pa., to the discomfort of the priests and the church. He got into trouble with the people and was finally obliged to leave town.
The Priests as Leaders. — Of all leaders among the foreigners none play as important a part as the priests do. Most of them are true shepherds of their flocks ; some are wholly unworthy of the title they bear. Clerical influence is not equally potent among all people of the new immigration. The priests among ^ the Italians have not the influence their compeers have among \ the Poles. Many leaders in Italian communities speak very dis- paragingly of the priests, but it is a rare thing to find a Polish leader doing that. Ask a leading Pole something, and he invari- ably says : " You see the priest, he will be able to tell you what you want to know." None among the new immigration are more servile to their spiritual leaders than the Poles, and yet among them are found laymen who resent the arrogance of unwise spiritual leaders who want to lord it over the flock. Among the Lithuanians and Slovaks, the Croats and the Mag- yars, the Servians and the Bulgarians, Poles and Ruthenians, are found devout men — shepherds of their people. They are hard workers, and render all kinds of service to their fellow- countrymen. Many successful " Building and Loan Associa- tions " are organized and conducted in parish houses or in vestry rooms, the priest being the presiding genius and the pillar of the organization. The number of church societies, most of which have benefit and insurance features, owe their success to the serv- ices of the priests. They are often influential enough to check some foolish or rash action of their countrymen, which would
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involve them in industrial disputes. Again and again have operators told me that the priests have been their most potent instruments in clearing up misunderstandings between them and their foreign-speaking employees. The clergy take interest in legal disputes between members of the parish, bringing the parties involved together, adjusting the matter between them, and thus save the expense of a lawsuit. One of the most indig- nant men I ever saw was a priest who stood over the corpses of five men, the victims of a mine accident. His soul was stirred within him as he saw the mangled corpses of his people, and in righteous wrath he denounced the sentiment that regarded the life of a foreigner as of so little value. Some priests have shown interest in establishing agricultural colonies where their people can invest their money and return to the land. Many of the leading papers circulating among the men of the new immigra- tion are managed and supported by priests, and the power they wield is great. The newer immigrants are nothing if not religious, and the power of the clergy is great ; if wisely used it can be one of the most influential agencies for the American- ization of the foreigners.
Capable Men ought to Lead. — One of the greatest needs of the new immigration is efficient and capable leadership sympathetic with American ideals. A serious fault in many foreign-born leaders is that they have not the point of view of Americans and their influence is exerted to perpetuate in Amer- ica the ideas, institutions, and customs of the old world. Many leaders have their faces turned to the homeland : they take more interest in the politics of Budapest and Vienna, of Rome and Athens, than in those of Washington or of the state in which they reside. This retards the process of assimilation and tends to per- petuate colonies in our cities wholly separated in sympathy and ideas from the native-born. This is also true of many foreign- speaking priests and pastors. Their first concern is to perpetuate the language of their fathers, to teach it to the children in the pa- rochial school, to perpetuate a foreign institution in the new world. Their influence is great in dramatic societies and educational clubs, but invariably it is exerted to keep alive racial patriotic
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sentiment to the exclusion of everything that savors of American patriotic sentiment. This adherence to European languages, standards, customs, and history has been a fruitful cause of friction between the foreign-speaking priests and the American Roman Catholic clergy. The latter insist upon the American viewpoint, the former just as studiously cultivate the European viewpoint. An effort is being made to overcome the difficulty by sending young men of native birth, designed for the priest- hood, to Europe to master the language of the foreigners. These men will have the American viewpoint, and by ministering to the spiritual needs of the foreigners in the United States they will be far better able to lead them into intelligent appreciation of American institutions and ideals.
American Leaders Wanted. — No true American desires the foreigner to forget the rock whence he was hewn. The back- ground of every nation from which our immigration is drawn is replete with heroic achievement, and it is a heritage of which every descendant of the foreign-born ought to be proud. But America has a right to expect that the men who come and make this country their home should be familiar with its institutions, its ideals, and know something of the men who laid down the foundations of this Republic and of the sacrifices they made for its preservation. But this knowledge and training will never be given the foreign-born if their leaders are not imbued with the American spirit. The public school is doing admirable work, in this respect, with the sons of foreigners ; but if the parents themselves are not brought into sympathy with these truths, the public school is only educating the son away from his father. Every member in the foreigner's home must be brought to the American viewpoint, and for the task trained leadership, both male and female, must be set to work to interpret America to the millions of the new immigration. In this work, local leaders among the foreigners should be enlisted. They are a power that must be aligned, else little good can be accomplished. This is perfectly feasible, for as a rule the foreign-born leader has intelligence and ability, and generally admires things American. He will appreciate the honor of being used by Americans to
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enlarge the knowledge of his countrymen of America, its history, its institutions and its opportunities.
Community Work. — Experiments already conducted along these lines are full of encouragement. In Brockton, Mass., a flourishing Lithuanian Education Society is found. It is the offshoot of an effort made by a band of patriotic men to lead the foreign-born brother into sympathetic relationship with America. The work started by classes in English, lectures on American history, talks on how the people rule, travelogues through America and the opportunities the land offers, lectures on the industries of America and where they were located, etc. The Lithuanian leaders believed in the honesty of purpose of the native-born and heartily endorsed their plans. They en- couraged their people to attend and the result is as intelli- gent a club of foreign-speaking men, most of whom are electors, as can be found in the country. They have erected a build- ing to be dedicated wholly to education, and to perpetuate the work so wisely started by men who had faith in the foreigner.
This type of service can be carried on in every foreign-speak- ing colony in America, providing leaders of foreign and native birth join hands in the work. Patriots and conservators of what is excellent and glorious in our history must give greater atten- tion to leaders among the aliens, if the assimilation of the new immigration is to be effected. Politicians, saloon-keepers, em- ployers, and financiers have used foreign-born leaders to accom- plish their purpose ; social workers, educators, philanthropists, and reformers must do the same if they expect to effect their pur- pose with the immigrants from southeastern Europe. Without the he}p of these men nothing can be done ; with their support nothing will prove too difficult. When competent leadership, made up of the home-born and the foreign-born, agrees on a program which will explain to the immigrants the meaning of America in the history of the world the problems arising from the incoming millions will be far on the way of solution.
CHAPTER XIII
SOCIETIES
THE men of the new immigration are much given to organiza- tions of various kinds. When we asked Mr. De Rosa, in Pitts- burgh, " How many societies are there among the Italians? " he raised his hand and said, " O Lord, you can't count them, there must be ninety at least." An intelligent Italian in Utica, depre- ciating this multiplicity of organizations, spoke of the great good which could be accomplished if all benevolent societies among his countrymen were federated into one powerful organization. The same tendency to multiplicity of organizations is found among other nationalities. Miss Alice G. Masaryk, writing to the New York Survey, says : " Two pages, large sheets of the daily paper Svornost, lie before me, covered with small print, giving the names of Bohemian clubs, societies, and lodges in Chicago. The Catholic press gives another long list of Catholic lodges, Catholic clubs. This fever for organization is typical of the Bohemians in Chicago." The same is true of the Poles and Slovaks, Croa- tians and Slovenians, Greeks and Bulgarians, etc. P. V. Rovnianeck, of Pittsburgh, having spoken of the National Slovak Society, names others : " Among them (are) the First Catholic Union, the Greek Catholic Union, the Zivena, the Pres- byterian Calvinistic Union, the Catholic Slovak Ladies' Associa- tion, the Sokol, the hundreds of literary, benevolent and politi- cal clubs, organized by Slovaks in the United States." The editor of the Tygodnik Polski believes thgi/there are no fewer than 7000 organizations of all kinds among the Poles in America, and that the total number of members is not less than 800,000.. The editor of the Serb Sloga believes that there are 200 societies among his people, with a membership of not less than 12,000. Among the Slovenians there are no less than 1500 clubs and soci- eties, and possibly 1 20,000 members. These men are so well or-
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ganized that recently arrived immigrants must join the national society or suffer practical ostracism as far as Slovenian society is concerned. As before stated, the majority of the new immi- grants come from agricultural communities, and judging them by the farming population of the United States, we marvel that they display such a genius for organization/) But social relations in agricultural communities in Europe cffifer much from those common in the United States^) The Slav farm workers live in villages, and the families are so organized that the culti- vated area near the village is worked on a communal basis, and the workers are under the direction of a leader, whose duty is to serve the village as a father does the home. All share in the products, and a year of prosperity enriches all. Communal tendency is in the blood of the Slav, and it finds expression in organizations in America. The Italians are not organized into communal bands, but they also live in walled towns rather than in isolated farmhouses. The Italian farm worker, living in a village on the hillside, thinks nothing of going four or five miles to work on the farm in the plain. The tillers of the soil in south- eastern Europe enjoy the fellowship of their friends and are familiar with organized relations ^when they come to the United States, racial consciousnessp-the longing for the fellowship of countrymen, for protection, and common economic and social interests impel them into various kinds of societies.
Religious Societies. — Church societies are most numerous among the new immigrants. In the largest Lithuanian church in the United States, several banners are seen hanging on up- right poles scattered through the main audience room. The priest explained that they were the ensigns of the several societies connected with the church, whose members aided in securing support for the organization and in decorating the edifice. There were other societies connected with the church, in which sick and death benefits were paid. He further explained that every member in the societies must be in good standing in the church. The priest, either directly or indirectly, controls these organizations, although a board of managers from among the lay- men is chosen, but the members are generally in touch with their
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spiritual adviser. The Christian Church in the Middle Ages, and down to comparatively recent times, was in control of benevolent activities in communities, and charity of all kinds was regarded as a necessary part of the church's duty to the parish- ioners — it was the prerogative of the Church and a part society expected it to play. The Church among Anglo-Saxons and Teu- \ tons has almost wholly withdrawn from the field of insurance | of all kinds, and societies for sick and death benefits are in the hands of laymen, promoted and managed by them without the I intervention of the clergy. This, however, is not the case among the Slavs and Lithuanians, Magyars and Croats. The Church is still in control of the beneficiary societies found among them, and the clergy are potent factors in their management. Eccle- siastical authority keeps its hands on the organization, although laymen may hold important offices. When the National Polish Alliance shaped its policy so as to exclude the interference of the Polish clergy in its affairs, it radically departed from Slavic cus- tom. The fact that 50 per cent of the 85,000 members are citizens of the United States and had come to the American1 point of view doubtless had much to do with the movement for autonomy; \ these new Americans felt that they were strong enough to act and speak without standing in the shadow of the church.
Secular Organizations. — There are also many secular benevo- lent organizations. This is especially the case among Italians. The Italian government has taken particular interest in its immigrants, and among other benevolent activities, it has insti- tuted a protective society for Italian labor, which is conducted partly by an appropriation, and partly by a monthly payment from the members. In every town where from 500 to 1000 Italians resiHe^two or three organizations are found. In cities where tens of thousands live, the number of societies passes beyond com-
situation of the Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox church societies among the Russinacs is typical of that found among other peoples. These societies, called after some patron saint, are practically mutual aid societies and are combined into unions. There are nine such unions in North America and the clergy want to control them; six are more or less under their control, but three are opposed to such interference.
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
putation, and for every church society there will be four or five secular ones. They are often named after Italian patriots, such as Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel, Bruno, etc., while others are named after the heroes of American history, such as George Washington, Lincoln, Grant, etc., and in New Haven there is a society of Italian women — mothers all — organized as the " Teddy Roosevelt Club."
Secular Societies. — Among the foreigners also are found secu- lar societies that are anti-clerical in their tendency. An extreme example of this is found among the Lithuanians, who have organ- ized a free-thinking association among the men who are not loyal adherents of the Church. It offers to its members privi- leges similar to those found in benevolent societies managed by the clergy, while the question of creed is tabooed. A Lithuanian priest, when speaking of this organization, said that the mem- bers were no good, and that the St. Casimir Society, and others like it, had a firm foundation in religion, and each member " must be in holy communion at least once a year before he can retain his membership." On the other hand, one of the free- thinkers, when asked how they came to organize benevolent soci- eties independent of the Church, answered, "We like Protestants, we run our own society." Could such an answer as that be given by the men of the new immigration outside of the United States? Of course, between societies among the same people, divided by religious differences, there is no fellowship. This was shown, not long ago, among the Italians, in Detroit. Two Italian organizations were prominent in the life of the colony, and the leaders thought it advisable to celebrate Columbus Day in a patriotic manner. The minor clubs fell in readily with the plan, but the Lombardi Club, under the control of the Roman Catholic Church, refused to parade if the Independents, who were mem- bers of a Protestant church, were to take part in the procession. The discussion precipitated considerable feeling, accompanied by many malignant expressions. The same thing took place among the Magyars of Dayton. During one of their national festivals the Roman Catholics refused to parade with the members of the Reformed Church, and that evening, when the
SOCIETIES 191
latter organization planned a supper and dance, the priest warned the girls of his parish that any one who attended the dance would be fined $i. More than twenty fines were paid.
Friendly Relations. — These jealousies are unpleasant, en- gender hatreds, and precipitate conflicts. The common people are disposed to peace, but their leaders emphasize differences. The parishioners work together, play together, meet socially together, and religious differences do not appear among them in these relations. It would seem reasonable that ecclesiastical leaders of all faiths should encourage kindly feeling and sym- pathetic intercourse among these men, and thus enhance the peace and good fellowship of foreign-speaking colonies in the land. It is a fact, however, that the foolish interference of Protestant and Catholic clergy with the social life of their people j is largely disregarded, and it is also true that among the men of the new immigration, no division of interests is found that will equal in intensity of feeling the hatred existing between the Irish and the Orangemen of the old immigration.
Military Societies. — A great many clubs are found among the foreigners. The Poles have national military societies, which are affiliated more or less closely with the church. One of these bodies, composed of thirty-five young fellows, met for regular drill in the hall of one of the churches in Schenectady. A bright young man was in charge, who arranged his squad, issued com- mand, and went through the maneuvers generally practiced by military companies. The priest was much interested in the group, and encouraged their zeal, and when asked, "How many Polish men are thus organized in the United States? " said, " I'm not sure, but not less than 20,000." " And where do they drill?" we asked. "In halls and other places," was his reply. This is young Poland on American soil, preparing for the day of conflict when deliverance from the grip of the Russian Bear will be the issue. The Lithuanians have some military organiza- tions similar to those found among the Poles which have the same purpose. Lithuania was swept into the lap of Russia when Po- land was wiped off the map of Europe, and has suffered from the
192 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
tyranny of the Czar. Some Greek communities are also inter- ested in military organizations and have dreams about the reclaiming of ancient Hellas. A Greek in Moline, 111., during the last Graeco-Turkish war, took a company of 1000 men from America to take part in the conflict.
Sokol Societies. — Sokol societies are found among the Slavs. These are gymnastic organizations made up of young men who meet for physical exercise, very much like the Turner- Verein among the Germans. The societies are generally weak, having little equipment, and meet for the most part in halls connected with saloons. Many clubs of this kind are found among the Poles, and in large cities several branches may be found. The Slovaks and Lithuanians have similar clubs. The Italians also have some societies for physical exercises, but the number is small as compared with that of the Poles. The Greeks, of all recent immigrants, are the most fond of athletic exercise, and many of them find their way to the best gymnasiums in the city where they reside. In large cities, such as Chicago, St. Louis, New York, etc., where strong colonies of Greeks and Macedonians are found, one of the most popular entertainments is a match between a Grecian and a Turkish wrestler. On these occasions the purse strings of every penurious Greek are loosened, and an exciting evening is spent.
Selected Groups. — Clubs and societies are organized along social lines, and it is curious to see how men will forsake an organ- ization of their own people in an effort to break away from limitations imposed upom them by race or creed. In Newburg, N.Y., a class in English was organized among a group of Ital- ians recently come to town from Ashokan Dam. The list of names was shown a local leader, who immediately said : "These fellows are of no account ; come, I'll introduce you to our club ; " and the club was composed of the best Italians in town, very different from the diggers from the Aqueduct. When Mr. H. J. Parker, of Chicago, investigated a territory on the north side of the city, for the purpose of finding out whether or not welfare work could be started for the Russian Jews, he inter- viewed a typical Jew, laid his plans before him, and asked:
SOCIETIES 193
"What do you think of it?" "Fine/' he said; "we must do something to counteract the influence of these 'Sheenies' that are coming here." There are scores of young Jews in New York City, members of Gentile clubs and societies, who deliberately turn away from kindred organizations among their own people, saying : " There's too much Jerusalem there." Men of every nationality do this. Differences between members of the same society may lead to ludicrous spite work. A double house in Ishpeming, built as a cooperative undertaking by two Finnish families, was occupied by them, one on either side. When the house was built they were friends and members of the same society ; they quarreled, and to spite each other, the one painted the side of the house which he owned red and the other painted his black. The house looks very funny, and is a monument to human stupidity.
Clubs like Americans. — Some immigrants imitate the native- born by organizing clubs which are little more than centers of social influence and pleasure. One of these met on a Sunday afternoon in a Magyar hall, in a populous city in Pennsylvania. In the one corner a rushing business was done by a Building and Loan society, in another corner the officers of a sick benefit society were at work, and in another corner a barroom was doing a flourishing business. There were in the hall at the time from two to three hundred men, and only two or three of them under the influence of drink. They began business about ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and kept going till eight or nine in the evening. Women, children, and men were constantly coming and going, but many men stayed most of the day, chat- ting, smoking, and drinking. I asked one of the men, "Who owns this hall?" He replied, "The Magyar Club." The club hired the man at the bar and the profits went to the treasury of the organization. Several cooperative halls have been built by the Lithuanians and a few by the Poles, but in almost every instance the bar was installed, and never do the men fail to take the visitor to it and " set 'em up." Taking these club organizations as a whole, they serve a good purpose. Excessive drinking is rare, and they are centers of attraction to
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the people, where social amusements may be carried on. When- ever the hall is occupied, the bar is well patronized — just as well patronized as those of English-speaking clubs, and the money is used for the same purpose, namely, to pay off the indebtedness on the building.
Clubs as Gambling Dens. — Immigrants or their sons have some clubs that are anti-social in their character. In one city in New England there are three clubs conducted by young men of foreign birth, which are gambling dens pure and simple. The passion for games of chance or lottery among young Poles and Italians is strong, and it is comparatively easy to run clubs where gambling appliances are the chief attraction. The Greeks are also given to this business. Greeks run poolrooms where men congregate in large numbers, and gambling goes on. The same is true of clubs which are more exclusive than the pool- room. These are frequented not only by the foreign-speaking, but also by the native-born. One of these dens in Pittsburgh was in an upper room, and around the pool table were men of five different nationalities. A Greek was in charge of the place ; when we entered the dice stopped and so did another game, and the fellow came up and said, "What you want?" Gambling devices are also found in saloons and halls, furnished by saloon-keepers for the use of the foreign-speaking, where they meet, for a friendly game.
Labor Organizations. — Many labor organizations are found among the immigrants. Possibly the best perfected labor or- ganizations among foreigners are those of the garment workers, but strong unions are also found among men of other trades. In Yonkers the masons and bricklayers are well organized, and the head of the organization said that it practically controlled these trades in that town and vicinity. The majority of the members were foreign-born. In the textile industries a large number of French Canadians are weavers and are well organized. The Poles and Lithuanians who have looms are also members of the union. In the iron ore district in Michigan, the Finns have organized many socialistic clubs which are nothing more than an outcome of defeated efforts in organization along trade union
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lines. These Finnish clubs are earnest efforts to bring about better industrial conditions by legislation, but their activity is almost wholly confined to local political action. They serve, however, as social centers where the people meet for the public discussion of economic and political questions. In the coal mining industry, as well as in that of iron and steel, the members of the new immigration are being organized more and more into unions along racial lines. Men from among the foreign-speaking workers are chosen as district organizers and set to work to or- ganize their countrymen into local branches. These foreign- born union members, in times of industrial dispute, fight most stubbornly for an advance in wage or better working conditions. Wherever branches of labor unions are installed among immi- grants, they become efficient agencies for the breaking down of the wall of partition between the English-speaking and the for- eign-speaking, and are potent factors in the work of social amal- gamation.
Foreigners in Labor Unions. — The extent of the influence of labor organizations, however, is not large. Of the employees in the thirty-seven industries, investigated by the Immigration Commission, in which 60 per cent of the employees were for- eign-born, the percentage in labor organizations was only I34.1 That of the native-born of native parentage was less than i per cent higher. The percentage of foreign-born workers in labor organizations does not indicate their desire to join, as much as the pressure brought to bear upon them by the English-speak- ing men in the industry. If we take the men of the old immigra- tion and compare them with those of the new, the difference in the percentage belonging to labor organizations is not large, 15.9 of the former and 14.7 of the latter. The foreign-born workers will not pay regularly to the union. They are bent on saving, and the number of organizers necessary to keep in line the various nationalities involves a heavy expense to the members. In industries fairly well organized, such as mining, weaving, some plants of the iron and steel works, the foreigners are most zeal- ous in the cause when rumors of conflict are in the air ; as soon as
1 See Abstract of Report on " Immigrants in Manufacturing and Mining," p. 141.
ig6 TEE NEW IMMIGRATION
peace is restored, they fall away rapidly. There is something in the way trade unionism is carried on that does not appeal to the practical judgment of the Slav, Lithuanian, and Magyar. If the leaders in the trades union movement were to study more closely the artel system in industries, and the communal system in agriculture, with which the foreign-speaking peoples employed in manufacturing and mining industries in America are accus- tomed, and adapt these to the industrial situation in the United States, they might get better results. The labor organization might become an agent of far greater efficiency hi Americanizing foreigners, if it were made more acceptable to their taste and financial ideas.
National Societies. — Among the new immigrants are also found national alliances, which are organized along racial lines. The Poles, Lithuanians, Slovaks, Bohemians, Slovenians, Croatians, Servians, Bulgarians, Magyars, etc., have each their national organization. The Slovak National Society, as de- scribed by P. V. Rovnianeck, is typical of the purpose of each one of the others. " It is primarily a beneficial organization, but it has besides done a work in the education of its members and in inducing them and those who come under their influence to become American citizens ... it keeps the Slav spirit alive among the immigrants. It is always the first to contribute to Slovak national purposes. ... It has come to the rescue of Slavs in Hungary, who are persecuted by the government, . . . providing the money for the defense at their trials, and in cases where they are convicted and imprisoned supporting their fami- lies until released." In the Polish National Alliance the leading Poles of America are members, and this powerful organization is doing much to aid patriots in Europe and to smooth the way for those coming to America. It has opened, in New York City, a Polish Home at an expense of $80,000 where Polish immigrants may be temporarily sheltered. The Hungarian government has taken cognizance of the Magyar National Society by sending emissaries from Europe to inquire into the status of this organ- ization. The purpose of the organization is pretty much the same as that of the Slovaks as far as naturalization is concerned,
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but the Hungarian Government does not like to lose its children — it is anxious that Magyars should retain their allegiance to the fatherland. This has precipitated factions, rent the organiza- tion, and has disturbed the peace of every Hungarian colony of any size in the United States.
Pan-ethnic Societies. — The Pan-Slavic, the Pan-Hellenic, and the Pan-Bulgarian movements have their advocates in this country. The effort of these organizations is to bring together into mutual understanding and helpfulness the various members of their respective races, scattered in many countries. These movements are strong in Europe, have been jealously watched by Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Turkey. Internal dissension has impeded the progress of each of the organizations, and the feuds already referred to between representatives of these races in America give little assurance of success in this respect in the new world. The Pole and the Slovak, the Croat and the Russian, are as far apart here as they are in the fatherland.
Helping the Unfortunates. — The several types of societies above referred to are agencies of great good among the foreign- born. The amount of social upbuilding and amelioration done by them among the members and others of their people is beyond computation. Thousands of men are helped every year ; they send hundreds of maimed back to Europe annually ; they bury the ones who die without means of interment ; and thousands of widows and orphans are helped. The following instance of service rendered by one of these organizations is typical. In a mining town, an epidemic of typhoid fever broke out. The for- eigners suffered heavily and little help was given the victims. One of them, a Croatian, in his delirium jumped out of the window of the room and ran down the creek. The snow lay deep on the ground and the poor fellow lay in it and was found frozen to death the following morning. The body was carried to the boarding house, but the woman objected to taking in the corpse, for the reason that he left no money and she could not bear the expense of burial. The officer of the town, however, ordered the body to be carried into the boarding house and the woman gave it room in the kitchen. The body lay there three days, when the
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members of the national organization in town made an appro- priation and gave the man a Christian burial. A young Pole, the fingers of whose right hand were crushed so badly that amputation was necessary, was sent back to Poland by the Polish society, where he could live in greater peace and comfort than in America.
Uplifting Agencies. — These societies are a power for good in the uplift of the foreigner which none can estimate. In discus- sing the foreigner we seldom think of their own societies as efficient agencies in their amelioration. Suppose patriotic so- cieties of native-born men were to join hands with the National Polish Alliance in a campaign of patriotic instruction hi Polish communities in the United States, who could estimate the good they would accomplish ? There is not a branch of the organiza- tion in the country which would not open its doors to a safe lecturer or teacher, and the same is true of every other national society among the men of the new immigration. Americans ask, " What can we do for the foreigner? " instead of asking, " What can the foreigner do for himself with the help of the native-born ? " In every place where good work has been done among immigrants, the cooperation of the foreign-born society or leader has been secured. It is a mistake to think that the leaders in these large societies do not appreciate what America stands for and are not ambitious for the advancement of their people. They are doing much for their health, protection, and education, but they would do more if sympathetic Americans would give them a helping hand.
A Leader who Leads. — An instance where one of these leaders took the matter of education in hand will not be out of place here. He was the secretary of a Slovak society in the city of Bridgeport. When we called on him, and presented a program of work to help the young Slovaks of town to a knowledge of English, the duties and obligations of citizenship, American history, etc., he said, "I'll put it before the society next Sunday evening." He kept his word and wrote us the following morn- ing setting a date for the meeting and said that it would be held in the school building of the church. We went there and
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seventy-five men were assembled and ready to begin work. The organizer took the group in hand, organized them into classes, put teachers in charge, and carried on definite educational work. The secretary kept his hand on the movement and during that winter no fewer than one hundred and twenty-five men of that nationality were definitely helped to become future Americans. We would not have been able to do this if he had not opened the door. When the teachers appeared on the scene, they came as friends and the welcome given was hearty. There was no suspicion, no hesitation, and when a lecture was proposed, the knowledge of it was rapidly spread and it was easy to get an audience.
There are no fewer than a million Slavs organized into clubs, societies, and orders of various kinds, and this means thousands of local assemblies where men are wont to meet. With the aid of the national organizations, the doors of these local branches could be thrown open to illustrated lectures and talks by men who could speak upon American institutions and ideals, and who would be able to help the foreigners to adjust their lives to the country of their adoption. Will the Sons of the Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Patriotic Sons of America, and kindred organizations do this? Let them call the foreign-born leader to sit side by side with the native-born patriot to discuss plans and methods, having in view the saturating of colonies of foreign-speaking men in our cities with American ideas and ideals.
CHAPTER XIV
CHURCHES
IN foreign-speaking colonies of 10,000 population and over, many magnificent churches are built. Religion forms an essen- tial part of the life of the southeastern European, and much money is spent on church edifices where the faithful may wor- ship. In Shenandoah, Pa., the foreigners have invested no less than $100,000 in church property and the total population is a little over 30,000, of whom 80 per cent are either foreign-born or descendants of foreign-born parents. In Buffalo the most imposing church building is that of St. Stanislaus, built by the Poles. The churches built by the foreigners on the South Side of Pittsburgh are far more magnificent than any built by their predecessors — the men of the old immigration. The same is true of towns and cities in New Jersey and New England. A church in Pawtucket, R.I., has mural decorations that are superb. It is impossible to state how much money the peoples of southeastern Europe have put into stone and wood, in win- dow and altar, in art and music, for the purpose of worshiping God, but it is safe to put it at $10 per capita, which would make a sum of not less than $75,000,000. 1 When they come, they are poor, having less than $16 each ; they get the lowest wage in the industries of America, but when the appeal for funds is made to put up a church to worship God, these people respond. And it is absurd to say that all this wealth molded into sacred
1 In the dioceses of Boston, Greater New York, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, 356 churches are devoted to the religious worship of men of the new immigration. This does not give all the buildings dedicated to their services, for the returns in the Catholic Directory do not always specify the nationality worshiping in a church, while two or three nationalities may worship in the same church.
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structure is forced out of the people by ecclesiastical terror. The foreigner is not long in America before he knows that there is no connection between the government and the church and that the faith of his fathers and the service of God must be preserved and propagated by voluntary contributions, and no priest could compel the people to give freely of their sub- stance to this purpose if their religious faith and love of sacred ideals did not impel them.
Roman Catholics Coming. — When the immigration stream runs at the rate of 1,000,000 a year, more than 600,000 of the total landed in America are Roman Catholics. During the last twenty years, the total number of immigrants entering the United States, adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, can- not be less than 10,000,000 souls. Never in the history of the world has a religious organization faced an obligation such as that confronting the Roman Catholic Church of the United States, because of the incoming tide from Europe. To shepherd these millions of souls . speaking thirty different tongues, each race having its idiosyncrasies that make it difficult for ecclesi- astical leaders trained in English-speaking countries to under- stand how best to adjust the machinery of the church to meet their needs in the new world ; to house them in churches ; to soothe racial prejudice so that men who cherish antipathies and hatred may sit in the same pew and worship under the same priest ; to secure an adequate number of priests of the various nationalities; to reconcile them to superiors having different ideals from those in authority in Europe ; to make it possible for the priests of eight different nations in one city to cooperate that the Roman Catholic Church of that city may be one and not divided — these are the problems that no ecclesiastical body before, in the history of the Christian faith, has been called upon to solve. They have precipitated questions and difficulties which have put a strain and stress upon the Roman Catholic leaders in America that none outside of that circle can understand or appreciate. Many educated and intelligent men, outside the pale of that church, have criticized its short- comings in meeting this great need — they should rather study
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the problem and sympathize with the men who face so grave a responsibility. The Catholic church has done and is still doing a great work for the foreign-speaking people in America ; if its beneficent influence were removed, the millions of the new immigration would be far more lawless and reckless than they are. The teachings and leadings of this religious organization are a defense to both the secular and moral institutions of the country.
Replacement of Worshipers. — The foreigners in cities, as before stated, occupy sections once inhabited by the English- speaking, and the religious edifices in them, formerly used by the men of the old immigration, often pass into the hands of the new. A section in Chicago, once occupied by Germans and Scandinavians, is now taken up by Jews and Poles, and in the place of Protestant churches are found synagogues and Roman Catholic edifices. The situation in South Side, Pitts- burgh, is typical of hundreds of other places where this change takes place. The Servians bought out the building used by the German Lutherans, the Slovaks bought out the church building of the Methodist Protestants, the Croatians bought out the edifice of the Methodists, the Lithuanians bought out another building of the same denomination, the Greeks bought out the building of the Lutherans, while the churches of the Baptists and Congregationalists have been purchased by other peoples of southeastern Europe, now residing in this part of the city. In every city of industrial importance in the North Atlantic and North Central states, this transference of sacred edifices goes on. Instances are found in New York, Phila- delphia, Chicago, etc., of Protestant denominations honestly trying to hoid- the fort and adapt their work to the need of the new immigrants. These are exceptions, however. The rule is to abandon the field and give way to religious forms better adapted to meet the taste of the newcomers.
All Romanists do not Agree. — It is not always easy to meet the tastes of the foreign-speaking in forms of worship. In a town in New England, a group of foreigners had the privilege of using the edifice of the Irish-Americans. When the aliens built
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a church of their own, members of the English-speaking congre- gation were very happy, for one of them said, " You couldn't leave a pocket handkerchief or a pocketbook on the seat but a foreigner would immediately pick it up." An English-speaking priest in New Jersey, whose duty it was to look after the for- eigners in his parish, was greatly concerned about their spiritual interest and said, " I want to bring a foreigner to confess these people before Easter, so that they may come to communion." The Uniates, such as the Lithuanians, Ruthenians, etc., give more concern to ecclesiastical authorities than do the Romanists, such as the Poles, the Slovaks, Magyars, etc. The Uniates recognize the supremacy of the Pope of Rome, but retain the rites and doctrines of the Greek church, to which communion they formerly belonged. Hence in these churches, the cup is given the laity in the sacrament, the priests marry, divorces are granted in certain cases, the mass is celebrated in the lan- guage the people can understand, and the priest is called and dismissed by the board of directors. These usages were once condemned by the Pope, but when the Jesuits brought certain peoples of the Greek Orthodox church into the Roman fold, the compromise was agreed to. — if they recognized the Pope they could retain the Greek usages. As long as these people remained in Europe, in close proximity to the Greek church, the dis- crepancies between them and their Catholic co-religionists were not apparent ; but when they come to America, exercising the privileges granted them by the compromise, and still call them- selves Roman Catholics, the differences become very embarrass- ing, hard to explain to the faithful, and obnoxious to priests who are staunch believers in the canonical law. The Croats are faithful Catholics, but they insist that the mass be said in " Old Slavic " or " Glagolitza," and every effort made to have them adopt the Latin litany has failed. Ecclesiastical authority has, in its effort to introduce the Latin form, gone as far as to close their church ; the people have preferred that to taking away the Old Slavic tongue. The Ruthenians and the Walla- chians are affected by this inharmonious relation more than any other people ; it has led to many disputes, lawsuits, and schisms
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in this country.1 Friction, because of these differences, accounts for the independent Greek church of Canada, which has some eighty congregations made up wholly of Ruthenians. The movement is Roman Catholic in form, but Protestant in spirit. The priests insist upon ordination, they retain the seven sacra- ments, the Greek rites are used, but the government is Presby- terian, they expound the Scripture and do preaching, but they also remember the patriarch of Jerusalem in their prayers. Some- times Roman Catholic priests serve men of the Greek Orthodox faith. When the Servians first came to Pittsburgh, they had no priest, so they were served by the Catholic clergy, who possibly did not know that they served men of a different faith. They used to bury their dead in the German Catholic cemetery, but when a Servian priest came on the field, the practice was at once changed. The Greek Orthodox. — Greek Orthodox congregations are found in the country. There are three types : the Servian, which recognizes the headship of the Servian church, an autono- mous body, although in usage identical with the Russian church ; the Greek, which recognizes the headship of the Patriarch of Constantinople, but its rites and ceremonies are similar to those of the Servians and Russians ; the Russian, which recognizes the headship of the Patriarch of St. Petersburg and the Czar of Russia. The Bulgarians are like the Servians in religious usages, but turn their faces more to Constantinople than to St. Petersburg. In these congregations the title of the property rests in a board of trustees, and the congregations also have a voice in the selection and dismissal of the priest. When in Milwaukee we asked the Greek priest for the use of the vestry to hold a meeting on a week night for a group of Greeks, he referred us to the head of the Greek congregation, who was the
1 The Greek Catholic churches or congregations enjoyed considerable freedom before the arrival of a Greek Catholic Bishop, in 1907. They were incorporated, their affairs were managed by boards of directors and trustees, composed wholly of lay members. The priest was called and removed by the directors and the voice of the congregation was supreme in all matters. Since the coming of the Bishop, many congregations have given up their charters so that the property and the management of affairs are in the hands of the Bishop and the priests. Many congregations, however, resent this transference of property and authority, and discontentment is the result.
o
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authorized party to give permission. This was very different from the attitude of a Slovak priest interviewed on precisely the same service, who said, " I would give it you gladly, but if the Bishop came to know of it, I would get into trouble."
Foreigners have Many Faiths. — We have representatives of many other faiths among the new immigration. One of these is the Nazarites, a sect resembling the Bogomiles of Russia, and not unlike the Quakers. A congregation of them in Barberton, Ohio, is led by a man of superior ability and refinement. The meekness and simplicity he exhibited while explaining the faith of which he was proud were worthy of imitation by men of large religious influence. Many Slovaks and Magyars are Protestants, but the majority of them are lost to Christian influence, because of the preponderating number of Catholics in the communities where they live. They are carried with the tide away from the faith of their childhood into no faith. Protes- tant missionaries are sent to labor among these peoples, but their labors are rather unsatisfactory because of the difficulties of the work. Protestantism in southeastern Europe differs greatly from the type found in America. The pastor of a Mag- yar church will, on a Sunday evening, sit with his board smoking cigarettes and drinking black coffee, while a moving picture show goes on in the church. Another foreign-speaking clergyman was busy on a Sunday evening going from house to house collecting his salary while the church doors were closed — the Lord's day being an opportune occasion to catch all the men. Some of these ministers have high regard for the auditorium al- though it may be nothing more than a rented store. An Italian missionary in Chicago, held services in a rented storeroom which was simply furnished, but he was not willing to have the room used for social work. " The place was dedicated for the worship of God." A Magyar congregation, in Yonkers, wanted com- munion, but had no service for the occasion. The pastor in whose church they worshiped, said, " You can have the use of the service used by our church." But the leaders said, " We can't take communion from a borrowed service" ; they bought one of their own. But this high idealism is far from common.
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Some churches hold picnics at which cigars and beer are sold, dancing and gambling are indulged in — anything to catch the dollar. Some Protestant missionaries, working among the foreigners, put the cross over the church. I asked one of these why he placed the symbol over his mission, and his answer was, " To refute the words of Catholics who say that we do not believe in Christ." When I asked a Slav Catholic what he thought of the symbol over the mission, he said, " It's a ruse to induce us to enter the building."
Foreigners are very Religious. — The immigrants from south- eastern Europe are very religious ; indeed, it may be said that they are too religious, and are given to much superstition. They are not long in the country, however, before the spirit of America soon works a perceptible change. Men who are thoroughly Americanized do not have the same deference to the priesthood nor the same servile attitude to the church as they once had. In a city in New York, accompanied by an Americanized Pole, I called on the Polish priest. In the office at the time sat a Pole recently come from Europe. As soon as the priest appeared the recent immigrant rose, bowed reverently, took his proffered hand, kissed it devoutly, and resumed his seat at a sign from the Father ; the older immigrant rose, did not bow, said, " Good eve- ning, Father," shook his hand, and resumed his seat. When in Brooklyn interviewing the Lithuanians, I asked one of them if his people went to church. " Greenies go," he replied, " but Lithuanians in America five or eight years don't go ; they, like Protestants, no go to church." One of the comforting and promising sights in a Slavic or Lithuanian colony is the number attending divine service on Sundays. In a Lithuanian church on the South Side of Pittsburgh, the number of persons attending mass on Sunday was about 1 500 souls, nine-ten thsjif-whom were males — young men in the heyday of their strength. Half a dozen gray heads were seen in the throng and I asked, "Are those gray-haired people Lithuanians? " " No," was the reply, " they are Irish and German — too old to go to their own church, they come here to worship." What a contrast this was to the average Protestant congregation in which four females may be
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counted for every male. The scene around a Greek church on festive days is worth witnessing. When the images of the Virgin and the saints are carried around the church, the devout kneel on the pavement, on the lawn, on the street, anywhere, as they bow reverently before the sacred symbol. The spirit of worship in these people is a phenomenon that cannot be found elsewhere in any community. The men of the new immigration flock to the churches and support their priests fairly well. This is espe- cially true of the Slav. The Italian is more indifferent. Italian men will not attend church. In communities of 5000 Italians, one church can hardly be supported, whereas in a similar colony of Slavs, two would be amply sustained. In an Italian church in a city in New York state, the majority of the congregation was Irish. I asked a prominent Catholic, " How is it the Irish wor- ship in the Italian church? " " Well," said he, " most of them are shirkers — they can get religion cheap there, but they have to pay for it in their own church." In a small town in the same state, the Italians petitioned the Bishop for a church. He replied that the place was too small to support two churches, that they should worship in the Roman Catholic church of the town. The Irish-Americans objected, however, for the reason that the Ital- ians " won't pay pew rent."
No State Church not Understood. — The foreign-speaking men of southeastern Europe cannot understand why it is neces- sary to support the church in America by voluntary contribu- tions. In the fatherland, the priest was paid by the government, the church was built by the government, current expenses were provided for by the landed gentry or the government. The poor man contributed nothing and took all the privileges offered. Here it is wholly different ; church and state are separated, but many of these ignorant and illiterate immigrants cannot under- stand it. Many Italian priests cannot get a living out of the people whom they serve, because of this very reason. The intelligent members of the flock understand the situation, but the ignorant shake their heads and say, " It is buying religion." The priest tries to explain, but to no purpose, — " it is wrong for a priest to want money." In one of the towns not far from New
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York City, the priest posts a notice on the church door stating that every one coming into that church must pay 5 cents for his seat. In the city of Utica, the Italians are supposed to be between 12,000 and 15,000 souls, and one Italian church can hardly be maintained. An intelligent Italian in Montpelier, Vt., explained why he did not go to church : " Mother fed me too much religion in Italy and my stomach is against it." Another Italian said, " The conduct of many priests in Italy accounts for the indifference of the Italians to the church." The penuri- ousness of the Italian also accounts for this conduct. The only time they open the strings of their purses is on festas. On these occasions they spend money freely and take great delight in the parade. The image of the Virgin or that of a saint carried through the streets of Little Italy, in the Empire City, will be covered with dollar greenbacks, and the priest must look to it that he makes the best of the money then received, for little else will he get until another festa comes round. The Slavs are very different; they attend and support their churches admirably. Their conception of religion may not differ from that of the Italian, but they support the church. The vast majority of the men of the new immigration look upon the ceremonies of the church in a simple, straightforward way, ask blessings on home, and work on the quid pro quo principle ; but the Italians take it in large doses on festive days, while the Slavs are constant and steadfast in their attendance on church ceremonies. A Lithua- nian priest in Kenosha, Wis., who had served among the Mexicans in San Antonio, said, " Mexicans are funny ; they come to church thrice in their life — to be baptized, married, and buried — give me the Lithuanians." Many Italians in America wholly forsake the church and get along without the service of the priest or preacher. In Barre, Vt., 3000 Italians are found and no reli- gious services of any kind are held among them. They do not baptize their children, the young people are married by the magis- trate, and they bury their dead without religious ceremony. All the colony is made up of northern Italians.
Drifting from the Church. — Many of the new immigrants leave the faith of their fathers when they come to this country.
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No statistics are available upon the question, but it is safe to say that the percentage of men among Catholics, Protestants, and Jews giving up the faith of their fathers is large. Especially is this true of the young men of every nation. Among the younger men from Scandinavia and Finland, Russia, and Italy, the teachings of Socialism have a great attraction. A college young man, working with a group of Jewish boys, was assisted by a young Hebrew, and discussing the work one evening, the Gentile said, " I don't teach Christianity to the boys." " Why not? " asked the Jew. " Well, I don't think it is right," replied the college man. " You can teach it," said the Hebrew, " it won't make any dif- ference— I don't believe in Judaism or Christianity — I'm a socialist." An Italian, in Baltimore, broke away from his church, but found great difficulty with his wife, who was a loyal adherent of the Catholic faith. There was no peace at home and hence he resolved to convert her. He locked her in a room, placed a Protestant Bible on a table, and said, " Here you'll stay and you can't come out until you are a Protestant." The man apparently effected his purpose and celebrated his victory by placing a card over the door of the house on which was written, " This is the house of a Christian, no blasphemy, no drink, no gambling can take place in it." His friends forsook him, for he was unsafe.
Men who leave their Church. — When foreign-born men of Catholic antecedents come over to the Protestant faith, it is hard telling what they'll do. A fellow in Chicago began to read his Bible very diligently when he was converted. He came across the passage describing the gift of tongues; he became enthusiastic, pronounced some jargon, fell into spasms and twistings, and believed he got the " powers." He came to the mission church with his discovery; his enthusiasm was con- tagious ; soon the congregation was under the spell of the " gift of tongues," and held protracted meetings ; the residents in the neighborhood of the mission complained and the authorities interfered to preserve the peace of the community. Among some peoples, to leave the church of their fathers is identical with forsaking one's nation. A Greek, in Chicago, left the Greek
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church, and was employed by one of the denominations to do missionary work among his countrymen. When the Greeks heard that he was a turncoat from the Greek Orthodox church, they called him " devil," " traitor," " renegade," " betrayer," etc., and his influence was gone. When a Greek was asked, why this was, he said, " Protestant is all right for you ; you were born Protestant, but he was born Greek." " A Greek is born to his religion just as he is to his nationality. It would be hard to find one who would not profess to be a Christian."1 A young Russian, in one of the cities of the West, left the Greek church and was thrown out of his boarding house by his co-religionists. These people at once communicated with his elder brother in Russia, who immediately came to America to bring the wanderer home. He went to the house in which the young man stayed and threatened to kill him if he did not return to the faith of his fathers, for, said he, " The family is shamefully disgraced." He could not persuade his brother to return, and so went to the police and said that " the young man was detained in his boarding house contrary to his will." The police officer secured the young man and was taking him to the courthouse, when the missionary in the case appeared on the scene and gave security for the appearance of the young convert in court. When the case was called, the judge soon grasped the situation and pro- ceeded to tell the elder brother that he was in America now and not in Russia. Sometimes the priests throw out of beneficial organizations those who leave the faith. A foreign-born man, residing in Astoria, N.Y., left the church and was thrown out of the society. He secured damages on the ground that a so- ciety holding a charter from the state had no right to discriminate against men because of creed or religion. Priests don't like to lose members of their church and try to guard against this. A group of Bulgarians, coming to America, were called into church by the priest the night before they started, and made to swear solemnly that they would never enter a church in America. The attitude of Rev. Iwanawski, in Erie, Pa., was far more intelli- gent than that. He wanted a man trained in gymnastics so
1 " Greek Immigrants in the United States, " p. 46.
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as to be able to lead the boys and young men of his parish. He sent him to the Young Men's Christian Association gymnasium for training. The secretary, in making the arrangement, said : "Father, you need not fear we'll turn him Protestant." "Oh," said the priest, " you leave that to me ; I'll see to that."
The Priests are Capable. — The shepherds of the foreign- speaking flocks are on the whole good men, hard workers, ren- dering good service. They are not all good men. There are some bad men among them, as among spiritual leaders of English- speaking peoples. The priests of the twentieth century are not perfect any more than the Apostles of the first were, but the vast majority are spiritual leaders of the right kind, who render service to their^countrymen in America which cannot be com- puted. A prince bishop who was profane excused his profanity by saying that he swore as a prince and not as a bishop, but one of the peasants asked him, " If the prince is damned, what will become of the bishop ? " A priest in New Jersey adopted a two- fold standard and excused himself on like grounds. He was wholly unworthy of the priesthood, and his mother protested that he should be a better man, but he said, " I'm a priest only when in the church, on the road I'm like other men." A Protes- tant missionary among the Portuguese was very little better. He exhorted his people to pray and told them, " If you want anything, pray and you'll get it." He visited a home that was very poor, and told the man to pray for fcTSad and God would answer him. The man fell on his knees and prayed. The fellow went out, bought a loaf of bread, put it at his door and told the man it was a miraculous answer to his prayer. Some priests experience difficulty in managing certain members of their congregation. A priest, located in a city of New York, was threatened by a band of ruffians from among his people. He appealed to the court and the judge gave him the right to carry a revolver; he also entered suit against his persecutors. The Father believed in fighting with other than spiritual weapons. Another priest of the Greek faith was shamefully abused by some of his congregation because he would not acquiesce to their demand. When foreign-speaking ruffians rise against the
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priest, there is nothing too savage for them to do. Of course, some priests give cause for violent action. A priest, in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh, was guilty of crime for which men have been lynched, and if he were among Americans, his vil- lainy could not be hid. A priest, in Detroit, instilled the spirit of lawlessness into his congregation that neither canonical nor secular law had much effect among the people of his parish. But these are exceptions. The army of clergymen doing work among the foreign-speaking peoples of America are capable and worthy men.
Fanatical Converts. — Some priests, having abandoned their vows, become missionaries of the Protestant faith for foreign- speaking peoples. In a city of the Middle West, one of these con- verts kept his sacred robes of office, and, when called upon to baptize the child of a foreigner, would carry out the ceremony in every detail as his custom was when a priest of the Catholic church. He believed in making himself all things to all men as a Protestant missionary. Another convert from the priesthood was rabid in his attacks upon the Roman Catholic church. While in a town in Texas, making one of his tirades, he was assaulted by Catholics and to this day carries on his body the marks of that attack. Another missionary of the same type goes from place to place attacking the Catholic church, " chal- lenging priests to public debate that he may tell them things they ought to know." When an ex-priest visited Berwick, Pa., a false- hood was circulated that he was thrown out of one of the saloons, too drunk to walk home ; and in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where colporteurs sell Bibles, it is stated that some foreign- speaking priests boast of how many Protestant Bibles they have found among their people which they have confiscated. All this fanaticism is out of place in America and should not be coun- tenanced by either Protestants or Catholics. Religious antag- onism, debates as to the merit of the various systems of Chris- tian faith, lying and deceiving for the sake of the faith are all out of date in the twentieth century and out of sympathy with the American spirit. The. Republic stands for religious toleration, and the converts from either faith should, in this country, under-
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stand that freedom of conscience is a fundamental principle which all true Americans will honor.
A Sure Cure. — An ex-priest in New York State, in a very efficient manner burnt the bridges behind him. One of his reasons for leaving the Catholic church was that he found the canonical law in America very different from what it was in Europe. His friends and relatives were greatly concerned about his action, and spared no effort to induce him to return to the fold. Their solicitations caused him some anxiety and he resolved to marry. He had a friend in the drug business to whom he told his trouble and begged of him to find him a wife. The druggist agreed to do so. Two weeks later, the ex-priest came to the store and asked him, " Have you filled out my prescrip- tion?" "What do you mean?" asked the pharmacist. "A wife, of course." "Are you in earnest?" asked the friend. " Yes," said the bachelor. " Very well, I'll try," and they parted. Two weeks later, the ex-priest was called to the store and introduced to the woman who is to-day his wife.
Protestant Pastors. — Many Protestant pastors among the foreign-speaking suffer many privations. The number of Prot- estants in the new immigration is small, hence the congregations are weak, and widely scattered. The missionaries must travel a great deal if they minister to the needs of men of their faith. The Letts are Protestants and small groups are found in Balti- more, Philadelphia, and Boston, and only one pastor to supply their spiritual need in the language they love. In Fairport and other port towns on Lake Erie, there are Protestant Magyars and Slovaks, but no minister to serve their spiritual needs. Many missionaries sent among these people live on very small rations and carry on their work. Some of these men in first- class cities minister to the foreign-speaking on a salary of $50 a month. How they can live on such a salary is beyond compre- hension.
Harmony Needed. — In Hungary, we were told that the Protestants and Roman Catholics live side by side in peace, and that it is not unusual for the Roman Catholic priest to arrange with a Protestant schoolmaster to give the children of his parish
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the necessary instruction to prepare them for their first com- munion. We have not come to this in America, and still the trend is in that direction. An Irishman, in Utica, said, " I hated the Protestants in Ireland, but in this country I can't do it — I don't know why." That man had caught the Ameri- can spirit. One of the worst evils arising from the antagonism and strife between Protestants and Catholics is the discord which comes into homes having mixed marriages. When the parents quarrel about their religion it is at the sacrifice of the children. Many Catholic wives with Protestant husbands, and wee versa, for the sake of peace in the home, keep their children away from all religious services. If parents, having these difficulties, could agree upon the essentials of the Christian faith, and have their children taught and trained in them, it would be better for the home and for the offspring. This can only be done when priests and pastors, who worship the same Master, come to a common understanding as to what are the essentials in his teach- ings, and put these in a form that could be used in such homes. Agree in doing Good. — Rousseau uttered a profound maxim when he said, "It is by doing good that we become good." Catholics and Protestants, Greeks and Jews are concerned in doing good, and when they meet in practical service, they agree and work harmoniously. When leaders of all creeds feel the burdens which men bear to-day, see the motives and impulses which move men in this twentieth century, bring to the clear the sense of justice, the obligations of affection, the respect due for law and order, then they lose sight of their differences in united action. Before the great spiritual awakening comes, men of all creeds must come together, and the only ground upon which this can be done is practical service to men. But when intelli- gent men feed the people on lies, raise the trivial and accidental above the essential and fundamental, and emphasize more creed than conduct, then faith languishes and the church decays. A keen observer says, " My observation in England and America has been that religion is to non-Russian peoples merely a respect- able habit, a method of civil decency." How far is the judg- ment of the Slav justified ? Is there more genuine religion in the
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simple Slav than in the polished Anglo-Saxon? The religion of Christ came to peoples of varied tongues and it welded the most diverse elements into one. Has it not, in the twentieth century, the vital power to bring about the same among the people of the new immigration? The simple truths of the Nazarene, if di- vested of ecclesiastical drapery, have in them the breath of life when applied to the problems of this country. None who know the people of these United States will deny that political and religious skepticism is daily spreading among the masses; the Church of God, that once was so powerful in meeting the needs of men, seems to be bankrupt when facing the problems of to- day. While we preach human unity, the visible expression of the religion in which that truth has its basis — the church — is not the embodiment of true democracy. One branch is autocratic and does not believe in the power of the people for self-government ; the other is out of relation with the rank and file of workingmen and has no real message for them. It is not true that the men of this nation deny God. Religion and reli- gious truths lie dormant in the hearts of the people — there they await the voice of the prophet. When he comes, speaking as a man with authority, the people will hear him gladly and will fol- low him. When religious faith and life again come to their own in America, the foreigners will be a potent factor in the awakening for righteousness and justice. They are children who have not been spoiled by sophistry and tradition. Give them the real message from God, and they, the children of the backward nations of Europe, will respond and give to the spiritual life of America strength and power such as they freely give to-day to the production of our material wealth.
CHAPTER XV
BANKS AND SAVINGS
THE leader and the banker are generally one and the same man. It was impossible in Chapter XIII, while discussing foreign-speaking leaders, to leave out of the discussion these men's connection with immigrant banks. The leader inspires confidence, the men trust him ; to him they go for advice, for counsel, for work, and what is more natural than to give him their savings for safe-keeping? There lies the origin of the immi- grant bank, although it is not a bank in the strict sense of the word. Whenever we speak of a bank, we mean a recognized institution which derives its right to do business from the state. It is hemmed in by certain legal regulations, its accounts are subject to state supervision, the stockholders are responsible, the concern must have a reserve, it can only loan money on certain conditions, its bookkeeping must be scientific, it must report its assets and liabilities to state officials, and it devotes all its energies to the business of banking. The typical immi- grant bank has none or very few of these qualities.
Banks in Foreign Colonies. — In the average industrial town where a few thousand foreigners live, three or four immigrant banks are found. These institutions are usually recognized by the large billboard placed in front of the stores, advertising steamship tickets for sale. Inside one of these is a small room, generally not more than fifteen feet square and often much smaller ; the fixtures are a counter and a wire or glass screen, forming an inclosure where the banker has his desk, safe, and books. On all sides are advertisements of ships, insurance, and possibly some books for sale. Into this room the foreigners come. It is open every day from early morning till late at night,
216
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but the bulk of the business is done in the evening and on Sun- day. The room is an ordinary living room set apart for this purpose, the patrons have no place to sit down, no accommo- dations are furnished for writing, and the furniture is of the simplest kind. Yet, in such a room ten or twenty men will gather to chat, smoke, and transact business. They spit on the floor, throw the waste paper anywhere, and act as if they were in a country store or a drinking den. Very often, the banker has a store and a saloon adjoining the bank, and the men pass from one to the other, having business in each department. A banker in Lorain, Ohio, occupies a brick building on a corner lot ; on the corner fronting the main street is the saloon, next to it on the main thoroughfare is the store, and in the rear the bank occupies a large room. On a Saturday night after pay, there is not a busier place in town than this ; men and women are in the store, in the saloon, and in the bank, and passing from the one to the other — that Magyar does a thriving busi- ness in a place which is unpretentious, simply furnished, and often dirty.
Banks and Company Stores. — In every town where for- eigners live, and the privilege of buying and building homes is given them, the immigrant banker flourishes; but in towns \ where the company owns everything and the men nothing, no banking institution is found. I do not know of a single com- pany store to which foreigners have brought their money for safe-keeping. Possibly companies running stores never have encouraged this, or perchance the foreigners are reluctant to trust them. Yet this line of business is not too trivial for men at the head of small industrial towns, and the foreigners would be saved considerable trouble if safe and convenient oppor- tunities to save were given them. No group of immigrants are more concerned how to keep their savings safely than those living in isolated camps.
Foreigners bent on Saving. — The foreigners as a whole are bent on saving. A foreman of a gang of Italians, living in a car, said that one of the men lived on forty-five cents a week. That is well-nigh incredible, and yet one of our college professors has
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said that it is possible for men to live on ten cents a day ; l some foreigners keep pretty close to that standard. Many Italians subsist on twenty-five cents a day, while thousands of Greek immigrants in America live on less and possibly come as near as any group of foreigners to the minimum spent on bed and board. Single men, leading a communal life, will vigorously protest if their monthly board bill exceeds $5 or $6. They buy cheap cuts of meats, make soups and spend very little on crockery. They buy their beer by the wholesale, or the boarding boss does so and the boarders buy it from him at lower rates than in saloons. The foreigner's diet has variety, but the range of articles drawn upon is not large. Their food is chiefly made up of vegetables such as onions and cabbage, beets and cucumbers, pickles and garlic, leeks and tomatoes, while they spend very little on fruits, such as peaches, pears, oranges, and grapefruit, which are found on the table of Americans. They spend nothing on dainties and sweetmeats, on ices and confectionery, on nuts and grapes. They have wholesome bread, baked either by the boarding mistress or a baker who studies their taste. The foreigner will spend little on luxuries. Beer he regards as an article of diet, one of the essentials, and includes it in the list of necessities. In many instances the eagerness to save cuts too deeply into his subsistence, so that he does not eat enough to keep the body in -good working condition. This is more fre- quently the case with Italians and Greeks, Jews and Syrians, than with Slavs and Lithuanians, Magyars and Finns.
Simple Living. — All these people spend more on food in
1 Major J. W. Cheney, of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut State Prison, writing to the Hartford Daily C our ant, says: "The average cost of food to the pris- oners for the year ending September 30, 191 1, was 9.45 cents per day, or less than 9§ cents per capita ; this also includes 3$ ounces of tobacco a week for those who desire it, but does not include the preparation of the food which is done by the convicts." Warden B. F. Bridges, of the Massachusetts State Prison, says: "The actual cost per capita in 1911 was $42.63 per year, this amounts to 11.67 cents per day per prisoner." Warden Bridges further adds: "Our guests thrive on what we give them, they show it is beneficial by the continued improvement in their condition. Many who come here are dissipated or in poor health but they improve rapidly." These statements prove that it is possible for a man to maintain physi- cal vigor on a food supply which costs 10 cents a day.
BANKS AND SAVINGS 219
America than they did in the fatherland, and the immigrants found in quarry and mine, in steel plants and foundries, are not in the country long before they learn to eat more and richer food than was their wont in the old world. They generally have plenty of appetizing bread, soups, rich in meat, rye, rice, and vege- tables; they drink black coffee and much beer; on fast days, eggs, sardines, and cheese take the place of meat; cabbage, beets, and pickles enter into the diet — all this is plain living, and eaten generally with steel knives and forks. If napkins are used, and the table is covered with white linen instead of oilcloth, it is a sign that their standard of living is changing,. The foreign brother keeps down his living expenses by avoiding • delicacies and doing without silverware and fine linen. Most of them eat enough substantial food, for the physical strength and endurance demanded in arduous employments could not otherwise be maintained ; they lose nothing and gain much by abstaining from ices and condiments, which are marvels of the culinary art and the pest of ordinary digestions. Taken as a whole, the living of the Slav and Italian is more rational than that of the average English-speaking workingman, who is fed on concoctions of grease and meal, sugar and fruit, which tax the digestive organs of every member in his family.
Necessity for Bankers. — Single men save most money. They are bachelors or married men having their wives in the old country. The average wage of unskilled workers, as before stated, is about $1.50 a day, and the average annual income not more than $450. A man with a family living on this wage can- not save much. The single man, however, can save. His living expenses will not exceed $10 or $12 a month, his beer bill will not be more than $4 or $5 ; hence out of a wage of $35 a month he is able to save from $15 to $20. These single men, living in mining patches several miles removed from urban communities, have great difficulty in finding a safe place to keep their savings, and in trying to do so resort to cunning devices. Some hide the money in the chamber in the mines, others carry it around in their boots or sew it in their garments ; many of the Balkan peoples carry it in their belts; others secrete it in
220 TEE NEW IMMIGRATION
some part of the boarding house or in the bottom of the trunk ; but wherever they put their savings they are always liable to lose them by fire or theft. Many men in mining patches have lost their trunks and after many days found them in the bush, torn open and all the money gone. Some of the men killed in the mines when examined are found with money sewn in their garments. A physician, treating a foreigner whose foot was crushed in a steel plant, had to rip open the boot ; the immi- grant, though in great pain, had forethought enough to remove a wad of greenbacks which was cunningly fastened in the inside of the upper. Under these conditions it is perfectly natural for the alien to trust his spare cash to a friend for safe-keeping. And especially is this the case when the leader has a safe which can resist the attack of fire and loot. Scores of these men would, if it were necessary, pay something to a leader who would keep their savings and relieve them of anxiety. The origin of the immigrant bank lies in the extremity of the alien looking for a safe place to keep his savings.
Immigrant Bankers meet a Need. — Hence the immi- grant banker is a development ; the need was there and shrewd men saw it and rose to the occasion. Conditions were very different among immigrants from northwestern Europe — the old immigration. They knew what banks were, and could intelligently transact business in them. They came from towns and industrial centers and confided in the English- or • German- speaking banker, who was a representative of the type of men they knew in banking business in the fatherland. The buildings in which these bankers transacted business were of the same kind as those the immigrants had seen in the old world ; indeed, the necessity for banking facilities forty and fifty years ago was not as urgent as to-day, for there were not as many single men among the old as there are among the new immigrants ; then the monetary circulation was not what it is at present; and most of the immigrants of fifty years ago built h6mes in the new world. It is very different with the new immigrants. They come from agricultural communities where there is little or no money to save ; they know no banks or bankers, they know
BANKS AND SAVINGS 221
nothing of modern finance, and look with suspicion on houses and men far removed by language and custom from what they have known in life. They have been inured to close living and to leadership: the one enables them to save money; the other forces them to look to a leader for counsel and guidance. A man capable of leadership is found in every group. He is the one who caters to the wants of his fellows ; who rises to the dignity of a boarding boss or saloon-keeper, grocer, or butcher ; the one whom the boarders trust and to whom they give their money. The vast majority of immigrant bankers once worked side by side with the men whom they now serve ; they began business by supplying the needs of their comrades, and then gradually advanced to be the custodians of large sums of money. A prominent Slav, who is to-day reputed to be worth half a million, said that the happiest days of his life were those spent in a mining patch, when with a score of other young fellows in a boarding house, they whiled away the time in drinking and card playing. He started in business by running a saloon, then began banking and sold steamship tickets ; later he took up real estate and insurance, and to-day has an extensive and profitable business. Another man in Freeport, Ohio, had a store, a bank, and sold steamship tickets. He had, in Cleveland, in a newspaper office, served for seven years, had traveled in the coast states, had tried various occupations, and was finally settled in this town, where he had lived for two years. He knew the life of the foreigner, was able to talk English fluently, and was an intelligent and trustworthy leader of his people. In the office of P. V. Rovnianek, in Pittsburgh, where a large banking business was done, many professional men were found. The same is true of many houses doing banking business for foreigners in New York City ; but in industrial towns and cities in the immigration zone, the vast majority of the men who run immi- grant banks have entered the business from the ranks of working people.
Saloon-Keepers as Bankers. — Hence scientific banking is as far removed from this class of people as scientific cooking is from the barbarian. They came into possession of funds and
222 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
they had to depend upon mother wit to turn them into profit. There are Jews who began business carrying a pack from house to house ; then they opened a store, and gradually gaining the confidence of foreigners, they secured their money and carried on a large banking business; but these men knew the ways of business and had genius for it. As soon as they began to prosper, they formed connections with their co-religionists in the near-by city and entered lines of business investments which were safe and profitable. But the average saloon-keeper, having the savings of fifty men thrust upon him, did not know the ways of business, had no genius for finance, had no connections with men who could advise and help him ; he is as a child suddenly forced into relationship with the business world without training or experience, and the wonder is, not that some of the men's money is lost, but that so much of it is safely kept and re- turned to the owner on demand. A saloon-keeper in Penn- sylvania had boarders and customers — single men — who forced him to keep their spare cash. As soon as he purchased a safe, he had no peace until he consented to accept the spare cash of the boarders. He took the money and never thought of giving one of them a receipt. I asked him, " How was that? " " Well," said the banker, " we don't give receipts in our country. Men who make the sign of the cross trust each other, and the men who gave me the money never thought of asking for a receipt ; it would be the next thing to an insult." " You keep an account now, how did you begin to do it? " I asked. " When the number of men increased, I found I couldn't keep the money separate from my own, and I had to take the word of the man as to the amount. Then I began to keep the names and the sums received, and after a while, simple pass books were given the men so that they might know what was to their credit." Some of the foreign-speaking depositors are not honest. Simple farm folks generally are, but there are some of the other kind. A Syrian in Auburn, Me., deposited in a bank $560 and received a book with credit to that amount. When the banker counted the money, he found only $540. He called the depositor and told him that the amount was $20 short, but the fellow swore
BANKS AND SAVINGS 22$
that it was $560. It was not long, however, before the bank secured evidence of the fraud. The man boasted to a friend that he had beat the bank out of $20.
No Interest Paid. — Most of these bankers never think of paying interest upon the money they receive. It is an accom- modation to their friends. The receiver is not in the banking business and at first kept the money in the safe at the call of the friend. It was only as it accumulated that it got into his personal account : then he deposited it and it became a source of income, and as his business grew, nothing was more natural than for him to use this money for its enlargement. One of these men in the grocery business had the confidence of his countrymen and held some $5000 of their money. He lived in rented quarters, but saw an opportunity to buy a place that would suit him. He bought it and used the funds intrusted to him in the deal. His business prospered and to-day he owns eight properties and a handsome home. The money of the depositors made it possible for him to increase his holdings ; he never paid them interest, but he never also failed to meet the demand of any of the men or lost a cent of their money. The following is an instance — and it was only one of many — of how he was called upon at a moment's notice to pay some of his customers. Three men were involved in a fight which resulted in a serious crime. They had to take to the woods at once to escape arrest. Each was a depositor in the bank and hurriedly they awoke the banker at midnight, demanding their money. It was Sunday night and he had in his safe the receipts of Saturday night's and Sunday's trade. The banker gave the men their money and away they fled. There are scamps found among all peoples, and some of the foreign-speaking kind have played on the ignorance and credulity of the immigrants to get their money and do away with it. But these men are wholly different from the saloon-keeper or grocer, who has grown into the business of banking after years of honest and quiet trans- actions among his friends. The foreign speculator is a novice ; he offers inducements in the form of high interest and favorable exchange rates, employs runners to get business, and after a stay
224 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
of some months, disappears. Take, however, the thousands of men doing banking business for foreigners in towns and villages, camps and cities, and they are honest and trustworthy men, who render an invaluable service to their countrymen.
Bankers are Useful Men. — There is no place more popular in the foreign community than the banker's. There, friends meet for a smoke and chat ; there many of them receive their' letters and write to their friends and relatives at home ; from there they send remittances to the homeland ; and if they want legal advice, the banker is their confidant. If a foreigner buys a piece of land and puts a house upon it, the banker is the man who is consulted, and if he wants to borrow, he will find him the money. The banker is the leader of the society to which immi- grants belong and if he has a hall, there the society meets for the transaction of business. If the foreigners are in trouble, to him they come and he is the man who bails them ; if they want an attorney, his lawyer is the man who is called. If legal complications arise and it is necessary to secure evidence from the homeland, he is the one who can best help them, for he knows the consul in the nearest city and is in communication with him. He subscribes to the leading papers published in the language of his people in America and gets the news from the old country ; hence he is the source of information to his friends and can tell of conditions in the fatherland. His circle of acquaintances in America is large and if the foreigner resolves to move, he attaches a button to his coat so that a trusty friend at the point of destination can identify him and lead him to his friends. If the alien goes to the old country, the leader can advise him as to line and time, sell him a ticket both by rail and by boat, advise him as to the best way to make the journey, and tell him about friendly and reliable houses at which to stay. The banker is also a leading man in the church, and the priest is his friend ; when death comes to the home, he is a friend in these trying circumstances, and when a subscription is started for the widow and orphans, he heads the list. No value can be placed upon the usefulness of the banker to his fellow-men, and these varied services are, for the most part, freely rendered and
BANKS AND SAVINGS 22$
should be put in the balance when we estimate the returns to the depositors in dollars and cents. Are there any native-born who could and would render these services to the immigrants? Americans after the Trade. — American banks have, in recent years, recognized the importance of this financial business of foreigners and have tried to attract some of the trade. They have installed foreign exchange departments, put foreign- speaking men in charge, and advertised in the language of the immigrant that they are ready to do business. In every town and city where an honest effort of this kind is made, the bank has caught some of the trade, but it is almost invariably that of foreign-speaking men who have been in the country many years and who have learnt to confide in Americans. Whatever foreign exchange business American bankers in small cities do, it is through Americanized foreign-speaking men, who use the local bank for foreign exchange business rather than a bank in a large city or one in a European city. The American bank will not catch the trade of the immigrant single man, the new- comer, the one who looks with suspicion upon everything American, and who would as soon think of entering, in his coarse garments and with his uncomely gait, into the palace of a millionaire, as step into the marble-faced, mahogany-upholstered, and brass- trimmed American bank. This man is a money saver, and he will put it in the hands of the saloon-keeper or grocer rather than in those of the authorized banker. He prefers to go with his $10 or $20 savings to the small room of a friend which is dirty and untidy, rather than to the elegant quarters of American banks. He is known in the foreign bank, he has a personal friend in the banker, he can come in his working gar- ments and no one stares at him, he can come at any hour and any day, and he is welcome. Then it is understood that he puts his money there only for a time ; when it accumulates to $80 or $100, he withdraws it and sends it to the old country, to pay off the mortgage on a little property, or perchance to buy a piece of land, or to help the family and the old folks at home, or for safe-keeping in the government bank or the postal savings in- stitution. The Immigration Commission found that the average
Q
226 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
amount of money per depositor left in the hands of the immi- grant banker was $64.45, 1 and the total deposits in the hands of any one man at the same time seldom reached the sum of $10,000, while the average was less than half that amount.
Banking a Side Show. — The average immigrant banker cannot get a living out of the financial business he carries on with the small depositors. His bank is only a side show; it leads to other lines of business, which are far more important as factors in his subsistence. As long as he has an account against a man, the bill contracted in his store and saloon is covered ; the man may want a steam- ship ticket and buys it from him ; he may want to rent, buy, or sell a piece of property, or secure a mortgage, and the banker is there to do the business. In this way, the three thousand2 plus immigrant bankers do a flourishing business with the money intrusted to their care, while the average American banker, living solely by financial transactions, cannot compete with them. The latter, however, has an advantage in foreign exchange, for the former sending money abroad must use an authorized banking institution having international transac- tions. Some European banks, such as the Bank of Naples, the Union Bank of Prague, etc., give their papers to reliable immigrant bankers, who sell them to the immigrants sending money to the homeland. The sum is then forwarded to the European bank, which in turn pays the money to the party to whom it is sent. Many American banks also give their paper to immigrant bankers in small cities to sell, but the banks hold themselves responsible only when the amount of the paper sold is covered by the immigrant banker. Hence a foreigner may hold the paper of a first-class bank in New York City for $100, but if the man from whom he bought the paper has not covered the same, it will never reach the old folks at home in Russia or Italy or Poland.
Frauds Practiced. — It is in connection with this foreign
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on, "Immigration Banks," p. 46."
*Ibid-, p. 17.
BANKS AND SAVINGS 227
business that immigrants are most often defrauded. The media generally used to send money to Europe are the banks, steam- ship companies, express companies, and the foreign postal service. Sometimes the money fails to reach the relatives through the most reliable medium. A Turk in Dayton, Ohio, sent $100 through the postal service to his relatives in Turkey. He waited long, hoping against hope that the money would reach his folks, but letter after letter came, stating that no money was received. A year passed and he gave up all hope. He believed that the government in America was much the same as that of Turkey — manned by dishonest officials — and that his money was lost. The man became a member of an English class, and after a while he related his misfortune to the teacher, who asked, " Did you inquire at the post office about it? " "No," was the Turk's reply, "it won't do any good." " We'll see," said the teacher, and at once he set to work to find out the truth. He soon discovered that the money was safe, and having secured its return, the foreigner, rejoicing in his good fortune, said, " All Americans will go to heaven, for they are honest people." Many immigrants have suffered loss by intrusting their money to private bankers who do not send what they receive to the relatives of the foreigner in Europe. The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce l tells of an immigrant banker, who, around the Christmas season, had received $8000 for trans- mission abroad, not a cent of which was sent. The Immigration Commission tells of a Magyar who had $12,000 in funds intrusted to him to send to the homeland, and he absconded with that sum. A man bent upon deception can fool the credulous foreigner. It takes weeks to hear from the hills of Galicia or the plains of southern Russia, and when the complainant asks the banker how it is the money was not sent, he can make the excuse that an error was made in the list sent to European bankers, and that it will be immediately rectified. Designing men can thus allay the suspicion of these ignorant men for two or three months, and then disappear or become insolvent.
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on, " Immigration Banks," p. 115.
228 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
The same deception has been practiced upon many men who buy steamship tickets for friends in the homeland, intending to come to America. The ticket never reaches the party, or a bogus paper is sent, and the good money paid the fraudulent agent is lost.
The Amount of Fraud. — Fraud, misrepresentation, em- bezzlement, are found in these financial transactions among foreigners as among English-speaking men.1 The differ- ence is that a designing man can work a group of child- like foreigners much easier than a native-born can a group of English-speaking. A grocer or a saloon-keeper may have the whole of the wages of his confiding boarders, he may be implicitly trusted to take from the account what is due him, and then deposit the remainder to the credit of the wage earner. If hard pressed in a business transaction or in meeting his bills, he is likely to misappropriate the funds and defraud the trust- ing boarders. This may be done without intention to embezzle the funds. In the panic of 1907, scores of immigrant bankers had the funds intrusted to them tied up in real estate, and when the run came, they were unable to turn their holdings into cash and were forced to insolvency. There are some unscrupulous men in the business. A banker may sell steamship tickets to men four or six weeks before they start. When the party, the day before he sails, comes for the ticket upon which he had paid a certain sum, he is told that the fare has advanced $2 or $3. The man is ready to go and rather than withdraw he pays the excess charge. But, taking the immigrant bankers as a whole, they are a body of conscientious men, and we are inclined to believe that if better trained and cultured men were given the opportunity to increase in riches by trading upon innocency and ignorance, which is so easy for these men to do, their record
1 " Although banking functions are more or less forced upon men of this character, and although they may be exercised in a thoroughly honorable way by many, the fact remains that many hundreds of thousands of dollars belonging to immigrant laborers are handled by ignorant, incompetent and untrustworthy men." See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on, "Immigration Banks," p. 22.
1 See also Report ol the Commission of Immigration of the State of New York, pp. 25 f.
BANKS AND SAVINGS 229
would possibly not be as clean. Sixty-four per cent of the immigrants coming to America in recent years have their passage prepaid ; that is, in years when the immigrant stream touches the million mark, 640,000 persons come in on tickets paid for by relatives in this country, and in connection with the tickets sent these hundreds of thousands there was no fraud. We have no way of finding out how many persons are defrauded by men selling bogus steamship tickets, but, taking into con- sideration the volume of business, it is very small. The New York Commission of Immigration investigated the failures of immigrant banks in that state from September i, 1907, to Sep- tember i, 1908, the year of the panic, and found the total liabilities of twenty-five firms amounted to about $1,500,000. We are told that at the time more than a thousand immigrant bankers were doing business in the state, and 975 of them were able to weather the financial storm that swept over the country during that year. At the time of the investigation, these banks must have had in hand over $7,000,000 in deposits, and that year no less than $275,000,000 were sent to Europe through the hands of immigrant bankers. It is not known how much of this passed through the hands of the men doing business in the Empire State, but it is safe to put it at a third. Thus at the time of the investigation, these thousand immigrant bankers in New York State did a business of $100,000,000 and 2.5 per cent of them failed and their liabilities were 1.5 per cent of the sums handled. Compare this with the record of American bankers in this year of panic and it does not appear so horrible, and then add that these immigrant bankers for the most part were under no legal compulsion and supervision, but left to the ad- monition of their own conscience, and the record is highly complimentary to the men in this business.
Postal Savings serve Good Purpose. — Many of the immi- grant bankers were hard pressed when the panic of 1907 came. The foreigners were scared and mistrusted their best friends. An Italian in the city of Pittsburgh went after his savings amounting to $1800. The banker gave it to him and the man had no place to keep it. He took it to the East Liberty sub-
230 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
station post office, gave it to the young lady in charge of the office for safe-keeping and did not ask for a receipt of any kind. In a few days he returned and took out nineteen post-office orders for the amount. Thousands of foreigners during the year of financial depression used the postal money orders for purposes of saving. This assumed such proportions that the postal authorities conducted an investigation and found that its orders were issued in one year to the amount of $8,000,000, and it would have been much more had not post-masters "been compelled to refuse to accept deposits offered by foreigners for safe keeping." The one thing the foreigner needs is a safe place to keep his money, and this should be afforded him by the government of the United States. Many of the Italians send money to Italy to be deposited in the postal savings bank of that nation. They have more confidence in the impoverished government of the homeland than in the institutions of the richest nation of the world. We hear constantly of the stream of gold flowing back to Europe. The volume is large, but the average sum sent per man is less than $36.! These men's total savings flowing eastward aggregate hundreds of millions in years of prosperity, but the sum divided by the number of senders amounts to about a month's wage to unskilled workers. Our postal savings banks, when brought within reach and knowl- edge of the foreigners, will undoubtedly check this flow and give these men, as well as our own wage earners, a convenient and safe medium to lay aside their savings.
Legislative Safeguards. — Many states have tried to safe- guard the interest of the foreigner by passing laws, putting the banker under bond and making his accounts subject to revision by state officials. One of the effects has been to drive this class of business into the hands of strong firms capable of putting up the required bond, while smaller ones have gone to hiding. In Massachusetts, the bond is regulated according to the amount of business done, in New Jersey, New York, Con- necticut, and Ohio, it is a fixed sum, $20,000, $15,000, $10,000,
aSee Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on, "Immigration Banks," p. 85.
BANKS AND SAVINGS 231
and $5000, respectively. The bonds of a surety company may be received in each state, and the Massachusetts bank commis- sioner says, " While every endeavor is made to render these bonds as strong as possible, they are unsatisfactory at best," while to get this surety the foreigner has to pay much more than the native-born. There are in every state laws against fraud, and the difficulty met with in prosecuting immigrant bankers guilty of embezzlement is twofold — the reluctance of a for- eigner to testify against his countryman and bear the expense of recovering a sum less than $50, and the impracticability of bring- ing to court satisfactory evidence that money has been retained which should be sent to Europe. These same difficulties con- front executive authority no matter what laws are passed.
State Regulations Limited. — State supervision of accounts will only reach firms doing a large business and able to employ capable bookkeepers. These will be found in populous indus- trial centers, but such a law will not reach the storekeeper in a mining town, who accommodates his friends by putting his safe at their service, and whose accounts no accountant could decipher. You cannot legislate against laws of friendship, trust, < and confidence, and as long as the single man saves money and confides in the saloon-keeper or the grocer, he will trust him with his savings, and will request him to send them across the water ) via the channel he thinks best. The laws of Massachusetts and New Jersey may have done some good in protecting the foreigners against fraud, but if similar laws were passed in Pennsylvania, New York, and Illinois, the vast majority of small immigrant bankers in mining patches and camps, small villages and towns, would not be touched. They would simply do secretly what they now do openly, and the foreign-speaking to a man would have another occasion to practice anarchy. The better way is to extend the postal savings system, educate the foreigner to its use, put it within convenient distance of every mining town and camp in the country, enlist the cooperation of employers in making it easy for the men to deposit their money, encourage the prosperous immigrant banker to attach himself to a reliable firm of bankers whose name he can use and
232 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
back of whom the firm stands — these will do more to eliminate the small percentage of evil incident to immigrant banking than laws passed especially designed to regulate immigrant banks. This will also avoid class legislation and will not be the occasion of perplexity to small banking concerns in rural communities.
CHAPTER XVI
CRIME AND THE COURTS
AT the close of a stereopticon lecture, delivered in one of the leading cities of the East, in which two charts were exhibited, showing the relative criminality of the foreign-born and the native-born, a gentleman, prominent in public affairs, came up and said : " The most striking thing in the lecture to me were the charts showing that the native-born was more criminal than the foreign-born. I have always thought differently and that is the public impression." Yes, it is the public impression and one which is well-nigh impossible to correct. There are many reasons for this. When a foreigner commits crime, the fact that he is foreign-born is mentioned, and the innate antip- athy felt by all men against those coming from foreign lands deepens the impression made by the event ; then follows a hasty generalization, that all foreigners are criminals. Many atro- cious deeds have been perpetrated by immigrants and the shock felt by the native-born intensifies the prejudices against aliens and the prevailing impression is that most foreigners are barbarous beyond measure. Foreigners also live in urban communities where the record of their crimes is given the greatest publicity.
Facts Published. — The facts, however, show that the criminality of the foreign-born in America is not larger than that of the native-born. Several investigations have been made and the figures are in favor of the foreign-born. The American Journal of Sociology in 1896 brought out the facts very clearly, but this and subsequent investigations have not been efficient to correct the impression of the excessive criminality of foreigners believed in by so many Americans. Recent statistical investigations have been made and, notwithstanding
233
234
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
the great influx of southeastern peoples, the comparison of the criminal record of the foreign-born and the native-born is still in favor of the former. Of the total number of prisoners in Sing Sing on September 30, 1909, the foreigners only formed 25 per cent, while hi the city of New York they formed 43 per cent of the population. The Federation Review, November, 1909, published figures gathered from the records of the Court of General Sessions in the county of New York, of persons con- victed of crime for the years 1904-1908, and the following is the table : —
COUNTRY OF NATIVITY |
CONVICTIONS 1904-08 |
PER CENT |
United States |
o 026 |
64 2 |
Italy |
I 230 |
8.8 |
Russia .... |
1,002 |
7.1 |
4.12 |
2.O |
|
8*. |
.6 |
|
285 |
1.0 |
|
*27 |
7.8 |
|
r 7 |
||
65 |
,(T |
|
63 |
,C |
|
7H |
.e |
|
Other Countries |
err |
7 O |
Total foreign |
tr od.6 |
*.<; 8 |
Figures favor the Foreign-born. — In the census of 1900, the native-born formed 57.8 per cent and the foreign-born 4 2. 2 per cent of the population of this county, and, with the influx from southeastern Europe, we have every reason to believe that the percentage of the latter, when the table wasv prepared, was a few points higher. The most extensive investigation ever made into this question was carried on by the government, in 1904, and published under the caption " Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents in Institutions." The figures given show that " in the North Atlantic states, where the majority of the immi- grant prisoners were enumerated, the immigrant formed a
CRIME AND THE COURTS 235
smaller part of the whole male prisoners of known nativity than of the white male general population fifteen years of age or over." Next to the census investigation, the most satisfac- tory inquiry was that carried out by the Immigration Commis- sion, whose report on " Immigration and Crime " opens with this sentence : " No satisfactory evidence has yet been produced to show that immigration has resulted in an increase in crime disproportionate to the increase in adult population. Such comparable statistics of crime and population as it has been possible to obtain indicate that immigrants are less prone to commit crime than are native Americans." 1 Of the number of homicides committed in the United States in the last twenty years the foreign-born are credited with 16.50 per cent. The foreign-born forms 14.50 per cent of the population; but here again we should take into consideration that homicides are crimes generally committed in cities, and the foreign-born form from 20 to 43 per cent of the population of industrial urban communities in the immigration ztne.
Nature of Crime. • — In this discussion the nature of the offense should also be considered. The Immigration Commission,2 hi its investigation into the criminality of foreigners in New York City, Chicago, and Massachusetts, gives results which are not unfavorable to the immigrants. In " gainful offenses," such as blackmail and extortion, burglary, forgery and fraud, ^ lar- ceny and receiving stolen property, and robbery — crimes which are the result of meditation and planning, and perpetrated by Ishmaelites who wage war against society — these acts of law- lessness form a larger proportion in the record of native-born criminals than in that of immigrants, the ratio being as 10 to 6. In offenses of personal violence, such as abduction and kidnap- ing, assault, homicide, and rape, the immigrant leads the native- born, the proportion being as 4-3 to 3-9. In offenses against public policy, such as disorderly conduct, drunkenness, malicious mischief, violation of city ordinances, the foreign-born still lead, the figures being 88.4 as compared with 84.9. In offenses
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on, "Immigration and Crime," p. 7. 2^-> PP- 2O f-
236 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
against chastity, the foreign-born and the native-born have about the same percentage of criminality. In the study, it is also worthy of note that among the foreign-born in these various groups of criminals, the men of the new immigration are not among the worst of offenders. In crimes connected with pros- titution the French lead ; in drunkenness and disorderly ^conduct the Scotch and Irish lead ; in forgery, the English and the Ger- mans lead; and in gainful offenses, the last two nationalities stand at the head of the list of immigrants. When we come to crimes due to passion, leading to assaults upon persons and violent deeds, the Italians, the Lithuanians, and Croatians lead, while 86 per cent of the criminality of the Greeks in New York City are violations of corporation ordinances, principally ped- dling without license, and another 10 per cent is credited to disorderly conduct and violation of sanitary laws. Hence the New York Commission of Immigration l comments : "A large percentage of the offenses committed by immigrants in New York City, and this is true to even a larger degree in the case of aliens, are such non-criminal offenses as the violation of corporation ordinances and the sanitary code . . . (which) do not imply actual criminality or criminal motives on the part of the violators." Having these facts before us, we may look into the criminal life of foreigners as typified in specific cases.
Brutal Savagery. — The savage is not far removed from most men in the common walks of life ; at the least provocation he comes to the fore. This is the case with the foreigners from southeastern Europe. Most of them have no moral turpitude, but heinous crimes are committed when passion is inflamed by drink or personal insult — then any weapon that happens to come to hand is used for an assault. A group of foreigners, in Aurora, 111., were engaged in a fight ; one of the men seized a pick and struck another on the head, making a gash two inches deep in the skull. The victim was instantly paralyzed, but under medical treatment he gained consciousness and the use of his limbs excepting one foot, which is still in a paralyzed condition. 1 "Report of Commission of Immigration," State of New York, p. 63.
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237
Two Hungarians quarreled in a saloon in Baltimore; one of them seized a broken glass and ripped open the face of the other fellow in a horrible manner. In the city of Hartford, two men fought in a saloon ; one of them, seeing a second-hand store close by, went in and bought a knife, then returning to the saloon, he saw a man drinking at the bar whom he sup- posed to be his enemy, and stealthily coming up from behind, he stabbed him to the death. The man was not a party to the fight. Two Italians fought in Yonkers, N.Y., when one of them cut off the other fellow's ear. The victim picked up the member, took it in his hand to the hospital and humbly asked the physi- cians if they would kindly sew it on again. The surgeons could not accommodate this man, although a remarkable feat was performed by these men some weeks previous. This was also executed on an Italian, who in a quarrel was stabbed in the heart ; the physican opened him, sewed the wound and helped the fellow to live another week. But of all savagery perfected by foreigners, the most horrible case was that of a man in Utica, N.Y. The fellow took three little children, two girls of eight and six and a little boy still younger, to the bush. He abused the eldest girl and tried to hide his sin by murder. The youngest girl lived, and, after a night in the open, her cries were heard by men going to work at five o'clock the following morning. She gave the clew to the arrest. The chief of police, while examin- ing the man, found that he suffered from gonorrhea and know- ing the foreigner's belief that cohabitation with a virgin was a sure cure for the disease, he drew from the fellow the story of his crime. A Lithuanian in his cups becomes more fierce than the beast of the forest; he will use tooth and nail to tear his victim, if other implements are not available. All this is a retrogression to savagery and can only be dealt with by the stern arm of the law, but, unfortunately, this is often wanting, and the crime that calls to heaven for punishment goes unpun- ished, for the foreigner has only killed a fellow foreigner.
Drink the Cause of Crime. — Most of these crimes are trace- able to drink and housing conditions. The vast majority of immigrants from southeastern Europe are not criminals in the
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fatherland. There is more lawlessness in foreign colonies in Pennsylvania than in Galicia, and more anarchy in Poland in Chicago than in Poland in Russia. We give this child of nature, dwelling in our cities and making more money than he ever saw in the homeland, too many saloons where " doctored " beer and " rotten " whisky are sold. These the degraded and vicious among the foreigners mix and then the demon awakes in them. In a section of South Chicago, the police officers go in pairs. When one was asked, " Why do you go in twos here? " he replied, " We dare not go single ; the foreigners go in squads and it is not safe for an officer to go alone." The saloons in the district are many, and it is when the foreign-born have these for their home that they become a terror to police and authorities. The saloon is not an accessory to crime in the lives of Greeks, Jews, Italians, Armenians, and Syrians, for tjjiey do not drink to excess ; but this is the cause of the majority of crimes in the lives of Slavs and Lithuanians, Magyars and Finns. But these people, when living in communities from which the saloons have been eliminated, are peaceful, law-abid- ing, and industrious. Of course, the Greek and Italian, the Jew and the Syrian furnish their percentage of criminals. Horrible crimes are committed by them, notwithstanding they do not sacrifice their reason to Bacchus. This only emphasizes the fact that the savage breaks out in every nation, and it can only be suppressed by the executive arm of government. Of all the foreign-born in the United States, none is more peaceful and law-abiding than the Chinese, and against these we have closed the door.
Crimes peculiar to Foreigners. — Certain crimes have become more prevalent in the country because of the coming of south- eastern Europeans. The Greeks and Italians have shown, in Chicago and New York, a distinct tendency to abduction and kidnaping ; the Russians are given to larceny and receiving stolen goods ; but possibly the greatest increase in crimes due to immigration is observed in drunkenness, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, the violation of city ordinances, and crimes incident to city life. Many foreigners also are fond of gambling and will
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freely risk their pennies, nickels, and dimes in the hope of win- ning prizes. The evil of prostitution has also been intensified by the desire for gain on the part of foreigners. In Gary, it is said that a foreigner sold his daughter for evil purposes for $500. The two men who made the purchase quarreled for first posses- sion and the one cut the throat of the other. The traffic in girls brought to America for criminal purposes has been largely traced to foreign-born men and women, while labor agencies in the hands of foreigners have been guilty, for extra fees, of sending ignorant and helpless foreign-speaking girls to work in disorderly houses. We are told that " the severity of our laws in the matter of counterfeiting is well known, but they have no terrors whatsoever for the gangs of Italian counterfeiters who are giving the Secret Service Department more trouble than it has ever had with native criminals of this order." The love of gain in many of these men leads to gross wrongs. The commis- sary in a labor camp charged a man for tobacco which he never used. The man protested, but the fellow replied, " It was here and you could use it." The foreign-speaking priest is not above stooping to cunning schemes to get money. Jesse Jones says of one of the schemes, " A typewritten letter, inclosing an alumin- ium heart-shaped medal with a cross upon it," is sent to for- eigners and the recipient is requested "to send twenty-five cents to the priest and give him the name of three friends to whom the same will be sent." Some men, familiar with the custom of making the sign of the cross as a promise to perform certain things, have used it to wheedle credulous newcomers out of their money. In Detroit, the railroad companies had con- siderable trouble in safeguarding the brass connectings of air brakes on their cars. A pair of these cost the company from $14 to $15, but thieves would come and tear away the brass and sell it for junk. In another yard, the brass bearings of the cars were stolen — the thieves must have provided themselves with jacks before they could remove them.
Appropriating Fuel. — The foreigners are ever on the look- out for wood to kindle the fire. Men, women, and children may be seen any day in a foreign colony carrying their findings
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home. In Detroit, a property was in dispute between two parties. One of the men became very angry and told the Poles to tear down the house and carry it away. They did so. A police officer was summoned, but he was helpless to stop the depredation. In another city, a brewery owned a building used as a saloon in a foreign quarter. The saloon-keeper moved out, and that night the foreigners came, tore down the building and, before morning, nothing but the foundation was left. Of course, neither of these buildings was of a very high character, but it shows the propensity of these people to appropriate for personal use what is not safeguarded by personal possession. It well illustrated what Mr. Palmer, in " Russian Life," says : " Many a peasant who was not starving would, nevertheless, not hesitate to carry off a basket of potatoes or a piece of bacon if he happened to wish for it and could escape detection. His conscience would be quite at rest, for he would consider that such property was not personal, but belonged to the estate." l A detective in Detroit had much trouble with a family of Poles, having five boys, each of whom had been in the industrial home. The parents, during the years the boys stole, enjoyed the fruits of the spoil and encouraged the lads in their work ; the only time they felt sorry was when an officer caught one of the lads. The managers of state reformatories say that 75 per cent of the young criminals have no sense of moral obligation: in the struggle for subsistence, the sense of right and wrong is crushed out of their lives. It seems to be pretty much the same in the case of many foreigners from certain sections of Europe, and the seriousness of the situation is, that they feel a sense of justifica- tion in theft and commit it without compunction. A banker in Omaha said that most Greeks were wholly unreliable in monetary matters.
Foreigners hide Crime. — Police, detectives, and constables have difficulty in bringing foreigners to justice. The chief obstacle is the unwillingness of immigrants to reveal the hiding place of criminals or give the officers of the law such information as would lead to their arrest. Two Hungarians, in a western
1 See page 101.
SAVING THE COAL BILL Children of Foreign-born Parents gathering Wood and Coal for the Family Fire.
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city, quarreled as they were going home after an evening spent in drink. One of them threatened the other, and, to forestall an attack, the man took out a knife and stabbed his friend. The assailant was arrested and put in jail; the injured man was taken to the hospital, where he lay for two weeks. As soon as he left the hospital, he went to see his friend in jail and bailed him out. When the trial came, the injured man testified that his friend did not mean to hurt him, and he begged the judge to liberate him. A chief of police in an eastern city gave the following account of an Italian who shot two men in a quarrel. The man was arrested and acknowledged his crime. The chief took the criminal to the hospital where the two men lay, and leading him to the ward in which one of the men was treated, asked him, "Is this the man who shot you?" The patient replied, " Yes." The criminal then added, " I didn't mean to shoot him," and he asked pardon of the man and wanted to kneel down and pray with him. The chief then took the criminal to see the second man and asked him the same question, " Is this the man who shot you? " The patient said, " No." The prisoner said, " Yes," and the wounded man replied, "No, you not shoot me." The explanation was, the wounded man did not want the criminal committed ; he preferred to have him free so that he might have a chance to settle the score. An Italian contractor, in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., had a dispute with one of his nployees and would not pay him his wages. The man went to the contractor's home about ten o'clock in the morning when from twenty-five to thirty other men were present, demanding his pay, and on being again refused, he stabbed the man to death. Not one of the thirty men present raised a hand to detain the prisoner, and the fellow with his accomplice made good their escape. To understand this attitude of the foreigner toward the officials of the state, the following quotation is illuminating : " That false sense of honor called Omerta makes all Sicilians regard giving evidence against a criminal as an abomination. This feeling, which exists to a certain extent even in other parts of Italy, explains why the judges appear so severe on the prisoners before the verdict, and why they attach so much weight to
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evidence of Carabinieri and police officials; they know that these are the only people they can trust." 1
Foreigners Escape. — The same tendency to hide the criminal is found among other foreign-born people of the new immigra- tion. A Greek in a western city had committed murder and made good his escape. The detective traced him as far as Kansas City and then lost his clew. He returned home, kept quietly on the hunt. After some weeks, he saw a letter stating that the criminal had returned to Kansas City. He took the letter with him and, finding the writer, he asked him, " Where is the criminal? " The Greek at once denied all knowledge of him. The detective showed him his letter and immediately the fellow wilted — yes, he would show him where he stayed. It was late and before they reached the place where the fellow roomed it was about midnight. The Greek guide refused to go farther than the street corner, then, pointing out the house, he fled as if in mortal terror. The criminal had threatened to cut this man's throat and he was very much afraid. The detective believed that the Greeks in that territory have some secret society to defend the criminal and punish the " squealer." The same tendency to hide crime is true of the Slavs. A Croatian committed murder and was followed by the detectives. His fellow-countrymen were interviewed as to his whereabouts; they seemed willing to give all information, while at the same time they were sending money to the fellow to get out of the country. A gang of ten or fifteen Lithuanians in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, under the leadership of " Terrible Pete," held a section of the territory in terror for several years, until finally the leader and some of his followers were brought to justice. No matter where the foreigner is, he seems to be able to make good his escape. In the tenement districts, the alleys aid him to flee, and in small communities his fellow-countrymen will not make the crime known until he has time to escape. To bring this man to a consciousness of his duty to the state, to secure his aid in the detection of crime, to bring the criminal to justice is a task that will take time. Jacob Riis tells us that it
i Villari, "Italian Life in Town and Country," pp. 230 f.
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is not hopeless ; he says that some Italians in New York City give up their friends to the officers of the law, " which seems to indicate that the old vendetta is being shelved and a new idea of law and justice is breaking." 1
Murder is Murder. — 'This criminality of the foreigners will not cease until the officers of the law in the United States resolve to follow the foreign-born criminal when he kills his fellow- countryman as assiduously as they follow him when he kills a native-born. One of our district attorneys used to say when a Slav killed a Slav, or an Italian killed one of his countrymen, " Let 'em go ; I don't care about the business." Many good people say when murder is committed, "It is only one less foreigner." Less than 3 per cent of the foreign-born murderers are brought to justice, and the victims of their atrocity, almost to a man, are their foreign-born brethren. When " Red-nose Mike " lay in ambush to kill a paymaster and perpetrated his dastardly deed, the arm of the law followed the murderer across two continents and brought him back to America to stand trial, and inflicted upon him the full penalty of the law; but if this same fellow had killed one of his own people, the arm of the law would not have followed him over two counties. When a Commission investigated the Chinese question on the Pacific coast, it brought to light sixty murders of Chinese, and not one of the murderers was brought to trial. A foreman of a gang of Italians, working on a railroad in a southern state, became angry at one of them, took a steel bar and struck him on the head, and instantly killed him. He was not tried, much less punished, for it was " just one less wop." Murder is murder no matter who is the victim, and the crime of homicide can only be brought home to the foreigner when impartial and stern jus- tice is dispensed in the land to all nationalities living under the stars and stripes.
Foreigners keep Courts Busy. — Wherever foreigners form the major part of the population the courts are kept busy. The district attorney of Westchester County, N.Y., made the state- ment that 40 per cent of the crime is furnished by 30 per cent
^'Battle with the Slum," p. 187.
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of the population. In the anthracite coal counties of Penn- sylvania, the judges would have very little to do if the foreigners were to observe the law and keep out of court. The foreigner, however, is not wholly responsible for this state of affairs. In these communities are found an army of constables and justices of peace who look for business and create it; also runners who stir up strife and shyster lawyers who pose as champions of the poor, ignorant workingman, parasites who trade upon the ignorance of the foreigner and take his money and sometimes his property in the most heartless fashion; saloon-keepers who stop not at anything to debauch and debase the foreigner ; and back of the retail rum seller stands the native-born brewer who reaps his golden harvest by the sale of the cause of 60 per cent of the crimes of which immigrants are guilty. In no state where these conditions obtain will the foreigner cease to be a criminal, any more than malaria will cease in swampy land where decayed vegetation lies. The vast majority of men in the new immigration come to us innocent and confiding, but they soon lose these qualities in an environ- ment largely due to native-born agencies. The sentiment of an Italian expressed in the following words reflects the attitude of the average foreigner in America, " You know American mans ain't good to Italians only he make de graft." Where Americans are just and sympathetic, the result is different. An employer of labor in Pennsylvania banished the saloon from his premises, he protected the foreigner from the curse of drink ; at first, many of them protested and believed that they could not work without beer. The employer was firm and, to-day, he has the best group of foreign-speaking workmen found in any plant in the country. Instances are not uncommon where patriotic and Christian lawyers have championed the cause of the foreigners against men who, under the guise of legal trans- action, were no better than blackmailers. To drive out of business the smooth and slippery constable who incites the foreigner to crime ; to banish the justice of the peace who knows only how to impose fines and collect them ; to drive out of business the runners and bondsmen who grow fat upon the inno-
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cent immigrants ; to banish the shyster lawyer in whose clutches the foreigner is as a fly in the maw of a spider — this we owe in justice to the immigrants.
Environment and Crime. — Some members of the Immigration Commission are anxious to devise some means of detecting persons coming to this country having criminal tendencies but who are not actual criminals ; that is visionary, but it is perfectly prac- tical for each law-abiding citizen to resolve to fight conditions that make criminals of the immigrants when they come to our land. Like breeds like. Native-born criminals generate foreign-born ones. Take the following as a sample of how the buzzards swoop down upon the prey. A foreign-speaking butcher owed a girl $300. The store was foreclosed by a con- stable and that night half the goods were stolen. The fixtures and accompaniments for the butcher's trade were estimated at $800, but when the sale came off, a friend of the legal agent bought the whole in for $77.84. The expenses incident to the sale amounted to $75.84, and the young foreign-speaking girl, who had freely given her services to that man, got $2. The butcher would never have been able to do this of himself; his accomplices were the running and conniving knaves in the form of a constable and a justice of the peace. When these officers were brought to trial for malfeasance, the constable was brazen enough to swear in court that the girl owed him $7.50 for expenses. Could such a travesty of justice take place in any other civilized country? What must have been the im- pression made upon these foreign-speaking persons concerning justice in America? A Greek, in Kansas City, by the name of Pascal Pass, had traveled very extensively in America, as well as in Canada and South Africa. He acted as court interpreter occasionally and said that he had a brother who was official interpreter for the British government in Cape Colony. When asked if he observed any difference in the American courts as compared with those of Cape Colony, he smiled and said, " Here, I see perjury in every court, but there it is very different — it is a penitentiary offense." The foreigner when he comes into small towns, face to face with America's judicial institution,
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does not have the deference to authority he showed in Europe. There it is a part of his education and is well ground into him, but he is not long in America before he loses it. The men who hold the positions of justices of peace in industrial centers are often inefficient and ignorant, and many of the documents they execute are worthless and refused by county clerks. When aliens appear in higher courts, the tipstaff, as well as every other official, treats them as if their very presence there were an intrusion. A Polish woman, in one of the courts of Milwaukee, was on the stand giving evidence when one of the police officers referred to her as " Polack." She turned to him and said, " Would you like me to call you ' Irish ' ? " " No," was his reply. " And no more," said she, " do I like you to call me Polack. I'm as good an American as you are." She was better, and most of them are better Americans than the venal, grafting, grasping and inefficient petty officials who insult and bulldoze them in the courts.1
Crime begets Crime. — A public convention was held near Coatesville, Pa., soon after that holocaust of a negro in that town — the man was taken from a bed in the hospital and bar- barously burnt under a tree on the public highway. Within twenty yards of the scene of that savagery lived some twenty families of foreigners, but not one of them had a hand in that shameful act. Many of them witnessed it, they knew what was going on, they saw native-born Americans perpetrating a deed that was once common on this continent among savages of three hundred years ago. Can any one tell what the foreigners of Coatesville think of their American neighbors? This spirit of lawlessness is the one thing that makes anarchists of so many immigrants. They cannot interpret the idea of liberty save in terms of recklessness and lawlessness as witnessed in the lives of so many Americans. An Italian was once asked what was the meaning of the Fourth of July and he said, " Free day, do
1 When I asked a judge in one of the cities of New York why foreign-born criminals escaped, he said : " They are too smart for the type of men we select for police officers. The average officer will not compare for a moment with the foreign- born criminal in cunning and resource, hence they can't catch them."
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what you will, kill a man and you're free." The pushcart man, the licensed saloon-keeper, the peddler, the violators of the cus- tom laws, have learnt that it is possible to evade the law with impunity. They know that a dollar covers a multitude of transgressions and that every wave of reform is ephemeral. Many of them have been trained by sinister politicians not to observe the laws, and the profits of illegality are divided with their advisers and conniving officers. All this is drifting to anarchy and has a bad effect upon the incoming millions of southeastern Europe. The cure for all this is not more legisla- tion, for many legislators in municipality and state are the gravest offenders. The remedy must come by a quickened ^ social conscience. The sense of justice and right in the heart j of the foreigners must be strengthened by the native-born, so ^ that they will help the forces of right to put out of business the sinister politician, the ignorant notary public, the inefficient justice of the peace, and the notorious constable. Locks and bolts have their use in curbing the savage beast in the human breast, but these repressive agencies will not suffice; the locks and bolts in the soul of civilized men must be appealed to, and each one individually taught to suppress those criminal tenden- cies which have cost man so much in his march from savagery to civilization. America's only hope of seeing the foreigners doing this is by the native-born taking the lead — then the new immigration will follow.
CHAPTER XVII
POLITICS
POLITICS have played an important part in the question of immigration, varying in its attitude toward the foreigners, according to the economic condition of the country, but ever jealous of its rights to govern the affairs of the nation according to American ideals and ever ready to combat any supposed influence arising from the presence of foreigners in the body politic. From colonial times down to the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, immigration was taken as a matter of course and looked upon with favor. Nothing was done to regulate it save the enactment of a law in 1819, regarding the carriage of steerage passengers. The words of Hannibal Hamlin well express the consensus of opinion of Americans, previous to 1850 : " I believe in principles coeval with the foun- dation of government, that this country is ' the home of the free,' where the outcast of every nation, where the child of every creed and of every clime would breathe our free air and partici- pate in our free institutions."
Catholic Immigrants Feared. — Early in the thirties of the last century, this attitude of the native-born changed. Immi- gration at this time did not exceed an average of 60,000 a year, but the native-born of the cities were alarmed and sought refuge in the organization of the Native American Party and the Know Nothing Party. These were movements largely based upon prejudice against immigrants and especially those of the Catholic faith. The agitation was strongest in the states of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, into which, at this early period, the major part of the immigrants went. The movement, however, swept to the West and South. In 1840, the majority of the voters in Cincinnati were foreign-born,
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and the cry was raised that " our institutions, our liberties, our system of government were at the mercy of men from the monarchical countries of Europe." Four years later, the Order of United Americans was established and the following words appeared in its constitution : " During the last few years, events of the most alarming nature have transpired, which threaten to annihilate these glorious institutions bequeathed to us by our patriotic sires. . . . We with sorrow have seen many of our countrymen united with the citizens of foreign-birth, in enacting laws and supporting principles that must inevitably end in the subversion of our liberties, unless we rally in the majesty of our strength now, while we have the power, and forever stay the further progress of dangerous invasion upon our established laws." These high-sounding words, at a time when immigration was fluctuating between 40,000 and 80,000 per annum, cannot be interpreted save on the principle of jingoism, which was effectual in local politics, but had very little effect upon national legislation. At the very time these movements were strongest, President Tyler, referring in his message to Congress to immi- gration, used the following words : " We hold out to the people of other countries an invitation to come and settle among us as members of our rapidly growing family, and for the blessing which we offer them, we require of them to look upon our country as their country and unite with us in the greatest task of preserv- ing our institutions and thereby perpetuating our liberties." This was a dispassioned statement of a statesman and stands in striking contrast with the attempt made by the leaders of the above parties to impose a head tax of $20 upon every immi- grant and make the period of probation for citizenship twenty- one years.
America for Americans. — The next impassioned wave against incoming immigrants swept over the country in the fifties of the last century, when famine, oppression, and abject misery drove hundreds of thousands of Irish to America. Then the Know Nothing Party, in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, and the New England states, demanded " that Americans must rule America, and to this end native-born citizens should
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be selected for all state, federal, and municipal government employment in preference to all others." The advocates of these principles were active and successful in state and local politics, and their ambition was to carry the issue into national politics and make the whole country their field of operation. They nominated a candidate for the presidency in 1855, carried the agitation to Congress, and proposed laws which, if passed, would have radically changed the policy of the nation regarding the admission and the naturalization of immigrants. The move- ment failed. It was opposed to the fundamental principles of democracy and derived its main support from selfish men anxious to retain the spoils of office. The spirit of the statesmen of the nation was very different and their words and actions in Congress showed no sympathy with the Know Nothing Party. The heart of the nation was also true to the basic principles of democracy. At the very time the " Know Nothings " reached the acme of their strength, the federal government gave the right of suffrage to all foreigners declaring their intention to become citizens in the territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and laid down the principle that free grants of land should also be given to immigrants who settled and made America their future home.
Contract Labor Law Passed. — After the Civil War, Congress was disposed to encourage immigration, in order to supply the demand for labor, which then became very urgent. Legislation favorable to this policy was passed, but not without opposition. At this early date, the advocates of the contract labor law made their demand on Congress; they kept up the agitation until a law was passed, in 1885, closing the door against the immigrant who contracted for a sure means of subsistence when he landed in a strange country. Since that time, nearly every Congress has had the immigration question before it, either to appoint a commission to investigate the condition of immigrants both in America and in Europe, or to modify the laws regulating their admission as well as the process of naturalization. The conflict between state and nation, as to which had the right to legislate upon immigration, was finally decided in favor of the latter,
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and soon uniform laws relating to the admission of immigrants were passed and enforced in every port at which immigrants landed. Since the early eighties of the last century, when the federal government took over the work, many changes have been made in the immigration laws. The head tax has been raised from 50 cents to $4, and efforts are still being made to raise it to $10 or more. Many attempts have been made to impose upon immigrants a literary test, but the words of Presi- dent Cleveland, that it was safer " to admit a hundred thousand immigrants who, though unable to read and write, seek among us a home and opportunity to work, than to admit one of those unruly agitators who cannot only read and write, but delights in arousing by inflammatory speech the illiterate and peacefully inclined to discontent," have found a response in the American heart that has defeated every such effort. He answered the claim that the new immigrants were undesirable by saying, " The time is quite within recent memory when the same thing was said of immigrants who, with their descendants, are now numbered among our best citizens," and the efforts made to cut off the " birds of passage " — men who crossed the border from Canada, Mexico, etc., to secure seasonal work in this country — the President declared " illiberal, narrow, and un- American " and that the border states " have separate and espe- cial interests which in many cases make an interchange of labor between their people and their alien neighbors most important, frequently with the advantage largely in favor of our citizens." Retrogression or Progress. — Notwithstanding these sane words of President Cleveland, the question of immigration is not settled. The present outlook is that the sixty-third Con- gress will open up the whole question, and discuss measures proposing radically to change present legislation. Three generations of Congressmen and legislators have discussed the immigration problem, involving the welfare of millions of persons, and never has the world witnessed more bigotry, self- ishness, and prejudice in the treatment of any question of public policy than have been exhibited in this. We have cen- sured the old world because it has tolerated the landlords to
252 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
dominate its politics; we have denounced as narrow and bigoted the restrictions imposed by European governments upon men because of creed and faith ; we have derided as medieval the barriers put upon the mobility of labor on the continents ; we have pronounced the attempts to withhold the rights of the franchise from the toiling masses of Europe unjust and inhuman, and yet in the " home of the free," the land of " inalienable rights," all these barriers to human progress have been preached with a fervor and a zeal that would put the statesmen of the houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg to shame. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, champions of the poor working- man have instituted petty persecutions against immigrants, of which every broad-minded American was thoroughly ashamed. The cry of " America for Americans " is base. The spirit of trade-unionism to monopolize the labor market is narrow. The demand to close the door against the peoples of south- eastern Europe is fatal to the realization of the brotherhood of man. The attempt to shut out from shops and mines, from camps and public works, all wage earners who are not citizens, disturbs the comity of nations. America has sovereign power over its territory, but among nations as among individuals there are courtesies and rights, and these must be shown to our neighbors. The United States has a right to say who can come in, but its policy in the exercise of this right should be based upon what is best for the harmonious development of its civili- zation and the peace and prosperity of its citizens, and not upon the interest of certain classes or sections of the country. If immigration is to be controlled, let it be done in the spirit of the twentieth century and not hi that of the dark ages. The rights of labor should be recognized, but not to the exclusion of those of capital and commerce. If the workmen of the world are to cooperate, restrictions as to travel, domicile, and choice of work must be removed. America has always guarded against the entrance of elements into the body politic that would pull down rather than build up the nation, and it does this to-day more thoroughly than ever before. The states have conserved the interests of the wage earners and thrown around this stand-
POLITICS 253
ard of living safeguards which ward off attacks from men of backward nations. But the statesmanship back of these meas- ures should not be narrow and selfish, nor accompanied by insult to older, and friendly peoples. Industrial America is in its infancy and must depend upon European labor for its growth ; the demands of the twentieth century civilization are yet far from being realized in America ; the fruition of the institutions laid down by the founders of the Republic are not enjoyed by any of this favored land ; and before this potential wealth, this higher civilization, and this heritage of wise ancestors can be ours, we must look beyond our own territorial boundaries and regulate our relation with other nations in the spirit of peace and good will, and in the light of the Christian conscience.
Naturalization more Difficult. — The law of 1906 has made the process of naturalization uniform throughout the country, has stopped the practice of " railroading " aliens in groups through naturalization courts, and tends to add dignity to the action by limiting the jurisdiction to a court of record. It has also made it more difficult and expensive for the alien to get the right of citizenship. A Magyar in Lorain, Ohio, was anxious to become a citizen. He was a good father, owned the house in which he lived, was sober and industrious, was influen- tial among his countrymen, but his knowledge of English and of government was hopelessly limited and he was debarred from entering into the family. The abuses common to the process of naturalization prior to the passage of this act were decried by all patriots, and they could only be remedied by Congressional action ; but when the standard was raised, some practical means ought to have been devised to aid the hundreds of thousands of the men of the new immigration, who would gladly become citizens if their education were broader and their knowledge of government more extensive. Thousands of these men possess all the manly qualities which make good citizenship, but they grew up in an atmosphere so different from our own, that it is very difficult for them to understand what our government is. The expenses attached to naturalization are high. Many of these men employ counsel, they must get two witnesses, and
254 THE N™ IMMIGRATION
although they come to court prepared to take the examination, they are not sure that they will be called. Some men, having lost time and money in going five times for their last papers and being disappointed each time, gave up the effort. The New York Immigration Commission l gives many instances of abuse, rowdyism, and graft in the courts of that state. One man said, " I lost six days of my working time, and was jeered at by the first clerk at the desk, and when I called the sixth time, he would not listen to me. I then went to the politician who went there with me and I was attended to at once." These conditions are bad and there is reason to believe that the immigrants as a whole fared better under the old law. Some clerks in naturali- zation courts are gentlemen, others are a terror to applicants. It is trying to many clerks to labor hard and long with for- eigners and receive inadequate compensation, but they should not try to get their pay by bulldozing and jeering " coming Americans." One of the courts of Vermont sent to the Com- missioner General of Immigration the statement that it cost the state $100 a day to hold court, and that each case of naturaliza- tion cost about $14 ; if the clerk of the court could not collect that amount from the government, it could not do the business. These difficulties, precipitated by the new law, have made it much harder and more expensive for aliens to secure the rights of citizenship. It is very important that the right of franchise should be properly valued and conferred with dignity upon aliens, but it is a mistake to throw obstacles in the way of worthy men who are anxious to assume the duties and obligations of citizenship.
Tests for Naturalization. — The right of the franchise is conferred by a court of record, but the examination is not uni- form ; for it depends upon the judge conducting it, and these have their likes and dislikes. The door to citizenship is more carefully guarded than ever before and the guard has become more strict as the number of immigrants coming in increases and their assimilation becomes more difficult. When the Irish came into the country in the fifties of the last century by the hun-
1 "Report of Commission of Immigration," pp. 64 f.
POLITICS 255
dreds of thousands, the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut refused the right of the franchise to all who could not read the Constitution. Other states in the North, South, and West have imposed a literary test upon all electors, but this has not been done in the states where the foreigners are found in large numbers. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, etc., where thousands of illiterate foreign-born electors are found, could not enforce the literary test ; and a law passed to that effect in these states would be ignored by the politicians, who have a way of their own in counting votes. There are many counties in these states where the balance of power is in the hands of the foreign-born, and the men in control of elections are not very particular if they can capture the foreign vote. It is better for every community to have the foreign-speaking unite with the family, as President Tyler put it, than to have them alienated in spirit and thought from other members of the municipality. Towns having large colonies of foreign-born men who have no voice hi the regulation of affairs are practicing what every free- born man resents — taxation without representation ; if en- trance into the rights of citizenship is made prohibitive to thou- sands of these men, then we cannot complain if they remain in America alien in sentiment and sympathy. There are wards in our large cities which are pocket wards — they are carried in the vest pocket of politicians. This is possible for the reason that they are largely populated by foreigners, some of whom have no voice in politics, while others have never been trained in American institutions and owe their vote to the ward boss. It is well to safeguard the process of naturalization, but there ought to be a way for the head of a family, the owner of a property, and a man of upright character and integrity, to come into the family although he may not be able to read the Constitution.
Should Probation be Longer? — Many good citizens have asked, should not the period of probation be extended to at least ten years? The question of fitness to become a citizen is not so much a matter of time as it is of character. The " un- desirables " in the new immigration are not any more numerous than they were in the old. When I discussed the fitness of
256 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
Poles for naturalization with a Polish priest, he said, " The Poles have fought for freedom and shed rivers of blood for liberty ; when they come to America, they find themselves in perfect sympathy with its ideals and institutions." No one familiar with Polish history can deny this, and yet many Ameri- cans believe that these men ought to stay for ten years before having a chance to work for the preservation of our institutions. The Italians are old at the game of politics. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they furnished political leaders to every country in Europe, and, in the last half of the nineteenth century, this nation was swayed by patriotic idealism so that its sons rallied around the standard of a sovereign leader and forged out the links that made united Italy. When these men come to America, buy homes, raise large families, and knock at the door of citizenship, is it just to teiHhem to wait for ten years before they can enter? It is true that thousands of immi- grants were in past years made citizens in a slipshod way. Then courts were largely a law to themselves and often under the sway of sinister politicians. Under these conditions, it is not strange that thousands of aliens were given the right of the franchise illegally ; but whose fault was it ? l Who were the guardians of naturalization ? The foreigners would never have been guilty of entering under false pretenses had it not been for native-born politicians, who marshaled gullible immigrants and led them through the door of naturalization as sheep are led to the shambles. At the root of all this question of naturalization He the integrity and honesty of sworn officials of native birth — men sworn to do what is best for their state, but who sacri-
1 The government had sent out scores of men to detect foreigners holding naturali- zation papers illegally. Never was a greater wrong done man than is done some of these innocent victims. A foreigner in Pittsburgh had exercised the right of the franchise for a generation, but some sleuth detected an irregularity in his naturali- zation process and began proceedings. The man's business was threatened and before he could get the matter settled, it cost him hundreds of dollars.
The Department of Justice, since 1906, has ruled that holders of illegally ob- tained papers, who were the victims of deception, and not guilty of any design to violate the law, should not be disturbed unless evidence is advanced showing a pos- itive disqualification or an attempt to deceive the court.
See Report of Division of Naturalization, 1910, pp. 9-10.
POLITICS 257
ficed their patriotism and their heritage by willfully disregarding the law regulating naturalization in their anxiety to win in the game of politics. This species of politicians is not extinct by any means, and what will an extension of probation mean to them? Every Mediterranean steamship which lands its passengers on Ellis Island brings scores of Bulgarians and Greeks fitter for the power of the franchise than hundreds of English- speaking electors, jwho wait for election day as hungry wolves do for the prey. < Adams County, Ohio, has no foreigners in it, and yet it was honeycombed with venal electors. Mississippi has as rich American blood as any state in the Union and just as much political corruption. The best way to secure honest foreign-born electors is for every native-born to resolve to be honest ; when this is done, recourse to legislative schemes to safeguard the ballot from the foreigner will be needless. ;
The Foreigners need Instruction. — The foreigner needs a helping hand to become an intelligent voter. Friendship and sympathy will do much, but they will not take the place of instruction ; if this man is to make the best of his opportunity and become one of the rulers of this nation, he must be taught how to rule. When the wife of a professor in New Haven asked her Mothers' Club how their husbands voted, the women smiled. When she urged the wives to answer, they said, " For the man who found them a job and gave them drink." Another for- eigner's wife said that her husband voted " for the man who paid for the vote." It was the professional politician who was next this man to see that he voted right. And why not? Was not the politician his friend? Yes, he found him work and gave him help when in trouble; he got him legal advice and got his wife into the hospital ; he stood the treats and saw that his children were returned to school ; he got help for them from the charities fund, and the widow he helped to a means of subsistence ; when the boy was arrested, he was the man that advanced the bail and got him off " easy " ; this politician is the foreigner's friend and counselor, and it would be mean not to vote for him. If this manipulator of elections has a thousand votes in his hand and can throw them as he thinks fit, is it
258 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
strange? Where are the agents of purity and righteousness, of justice and integrity ? Not among the foreigners ; they are too busy and too far away to help. Yes, there are exceptions. I know one Christian patriot who has taken the foreigner by the hand and led him to an intelligent conception of the duties and obligations of citizenship. He had a room, on the walls of which were the pictures of the leading statesmen of America, arranged chronologically, and he took pains to tell his foreign- born friends something about them. The aliens soon came to know those faces, to learn something of their services and their character and feel that they were their friends. He had a map of the United States, and he told the foreigners where these men fought battles, some of which they won and others they lost, but through the ordeal of blood rose a nation that stands in the van of the nations of the earth. He told them how the nation's territory extended from sea to sea and which of these faces on the wall had to do with the expansion ; he told them how the railroads came and how the wealth of farm and factory, mine and mill increased, so that to-day America is the richest nation on the earth ; he took them to the court house ; he brought the chief of police and the mayor, the district attorney and the judge to talk to them, so that they knew how the city was governed and how, link within link, the municipality, the county, the state, and the nation, make one great whole. Those foreigners went for their examination and passed, and the judge said it was the most satisfactory examination he ever conducted. Is there anything fantastic in such a plan? Cannot it be adopted in every school, settlement house, mission station, parochial school, hall, etc., in communities where foreigners live? Such a plan would, in five years, do more for the assimi- lation of the foreigner than another fifty years of legislative palaver and enactment.
Small Numbers Naturalized. — There are no fewer than 14,500,000 foreign-born persons in the United States, of whom 6,500,000 are males of voting age. Take an equal number of native-born persons and the number of males of voting age will be about half the above. The immigrant stream from south-
POLITICS
259
eastern Europe is 75 per cent male and the number of adults is about 80 per cent : we import men of mature years. The num- ber of foreign-born electors is not more than one-third of the total immigrants of voting age, and about 16 per cent have taken out their first papers.1 There are some nineteen hundred courts 2 exercising this power to naturalize, but the total number of aliens made citizens under the new law annually does not exceed 50,000. When we remember that the number of foreign-born adult males of voting age added to our population every year is not less than 400,000, it needs no argument to see that the number of men of voting age, having no voice in the government of the country, is multiplying very rapidly. All immigrants do not knock at the door of citizenship. Peoples differ in this respect. Some of the most reluctant are the English. Among the new immigra- tion, the Poles and Lithuanians, the Slovaks and the Finns,3 show a great desire to become electors. The Italian and the Greek are not so eager to identify themselves with this country. It partly depends upon the length of their stay in the country. Italians who stay in America ten or more years are, as a rule, citizens. The newer immigrants from the Balkan States have not been in the country long enough to become citizens in any large numbers, and it will be some time before they become a power in the politics of any community. These men have con- siderable difficulty with the new law.4
1 Immigration Commission, Abstract of Report on "Immigrants in Manufactur- ing and Mining, p. 208."
2 The number of State Courts and Federal Courts exercising naturalization jurisdiction during the years specified are as follows :
STATE COURTS |
FEDERAL COURTS |
|
IOO7 |
1678 |
201 |
IOCS |
2016 |
228 |
2177 |
217 |
|
2247 |
227 |
|
igij |
2270 |
229 |
'Immigration Commission, " Immigrants in Manufacturing and Mining," p. 208.
* Many immigrants from the Balkan States pay little attention to the name of
the ship in which they come and the date on which they land. If, however,
26o THE NEW IMMIGRATION
Some Foreigners in a Dilemma. — Some of the governments of the old world watch with jealous eye the naturalization of their citizens. Russia and Turkey regard the subjects who leave their territory as little better than deserters. This was the attitude of Italy for a long time, but of late years that coun- try has readjusted its policy and now does more for its sons across the seas than any other European government. Hungary and Greece keep a watchful eye over their sons, and patriotic Magyars and Greeks in America influence their countrymen to retain then: allegiance to the fatherland. Some immigrants find themselves in a dilemma when standing between two coun- tries. A young Magyar in New York City, broken in health and spirit, wanted to return to the fatherland. His trouble was asthma, contracted by working in one of the grinding shops of the West. I said to him, " A trip to Hungary may do you good." " Yes," was his reply, " but I cannot return. I fled from military service when I came, and if I return, jail awaits me." I saw that the boy's heart was on the plain of the Danube, but he feared incarceration. There is a barber in New York City who con- tinuously speaks enthusiastically of Italy, but he can't go to the land of his birth, because he olid not return to the fatherland when the government sent the summons for him to serve his term as a soldier. It is easy for a Pole, a Slovak, a Lithuanian and a Finn to swear allegiance to America, for each of these cherishes no love for the government that plays the part of a cruel stepmother to his people ; but it is different with the Italian and the Greek, the Bulgarian and the Roumanian. When we interviewed a leading Greek editor about the naturalization of his countrymen, he said : " We don't want them naturalized. We don't want them to leave Greece. We want ancient Hellas from the Turk, and the more Greeks who stay at home the better." Each one of the last mentioned nations has its political program, and is anxious to have its subjects retain their allegiance, in order to enable the fatherland to realize its aim. The native-born
they landed since June, 1906, they must give these details, else they cannot be naturalized. If a son a year old comes over with his father and the father cannot be naturalized, the son when he applies must remember the name of the boat in which he came and the date on which he landed, else he cannot be naturalized.
POLITICS 261
American should be broad enough to concede that a man may be proud of his race, love his mother tongue, be loyal to the faith of his fathers, and yet be a good American citizen.
The Foreign Newspaper. — The influence of the foreign press is cbnsiderable among the foreign-speaking, but it cannot be more relied upon to tell the truth than that of the average newspaper conducted by native-born editors. In New York City, one of the ablest Italians runs two papers, and in the last national campaign, the morning paper supported one party and the afternoon the other. One of the leading Italians in the coun- try said that it was generally understood that the Italian papers were for sale to the highest bidder. Much of the foreign press in the United States is venal, but in this respect it has had strik- ing examples in high places among the native-born. Foreign newspapers, however, sometimes play a twofold game; they take the cash of political aspirants, plead their cause and praise their virtues, and at the same time preach loyalty to the father- land and fidelity to their own national issues. This constant advocacy of racial patriotism is one of the most potent forces in retarding the Americanization of the foreigner. A Servian priest in his magazine affirms that he, as a foreigner, has a per- fect right to reconstruct the social and political life of the United States as he thinks best, regardless of the past history of the country, and some Americans say that he is right. To all foreigners who come up to the standard of admission, America bids welcome, but it is with the understanding that they indorse certain fundamental institutions and customs which form a part of the very life of the nation. Any immigrant out of sym-' pathy with these had better seek another country, for the United States is not the place for him. Most foreign newspapers are in sympathy with America, and many foreign-speaking editors are rendering as loyal service to their adopted country as any patri- otic newspaper run by native-born men. They feel that racial
1 If the suggestion of the Federal Immigration Commission, that the man who advocates the foreign-born in America to be loyal to their native country and not become citizens of the United States be deported, ever becomes a law, the editors of foreign newspapers will be cured of this duplicity.
262 TEE NEW IMMIGRATION
patriotism is out of place in America, that their people ought to learn English as soon as possible, that they should acquire the right of the franchise as quickly as possible, and that those who miss these opportunities stand in their own light.
The Saloon in Politics. — More powerful than the news- paper in the political life of the citizens of the new immigration is the saloon. There is hardly a drinking place in a foreign colony which does not have, around election time, its political club which is in touch with some political satellite. The vote is known to the politician and, when election day comes, he sees that the men are brought to the polls, each of whom he calls by name. Of course, the saloons are supposed to be closed on election day, but the beer flows all the same. In an election, a notice was sent by the chief of police to each saloon-keeper in East St. Louis, that his place of business was to be closed on election day. Each of these men posted the notice on the mirror back of the bar, made fun of it, and kept wide open. The vast majority of foreign-speaking men get their first lessons in Ameri- can politics in these saloons, at the hands of ward heelers. The foreign voter is magnified, treated, and often taken to the poll in a carriage or an automobile. All this is done from selfish motives and gives the foreign-speaking voter a wrong idea of the relation he holds to the municipal, state, and national govern- ment. Conditions would be far more serious if the various nationalities in our communities would be a unit in the hands of designing men. Racial antagonism enters into the political as well as the social life of the foreigner. The Slovak and Magyar, the Italian and the Austrian will seldom vote the same ticket if they can help it. The local politician, however, knows these prejudices and is clever at devising means to meet the situation.
Foreign-born Voters will follow Leaders. — Many native-born electors, standing at the polls on election day and watching the foreigners vote, have felt as a friend of mine did, who said, " That man's vote makes mine of no effect." It must be so in a democracy. The people rule and the most ignorant foreigner, if given the power of the ballot, is liable to make the vote of the best citizen in the land of no effect. This makes it the more
POLITICS 26$
imperative to establish means by which the foreigner may be enlightened as to the importance of the sovereign power con- ferred upon him ; thousands of them appreciate the privilege and are capable of instruction. It is our duty to give the for- eigner the light and, with a quickened social conscience, he will cast his ballot according to the light that is in him. The for- eign vote, when in the hand of the professional politician, is often undisturbed, for no one has questioned his right to it. Every foreign colony is boss ridden Elections are often farces, and the vote is the dictum of the political boss. It is a mistake to believe that the foreigner will not respond to better teaching. The Jews, when trained in the rights of citizens, break loose from the power of the boss. The Poles and the Slovaks have shown like tendencies to assert their independence, and the same will be true of other nationalities if they are shown the importance of the ballot and the obligations resting upon electors in a democ- racy to rule wisely the affairs of the nation.
Wise Leaders do good Work. — Here again the need of the hour is self-sacrificing leaders of native birth — men who are willing to teach and help the foreign-born voter to understand his right relation to this democracy. The Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution in the state of Connecticut have rendered an excellent piece of service, by issuing a " Guide to Italian Immigrants to the United States," edited by John Foster Carr.1 It contains all that an immigrant needs to know in order to be- come an intelligent citizen of the republic. A. A. Paryski, of Toledo, has rendered equally valuable service to the Poles. Others have done equally good service to other peoples. Efforts of this character, made in behalf of all nationalities, should be encouraged and aided. The light of this glorious democracy should be made to shine in to the lives of men who have not known what it is to be a responsible citizen of a great republic. (in Cambridge, Mass., a successful work has been carried on among the foreigners for the last four years, and representatives of seven different nationalities are wont to meet for the purpose of
1 Doubleday, Page & Co., N.Y. This Guide is now published in Polish, Yiddish, and English, and will soon be issued in other foreign tongues.
264 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
hearing illustrated talks on America and its institutions. / The secretary of the branch of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution in that city came to one of these meetings and in the name of the order presented the men -with a silk flag — the stars and stripes. I wish every American who does not believe in the possibility of making of the foreigner a loyal American citizen were in that meeting and could see how these men acted ^nd how they sang "America." It was the most touching scene that Daughter of the American Revolution ever saw, and the native- born men who were present have come to believe that the menace to American institutions is not half so great from the foreigners as it is from the native-born, whose indifference to and ignorance of the welfare of their country are little less than criminal. Last Memorial Day, in Wilmerding, Pa., Rev. Milojevich, the Servian Orthodox priest, was asked to address his people, who had assembled in the cemetery to honor the heroes of the Civil War. The priest spoke and closed his address with the words : " I deem it my holiest duty to kiss the consecrated ground upon which your heroic ancestors ^^••ir blood, and in which their bones are laid to rest, l^^^nit my Christian duty to offer God a prayer for the repose of their souls, just as if they were my own blood." Then he kneeled, kissed the ground, and offered a prayer for the repose of those who died for the Union. As soon as he knelt, all hats were raised. All men in uniform knelt. As he arose he said, " Glory to the dead soldiers and prosperity to the American people." That man had in him the true American spirit, and he represents a large class among the foreign-born in the United States. We will do well to con- sider this and devise some means by which all foreigners having the fire of patriotism for the Union kindled in their breast can be brought into the family and share with us the destinies of our beloved country.
CHAPTER XVIII
RECREATION
THERE is one characteristic which differentiates Americans at play from the people of southeastern Europe on pleasure bent : it is the intensity with which the native-born throw themselves into their games. There does not seem to be any relaxation in the amusement of our people ; the tension before mentioned, which characterizes labor in the United States, is also carried into the pleasures which are enjoyed. The Italians play a ball game and they enjoy themselves in a leisurely manner. They smoke, chat, laugh, and stroll along quietly and without haste after the balls ; but a ball game among the native-born is "no good " unless the field rings with shouts and the players exert themselves to the utmost. A game of cards played on the lawn of a summer's evening by a group of Slavs is enjoyed by each of the players ; they chat, smoke cigarettes, and possibly have a bottle of beer to pass around ; but a game of cards on a railroad car among Ameri- cans is a serious thing ; the players seldom smoke, they are quiet or swearing, they study their hands very seriously, and the **
whole performance appears as if much depended on the game V then going on. The same is true of the dance ; the foreigners * g move leisurely, they smoke and chat, they have a good time in a $ f& pleasant way ; but the American dance hall is not up to the stand- V / V ard, unless the pace on the floor is exhilarating, the whirl ^ C exciting, men and women in perspiration, and the dancers so j* exhausted that they are glad to find a seat to rest themselves.
A Professor of Relaxation. — In one of the summer con- ferences in the Middle West, a professor was hired to teach the five hundred students assembled how to pursue pleasure and find relaxation from the strain of life. That man has a message that is worth while. It was pleasant to watch him performing his part
265
266 TEE NEW IMMIGRATION
in that summer school. He knew a number of simple dances and knew how to teach them. The movements of hand and foot were graceful and gentle, the body bent in a quiet manner, the music was far from exciting, and there were no shouts and excitement. I asked the professor, " Where did you get these dances ?" His reply was, "From the peoples of Europe." Most of them were taken from the Romance nations and a few from the Slavic. When the professor was asked, " What is the use of these simple dances in the lives of Americans?" his reply was, " To teach them relaxation." And continuing, he added : " Americans lead too intense a life and a series of diseases have come upon us as a penalty. What I try to do is to teach them how to relax the muscles, take life less seriously, and spend some time in practicing graceful and rhythmic movements that will relieve the nerves and muscles from strain and stress and give them rest." Success to the " professor of relaxation " and his five hundred pupils — they will do us all good, providing the spirit of the Puritan does not disturb their rhythmic movements.
Some Oriental Blood. — The peoples of the new immigra- tion have in their veins, as before stated, much Oriental blood, which more than anything else accounts for the ease and grace with which they take their pleasures. A group of Syrians in Detroit met in a settlement house to study the English language. After the meeting in which they took part, some of us went to the secretary's office for a chat. We were not there long before the strains of weird music came from the adjoining room. We asked, "What's the music?" The secretary replied, "The Syrians are having a little dance." We went to witness the per- formance. On a chair sat one of the company playing on a pipe-like musical instrument, very much like the Scottish pipes minus the bag ; the other members of the group accompanied the music by simple and graceful movements of limb and body. These people were not votaries of the intensive life ; they came from a country where men take things more leisurely than we do. In the Balkans, whence we get many of our recent immigrants, the East and the West meet, and the Roumanians and Bulga- rians, the Serbs and the Croats are peoples who will enjoy life
RECREATION 267
if they have the opportunity. The Oriental spirit is also strong in the Greeks and southern Italians, whose lands have been subjected to invasion after invasion from the East, and it shows itself in the manner they can enjoy themselves in festas and simple performances. The Magyar and the Russian are happy although their possessions are few. Louis H. Pink, speaking of the Magyars in New York City, says : " The Magyar is easy- going and pleasure loving above all the people who seek our shores. . . . The life of the [Magyar] quarter is one continuous whirl of excitement. Pleasure seems the chief end, and danc- ing, music, cards, and lounging at the cafe are the means of attaining it." 1 One of the happiest crowds I ever saw in an immigrant colony in America was a group of Jews in the city of Boston. They sang, they danced, smoked, and drank — all done within moderation, but in a spirit of ease and relaxa- tion that was a delight. The United States has recently received millions of these people, in whose veins is a strong mixture of Oriental blood, and this, when put in the crucible, will, more than the efforts of the " professor of relaxation," quiet down the nerves of the American of to-morrow.
Holy Days and Festal Days. — The amusements of the new inmigrants largely revolve around religious festivals and cere- monies. The Slavs and the Lithuanians will not work on the great festivals of the church, but they will on these days plan a dance and have a good time. In every foreign colony dance halls are found and they are well used by the people. Priests invariably complain that Bacchus and Venus are more highly honored on church holidays than the saint whose memory the church tries to preserve. On these holy days the Slav and the Lithuanian, the Magyar and the Roumanian cannot enjoy themselves without the accompaniment of drink. Many of these peoples, in the fisheries on the coast, as well as on ore docks on the lakes, have a good time by getting drunk. In the town of Fairport, rum is shut out, but " blind tigers " take the place of saloons, and " barrels of sugar " are very frequently delivered to the foreign-speaking boarding bosses. This appetite for strong 1 The New York Survey, Dec. 3, 1904.
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drink makes the boarding house a popular resort and a place where much enjoyment is found. When a law was passed in South Omaha to close all saloons at eight o'clock, many boarding houses became the rendezvous of foreigners. They took the place of the beer dens. Workingmen drink at night, and it is after eight o'clock that the glasses generally begin to rattle. One of the liveliest places I ever saw was in St. Louis, in a Slav boarding house, in which a skilled player manipulated a string xylo- phone. The place was crowded and the men thoroughly enjoyed the music. In the dances so common among the Slavs, drink is always an accompaniment. After a Bohemian dance in Omaha, some of the men boasted how many drinks they had — it was a part of the enjoyment of the evening. It is nothing unusual for Slavs to introduce the dance in the camp on Sunday to while away the time. A district superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal church in Ohio, having occasion to pass a construction camp a little out of the city of New Castle, Pa., invariably heard the accordion playing and saw the men dancing. In South Omaha, where the majority of the people are foreign-born, there are nine dance halls, four- teen pool rooms, and twenty out of the eighty saloons had pool tables. These means of enjoyment were almost wholly patronized by the foreigners.
Weddings and Christenings. — The foreigners also have a good time at weddings and christenings. Some of the students of Lehigh University were in the habit of teaching classes of foreigners in South Bethlehem, and one evening they heard music and dancing in the German hall. They peeped in and found a Magyar wedding being celebrated. The bride happened to be near the door when they looked in and she gave them a cordial invitation to come and join the celebration. All the peoples of southeastern Europe are in the habit of celebrating weddings. When we attended a Roumanian wedding at the invitation of the bridegroom, we found the hall well filled with gay company, all drinking and smoking and many of them danc- ing. A Hungarian stringed band, hired for the occasion, fur- nished the music. All the men and women present seemed to be
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thoroughly enjoying themselves and none were under the influ- ence of drink. Some of these festivals are disturbed by the intrusion of uninvited guests, but the police officers in most cities, after some serious experiences, understand the situation and furnish an officer to watch over the proceedings or be within call. In the city of Hartford, the chief of police told me that the Poles invariably hire a special officer when a wedding is to be cele- brated. The police authorities in many cities also insist that dancing shall cease at midnight. The weddings among Poles and Magyars generally begin Friday and last till the following Monday. A joyous time is also had at christenings. Here the festivities do not last as long as in weddings, but drink forms a part of the celebration. Rev. A. Kaupas, speaking of his countrymen, the Lithuanians, says : " No wedding or christen- ing is imaginable without intoxicants. . . . The success or failure of a ball, picnic, or even church fair, is measured not by the attendance, but by the number of emptied beer kegs." P. V. Rovnianek says of the Slovaks, " It has been the custom among Slavic peoples for hundreds of years to celebrate events, such as weddings or christenings, with the greatest festivity." These occasions play a much greater part in the pleasure life of the Slavs and Magyars than they do in that of Anglo-Saxons, and the chief objection to these sources of enjoyment is the excessive drinking connected with them.
The Saloon a Social Center. — It is often said that the saloon is the poor man's club, but no people in the United States find it more so than the men of the new immigration. The saloons catering to the trade of the Slav, Lithuanian, and Magyar are well patronized. They like their drink, and hundreds of thou- sands of foreigners find in saloons and the conviviality associated with them their chief source of pleasure. Some of the priests ministering to these peoples say that the habit of finding " in beer washed down with whisky " the chief source of pleasure is diminishing. Every assurance of improvement in this regard is welcomed, but to the generality of these peoples the drink habit still furnishes the chief source of enjoyment, and, from present indication, it will long continue to do so. If the traffic
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were rationally regulated, and decent places provided in which these people could meet and enjoy their social glass, there would be greater hope of reform. Connected with many of the saloons, also, are men who furnish music and dancing. These attrac- tions do not help the patrons and there is reason to believe that their elimination would help in the cause of temperance among the foreigners. Thousands of saloons in foreign-speaking com- munities are little more than beer dens ; they brutalize Slav and Lithuanian, but the situation will not be improved by driv- ing these out of business by the power of the law, unless some- thing is offered as a substitute. To expect these people to give up drinking, which plays so important a part in their social life, is unreasonable ; the custom is bad, but the good people who de- cry it will serve the cause of reform far better by advancing a practical and sane plan to meet this need of a socially inclined people, rather than blindly condemn them in their quest for diversion and relaxation.
Italians and Gambling. — Drink, as before stated, is not a temptation to the Italian and the Greek, the Bulgarian and the Roumanian, the Albanian and the Turk. These peoples are not given to intoxication. Each of them will take a social glass, but they do not take such pleasure in their cups as do the Slavs and Magyars. The Italians have their saloons, and some drunkards are found among them, but this is the exception. The spirit in the Italian saloon is very different from that dominating a Slavic one. The patrons drink more moderately, light wines and not whisky are used, and games of chance are more common. The game " Mora " is played with great zeal by Italians, and the drinks go to the winner. This is the occasion of quarrels, fights, and litigation, but the quarrels due to booze in the lives of Italians are nothing as compared with those due to this cause among Slavs, Magyars, and Lithuanians. The Italian, however, is a born gambler and finds great pleasure in games of chance. Italy raises a part of its revenue by lottery,1 and the gambling
1 " The game which has been indicated as so pernicious, one, however, li- censed by the State, to which it yields a considerable revenue, is the lottery, which is an affair of every day as in Austria. Every one in Italy, old and
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spirit pervades the country, fostered by governmental appliances and opportunities. When the Italian comes to America, he can- not throw off the insidious fascination of risking his money in hope of getting something for nothing. A young Italian, Jim, in New York City, had been in the country thirteen years. He worked hard the first few years of his life in the new world, saved enough money to buy a horse and wagon, and then went into the business of peddling. He prospered, saved money, and had a bank ac- count of $2500. One day the passion for gambling got the best of his judgment and, drawing the money from the bank, — the re- sult of eleven years of saving, — he with a friend went to Bel- mont Park to bet on the races, and came home penniless.
Greek Enjoyments. — The Greek frequents saloons run by his countrymen, but he is moderate in his drinking. In one of these places in Kansas City, a platform was erected in the rear of the main room, on which sat two young women with tam- bourines. These young girls wore short skirts and their danc- ing attracted the men to that place. But the Greek is a better patron of the cafe than of the saloon. In one of the cafes in the above city, more than sixty men were present smoking and drinking, and in the farther end of this room, two men performed the Grecian dance to the amusement of the spectators. Each held to the end of a short but strong piece of canvas, and the art was to go through the various movements, keeping time with the music, twisting and turning in many directions, and not let go of the canvas. It was innocent fun, and the skill and agility of the men during the performance were admirable. In Omaha, we attended a Greek moving picture show, witnessed by at least one hundred and fifty Greeks. It took place in a cafe, which was a combination of restaurant, barber shop, pool room, saloon, boarding house, and theater. No admission was charged. In the rear of the room was a canvas on which were painted scenes suggestive of the play that was to be given that evening. Above these figures, about seven feet from the floor, was a white sheet about three feet wide, stretched across the room, back of which
young, man and woman, joins in this if they have a halfpenny to stake, and there is a drawing every week." " Italy," by H. A. Nesbitt, M. A., p. 133.
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shone the lights. The marionettes, handled by the performer back of the screen, were reflected on this canvas and illustrated the words of the speaker. During the performance, waiters passed to and fro serving refreshments, such as candies, wines, coffee, cigarettes, etc., to the men sitting around the small tables. The play that night described the actions of two Greek brothers, whose sister had been kidnaped by some Turkish officers ; the plot was the recovery of the sister and the punish- ment of the Turks. The figure of the woman, the armed Turks, and the armed Greeks appeared on the scene moving to and fro, gesticulating, fighting, fleeing, singing, and dancing. The speaker was exceedingly clever ; he spoke in a dozen different voices, sang, imitated the dance, and kept the audience in good humor for two hours and a half. When the performance was about half through, the actor came out, passed around the hat, and every one put in what he thought fit — that was the compensa- tion of the performer. Everything was in perfect order, it was a night of enjoyment, and the Greeks seemed to be delighted. That player had a dozen or more performances, the program was changed each night, — Sunday included, — and when the course was through, he moved on to another city where Greeks resided in large numbers, made arrangements with the cafe pro- prietor, and put up his show. This moving picture show of the Greeks is not as elaborate as some marionette shows among the Italians, but the enjoyment of the spectators and the cleverness of the performance are equal to those of a more pretentious entertainment.
Greek Wrestlers. — Many Greeks and Macedonians are fond of wrestling and boxing. Whenever these young men come to a Young Men's Christian Association in a large city, they patron- ize most earnestly the gymnasium and the swimming pool. In the cities of Kansas City and Omaha, many young Greeks have attained a degree of proficiency in boxing and wrestling, so that meets are arranged during the winter season for the purpose of exhibiting their skill, and the audiences are generally large. I met one of these young men and asked him, " Do you enjoy wrestling and boxing?" "Sure," he said, "and we make
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money." The meets are well patronized by the Greeks as well as by Macedonians and Bulgarians.
Foreigners fond of Music. — All the foreigners from south- eastern Europe are musical. A large percentage of Italians can play some kind of musical instrument. Italy is the home of music. There is hardly a town in the country which does not make an appropriation for the Commune Band which plays for the people's amusement on Sundays and holidays. The Rouma- nians and Bulgarians maintain a larger number of musicians and players, according to their population, than any other people in Europe. While in Dayton, Ohio, we visited a house where some Turks stayed. A Jewish lad, about twenty-one years of age,, with a guitar, was there discoursing music — a peculiar, rushing, exciting melody, that reminded one of a sudden tempest which goes out in a sweet calm. The Magyars are full of music. When we attended a meeting in a Magyar hall, two bands had come to- gether for the occasion, each playing its best to the satisfaction of the three hundred souls present. In Philadelphia, the Letts and Lithuanians gave a concert, and on that occasion a mixed choir of sixty voices sang some of the plaintive airs of the homeland. In the city of Pittsburgh, a meet of the various foreign-speaking bands in the Pittsburgh district was arranged ; they came to play their best for prizes put up by friends of the foreigners, and the prize winners went home happy with their trophies. Foreign- born musicians form a good percentage of the players in the bands of the army and navy of the United States. One of the bands is wholly ma.de up of Filipinos. From the opera house down to the hotel and tavern, which have their musical players, the foreign-born form a large percentage of the men and women who entertain the music-loving public of America. There are industrial plants which would be wholly disorganized if the foreign-speaking workers were taken out of them, and the same was true of the musicians playing in a symphony concert given in one of the largest cities of New England. A native-born lover of music, and a master in the art, set to work in a New England town to give a series of concerts, for the purpose of cultivating the taste of his countrymen in that city. He chose
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the works of Bach, Wagner, Mozart, etc., and was surprised to find that the foreigners of the town enjoyed and appreciated the performances more than the native-born. Any one acquainted with the men and women of the new immigration knows that their love of music is greater than that of Americans, but if noth- ing more is done to preserve it than at present, it is likely to pass away with the first generation.
Music has Charms. — In a labor camp in Ohio, where one hundred and fifty Italians worked, it occurred to an old veteran of the Civil War that he could do something for these men. He had a phonograph and a few Italian selections — Caruso's and Tetrazzini's and some Italian popular airs. He went to the quarry and visited the bunk houses, which had been dubbed by the good people of the neighboring town as " little hell." He set that phonograph going, and the Italians came around him and listened. Frank Smith saw no " hell," but he saw radiant faces and appre- ciative souls ; he was greeted by warm hearts thankful for this ray of sunshine which he brought ; he was pressed to come again and give them something to think of besides work and sleep. The music opened the camp, and this old veteran won one of his most glorious battles when he brought that group of Italians into greater sympathy with America and Americans by the power of song. When Chicago imported a Bohemian player of inter- national reputation, he did not play his best in the opera house, where wealth and fashion were at their height ; he was at his best in the Bohemian Club in the heart of Bohemia in Chicago, where the spirit of his race inspired him and the voices of his countrymen burst forth in melody, singing the songs that told of the struggles, the triumphs, and the sufferings of a strong nation. What a blessing would be conferred upon every one of these music-loving people, if a music hall were built in every foreign colony, where the songs of the peoples of the old world could be sung. Some friends of the foreigners have rendered good service to the nation by arranging exhibitions of folk dances, but I am convinced that a better service is yet to be rendered the nation, by arranging for an exhibition of the music of the nations, sung and played by men and women whose national
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experience is molded into song. None can interpret the Mar- seillaise as can the French ; none can sing " Poland is not Lost " as the Poles ; if you want to understand the Turk and his five hundred years of European conquests, study his music, which holds the key ; listen to the plaintive melodies of Lithuania, and the history of this ancient people is understood ; and when America makes it possible for the race spirit of every nation to interpret the passions of the soul of man, its depths and its longings, its hopes and its fears, the reaction upon the aesthetic life of the nation will be incalculable.
Love of the Drama. — Many of the foreigners love the drama also. Seldom can one visit the vestry of a parish church in a foreign colony, but he finds there a hall, a small stage, and some bits of simple scenery. The priests proudly explain that here the dramatic club gives its performances. Of course they put on the stage patriotic plays relating to their own country and their own people. The lives of these men, for many years after they have come to America, revolve around the heroic in their own people's history, and they are the better for it. When a Servian priest was asked if he had seen the tower of the skulls at Nish, he rose from his seat, his eyes shone, and with dramatic effect he told us the story of that episode of horror in the life of his people. A Polish priest, a leader among his people, had organized a dra- matic club for the purpose of presenting Polish patriotic plays. When asked what was the purpose he had in view, he said, " I want my people to know our history, to know our heroes, to know Poland's struggles and defeats, and to learn something from the story of a brilliant but unfortunate nation." That was a laudable purpose. Every European nation in America has a background that is replete with deeds of heroism, and the sons of every one of these will gain much, and we will lose nothing, if they are made familiar with the struggles of their fathers.
Italians are Actors. — But of all the nations of southeastern Europe, the most passionately fond of the drama is the Italian. Every Italian carries an actor in his bosom and he can hardly do anything without bringing him to the fore. Italy fosters this talent, and the sons of Italy in our cities can be organized
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into dramatic clubs more readily than into any other kind. The favorite and most important pastime of the Italian people is the theater. A dramatic club of Italians in connection with one of the settlement houses in New York City placed on the boards one of Shakespeare's plays; the performance was very creditable, but there was no open door for these young fellows outside the Italian colony. In the leading cities of Italy, the government makes an appropriation for the maintenance of the theater and sees that plays of merit are given the people. Nothing of this character is done by us ; we leave the foreigners to organize their own performances and generally they have no place to exhibit their talent. One of the pleasures of a visit to Hull House, Chicago, is to see the pictures taken of Greeks, performing some of the plays of ancient Hellas. Miss Jane Addams delights to tell how these newcomers can interpret the drama of classic lore. The men who took the parts were common people in the common walks of life, but when they took to the stage and became inter- preters of the genius of Greece, that dominated the culture of Europe for a thousand years, they became dignified and master- ful, and gave life and meaning to the play which one seeks in vain at the feet of learned professors in colleges or hi elegantly staged presentations in universities. It is the genius of the race that makes this possible. When the Italian presents the plays of Tasso, Alfieri, Niccolini, etc., then we have the best inter- pretation of Italian lif e and thought, and the same is true of every other nation.
Amusement Places Needed. — The peoples of the new im- migration are capable of enjoying themselves, if suitable places are furnished them. Milwaukee is one of the most cosmopoli- tan cities on the continent. Eighty-four per cent of the people are either foreign-born or the descendants of foreign-born, and the city has tried to give the people a place to play at popular prices. It was an experiment, but it appealed to the people as nothing else has done for many years. That hall was crowded with people bent on enjoyment, and if it did not meet with the approval of all the citizens, it did prove beyond a doubt that the people want a place for relaxation and amusement. In a town
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in New Hampshire, the members of the council ,were trustees of a building bequeathed to the town for a library and in which public meetings were held. The foreigners invaded that town, as they have hundreds of others in New England, and when a band of college men began work for foreigners, the members of the council said, " The building is yours"; and in that clean, well-lighted, and neatly furnished building, the foreigners of four different nationalities meet for instruction. The donor never thought of these men when he made the gift, but if he returned and saw these " coming Americans " at work and witnessed some of the things they enjoy there, he would see how much more good his gift is doing than what he anticipated. This enlightened policy is not characteristic of all custodians of the people's buildings. The aldermen of a city in the East refused the use of a public building to foreigners, for they feared that they would leave a " smell after them." There are some things in life worse than the smell of tobacco, beer, and garlic, and one of them is the prejudice and narrowness of the descendants of an older immi- gration against the members of the new. The dance, the drama, and music have a place in the life of the people. They are refin- ing and educational agencies of the greatest importance, and when we forget this, we will injure ourselves while wronging the for- eigner. It would be much better for America to transport the dances, dramas, and music of the old world from the various coun- tries represented in our immigration, furnish suitable rooms where they could be enjoyed, than to leave these millions in crowded tenements, unsanitary camps, and demoralizing mine patches, which crush all mirth and song out of their lives. We have in the millions of southeastern Europe a mirthful and joyous people, but we are in serious danger of losing this mirth and joy in the humdrum of daily toil, and the struggle for life in dirty tene- ments and alleys. Open the schoolhouses and the halls, the libraries and the churches, give the racial genius of every people an opportunity to express itself, and the " coming American " will have in him the best dance, the best play, and the best song than ever human heart sang.
CHAPTER XIX
CULTURE
THE effect of American education and culture upon the for- eigner cannot always be traced, but it is sometimes found in places we least expect to find it. E. Landau, writing to the New York Times, gives the following incident. In an excit- ing electoral campaign in a Slovak community in Hungary, a candidate for the Hungarian Congress was presenting his views, when a farmer addressed him in English : " Slovaks don't understand Hungarian. Talk English, the language we can understand." The candidate did so. " This incident brought out the fact that 80 per cent of the 3000 inhabitants of the community had lived for some time in the United States and acquired a fair knowledge of the English language." A Greek boy, who had been in one of our schools, returning to his native country, writes as follows : " The driver "that brought me from the nearest railroad station spoke to me in broken English. Every third man I meet has been or intends to go to America." The public night school, the private evening school, and pa- rochial school are sowing seeds that blossom into fruition on the hills and plains of the old world.
Some Foreigners Cultured. — All the men of the new immi- gration are not uncultured. In Moline, a foreigner, working in the foundry, was seen by the superintendent reading a Latin author. The employer, interested in the man, inquired who he was, and found out that he was a college graduate, in bad luck, who had entered the foundry rather than suffer want. The employer gave the man a chance and soon he was in the office of the company, doing very satisfactory work. A young Servian, working in a factory in Crystal City, had command of many languages. The superintendent discovered his worth and
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advanced him to a position of greater responsibility ; the young man, however, told his employer that he was going to leave — he was going to the University of Chicago. This was a still greater surprise to the superintendent, who, on inquiry, found out that the young man had a certificate of graduation from the Servian college in Belgrade, and that the Chicago University allowed him two years' credit on the certificate. Of course, these are exceptions, but they prove that from the backward countries of Europe, we do receive some men who are cultured.1 Foreigners want a Chance. — In studying the foreigner and his intellectual needs, it is well for us to keep in mind the point raised by John R. Commons in his book on " Races and Immi- grants in America." (\n speaking of superior and inferior races we should, he says, be careful to distinguish " between that superiority which is the original endowment of race and that which results from the education and training which we call civilization.') The mental endowment of a Bulgarian may equal that of an American, but if he has been raised in a country where medieval civilization still lingers, he will not fit very well into our system, dominated by standards of modern civiliza- tion. Give this man and his children a fair chance, and soon they will put on the robes of a higher civilization and make good. I believe in the possibilities of the foreigners, even those coming from the backward countries of southeastern Europe. They are physically strong, their mental endowment is not inferior to that of Anglo-Saxons, and under the touch of America, the land of opportunity, we may expect great things. Before we can reap, however, we must have faith in these " coming Americans." Suppose we were to address every foreigner, as he lands, in the words of Carlyle : " Brother, thou hast possibility in thee for much, the possibility of writing on the eternal skies the record of a heroic life," would we not get better things from this man and learn quicker how to develop the good that is in him? It is
1 Possibly no class of immigrants to America suffer as much as those who come from among the cultured but poor classes in Europe in hope of getting clerical or professional work in this country. Few of them find what they seek and most of them are driven to manual labor.
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not complimentary to our system of education that a foreign-born child in the public school is more familiar with the story of Buffalo Bill than with that of George Washington ; that the foreign-born young man soon learns to honor a Sullivan and a Jeffries more than an Edison or a Field ; and that foreign-born parents are more familiar with the juvenile court than with the public school.
What does the Foreigner need to Learn ? — It would help greatly in the discussion of this question of the education and culture of the foreigner, if we were to define clearly what we would have this child of a backward civilization do and become. How many native-born men can tell us what this foreigner needs to become a fit member of the commonwealth and the Union? Of course, we all agree that he should learn the English language, for this is and must be the language of court, legislature, and forum, and it must be taught to the coming generations of this country ; but what shall we add to this indispensable factor in the life of this foreign-born brother? No sooner is he landed but a relation is established between him and ourselves which works for good or evil. If this man as a worker has no sense of duty, takes little interest in his work, is given to excessive indul- gence, the industrial organization will suffer ; if he pays no atten- tion to the laws of health, lacks self-control, is out of touch with the social conscience of the community, has no sense of personal responsibility, the social organism will suffer ; if he knows nothing of the functions of the state, is ever ready to defeat the ends of justice by concealing the prisoner or by perjury, and is not willing to take his place in the state organism according to the best of his powers, then the body politic must suffer ; if he believes that all life can be summed up in a " Gospel of Mud," that the universe is an orphan, that there are no eternal verities to guide the individual or the state and that death ends all, then he cannot enter sym- pathetically into the spirit of America nor understand the founda- tions upon which our civilization rests. When a Hungarian, in Philadelphia, applied for naturalization and declared that he did not believe in God and would not take the prescribed oath, the conscience of America was with the judge who refused to natural- ize him.
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Uplift Work not Easy. — We have stated before that 3 5 per cent of the people of southeastern Europe are illiterate ; l fully 80 per cent of the males are unskilled workers ; and in studying the industries they enter, we also saw that they are occupied in positions most dirty, disagreeable, and dangerous. These facts make the task of education and culture the more difficult, for it may be laid down as a law, that the less claim made by occu- pation upon the intellect of the worker, the harder becomes educational work ahd the heavier the demand made upon brain and purse in uplift service. The task of helping the vast army of foreign-speaking workers to a full appreciation of the higher civilization of America is difficult at best. If this mass of raw material — capable, responsive, and patient — is to be prepared for " coming Americans," America must be ready to pay the price. It will not be done by harangues and parades on special occasions ; it will not be done by the use of printer's ink by issuing in foreign tongues official codes and city regulations ; it will not be done by simply opening our schools and putting books within reach of the men ; it must be done by the personal touch of men and women capable of leading ; the organizer and his corps of assistants must exert sympathetic pressure; the constraint of love must come into play ; the disinterested effort must bejmt forth; steady and continuous work must be done. Sermons never made men good, lessons of themselves will never make men moral, but the enthusiasm of sympathetic hearts for good- ness and virtue has kindled love and zeal in the hearts of men, and it will do the same to this brother of the new immigration.
Must meet his Need Intelligently. — There is no heart beating that is larger or warmer or more generous than the American heart, but all Americans do not think straight when the foreigner is in question. In a town in New York State, the foreigners petitioned the Board of Directors for a night school, and the native-born voted " no," for the foreigners would dirty the room and might leave something after them. A town in New England, which, under the state law, ought to have opened a school for the foreigners, shirked its responsibility. When a 1 See Table XV in addenda.
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patriotic American lawyer tried to compel it to do so, by an appeal to the district attorney of the state, the game of politics came into play, and the foreigners were left in the cold. When the immigrants come into the public schools, the appliances and the teaching are not what they should be. Few, indeed, are the public schools that have seriously attempted to solve this problem of teaching the foreigner. In a New England town, a Hungarian, six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds, was put in a combination desk, suited for a child of twelve years, and the first primer given him to read. When a friend of mine visited that school, he saw the son of Hungary bending over his lesson, with his finger on the sentence, " Sophia had a little doll." Before that Hungarian and a thousand of his kind will be helped to a knowledge of our language, better accommoda- tions must be provided and better appliances used for this pur- pose. The superintendent of the public school also has his standard as to the number in the class, which is based upon usage in the day school. I have known school superintendents who insist upon a teacher instructing from forty to fifty foreigners ; when a class falls below that number, a teacher is dismissed and two classes are combined into one ; the result is that men and boys are brought together, most diverse elements sit side by side, and the adults become dissatisfied and disheartened. The standard of the public school cannot be applied to the work of teaching foreigners. No group of immigrants learning the English language under a teacher should number more than from fifteen to twenty in a class ; with that many, the teacher must have his wits about him to make the best use of his time and hold the interest of the men. Nationalities should be kept separate as far as possible. No more than three lessons a week should be given the men if they work ten hours a day. The lessons given ought to be such as would appeal to this man's practical judgment.
Socialize the Public School. — Many teachers in the public schools, engaged to teach foreigners, are not as sympathetic with them as they should be. Most of them are young women who teach foreign-speaking children in the day, and because of
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their success in that work, they are employed in the evening to teach foreign-speaking adults. Here, again, the problem is wholly different. What suits the child will not suit the man ; they are two different creations and must be treated differently. A young woman, also, who does her work faithfully during the day, will have all the strain she can stand, and the foreigners want the teacher at her best. Some men teachers employed in this work were blameless as teachers in regular school work, but they did not understand the foreigner, had no sympathy for him, and could not succeed with him. Many superintendents anxious to do this work employ men to teach who understand the language of the foreigner, for, they argue, a teacher so qualified can converse with his pupils in their mother tongue and explain to them words and sentences they do not understand. The result of this method of teaching is that the foreigner con tracts the habit of thinking in his mother tongue and then translates his sentences into English. Such pupils will never think in English. It is better to give the foreigner a good and sympathetic teacher who knows nothing of the foreigner's language ; he will then learn to talk plainly and will be trained to think in English* When the public school does this work in an efficient manner, it will be one of the most efficient agencies for the assimilation of the men of the new immigration who live in industrial centers. Again, the plan of having the representatives of different peoples meet in a common center is suggestive of the amalgamation of races into one people, upon the success of which the future American depends. When men touch elbow, they know each other better, suspicions are removed, hostilities are allayed, common bonds are found, and common interests unite ; common loyalty to their adopted country fuses racial antipathy into patriotic ardor. The public school, socialized under the leader- ship of men and women of broad sympathies, will render an invaluable service to the community, by becoming a center around which both the foreign- and the home-born meet ,on a common level.
The Roman Church can do Much. — Many people have asked, why is it the Roman Catholic church has not applied
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itself more vigorously to this problem of the Americanization of the foreigner? There are many priests who have shown a genuine interest in the work, but there are many on the other side also. It is safe to say that the majority of priests are indiffer- ent to the problem. There are people in the same fold who do not get along very well. The Irish and the Poles have very little in common, and clerical co-religionists of different tongues are more often related as the Jew and the Samaritan were than as soldiers in the same army. If harmony, cooperation, and a definite policy for the assimilation of foreigners prevailed, there would be no agency as potent in the work as the Roman Catholic church. The total number of foreign-speaking men of the Catholic faith in the United States cannot be less than 3,000,000 ; they worship at the same altar and under the same ritual as another 9,000,000 loyal English-speaking Americans. Suppose the old Sunday-school method of teaching Chinese the English language — a teacher for each pupil — were installed, how long would it take to make of these millions of foreign-speaking men intelligent and loyal Americans?
Education and Crime. — A class of foreigners, in a city in New York, was organized to study English. A native-born gentle- man, witnessing the first lesson, said, " That's right, more of this and there will be less crime." • Shortly after that, we visited Sing Sing and found hundreds of foreigners there. We asked the superintendent of instruction, "Are you teaching English to these men? " He replied, "Yes." He invited us to see the school. We went through the prison, saw the foreigners in that community where the spirits of men are crushed by a system of discipline that is little less than inhuman and irrational. How those men were able to learn anything in an atmosphere of gloom and suppression passed beyond my comprehension. It may be necessary for the sake of discipline to crush men, but the system produces more hatred than love, more sullenness than sympathy. That prison is no place for foreigners to learn our beautiful language, or to have impressions of what America means to men. There are in the penitentiaries of the country more than ten thou- sand foreigners, and if the atmosphere of these prisons could be
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made human, the possibility of helping these men to a better under- standing of our language, our country, and our ways, would be admirable. A foreign-speaking criminal, from Fall River, was sent to the penitentiary to expiate his crime. After he served his sentence, he returned home a better man, and one of the first things he did was to go to the judge who sentenced him and say : " Judge, I thank you for the sentence. Before I left, I could not talk English, now I can ; I had no trade, and I learnt one there." That man saw the light in a prison's cell ; in jail he came to appreciate fully what America stands for. The story of how that prison did this ought to be written and sent to all superintendents of penitentiaries in the land. The soul of this brother was reconciled to discipline ; it was sweetened to sym- pathetic relationship with this country ; became back to freedom with thankfulness of soul and a grateful heart. Suppose that were done with the ten thousand foreigners in the penitentiaries of the land, the problem of assimilation would be aided from a quarter most men would little expect.
Employers are Good Helpers. — It behooves America also to help this strong worker who has willingly put his strong shoulders under the burden of our industrial life. It is universally con- ceded that he is willing, docile, and a hard worker, but he will serve us best when he takes pleasure in his work and resolves to do it well. I like to read the writings of Burbank, — how he tickles the soil and coaxes the stubborn plant until it breaks forth into blossom, and then bends its head in thankfulness under the weight of luscious fruit. If this is done to dull, inanimate soil, how much more can be done to man if the right spirit and motive are enlisted in the work. We have discussed the possibilities of the public school and the church taking a part in this work of assimilation, but the man who stands over this worker, guides his operation, and makes it possible for him and his family to live, what of him? Suppose all foremen and superintendents, all bosses and captains, in daily touch with foreigners, were to resolve to deal justly and sympathetically with Malucas, Pietro, Jacola, etc., would there not be a change in the industrial world more marked than any projected by
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scientific management ? Nothing hinders the progress of good workmanship among foreigners so much as the curses and in- justices of foremen in the works. Nothing drives away the newcomer from the love of good work as the manner in which he is treated when at work. Nothing kills the egoism of the foreigner as the consciousness that he is treated as a dog. Industrial America has many model foremen and they speak highly of the foreigners. Many instances of such men have been given in the previous pages. Here is one more. This man had a gang of Italians, whom he treated kindly and justly and got good work from the men. Every morning they took off their hats to him and cheerfully began the day's work ; at evening, they did not forget to say " good-bye." There were no oaths, no driving, but encouraging words and personal example, if need be,, so that the foreigner may know how to do the work aright. The job was finished, and the whole gang came to the boss and said through the leader, " Won't you take us with you to work, we like to work for you ? "
Women should be Educated. — There is a Croatian proverb which says, " Woman's way is from the hearth to the kitchen door." That reflects pretty accurately the position of woman in the nations of southeastern Europe. Villari tells us that " the great majority of Italian women are as yet uneducated. . . . She speaks no language but her .own, never opens a book save occasionally some devotional work; she has no idea be- yond the children, the kitchen and the linen closet."1 The wives of the new immigration are far more backward than the men, for they seldom leave the foreign colony, rarely have an opportunity to hear the English language, and hardly ever enter an American home. This daughter of a backward civilization is able, on the farms of the fatherland, to keep herself and members of her household in good health ; but when she comes to America, and is planted down in a congested city, she does not know how to do so. One of the best services ever rendered the foreigners in the United States was rendered by one of the medical and surgical societies of one of our cities. Having
1 "Italian Life in Town and Country," p. 124.
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carefully planned a series of lectures on personal and social hygiene, it asked counsel of the philanthropic and charitable agencies of the city, where these talks could best be given, to what people, and at what time. The leaders secured the serv- ices of educated Poles to interpret the lectures to the Polish inhabitants ; of an Italian, to the Italians, etc. It was service well rendered, and could well be copied by all cities in the industrial and immigration zone. Some industrial plants have engaged the services of trained nurses to go and help the foreign- born sister in the home and with the children. This is service that counts. It is important to assimilate the men of the new immigration, but that work will not count for much if we neglect the women in the homes.
Relation to the State. — The foreigner wants the right point of view as to his relationship to the state. The attitude of being against the government is due to ignorance. The govern- ment of the homeland meant to most of these men tyranny, taxation, and terror. It is easy for them to think that govern- ment in America is pretty much the same. When a case of smallpox or some other malignant disease breaks out among the foreign-speaking population of New York City, it is well- nigh impossible for the authorities to trace it and stamp it out, for the foreigners will not aid the health officers ; they, indeed, put every obstacle in their way. They do not understand the machinery of government ; they cannot see the reason why laws should be laid down which cause them annoyance and work, and against the officers of the law they wage a continuous war. When the physicians in attendance on some of the public schools in New York City attempted to perform a simple operation on some of the children of the foreigners, a riot was precipitated and the scientists were in mortal terror. All this comes to pass because of wrong conceptions of the relation of the citizen to the government, and the foreigners need instruction in this respect by wise and sympathetic men. In a night school, made up of fifty foreigners, the pupils were studying government, and the teacher invited the mayor to address the group. He came well prepared, and, taking out his manuscript, began to read. He
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had not gone far before he saw that he was reading over the heads of all the men, and, leaving his manuscript on the desk, he came down to the level of the men and spoke in a simple, straightforward manner, and most of the men understood him and greatly enjoyed the evening. That New England Yankee had the gumption of his fathers and readily adjusted himself to the situation. He understood men and he, that night, won the hearts of the foreigners, for he became one with them.
America Stimulates. — A student of this question of the education and culture of the foreigner has proposed that every immigrant should be examined before he is allowed to land, whether or not he " has the intellectual capacity of being able to act healthfully and judiciously as an American citizen." It is fortunate that no such test is put into practice, for it is wonderful how America has the power to create anew many of the men who come in. I have seen stolid men, dressed in sheepskin, apparently indifferent to good or evil, stupid and irresponsive, within a year, awake as if from the dead and become alert, aggressive, and responsive to all that is American. Men have been created anew in this new world. At first, every- thing appears strange and different from what it was in the old world. Dr. David Blaustein tells of a Jewish boy who, after being in this country some time, began to read his Hebrew Bible from left to right, instead of from right to left. They asked him why he did so and his reply was, " I find everything different in this country from what it was in Russia and I thought that reading Hebrew must also be different." It takes time to adjust one's self to a new environment. ^JTwo men in Ellis Island, on a summer's day, sat together on a bench. One was well dressed in American clothes, had an intelligent face, looked prosperous, held his head erect, and spoke in a spirited manner. The other was ill clad, his face stupid, his general appearance unfavorable, and he spoke in a low voice and his head was bowed to earth. I addressed the better-dressed man and said, " You are not an immigrant? " " No," was his reply, " I live in Phila- delphia ; I came here to meet my brother. What do you think of him, does he look like me? " and he pointed to the man sitting
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on the bench. " Well," I answered, " no, I don't think he looks much like you." " No," said the Philadelphian, " he looks like a monkey." I saw in that sober countenance and squalid apparel, centuries of Russian oppression — the knout, imprison- ment, persecution, and murder. Would America straighten that form, lift up that head, and put a smile on that face, as better clothes were put upon the body ? Yes, that is what this land of opportunity does to the millions of Europe. It is culture for them to breathe the air of this " home of the free " ; it is an education to be able to travel where they will ; coming to America is the resurrection of many a soul to newness of life, and that accounts for the fervent patriotism of millions of foreign-born men to-day in America, who would gladly lay down their lives for the land of their adoption, j
Libraries do Good Work. — In this process of educating the foreigner, the libraries of the land are interested. In Detroit, in the public library, there is a bright Polish young lady in charge of the department of foreign literature. She told me that they had twenty thousand volumes in Polish, Italian, Yiddish, French, and German. These foreign books were distributed in various factories where foreigners worked, in order to cultivate their taste for reading. The books were chosen with great care and had a special relation to United States history, biography, and government. That is excellent. In Buffalo, a branch of the public library is found in " Dom Polski," a building put up and maintained by the Poles of the city. A Polish lady is in charge, and her countrymen come there to read, take out books, and spend an hour with their friends. The same desire and anxiety to help foreigners is found in other cities in the immigra- tion zone. In annual sessions of library associations in the states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the librarians express an earnest desire to give a helping hand to the foreigners by bringing within their reach books which will help them to understand America. Some librarians have gone farther than that ; they have opened the spare room to the foreigners who meet there regularly to study the English language. One of these sympathetic librarians, in a branch library in Brooklyn,
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made it a practice to be present at each session when the for- eigners came together ; she brought all the books the library had in their language to that room; she soon was able to call each man by name, and her estimate of them was, " fine fellows."
Foreigners should choose the Books. — Of course, the taste of the foreigner in literature is not our taste ; the standards by which he judges a book are not our standards. Anglo-Saxon ideas and ethical concepts are not always the best guide in the selection of books for foreigners. The best results in the choice of books are secured by asking for the cooperation of a com- mittee from among the foreigners themselves to make the selection. In every foreign community there are men who can do this. The foreigner knows how to behave when he comes to the reading room of the library. Miss Wells, of Pittsburgh, once contrasted the foreign and the American attitude by saying, " The foreigners come in quietly and with genial spirit, they will pass on the papers to their friends and not do as Americans, sit on one while they read the other." Some foreigners interpret the words " Free Library " too literally — they take the books and never return them, on the supposition that they are free to keep them. A group of five Poles, in one of the cities of Penn- sylvania, gave considerable trouble to the librarian because they forgot to bring back the books. Immigrants need train- ing to use libraries properly.
Foreigners have Self-culture. — Among all the peoples of the new immigration may be found small libraries, educational societies, and clubs for self-culture. When in Ashokam Dam, visiting the bunks where the foreigners slept, I saw two young men studying English ; the one had a Russian-English book and the other a Bulgarian-English reader. In hotels and shoe shining parlors, Greek boys may be seen studying our language and wrestling with the difficulties of our grammar. The desire to learn, the ambition for culture, is found among all peoples, but we have to look for it sometimes behind the screen, for the men are shy and sensitive. To meet this desire for education, to guide these men, to lead them into sympathetic relation with the education and culture of America, is our privilege and duty.
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If they stay in the United States and become citizens, the more intelligent they are, the better for us; if they go back to the fatherland, the seeds of an enlightened democracy will be transmitted to the backward countries of Europe, and in this way the new world will in part discharge the debt it owes to the old. The leaven of democracy is working in the countries of southeastern Europe, the people are/awakening to the blessings of a stable government, to education, industry, and commerce, and the credit is largely due to the spirit of America, trans- mitted by the hundreds of thousands who have lived here and have gone back to the home of their childhood to tell their friends how they do things in America.
PART V ASSIMILATION — HINDRANCES
CHAPTER XX
RELATIONS TO AMERICANS
ALL Americans do not treat the foreigner alike, but almost all cfespise him for his econoiriic" standing and Ills "apparent stupidity. While standing on the corner of one of the streets of Norwich, Conn., swept clean by half a dozen Italians, I remarked to a native-born gentleman who stood near me, " These foreigners do good work." " Yes," was his reply, " and they do it cheap." I asked, " What do they earn? " " They get $1.25 (?) a day," he said ; " no white man would do it for that — Yanks want more." There was a contempt in his voice far beyond the words he used, and this is the attitude of the English-speaking, be they foreign- or native-born. This immigrant who fills positions where little or no skill is needed, who digs the sewers and aqueducts, who builds the railroads and tunnels, who slaughters the animals we eat and tans their hides, who fills blast furnaces and taps them of their contents, who pours the molten metal into molds and polishes the castings, who grinds steel and saws wood — labor which the native-born will not touch — is despised because he is there doing this work. We seldom, if ever, think of the heroic in the life of this foreign-born brother. Never did man in his barbaric stage wage a fiercer conflict with nature than thousands of these men wage in trying to make a living in our industrial system. If the average native-born family had to live on $1.50 a day in
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our large cities, there would be a revolution within a twelve- month, but thousands of foreign-born families live on less and suffer. In talking to a young man, native-born, we asked him, " How much do you make per day? " He answered, " $3.60." " Are you married? " His reply was, " No, how can a man marry on such a wage," and he began to tell how much he spent on room and board, on clothes and theaters, etc. That man lived in a wholly different world from the one in which the foreigner lived ; he could never have anything save a feeling of contempt for the foreigner who worked for $1.25 a day, and for the foreign-born father who struggled to raise his family on $1.50 a day,
The Foreigner hangs On. — Yet this man of low wage and unskilled labor is here, and the native-born wage earner, with all his contempt, is conscious that he is the man that is at his heels. In many occupations the foreigner presses the English- speaking worker hard and in some he drives him out. He has many qualities which the native-born workman will do well to , notice. When in Berwick, Pa., conversing with the employ- ment agent, we saw foreigners waiting around that office all day. We expressed surprise at seeing them there hour after hour, morning and afternoon, but the employment agent said : " That's the way the foreigner does ; tell him you don't want him hi the morning, yet hell hang around all day and show himself. An American will come to the window in the morning and, if refused work, he goes away immediately and you don't see him again until the following morning, when he does the same thing." During the winter 1907-1908 troops of foreigners hung around industrial plants, waiting the call of the employer; no matter what hour he called, they were there to answer. The perse- verance of the foreigner is also remarkable. When he makes up his mind to go after anything, he stays on the trail until he reaches the goal. This quality of " hanging on " is one of his chief characteristics, and its lack is the bane of thousands of bright young Americans.
They do what they are Told. — The foreigner is also amena- ble to discipline. He is anxious to please, will run to do the
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will of the boss, will not project his own ideas and talk back, and American foremen like him because of this. A man in Albany, N.Y., in the restaurant business, having wide experi- ence in running lunch counters in half a dozen cities, employs Greeks and Armenians almost wholly to do his work. When asked, " Can't you get English-speaking labor? " his reply was, " Yes, but you cannot rely upon it. They are with you to-day and to-morrow gone. Also the men are too touchy. They would soon run me out of business if I'd let them. The foreigners are steady ; they do what you tell them." It is well to have initiative, to have ideas, but the average foreman wants work done according to instruction, and that is what the for- eigner does.
They are Thrifty. — The foreigner also saves money. He has the old-fashioned virtue of thrift, which is largely out of date in the lives of our young people, who are taught by pro- fessors of economics, as well as by labor leaders, that the more man spends the better it is for the social organism. The for- eigner does not believe that. In many industrial towns, bank- ers say, " The foreigners are the only ones who save." One man put it this way, " They have a little nest to draw upon." They prepare for a " rainy day " — a thing Anglo-Saxons once did. And is it not true that this old-fashioned virtue has made it possible for foreigners to win industrial conflicts? In the strikes involving both the English-speaking workmen, as well as foreigners, the latter as a body have been better able to stand the siege than the former, because of the " little nest." The foreigner has many other qualities besides the three specified — loyalty, industry, common sense — but, judging him as related to the industrial man ahead, what will this trinity of qualities — persistence, amenability, thrift — do for him as related to the man going before? Will they give him an ad- vantage in the competition daily going on among wage earners in the industrial world of these United States ?
The Evils Foreigners Bring. — J. D. Whelpley in summing up the evils of immigration says, " They underbid the labor market, raise important and vexatious municipal questions,
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strain charitable resources to the utmost, increase the cost of government, expose the healthy people to contagious diseases common to the poorer classes of Europe, corrupt the body politic, and in every way complicate a situation none too simple at best." Americans in every city have come face to face with these tendencies, but in the category of evils specified, none is more menacing to the future interest of this democracy than the low standard of living practiced by the foreigner, and the tendency to pull down the standards of the American worker to that level. John R. Commons never said a truer thing than when he wrote, " The future of American democracy is the future of the American wage earner." The body of male and female wage earners, comprising 80 per cent of the people employed in gainful occupation, is the stay and strength of the nation, and any agency which tends to decrease the sum total of consumptive goods, necessary for the maintenance of the mass of wage earners in strength and vigor, tends to reduce the efficiency of the working force, makes it harder to found a home and raise a family, and brings insidious evils to bear upon the children to the third and fourth generation. The lowering of the standard of living of American workmen is a twofold evil which every American should resist — it is inimical to all that is best in American life and it retards the progress of man's civilization.
Americans stand Aloof. — The contempt felt by Americans for the foreigner has intensified the menace to wage earners. They have despised the newcomer and kept aloof from him. The foreigners from southeastern Europe, being left to them- selves, have known nothing better than the standards they brought with them from the fatherland. If the door of friendly fellowship between them and the native-born workman were kept open, the higher standards would sooner afiect the immigrants. Isolation is stagnation. No greater curse can happen to a foreign colony than to be left " dead alone." If these men and women see nothing better than they brought with them from Europe, how can they rise to higher standards? Every colony of foreign-speaking men, left to themselves, exerts a continuous
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downward pressure on the wage of the native-born. It is a mistake for English-speaking workers to stand afar off and curse the foreigner; their interest lies in making them friends and that as fast as possible ; in educating them in American ways by means within their power; and in bringing the influence of a higher civilization to bear upon them. It is waste of time to protest against the incoming millions of Europe. The steam- ship and the railroads won't be argued out of modern civiliza- tion. These agencies have made the world much smaller than it was in the days of Washington. The wireless, the long-dis- tance telephone, and the aeroplane will still further reduce space. The workmen of the civilized world are in competition with the workmen of America, and the salvation of the labor force in the United States lies in bringing together, into friendly relationship, the workers of all nations in American industries. The barriers of prejudice must be torn down as those separating civilized men have been. If the standard of living in the United States is to be partially preserved, men of all races must cooperate. The initiative and organization to effect this depend more upon the good will and sympathy of English-speaking workers in America than upon the action of any other agency.
Foreigners will Imitate. — This man will respond to the approaches of his English-speaking brother, if the approach is made in the spirit of true brotherhood. He will copy the higher standards of American workers, he will absorb their ideals and will stubbornly resist efforts to cut down that portion of pro- ductive wealth given the worker for his maintenance and that of his family. Let any one compare the condition of these Eujtoean peoples in the homeland and their condition in America, ancWi he doubts their power to adapt themselves to American standards, he will be cured of his doubt. The worst material conditions surrounding our poorest classes in America would be considered splendid luxury in Russia, and the food eaten by Slav and Magyar here would be a feast in many sections of the Balkans. No foreigner has lived in the United States five months, but he feels the upward drawing of American standards. In the home and in work, in society and in church, on parade
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and in funerals, these men clearly show jMpnfluence of a new environment. But this conscious effort ^Kuiens to copy higher standards would be more marked if English-speaking men, who use the foreigner's strength in shop and factory, mill and mine, were to draw closer to him in his social, political, and moral life. The great solvent of social prejudice is sympathy.
Quaint Ways among Foreigners. — The foreigner is ignorant of our ways, but let us remember that he comes from countries that are backward. In the Balkans, the mountaineers have no schools and they have many quaint customs. Take, for example, the way they have of naming men — a way that was once common all over Europe. They call a man Murchi, son of Nicholas, as was the custom in Biblical times — David, the son of Jesse; Jesus, the son of Joseph, etc. A man in Ellis Island carried three names : one after his father, one after his mother, and a pet name given him by his godfather. All this is funny to us, but it does not necessarily follow that the man is bad because we are perplexed and confused on account of this ancient way of naming men. This man may cook his food and eat it very differently from the way to which we are accustomed, but it does not follow that he is undesirable and that he is a being of a lower order because of that. This man is here, he is anxious to become an American, hundreds of thousands of them have bought homes and are raising strong families, and all they ask of us in this democracy is a " square deal." Many men to-day decry the sentiment, " all men are born equal," proclaimed to the world by the founders of this nation. India has its millions organized into strata, arranged accordingfto the tenets of a philosophy diametrically opposed to that actuating the framers of the Declaration of Independence. India is in the throes of reconstruction and its millions suffer inexpressible woes, but America has proclaimed liberty to the peoples of the earth and leads the procession of nations to a higher civilization. Woe be the day when America departs from the philosophical basis of the fathers upon which they built so wisely. Americans, more than any civilized people, have kept ppen the door of opportunity, so that the boy in the
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gutter may rise to the position of highest honor in the land. It is the interest of the working classes to keep open that door, and set their faces against all quibbling at this phrase, " all men are born equal," with a view to destroy its deep intent and purpose. But the workingmen of this country can never hope to do this unless they are ready to recognize the equality of man in the individual, be he Irish or Italian, German or Greek, Hungarian or Hindu. Will American workmen awake to their great obligation? Will they see and believe that the funda- mental principle of the brotherhood of man rests upon the equality of race, and this will be an idle dream unless it rests upon the equality of the individual?
Persecution of Foreigners. — And this obligation of giving a square deal to every foreigner in the land is an obligation that rests upon every member of the community. A lady in an industrial town in Massachusetts, said, " These foreigners — we may as well give up the country to them ; they fill up every- where." The gentleman whom she addressed, said, " That's so, madam, but please tell me where will you go? " That question, " Whither shall we go from the presence of the for- eigner? " haunts many thousands of persons to-day in the immi- gration zone. The most American cities on the continent are in the Southwest, and the immigrant in the last few years has set his face in that direction. No, the native-born cannot flee from the presence of the foreigner; the best thing for every community is to deal righteously and generously by him. Many communities have not done this. In Hoquiam, Wash., the sentiment against the southeastern Europeans was so strong that the " white people," under the leadership of a Christian gentleman (?), resolved to drive them out. The slogan on this occasion was " the foreigners have taken our jobs." Some Christian men, coming to the fore to save the good name of the town, assured the agitators that* work would be found for every " white man " displaced by the foreigners. That calmed the tempest, but the agitators would not take the work when it was offered them ; they preferred to live on inflammable speech which stirred up strife between brother and brother. In
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South Omaha, one of the most shameful riots ever known took place because of prejudice against the foreigner. A Greek went into the house of a young lady of questionable character, and a policeman, following the man, arrested him without any overt cause whatsoever. The Greek resisted and, in the scuffle which followed, the officer was shot. That was Saturday night. The following Sunday morning as the bells were ringing, calling men to worship, a mob assembled and, under the leadership of disreputable fellows, began storming the Greek quarters, smashing windows, breaking doors, and pursuing the terror- stricken and defenseless Greeks in all directions. On the corner of L Street and 24th Avenue was the firm of Demos Brothers — superior men in every sense of the word, one of them being married to an American girl. This store was several blocks away from the Greek quarter, but on came the raging mob, as the surging tide, lashed by gusts of rage and passion. They attacked the store at a time when the white-haired mother of the Demos Brothers sat quietly at the soda fountain. They smashed windows, tore to pieces the soda fountain, strewed on floor and street the contents of windows and cases and left that place, which represented an investment of more than $7000, a mass of ruins. The brothers and their families fled for life. They had two other stores in Omaha, which they immediately gave up, for they knew not how far this wave of fury, fanaticism, and savagery would sweep, and in a week, they found them- selves reduced by mob violence in Christian America from the position of prosperous merchants to paupers.
Some Christians despise Foreigners. — Instances of mob violence against the foreigners are also found in the East, and even the South is not exempt. One of the steamship com- panies has established a line of steamers running to southern ports, in the hope that immigrants landing there may stay in Southern states where labor is scarce. The experiment is not a success. No sooner are the immigrants so landed in possession of enough money to pay their passage north than many of them do so. On board a ship, which recently came from one of the Gulf ports to the port of New York, were found sixty immigrants
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who had been in the Southern states for less than a year. A passenger, interested in immigration, asked the men, " Why do you leave the South? " Their answer was : " We are treated worse than the negroes. We work from early morning till night for low wages, are fed wretchedly, and are socially ostra- cized." There are many Christian organizations in the North in the immigration zone that believe in giving a helping hand to those reared in heathenism 5000 miles away, but they mani- fest the greatest repugnance in helping foreigners, neighbors, who need their sympathy and help. In one of these Christian organizations, the official head wanted to do something for the hundreds of Italians who lived in the neighborhood, and who were untouched by any influence save that of the saloon, the gambling den, the motion pictures, etc. When that Christian gentleman began work, the chairman of the official board came to him and said : " I understand that you are going to open a Dago ranch in this building. I don't stand for that." The secretary of a railroad Young Men's Christian Association brought one evening into the building twelve Danes, working on the railroad, who had no place to sleep. The English- speaking men, under the sway of racial antipathy, began to object and protested against the foreigners being brought in. Among these newcomers, however, was a skilled musician, who, while the Americans were presenting their objections to the secretary, began to play upon the accordion. He discoursed sweet music, which soon had its effect. The ire on the faces of the native-born soon began to vanish ; the censure died on their lips ; their hearts were softened ; and that night they sat up late listening to the foreigner playing. One of the most sym- pathetic hearts that ever prayed for men in New England was forced out of his pulpit, because he did too much for the for- eigners to please his deacons. Christians find it hard to practice what they profess to believe when the foreigner is the subject. Some Christians help Foreigners. — All Christians are not infidels in action toward the foreigner. Some noble-hearted men and women are leading the way in the true spirit of the Nazarene. In the town of New Britain, they celebrated the
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itenary of the birth of Elihu Burritt by a festival of all itions. Seventeen different flags were entwined by represent- atives of seventeen different nationalities at the grave of that linguist and Apostle of Peace. Not a weapon of war was anywhere seen ; every nation in this manufacturing center was represented ; never was a more cosmopolitan crowd seen in any city on the continent, and the crowds were serene and joyous as a summer's day in June. That is the kind of amalgam America needs, and it is not surprising that a Persian, who witnessed that splendid practical exhibit of the brotherhood of man, went home and named his new-born baby Elihu Burritt Baba. In Lorain, Ohio, the Young Men's Christian Association wanted a building and appealed to the foreigners for funds. Eight hundred men came forward and gave from two to three dollars to the enterprise. On the corner of Division Street in the North End of Chicago stands a building which has cost $300,000. It is in the heart of the Polish district and was built by the Young Men's Christian Association to meet the needs of the young men of foreign parentage. Among the places worth while visiting in New York City are the centers of light devoted to work for foreigners. One of these, where men of various tongues come together for instruction, counsel, and help, has a strong band of earnest men working for the uplift of the men of the new immigration. Last winter, in a building in this same city, there assembled representatives of twenty-one different nation- alities for a social evening. Many of the groups sang their national songs, others spoke, all listened to a stereopticon lecture on the " Master Builders of the Nation," and all voices blended in singing " America." A leading foreigner who was present, wrote the following morning as follows : " The meeting last night surprised me very much. I never thought that here in America exists such an organization where all nationalities can come together under one roof and express their ideas." Rev. Ozora Davis, president of Chicago Theological School, has a Bible, which he values most highly. It was presented him at a farewell dinner, given in his honor as he left New Britain, and the sacred book is made still more sacred by the fact that it
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represents the nickels of foreigners in that city, whom his genial leadership had inspired to better things. In Rochester, N.Y., native-born leadership has organized the Association of Practical Housekeeping Centers, and it sums up its activity as follows: "An American home in a foreign neighborhood, a home that attempts to live up to the best standard of simplicity, cleanliness, and comfort, at a minimum cost. Mere example is made effective by systematized classes in housework among the neighborhood children, boys and girls, and young women." Hundreds of other agents, working in settlements and missions, in schools and parish houses, in dispensaries and milk depots, are rendering a service for the uplift of men, women, and children of foreign-speaking nations, which none can estimate. And every sympathetic patriot would like to see this work of help- ing foreigners grow into a habit — a habit that will permeate every native-born person living in close proximity to foreign communities, where the darkness and ignorance have lingered too long and where the forces of iniquity have had the right of way.
Native-born can Lead. — Upon the native-born is placed the burden of this leadership, and especially upon the Christian men and women of this nation. When eighty spiritual leaders of a foreign-speaking nation met in a New England town, floating the banner, " Our tongue, our nationality, our religion," they represented a civilization that was left on the continent of the old world more than a hundred years ago. These men hurt no one as they do themselves. They stand in their own light. When a native-born fool in a national campaign, in the heart of a foreign colony, tore down the picture of one of the presi- dential candidates and tramped upon it, he violated the funda- mental principle of democracy and wronged these " coming Americans." When John Most, editor of the Freiheirt, was brought before the court for publishing articles which incited lawlessness and riot, his chief defense was to present to court articles, cartoons, and epithets, from one of the leading journals of the land, owned and edited by native-born men, which were more inflammable than anything he ever printed. Thousands
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of these men come to America asking for bread and are given a stone. They take the standards of the shiftless and degenerate and, conforming to these, they imagine themselves " coming Americans." The fact is that many of them are, in less than six months, worse than when they landed. Whether or not they become vicious, profane, coarse, and sensual, depends largely upon the environment, and its character depends more upon the native-born than the foreign-born. Would that these men could see democracy in America in its true light — that democracy that has added a new ethical significance to the home, a new political importance to the individual, a new educational standard for the wards of the nation, a new relation between employer and employee in industrial life, and a new basis for the religious life of man. How few foreigners become conscious of these truths when they settle in our cities ! How few loyal Americans believe that it is genuine patriotism to bring before the mind and heart of this foreign brother the right types of manhood and womanhood that have made America what it is in the history of the world !
A Glorious Heritage. — In line with this idea would it not be well for Americans to choose a list of men and women who have been leaders in all that is excellent and good in the life of the nation, and bring out the characteristics of these leaders, and lay them as models before every foreign colony in the land? No nation living has a better heritage of glorious men and women who have made the nation what it is. It is a storehouse from which we can draw richest hues of mental and moral worth to adorn this raw material, coming from the backward countries of Europe. The makers of the West, the captains of industry, the princes of merchandise and commerce, the statesmen and diplomats, the masters of education, the inventors and authors, the scientists and discoverers, the musicians and poets — all these were men and women who made America, and they rise high above the mass of common men, as mountains rise from the plains, because they had in them the qualities that endure and make for progress. And it is these qualities we want to emphasize and bring out, so that every foreigner may emulate
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them. When immigrants return to the fatherland, they take some mementoes with them from America. Many pictures of Wash- ington and Lincoln adorn Slavic and Magyar, Italian and Greek homes across the seas, and we can well imagine how the few facts each foreigner loves to tell about their lives thrill the hearts of men who have long felt the tyrant's heel and the serf's thraldom. Every leader in the nation's history has in him the magnetic touch to quicken into new life the dormant energies of the peoples of southeastern Europe.
Mixture means Strength. — Charles Kingsley once , said that " the physical and intellectual superiority of the high-born is only preserved as it was in the old Norman times, by the con- tinual practical abnegation of the very caste lie in which they pride themselves, by continual renovation of their race by intermarriage with the rank below them. The blood of Odin flowed in the veins of Norman William, true — and so did the tanner's of Falaise." In no country has this been tested as in America, and the vigor, aggressiveness, ingenuity, and enterprise of these United States, whose progress and achievements have astonished the world, are partly due to the commingling of bloods on this continent. The new immigration may come from backward countries, but the words of Dr. Charles W. Eliot are well worth remembering : " Many illiterates have common sense, sound bodies, and good characteristics. Indeed, it is not clear that education increases much the amount of common sense which nature gave the individual." Americans who proclaim that we get the dregs of Europe do not tell the truth. The most enterprising, daring, brave, and strong sons of Bulgaria and Macedonia, of Croatia and Servia come to us to-day, as did the best blood of Ireland, Scandinavia, and Ger- many come to America about the middle of the nineteenth century. Never in the history of the world have the weakest and frailest been sent to look over the nature of a new country. It is the Calebs and the Joshuas that lead the way and send back home the news of prosperity and hope. That is the case with the new immigration, and Americans need not fear that these elements, thrown into the caldron, will produce degeneracy
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and deterioration any more than the elements of the old immi- gration did.
Give the Foreigners American Ideals. — As this foreigner goes into the caldron, let us see to it that he is saturated with what Lester F. Ward calls the Zeitgeist, " the sum of such ideas in any country which lie below doubt, question, schism, or dis- cussion, such as democracy hi government, separation of church and state, etc., in America." This heritage of ideas and ideals which is of greater value than the ore of the hills or the products of the plains ; this psychical and moral atmosphere of America which has been created by the efforts and sacrifices of men who bequeathed to subsequent generations priceless treasures in the institutions they established for the government of a free people — these we want the foreigner to feel and perceive. When the foreigners bring into a community a saloon for every one hundred persons, — men, women and children — the spirit of America suffers violence in that town, and the foreigners should be made to feel that the saloon is not an American institu- tion. When rum is given this prominence in community life, the freedom established by a free people is abused, and the men who abuse the freedom cannot measure up to the opportunity offered them, but will become a drag upon our civilization. If foreigners send their children to work in violation of the laws of the state, every patriot should rise up and protest, for it is a menace to our democracy to permit its wards to be stunted in mind and body, to gratify the greed of ignorant parents and the selfishness of operators. When foreigners hide the criminal and speed his escape, the American spirit must come to the fore to teach these men that their action strikes at the very founda- tion of government, and that the safety of property and life depends upon every man in the Republic being a committee of one in defense of law and order. If foreigners, by a low standard of living and the acceptance of a low wage, threaten the comfort and efficiency of American workers, it is the duty of the social conscience to make the foreigner feel that the safety of America lies in preserving a standard of living which enables men to live according to the demands of the twentieth
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century. If this brother and his family live in dirty homes which threaten the health of the community, the American spirit demands that he should give attention to his relation to the community and learn how to contribute to its health and not to its death. If in his religious life his rights are not recognized, then it is the duty of Americans to make known to the man his rights, and help him to realize true religious liberty. And when this man is saturated with the axioms of life, as laid down by public opinion and the Zeitgeist in America, we can rest assured that he will be a safe element to add to the caldron for the making of the American of to-morrow.
/ Contrast. — The true American is not here ; he is yet in the making. We are a young nation. A hundred years is as yester- day in the life of races of men, and the day is coming when these United States will be made up of better men and women, whose vision will be far clearer than that of those now living. But the future citizen of this Republic will not be produced by chance, he must be the creation of telic action. It is impor- tant that the ideals and the achievements of the past be main- tained, but they will not long be retained if we do not advance to still higher heights. When a tjqpical American town is visited, we come face to face with what America means to civilization. The streets are clean, the homes are well kept, the yards and lawns are cared for, the gardens are full of flowers. The church and school are centers of light, the public library is well patronized, literature comes to the homes, and the children are trained in the ways of virtue and decency. Crime is seldom heard of, the saloon is not tolerated, the officers of the law are appointed, but have little to do, and the prison cell is empty. That is the character of towns which are true to the American type. I have lived in towns of very different character — towns in which the saloon was the most popular of all institutions and where no public library was found ; places where the executive officers of the law were kept busy and the prison cell too small to hold the criminals ; where churches were few and the schools inferior in every way ; where the streets were filthy and garbage thrown everywhere; where the houses were not drained and
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the streets not lighted ; where the children were ill-washed, ill- fed, and ill-clothed. Two towns, such as above described, are in the same commonwealth, and the difference between them is the sum of the difference between American and Russian civilization. The inferior civilization is an anachronism in America ; it is here because we have largely left these people to themselves. When agencies of amelioration are brought to bear upon these patches of backward Europe in America, they yield to treatment and appear clothed anew, and men in their right mind move Godward. This amelioration can be insti- tuted in every community where foreigners live.
Preserve the Civilization. — It cannot be emphasized too strongly or repeated too often that we, must look to Americans for the preservation of American civilization. There is no holier duty, no more sacred mission given to the heirs of the founders of this democracy than that of transmitting in its integrity the heritage of ethnic endowment gained by the white men through generations of struggle, toil, and suffering. Hu- manity is looking to the United States to lead on to that better day when pestilence shall cease, when the ills of life are reduced by science to a minimum, when we shall obey nature and secure that immunity from ills that will add to the peace of home and the prosperity of the nation, and when men shall enjoy the fruits of their labor without the fear of war and the curse of poverty. But this better day will not dawn for humanity if we leave the millions of southeastern Europe to themselves, or, worse still, to the demoralizing forces of the saloon, the gambler, and the sinister politician. The very progress of civilization demands that we give this man the best that is in us, that we may preserve the best that was bequeathed us.
CHAPTER XXI
REACHING THE NEWCOMER
No branch of the Anglo-Saxon race has an opportunity like that afforded Americans who live in industrial communities in the United States to study a group of nations that is inter- esting and edifying. Take the small town of Proctor, Vt, not more than three thousand inhabitants, and in it are found representatives of sixteen different nationalities. If any man, residing among the foreign-speaking, wants a broad education, let him study the nations represented in his community. The history of man will be better understood if it is studied in the light of the background of these several nations. Each race is the product of generations of struggle and conflict, and its physical characteristics and mental endowments can be explained only by recognizing the forces which have made the country whence they come what it is.
Study Each Nation. — It is a mistake to imagine that when one of the races of southeastern Europe is studied, we know all the rest. Each people, each race must be studied by itself, and the student should lay aside all bias and bigotry and believe with Brinton, " that no matter what metaphysics say, any nation, as any man, may lift itself by recognition of those indefeasible and universal elements of the mind, the ' I,' the * ought, ' and the ' can ' — the reverence of self, the respect for duty, and the devotion to freedom." When this is done, there will be found in every people some good ; every foreign colony will be found to be made up of men and women, and the good and bad qualities found in the average English-speaking colony will also be found in it.
Know Your Town. — It is surprising how ignorant the aver- age community is of the foreign colony in its neighborhood. A
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gentleman who was much interested in his town, when asked, " How many Lithuanians have you here?" looked stupid and said, "What did you say?" I repeated the question and he said, " Never heard of that people," and yet there were 3000 of them hi the city. When a business man in another town was asked, " How many Poles have you in town? " he said, " I'm not sure ; the electric people have a couple of hundred, and a new company is putting some down." I said, " I don't mean poles, but Polish people." "Oh, I don't know; they're no good." When the Italians of the city of Dayton turned out to celebrate Columbus Day, about 300 men were in line and the citizens became conscious that they had a colony of 2000 Italians in the city. In a town of 30,000 inhabitants in New York State, the foreigners formed one-third of the population, but the change had gone on so quickly and unobservedly that most of the leading citizens had but a faint idea of it. The Poles, however, sent a petition to the council, requesting that one of their people be appointed on the police force ; then, in a short while, the Italians demanded an official interpreter, and this request was soon followed by a similar one from the Lithuanians. These petitions brought the fact home to the native-born of the town that the foreigners had rights which they wanted the town to recognize. It would have been better for that community to have studied the com- plex condition of its population, and meet the needs of these men in an intelligent and sympathetic way.
Scientific Investigation. — The movement " Know your neighborhood " ought to commend itself to every community. Cities which have followed out the program outlined by the leaders of this work have been surprised what a little scientific investigation reveals. When the facts brought out by the Pitts- burgh Survey were put before some of the good people of the " Smoky City," they said, " These things cannot be true " ; but when they began to look the facts in the face, they became convinced that all was not told — that it was actually worse than the -report stated. When carefully gathered facts about housing conditions, crowding, sanitation, and social vice have been presented to committees of respectable citizens, they pro-
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test, saying, "We think you are mistaken ; our town is respect- able, and what you say cannot exist in it." They don't know their town ; they don't know how the other half lives ; they have left municipal affairs in the hands of professional politicians, who were careful to have all things decent and well-ordered in the residential part of the town, but the tenements or congested quar- ters, where the foreigners lived, were left to filth, disease, and death. The experience of Confucius can be repeated in every industrial city in the immigration zone. The sons of wealth and luxury, the heirs of ease and ennui, will find in congested parts of industrial towns, filth and disease, sickness and death, and men and women living under conditions that are inhuman. The first step in uplift work for immigrants is to find out the facts, know how they live, what are their housing conditions, what they eat, see and know whether " many of them live on food which a respectable man would not give to his dog," find out the truth about the boarding house, the prevalence of disease, and the death record. These things can only be found out by knowing our neighborhood.
The Way Facts are Gathered. — There are men, in every town having a foreign colony, interested in foreigners, and many, on their own responsibility, take a glimpse into the foreign quar- ter to see what kind of a place it is. Some Christian and secular organizations, such as young people's societies, the laymen's movement, Bible classes, committees of philanthropic and chari- table organizations, have attempted investigations and tabulated results, which, through lack of proper leadership and training, come short of what the trained investigator wants to know. Settlement houses have given us valuable studies of foreign colonies, while organized charities have conducted many investi- gations in cities where the foreigners reside.' Each of these plans can furnish valuable information, but the best way is to secure an expert investigator, organize a committee and enlist a corps of assistants, map out a definite program and carry it out systematically. •
One Organizer. — A gentlemen, in New York City, who does excellent work among Italians, stands alone. He organized a
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club for young men by going into the Italian section of the city, joining a group of young men on the street corner and proposing to secure for them a place to meet where they could bring their men friends. He has a flourishing club and keeps it going, but the organization has recently drifted into the hands of English- speaking Italians who passed a by-law that no one could join the club unless he understood and spoke the English language. One can readily see how the work of this sympathetic individ- ualist could be strengthened if an organized effort were made to multiply the service he can render.
Young People can Investigate. — In the city of Cleveland, Mr. David E. Green, then connected with the young people's organization of evangelical churches, made a study of foreign Cleveland and published the result in pamphlet form. That production stimulated many of the religious organizations of the town to attempt definite work for foreigners. One of the results of the investigation was the selection of a young man to work among foreigners. Among other things he found Armenians in the hands of base leaders, catering to everything that was degrading, while the men of respect and character, having com- mon sense and moral worth, kept in the background and were ignored. When the American worker appeared, they came to the fore, formed a nucleus around which the respectable could rally, and, being taken under the shelter of a strong church organization not far from the colony, the advocates of decency and purity were able to hold their own against the forces of degeneracy.
A Committee at Work. — A good illustration of the third method of investigation is the work done by Mr. John Daniels, in Buffalo. He organized a committee of the leading citizens, secured a budget, enlisted a corps of helpers, prescribed the territory, and marked out carefully the lines of investigation. Thus, under the leadership of this trained investigator, the Polish section of the city was studied, the facts tabulated, and then presented in an interesting form to the patriots of that city. Of course, they were startled, many facts were revelations, and they became conscious that they had a serious problem
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on hand. The investigation has led to constructive work, a committee of patriotic citizens have taken up the problems of Poland in Buffalo, and agencies are at work to bring about reforms.
Serve One People Well. — If an individual resolves to do work among the foreigners, his best plan is to select one people and serve it. He ought to know something about the history of that race, study its characteristics, adapt his work to its needs, be patient and persevering, and always keep clear in mind the service he wants to render. A young man, who attended a meet- ing where the problem of the foreigners was discussed, became so enthused that he resolved, before he left the hall, to try to do something to help the foreigner. A group of Greeks, working on railroad construction, was located within two miles of the town in which he lived, and this became the scene of the experiment. He knew nothing of the people, had no plan of approach, had nothing to offer the men that was worth while, and in less than two weeks he became a laughing stock to the foreigners hi the camp. Another man, living within a few miles of a camp of Mace- donians, felt that he ought to do something for the men. He went to the camp, found the foreman and told him his plan, came in touch with the " straw " boss, and took him into his confidence. Within a week the major part of the camp was in a class, studying English, and on Sundays they had phono- graphic concerts. That young man is the light 'of that camp. When the foreign-born young men come to town, they call on their teacher in his home, and his wife says " they are nice and gentle, they talk low and are courteous, and they never bring in dirt." It is possible to do good work standing alone. Another man helped a Greek by simple acts of kindness. That son of Ionia has entered the candy business, and the American cannot pass his store but he is detained and a box of candy thrust into his pocket. In another city, the foreigners found consider- able difficulty in getting insurance on their buildings, for the fire insurance companies did not care to take the risk. They consulted an American leader — a man who sympathized with them. He set to work, found a company willing to take the risk,
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313
and put the business in the hand of a trustworthy young for- eigner.
The Work of the Y. M. C. A. — - One of the best-organized efforts to reach the foreigners is carried on by the Young Men's Christian Association. The work is begun in European ports, eleven of which are manned by representatives of this organiza- tion. They pay special attention to young men coming to North America, advise them as to baggage and accommoda- tions, distribute literature bearing upon the United States or Canada, according to the destination of the passengers, and give cards of introduction — printed in twenty-two different languages — to the secretaries of organized branches in the cities of North America. That is the first impression made on the immigrant as he leaves Europe. In seven ports of landing on the Atlantic, eleven representatives work among the immi- grants, and serve them in every possible way. They help them to locate their baggage, to change their money, to send word to friends and relatives, to -find friends, take them to boats and railroads, visit the sick in the hospital, comfort the detained, and give every man, who wishes, a card of introduction to the secre- tary of the organization in the city to which the immigrant goes. These representatives, in the ports of embarkation in Europe, and in those of landing on the Atlantic, touch 5000 young men of twenty-one different tongues each month, and more than 500 branches of the Young Men's Christian Association serve the men in one way or another. The following instance is typical of the service rendered by secretaries to men of the new immi- gration. Michael Wisnienski, a Pole, came to Pittsburgh. He presented his card, printed hi Polish, at the association building, and the immigration secretary gave him attention. He helped him to find his friends and, in two days, was able to find him a job in one of the mills. He was then put into a class for the study of English, which was located nearest the place where he lived. The man was thus tied up to friends whom he could trust, and to these he came in all his difficulties. He wanted to send money to the homeland, write letters to his family, and ask advice about his work and various other topics, and the service
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was freely given. A young man recently going to Rochester, N.Y., was robbed of $60 on the Battery. Fortunately he had his ticket and so reached the city. He went to the Y. M. C. A. and the secretary was able to help him to board and lodging, find work for him, and give him a start in a new country. Work in Canada. — This work is done by the Young Men's Christian Association in Canada as well as in the United States. The secretary at the port of Quebec met seven Norwegians who came to join a vessel on which they were employed. They could not find the vessel anywhere and knew not what to do. The Y. M. C. A. immigration secretary in that port came to their aid. He communicated with the signal service, and found out that the vessel would not be in for two days. The men did not have a cent of money and knew not where to go. The secretary, on a Sunday morning, took them to the home of the Norwegian consul, who provided for their entertainment until the vessel came to port. When the secretary left them, they kissed his hand and thanked him profusely. Associations, in- land, try to come into touch with recently arrived immigrants, and much of the work done is a surprise to the newcomers. A Greek was met by the representative of the Y. M. C. A. on Ellis Island and given a card of introduction to the branch in Oak- land, Cal. He was not in town two days before one of the employed officers of the association branch called to see him. There was no man more surprised and yet more glad than the Greek himself. He was pleased to find that some one in America was taking an interest in him. When we returned about ten o'clock to the hotel in Berwick, Pa., after a meeting with a group of foreigners, we met a man, wife, and child wandering in the foreign colony. They were immigrants, and as we passed them the man addressed us in his native tongue, asking where his friend lived. One of the party understood him and returned with the immigrants in quest of their friend. They called up every saloon-keeper in the foreign colony, and not before mid- night was the friend located. When they awoke the family and the friends long parted were joined, the joy of the n:eeting was ample compensation for the trouble taken.
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Foreigners are followed Up. — Hundreds of instances of this character of service could be given, and they are rendered by more than 500 men scattered in the cities to which the immigrants go, and through the agency of an organization established in many counties some of these men are followed into rural com- munities, put in touch with a friend whom they can consult, and who plays the part of a brother to them. There are more than 17,000 foreign-speaking men organized into classes study- ing English by a system specially adapted to teach them in a practical and interesting way; as their knowledge of English advances, they are taught civics, history, and the principles of hygiene. A class of fourteen men applied for citizenship in Lake County, Ohio, and every one of them passed the examina- tion, and the judge, complimenting the men, said, " It is the most satisfactory examination I ever conducted for naturaliza- tion." The class was organized in a nursery, taught by a native- born clerk, an employee of the concern, who volunteered his services to help the men. In twelve of our colleges no fewer than looo students have volunteered their services to teach foreigners hi the cities in which the colleges are located, and by their services thousands of newcomers have been helped. In the three states of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, more than 75,000 foreigners were brought together to see and hear stereopticon lectures on American history, master builders of the nation, government, Washington, Lincoln, personal and social hygiene, etc. Whenever lectures are given to audiences of foreign-speaking men, interpreters are employed ; in some in- stances three men speak simultaneously, each interpreting to his own people.
Lectures to Foreigners. — In the city of Scranton, last winter, 900 foreigners assembled in the Providence Armory to see and hear a lecture on " Mine Accidents and their Causes." The slides were prepared at the suggestion of Col. R. A. Phillips, gen- eral superintendent of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Co. The lecture was interpreted by a Pole and a Lithu- anian. The hall was full and the foreign-born sat there patiently for an hour and a half, listening intently to the explanation and
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watching the pictures. It was an evening of profit, for the men saw how accidents occurred and how they could be prevented. In Wilmerding, Pa., the immigration secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association arranged with some Italian women to give an Italian dinner in one of the churches. It was done with taste and judgment, and those who partook of the feast have ever since had a higher opinion of the Italians. In Cambridge, Mass., H. M. Gerry, the educational director, planned a mock elec- tion in which the foreigners took part. They met in caucus, the parties chose the ticket, they carried on the canvass, they voted for the candidates, and the chosen ones were properly inaugurated. The men were well satisfied and affirmed that the mock election had taught them more about our form of government and how to vote than they could be taught hi any other way. In Aurora, 111., representatives of seven different nationalities met at dinner and exchanged greetings — seven different tongues being used on the occasion. Men of different nationalities, brought to- gether in this way, touch each other ; care is also taken to bring the sympathetic and warm-hearted men and women of native birth to the gathering, for the sooner the consciousness of a common brotherhood grips the foreign- and the native-born, the better it is for the community and the nation.
North American Civic League. — The North American Civic League for Immigrants is also doing a great work for the men of the new immigration ; its president, D. Chauncey Brewer, is a man of great insight into the problem and is moved to action by patriotic motives. The League is rendering good service in quickening the public schools to greater efforts to meet the need of immigrants ; by urging the establishment of night schools in foreign colonies ; and by planning means by which those anxious for the privileges of citizenship may be instructed. The League also prepares literature on immigration to quicken the interest of patriotic men ; it calls attention to the need of special types of service to help the foreigner adjust his life to America ; and in season and out of season, it urges the duty and obligation of assimilating the foreigners. The organization has also urged the importance of securing reliable interpreters for the courts
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so that justice can be done to the foreigner standing trial or seeking his rights in the courts of the land. The League has rendered an excellent service in the port of New York City by running down men who thrived upon the ignorance and credulity of the newcomers. It has organized an agency which furnishes men, at a low cost, to guide the immigrants landing on the Battery to their destination in Greater New York. Hence scores of immigrants are guarded from exploitation. The League, in these efforts, has done good promotion work as well as actual service for immigrants ; its police work has been excellent ; it has stimulated legislative measures and established ameliorat- ing centers ; it has coordinated public agencies interested in the foreigner and has led the way in many types of service.
Other Agencies at Work. — Chicago also has a League for Immigrants, which is doing good work in protecting those who come to the city from the vampires who hang around depots waiting for gullible victims. It has also carried on a vigorous campaign for the protection of immigrants by Federal authority for the purpose of establishing immigrant stations inland at points of distribution, as before referred to. The League is interested in other lines of activity, such as education and social betterment for the foreigners. There are other organizations doing welfare work for immigrants, such as the Friendly Society for Immigrants, Educational Alliance, Society for Dis- tribution of Immigrants, etc., while the majority of settlement houses in the immigration zone devote their energies to the man and woman of foreign birth, givjng special attention to the\ children of the foreign-born. It is hard to find a settlement hi any of the thirty large cities before mentioned which does not find its sphere of usefulness among the immigrants or their descendants. These centers of light, however, do their bestt work among the mothers and the children, — they do not reaclv the men of the new immigration to any great extent. The services rendered by enthusiastic men and women of deep sym- pathy in these settlements cannot be computed. They bring comfort, cheer, counsel, guidance, and protection to thousands of helpless and ignorant homes. The mother's meetings, the
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clubs for boys, the instruction given girls in domestic science, the friendly visitor, the aid given in sickness and death, and the quiet uplifting influence upon the home are all done from the loftiest motives, and in the spirit of sympathy and friendliness, and with a devotion that often reminds one of the self-abnega- tion of a St. Francis or the self-forgetfulness of a Florence Night- ingale. More of these centers are needed. If they were sys- tematically organized on a scale commensurate to the need, so that their beneficent influence could radiate into every dark corner of congested territory where foreigners live, these sons and daughters of backward nations would soon cease to be a per- plexing problem in our cities.
Work done by Churches. — The churches of the leading denominations are rendering good service to the immigrants. Many of them are conducting settlement houses, modeled after the Toynbee pattern, ministering to the physical and economic as well as the spiritual needs of these peoples. Some parish houses are rendering invaluable services by conducting dis- pensaries, milk depots, employment bureaus, free clinics, etc., — services which relieve suffering, restore courage, and save life. They do all that the settlement houses do, and, in addition, they in a special manner bring the Christian faith to bear upon the spiritual needs of the foreigners. Back of the Christian settle- ment is the inspiration of a thousand years of service to the oppressed and poor, and underneath it is the faith in an eternal Father, who has in all ages been the champion of the fatherless, the widow, and the sufferer. I cannot help but feel every time I stand in a Christian settlement house that here is the agent to renovate and raise up the immigrant home from ignorance, superstition, and helplessness, if only it could divest itself of the trammels of ecclesiastical bigotry and denominational exclu- siveness. It has the scientific knowledge, it has the source of inspiration; the one thing needed is to have it rise above the limitations imposed by man on the teaching and spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, and render service to men as men, regardless of petty distinction of creed and ritual. I have seen three mission- aries, representing three denominations, working among the
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same people. These men represented the same Master, drew their teaching from the same Book, held up before their people the same ideals of purity and redemption, and yet they were envious, jealous, malignant, and morose. The one was afraid the others would steal his people, would call upon his families, would render some service to a member of his parish. The effect this had upon the people can be better imagined than described. The foreigners knew only one faith, one Lord, one baptism before they came to America, but now they are per- plexed and confused by the multiplicity of doctrines and dis-j tinctions, which tend to break down the very fiber and tissue of all religious faith. Every man who believes in the eternal verities mourns the loss of faith in spiritual realities incident to the coming of the immigrant to America, but is it not largely due to the divisions among men who profess in this enlightened country to follow the same Lord ?
Foreigners are Religious. — There is no faith as strong and childlike on this continent as that brought here by the new immigrants. The Slav is instinct with religious faith. We have before stated that no people in the old immigration are as faith- ful and loyal to their church as the Slav and Lithuanian. The Greek and Bulgarian, the Turk and the Hebrew regard the con- verts from the faith of their fathers as renegades. Many of these people, after they have been in America some time, drift away from the faith of their childhood, not into another species of belief, but into no belief. There is no sincerer note of regret heard from the lips of earnest men than that uttered by the pastors of foreign flocks, who see the drift from the norms of conduct as laid down in Greek, Roman, Protestant, or Hebrew faith. This irreligion is a serious matter. It is not infidelity. It is loss of faith in the peculiar drapery of religious truth fa- miliar to them from childhood, because of the commingling of creeds, the multiplicity of churches, and the contempt so often expressed byword and picture of sacred things, places, and minis- ters. The civilization of America has its roots in religious con- cepts. Indeed, it is hard to believe that the country would be what it is to-day if the founders had not been men of deep,
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strong, and abiding faith in the spiritual background of this universe. No civilization, as far as we can see, will last long unless the members of it believe in things unseen and eternal. It is because of these facts we look with serious apprehension upon this drift into irreligion on the part of the mass of immigrants who come to America. We may give them the Veneer of a higher civilization, but if that is not attached to the spiritual nature of the Slav and Hebrew, Lithuanian and Mag- yar, Greek and Turk, it will not save them from deterioration and anarchy.
Proselytism will not Win. — How can the spiritual powers of these people be preserved and enlisted for the further advance- ment of the civilization of America ? Not by a propaganda of proselytism. The attempt to proselyte men arouses passion, crystallizes prejudice, stirs up strife and enmity, and makes men more demons than saints. The function of religion is to soothe the asperities, to refine the lower nature, to give the heart and soul ideals and hopes above the seen and temporal, but the moment a conflict for faith and creed is precipitated for the expressed purpose of wrenching men from the faith of their childhood, the very agency designated to soothe, refine, and elevate becomes a scourge that lashes to fury the beast in man, and nothing is either too harsh for him to say or too heinous for him to do. I have seen refined and cultured men rage in furious denunciation and indignation because men of another faith stooped to say uncharitable things about them and their people's creed. Those who have known the effects of a propaganda of proselytism agree that it will never solve the " irreligion of the future " as prophesied in the conduct of men and boys of foreign parentage in America.
Fundamental Principles. — There are fundamental principles of conduct and life common to all creeds. When Hebrew and Protestant, Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox, meet for the discussion of education and social betterment, sanitation in mill and safety in mine, insurance against accident and sickness, playgrounds and parks, political purity and efficiency, they find a common platform and go forth to battle as a united host.
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Is it not possible for the leaders of these various faiths to agree upon a code of moral instruction which may be used among all foreigners, and which will give the deep, underlying principles of religion in the creed of all faiths based upon the Bible? The norms of conduct are found in the Old as well as in the New Testament; upon these there is no division of opinion, and when these are brought before the minds of immigrants, it will prove to them that the foundation of faith is the same in Hebrew and Protestant, Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox, and that the idiosyncrasies of faith, as expressed in various creeds, are settings which seemed most appropriate to men. To these, each one, according to his choice, can attach himself, but he should never make the mistake of taking the accidental for the essential, the drapery for the soul, the temporal for the eternal. In essentials, there should be unity; in non-essentials, freedom; in all things, charity.
A Religious Family. — A friend of mine, a missionary in the Northwest, where he had to travel long distances and sleep in all kinds of places, once came to a Doukhobor family and asked for shelter overnight. They immediately opened their door and welcomed him as their guest. The house comprised only one room, and there were six children besides the parents. They fixed my friend's bed on a bench and two chairs. Two of the boys went to sleep back of the stove and the four other children lay on the floor, while the parents occupied the family bed. At dawn they were up ; and before the day's work began, parents and children all faced the morning sun, knelt in prayer, read a portion of the Bible, and sang a simple hymn. The missionary said that he was reminded somewhat of the sun worshipers as they prayed; he would gladly lop off some things from the form of worship he then witnessed, but he has never forgotten the deep devotion, the fervor, and the spiritual atmosphere of that simple service. He said, " They are God's people, and they have a firm foundation for good citizenship." That is the foundation America wants to preserve in the lives of the southeastern peoples of Europe as they assume the rights and duties of " com- ing Americans."
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United Effort Desirable. — The best citizenship of every community has a religious basis, and the best work in reaching the foreigners will be done by recognizing this. If the religious forces of a town or city come together, forget their denomina- tional difference and antecedents, join in one strong effort to bring the foreign brother into line with American civilization, the time will soon come when the foreigners will be submerged in a wave of patriotism that will bring new life to the nation. This was done in one of our towns. Every church pooled its interests, secured the services of a capable leader, and carried on work for foreigners on a broad, Christian basis. Whenever the leader wanted an assistant, he appealed to the committee representing the churches, and immeoliately the man or woman was furnished. Classes, lectures, clubs, sewing and cooking schools were organized, and meetings planned, where the foreign- and the home-born met in Christian fellowship. This leader was capable and wise. An unsympathetic agent succeeded in breaking up one of his sewing classes by playing upon the mem- bers' fears of the fires of Gehenna; but he got them all back by saying that on the following Saturday he would give each pupil a carnation. Flowers were a greater attraction than the fear of hell fire. That will always be the case if the hand which gives the flower has back of it a heart that loves the foreigner.
Let the Foreigners Help. — The leader also enlisted the help of the foreigners themselves whenever he could use them. One of his best and most enthusiastic supporters was a young Sicilian, a student of medicine. His parents could neither read nor write ; they looked with suspicion upon his efforts to rise above the status of the unskilled worker. He ran away from home because of their opposition to his ambition, but when he re- turned, they were so pleased to see him again that they waived all objections and let him live his life. The leader helped the young man ; he introduced him to a good, sympathetic physician, who enthusiastically entered into his plans. He is climbing up and has in him the promise of a capable man. But even greater and better than his mental capacity is his heart. He sympa- thizes with his people, he sees in how many ways they fall short of
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American standards, and his counsel and judgment as to what is best calculated to raise them to these standards are of great value.
Personal Touch is the Solution. — Personal touch is the one great solvent of this problem. The foreigners live better here than they did in the fatherland, but an improved economic condition will not make them men and women such as America wishes its denizens to be; external copying of American dress and furniture will not raise them to it. If they ever come to the stature of American manhood and womanhood, it can only be done by relating and associating themselves to Americans of the / right kind. It will come by intercourse, friendship, communion, \ social fellowship, and the hearty cooperation of all parties con- cerned. The foreigner covets this, will the American give it?
CHAPTER XXII
THE CHILD OF THE FOREIGNER
THE most serious problem confronting us in the whole of the immigration question is that of the child of foreign-born parents. As before stated, the foreign-born adults are not more criminal than the white population of native parentage, but this is not the case when we come to the son of the foreign-born. He is three times more criminal than the son of the native-born and outstrips his parents in vicious and criminal tendencies. This drift to lawlessness is the one characteristic feature of the sons of immigrants. The girls of foreign parentage are not thus distinguished from those of native parentage; excessive crimi- nality is found only in the male offspring of immigrant parents. The sons of immigrants, in ability to read and write, compare favorably with those of native parentage, but the average age of the former leaving school is lower than that of the latter. The sons of foreigners also show a strong tendency to rise above the economic standing of their parents; the percentage entering the professions, commerce and trade, the mechanical arts, far exceeds that of the parents so occupied, etc. They also show a decided aspiration to rise and conform to American standards in dress, food, home, and social life; but in the formative period of character building, this son of the immigrant figures most conspicuously in the juvenile courts, in reformatories and prisons, and gives great concern to those who try to mold into efficient manhood and good citizenship the son of the foreign- born.
The Desire to Excel. — Every one interested in reform work for boys has asked the question, why is the son of the foreign- born characterized by excessive tendencies to crime? What are the causes of this vicious and criminal tendency? The
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laws of heredity do not give us the clew, for the foreign-born, although made of the boldest, most aggressive, most enter- prising men of backward races ; although planted in an environ- ment that is strange and new; although removed from the re- straining influences of wives and children, of church and social bonds, are not more criminal than the native-born ; or, in other words, these men, under abnormal family conditions, are as law-abiding as our own people. If the sons were like their fathers, we would expect them to be less criminal than the sons of native parents — judged solely by the laws of heredity. We are driven to seek the causes in the environment — in the school life, in the home life, and in the conditions under which foreigners live in our cities. One quality may possibly be credited to the laws of heredity. It is transmitted ambition. They want to excel ; they are jealous of honor. The father left the homeland because he was not satisfied; he wanted to do better; he endured hardship and privations in the new world that he might rise in his economic status; he worked hard and saved money, that the dream of better things might be realized; few men have their hopes fulfilled, but all transmit the will to overcome to their offspring. In this atmosphere of intensive longing the sons are raised, and the spirit of the parents is inten- sified in the child. The sons manifest this innate tendency by a desire to excel, the longings to rise and be masterful, the ambition to beat the other fellow — these are motives which impel the son of the foreigner to an intensive life that carries him to excess and transgression : leaping over the line, breaking the traces, doing the exceptional thing which few sons of native- born parents care to do. The child of the foreigner sings the songs of the street more vehemently, he plays craps more recklessly, he swears more violently, he runs more recklessly into forbidden places, he loves to recite the daring exploits with cops and other lads, with the hope of winning the applause of, his chums and being considered truly American, without " mark or stain " of foreign origin*.
Temptations of City Life. — But in the environment are found the chief causes of this boy's waywardness. The men of
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the new immigration live in cities, and this is one of the prime causes of their sons' criminality. The Immigration Com- mission could not find a tenement block occupied by the native-born of native parentage. The congested slums of large cities are wholly occupied by the foreigners and their children. The one-room house, the dark hallway, the dirty alley, the dismal street, the degrading tenement make up the environment of thousands of sons of immigrants in America. Not a stone's throw from this dirt, crowding, poverty, and wretchedness, are seen windows bursting with riches, mansions empty or occupied by a few favored ones, stores filled with articles that entice the eye and tempt the hand. These sons of the tenements can read and write, and the princes of finance are portrayed in the press in a way little calculated to promote social peace or regard for established authority. A thousand temptations and a goading sense of social wrongs act daily upon the lives of the sons of foreigners, impelling them to crimes, which they, with their sense of perverted justice, regard as reprisals. Then we compare this boy, living under these condi- tions and temptations, with the boy of native parentage living in a comfortable home in a suburban town, removed from the temptations of tenement life, and under economic conditions which ward off poverty and want.
No Discipline in the Home. — Another cause is the breaking down of discipline in the home of foreign-born parents. Every child of immigrant parents stands between two civilizations: the one belongs to the old world, the other to the new. An Italian physician, in Hartford, said that the average Italian parent stands in awe of the law of this country, which protects the child more than that of Italy does. Hence, the parents are afraid to lay hands upon the wayward son lest perchance they get into trouble with the authorities. Homes in America are governed very differently from what they are in the fatherland. The foreign-born parents become conscious of this at an early date, and so does the child; the former try vainly to enforce old-world regulations and the latter sets them at defiance. The " old folks " lose control over the lad and there is none outside
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to guide him, until he comes face to face with legalized authority. When he gets into trouble, the average court is prejudiced and antagonistic. There is no one present to take a fatherly or brotherly interest in the boy and very often he ends by hating government and authority and drifting into anarchy.
Influence of the Press. — The power of example is also great in the life of this foreigner's son. Americans are not sinners above the average of civilized men, but in no ccuntry does the press speak of crime as do many papers in our large cities. The prominence given the criminal, the detail of the crime, the pernicious trials conducted by newspapers and the declaration of guilt or innocency before the court sits and the case is tried in the prescribed manner — all this has a fascination that is irresistible to the boy of no discipline and no restraint. The demoralizing and insinuating pictures, the vicious story and the vile card, the record of criminals at large, both rich and poor, the blue laws that are dead letters and recent ones that are no better — all this has an effect upon the youth of foreign paren- tage which impels him to ways of vice and crime. Add to this the contempt for the foreigner, so often expressed in word and cartoon, and you have a combination of forces that invoke recklessness and lead to lawlessness.
The Juvenile Courts. — Social workers among the sons of immigrants say that these boys, raised in America, come short of the virtues possessed by their fathers, raised in the old country. In Detroit, the record of the juvenile court shows that 80 per cent of the crimes are laid at the door of the sons of foreigners. The chief of the police, in Utica, said that the young Italian criminal is the slickest pickpocket that he ever knew, that many of these young men will not work, but exert every effort to live the life of a parasite. The probation officer, of Hartford, said that 88 per cent of the boys on the list were sons of foreign-born parents; he gave two reasons for this condition; the one because they lacked strong fathers and clean homes; the_ other, because they do not understand American ways. A detective, in a city where many foreigners lived, said that many foreign parents encouraged their children to steal
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and charged them, as a religious obligation, to keep out of the hands of the law; if they were caught, parents as well as the courts punished them. This man had considerable difficulty with a foreign-speaking family, and, on one occasion, when he went to arrest a boy, the mother with a big stick in her hand met him at the door and blocked his entrance into the house. He wanted the boy, she would not budge, a scuffle followed, the officer conquered that Amazon, and got along all right with the boy. A school-teacher of large experience described the boy of foreign parentage as follows : " These boys use tobacco, drink liquor, shoot craps, and frequent cheap theaters. Money they must have and thieving is their only way to get it." One of these boys in Chicago had the reputation of being a leader among his chums ; he spent most of his nights in barns and out- of-the-way places, was watched by the police, and was beyond the control of his parents. He was taken in hand by a Christian gentleman in order to see if he could be reclaimed. During the winter he stood firm, but when spring came, he joined his old chums, stole the pocketbook of a lady, and was sent to a reform- atory. It is in the spring, or in the summer, or when the lads return to the city from the farms, that the crime curve climbs up. Let the Foreigner express Himself. — Recently, the New York Survey asked for information concerning the Greek boy found in shoe-shining parlors. We want information concern- ing the sons of foreigners as a whole. We do not understand this boy. He is cuffed and clubbed, but few are the men who will sit down and hear his story and learn how he feels. Few are the agencies especially designed to aid this boy to live a life of usefulness in America. To pen Greek boys in shoe-shining parlors and shut out all American influences from their life, is bad. The habit of some foreigners to give drink to their off- spring and send them to school under the influence of intoxicants, is still worse. To raise a child of five in such a manner that he will not eat his food unless he gets his glass of beer is some- thing foreign to American ways. The foreigners have their ideas how children ought to be raised and what they wish them to be. The Italian and Hebrew mothers have very different
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ideas as to the part their daughters are to play in life, as com- pared with those of American mothers. We are trying hard to thrust our ideas of education upon the sons and daughters of foreigners and never think of asking what the foreign -born parents think of them. Would it not be well for us to consult these people occasionally, give them a hearing, that we may learn what ideas they have on the question of preparing sons and daughters for the business of life?
The Foreigner's Child not Understood. — If we could only understand the child of the foreigner, our services would be more successful and effective. A little Italian girl in Westfield, N.Y., used to come every day during the weeks of summer, to the yard of the home of an American lady. At first, she regarded it as an intrusion, drove the child away, and bolted the gate of the fence. The child persisted in coming, and one day the lady asked her, " Why do you come here? " The child answered, " It's nice, my home small and too much stove, here nice flowers." It was for the open air, the green grass, and the flowers that she came, and that kind-hearted lady heard, in the voice of the child, a voice from heaven, and she was not disobedient. She found a mission that was worth while. Mr. Billinkopf, head of the Educational Institute in Kansas City, found the sons of foreigners eager to play but reluctant to wash. He studied the equilibrium of forces in social service, opened the door of the gymnasium to the boys on condition they would use the shower baths, and the two propositions balanced ad- mirably. In one of the schools in Harlem, a son of a foreigner could not sit still in his seat. He would suddenly thrust his hands in various ways, then jump up, get out of his seat, and make some funny gestures. The teacher tried to break him of the practice, but failed, and then she became nervous. She resolved to call at his home, talk to the parents about the boy, and advise them to consult a competent physician. She did so and the mother told her what Casmire's trouble was, " He's crazy for gymnasium exercises." The teacher understood, laughed at her fears, took the boy to the gymnasium, and he is on his way to be an expert physical instructor. An Italian
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parent came, one afternoon, into one of the Pittsburgh, libraries when the " children's hour " was on. He listened to the story, he looked at the room, he understood the meaning of it all, and as the beauty and possibility of the work dawned upon him, he said, " This is fine, it is heaven, I'll bring my children here," and twice every week that Italian gives his offspring a bit of " heaven." It is cheaper and better to provide something for the child of the foreigner to meet his love of the beautiful and of adventure, than try to reclaim the ones who go wrong for the want of right appliances.
In the Public School. — The children of foreign-born parents in the public schools can be favorably compared with those of the native-born. Many of them have the disadvantage of a foreign tongue, but if they are judged by the percentage of pupils retarded in the various grades because of inefficiency, they do not fall far behind the sons of the native-born, the figures being 36.0 and 34.1, respectively. If we compare the three groups of children, those of the native-born of native parentage, those of the foreign-born of the old immigration, and those of the new immigration, the percentages are 34.1, 33.0 and 40.3, respectively. Of all the pupils in the public schools investigated by the Immigration Commission, the percentage of the native-born children in the high school was 9.1 as com- pared with 4.7 of children of foreign parentage. But in this respect again the percentage of children of foreign-born parents of the new immigration is only 2.2 as compared with 6.0 of the children of men of the old immigration. Of the foreign-born parents, the most inclined to keep their children at home or send them to work at an early age are the Lithuanians, while the Magyars are exemplary in their effort to keep their children in school.1
The Parochial School. — The public school is the place where every child of the foreigner, under sixteen years of age, ought to be. There is a difficulty in the way. Fully 75 per cent of our present immigration belong to the Roman Catholic faith,
1 See table in addenda, " Children at Home, " etc. Also Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on "Children of Immigrants in Schools," pp. 27 and 39.
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and the priests look upon our schools as " godless institutions." Some foreigners have special reasons for patronizing the parochial school. I met a Mr. Ostroski in Utica, who was an intelligent Pole with a native-born wife. He sent his children to the parochial school, and when asked, " Why do you send them there, is not the public school better? " " Yes," was his reply, " but I want them to learn Polish and German, and they cannot get these studies in the public schools." The New York Commission of Immigration, " found a number of religious schools in which the English language was not adequately taught or was taught as a foreign tongue [and that] large numbers of children are growing up under unfavorable educational condi- tions." The Immigration Commission found religious schools in the Wyoming Valley, in Pennsylvania, where no English was taught, and they were closed. It is not exceptional to find cities where 30 per cent of the school population is in the paro- chial school, and conditions are far from being what they ought to be, as far as the education of the sons of foreigners to be future citizens is concerned. In the cities of Manchester, Lowell, Shenandoah, Fall River, Haverhill, and Minneapolis, from 80 to 90 per cent of the scholars in the religious schools had foreign-born parents ; in the twenty-four cities in which the Immigration Commission investigated the religious schools, more than 63 per cent of the children were of foreign parentage.1 In one of the leading cities of the East, it was nothing unusual for native-born boys of foreign parentage to ask for certificates of employment in a foreign tongue, being unable to speak the English language. I found the same thing in a city of the Middle West. This is a decided wrong to the child of the foreigner who is expected to grow up to be a citizen of the United States.
Standards in Education. — The foreigner's child also suffers because of varying standards in the parochial and the public school. Take the question of standards of education. T In some cities, the religious school adopts the curriculum of the public school, and their pupils favorably compare with those taught
1 Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on "Children of Immigrants in Schools," p. 69'.
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in secular schools. But the parochial schools established by the congregations of the new immigration do not consult the curriculum of the public school, while their pedagogical methods and the standards they adopt are far removed from those re- quired in a modern and well-equipped institution of learning. Many children, twelve years of age, graduate from the parochial school in foreign colonies. They cannot go to work, for they are too young ; if they go to the public school, they are from two to three years' work behind pupils of the same age ; they feel out of place, become sensitive, and will play truant. Scores of boys, during the interval between graduation from parochial school and working age, contract bad habits. They loaf, get into mischief, are cuffed at home because they will not work ; they sleep out, make a few pennies selling papers and as pin boys in bowling alleys, and by the time they are fourteen or six- teen years of age, they have little inclination for steady work in shop or mill. I asked a boy I found standing back of Tony Prouch's saloon in one of our towns, " How is it you are not in school ? " " They put me with the kids," was his reply. It was not the boy's fault, but he was the sufferer. In one city, the sons of foreigners, twelve years of age, were employed, contrary to law. An effort was made to prosecute some of the employers, but the district attorney depended for his election on the for- eign vote and refused to prosecute.
Lack of Cooperation. — Many parochial schools also will not cooperate with the public school superintendent and the truant officer. Some foreign priests think it an impertinence if the authorities of town interfere in any way with their schools. One of these men, believing that a boy, who had passed through his school, ought to go to work, gave him an age certificate that was not correct ; when confronted with the facts, he said, " He's old enough to work and ought to work." That man acted and spoke according to old-country standards, where children of ten and twelve are sent to work on farms, and he thought they could just as well work in America, where industrial conditions are wholly different. It is often most difficult for truant offi- cers to get daily report of pupils absent from parochial schools ;
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those in authority are reluctant either to cooperate or give the data necessary for the enforcement of the law. In one instance, a truant officer wanted to bring a foreigner to task for neglecting to send his child to school. The Pole was influential in the parish and defied the truant officer. The priest had the evi- dence by which the case could be tried, but he refused to give it and thus defeated the purpose of the law. These religious schools are subjected to the church. If there is a funeral or a wedding, or a church festival, the school is closed, especially so if the teacher, as is often the case, is the man who plays the organ; this means, during the year, the loss of many days' schooling to the pupils. The parents must also pay for the instruction of their children in these schools. If they have four or five children of school age, it becomes a heavy drain upon the resources of the family. Some impoverished parents cannot afford it and their children are out of school ; they are ignorant and believe the statement that the public school is a godless school, hence, they will not send the children there, so they play on the street, if the town has no truant officer to enforce the law. Moreover, the standard of sanitary inspection now instituted in public schools is not found in the religious school. In a public school in one of the smaller cities of New York, the matron examined the heads of two hundred and fifty children and found vermin on all of them, and on inquiry found that 50 per cent had come to school that morning after a break- fast of bread and beer. The parochial schools, as well as the private ones, have a right to exist, but justice to the child and considerations of public welfare demand that American standards of education dominate them. Foreign parents also should be made conversant with the state laws regulating public instruc- tion. To depart from American standards, to be ignorant of educational advantages freely offered the wards of the state, will injure none as it injures the foreigners themselves.
The Working Boy. — The problem of the working boy of foreign parentage is a serious one. Thousands of boys come to America at an age when they cannot very well fit into the school curriculum. Giueseppi Icolari told me his experience.
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He came to America when he was fifteen years of age and could not talk a word of English. The law of the state declared that no boy under ""Sixteen years, who could not read or write the English language, could work. He was put to school among the small children\who made fun of him. This he did not like, his ire was kindled, and, being afraid that he would hurt some of the children, he left school and took up some odd jobs and tried to study the language. One of the most serious questions confronting the sons of foreigners in the port towns of the lakes is that of idle winters. Work on ore docks continues for from five to seven months ; the men are idle all winter long and so are the boys. They have nothing to do, they want pleasure and have no money to spend ; the only avenues open are crude physical enjoyments which tend to destroy both physical and moral fiber. It is a condition that works great mischief among these young men. Idleness is demoralizing to all boys of work- ing age. The school of compulsory labor is beneficent, and the son of the foreigner would be better if he were brought face to face with the stern obligation to work regularly and continu- ously. Then will he become conscious that he is fulfilling his part as a member of the social organism ; that he is taking his place in the ranks of industry ; and that he is doing his part in conserving and increasing those national resources which are the very basis upon which civilization must rest.
Young Foreigners as Workers. — Give the foreigner's son a chance and he will do this. Foreign-born parents generally expect their children to work. They send them out at a tender age to earn a living, and few of the sons of foreigners are found in the higher educational institutions of the land. The Immi- gration Commission found that 64.5 per cent of the students in institutions investigated by it were native-born of native parentage, 25.3 per cent native-born of foreign parentage, and 10.2 per cent foreign-born. The sons of the new immigrants are not found hi the higher walks of learning : they are workers as their fathers were.1 An Italian boy in a depot in New York,
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on " Children of Immigrants in Schools, " p. 82.
THE CHILD OF THE FOREIGNER 335
thirteen years of age, standing at his chair, shouting, " Shine, sir," is there every morning at 7 o'clock, and at 8.45 he runs to school. I asked him, " Do you give all you make to your pa? " " No," was his reply, " my pa gives me food, but I am sup- posed to get clothing myself." I asked, " Are you able to do so? " " Yes," he cheerfully replied, " I bought a pair of shoes last week for $1.50 and I have a bank account of $21." Mike, a Greek bootblack in Paterson, is nineteen years of age and has been in the country three and a half years. He has a widowed mother in Greece, two younger brothers, and a sister. I asked him, " Have you been able to send any money home ? " " Yes," was his reply, " nearly a thousand dollars," and he told me further that he had a bank account. In a town in New England is an Armenian young man, who came to this country when a boy of eleven years. The Salvation Army saw that he got safely to his uncle, and not long after, a kind-hearted American lady took an interest in him, clothed him, and put him hi school. After a few years, he began work in a mill, saved some money, and entered into the restaurant business. He then resolved to travel, went across the continent, and came back to New England. He was twenty years of age when I met him, and could talk English fluently. I asked him, " What are you going to do? " He replied, " There is an artist in me and I want to develop it ; I would like to be a musician." These are not picked cases, they are typical and may be found in every foreign colony.
Foreign-born Parents Ambitious. — The parents of these sons are anxious to see their boys advancing. A Slovak in the city of Scranton, when asked how many children he had, replied, " Three." "What are they doing?" "One is a machinist, and two are firemen." He himself came to the country as an unskilled worker. An Italian in New Haven, in charge of a shoe stand, has a boy that is fond of music, and while putting a polish on my shoes he proudly said, " He plays the violin in the opera house and I want him to learn and be a great musi- cian." While talking to a Lithuanian saloon-keeper, in Bridge- port, a son of eight ran up to his "pa." The boy was a bright lad and, putting my hand on his head, I asked the father,
336 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
"What are you going to do with this boy? " He answered, " I want him to be an artist ; his cousin is in a school in New York studying art, and I want him to go there. " In the bosoms of these foreign-speaking fathers lies the same ambition for the future of their sons as is found in the breast of English- speaking fathers. They want them to advance a step higher in the social scale and are willing to sacrifice to help them to ascend. Of course, all are not of that spirit ; but the normal fathers — the foreigners who love their home and their families — they are as anxious to have their offspring rise in their economic and social status as any people whatsoever in the old immigration, and the children do rise. The Austrians, Italians, Poles, and Hungarians have an average of 22.9 per cent la- borers, but of their sons only 9.9 per cent are so classified. The fathers give us 16.4 per cent in mining and quarrying, but the sons only 5.8 per cent ; the Poles and Hungarians in the iron and steel works make 5.9 per cent, but their sons only 2.7. The son of the foreigner is not disposed to earn his living by unskilled work. When we consider the trades, we find the sons outnumbering the parents. In the building trades only 2.7 per cent of the fathers are so employed, but 4.2 of the sons; in clerical pursuits not i per cent of the fathers are so employed, but 9.6 of the children ; and in the professions only 1.4 per cent of the men of the new immigration are in them, but 3.3 of the children.1 The sons of the new immigration improve their opportunity in America, and in this they are right. Nothing is too good for the sons of immigrants. The children are heirs of the highest and best in American civilization, and those parents who have caught the vision of their opportunity in America should be encouraged. Every loyal American will rejoice hi and encourage the ambition of the foreign-born concerning their boys. He is willing to help these boys to realize what came only in a dream into the lives of parents as they left the father- land for a better country. Americans can help the Boy. — Can Americans help the
1 See Immigration Commission's Abstract of Report on "Occupation of the First and Second Generations of Immigrants in the United States," pp. 13-27.
THE CHILD OF THE FOREIGNER 337
child of the foreigner to come to the heritage awaiting all who aspire to be kings and priests in this land of opportunity? There is but one answer to this question. Suppose we try to understand clearly all the hindrances which check the develop- ment of this son of the immigrant, and resolve as far as it lies in our power to remove them.
Boys made Men too Soon. — Rousseau said that " almost all their [boys'] defects of body and mind come from the same cause — we wish to make men of them before their time." This tendency to push to maturity the son of the foreigner puts him in a wrong relation to his home and to society. A pastor in Delray, Mich., had a son, a boy of sixteen years, who was in college.. That boy was the head of the house. He was official interpreter of the home, through him they did their business with the outside world, and if that boy retained his filial affec- tion and reverence, it was due to his strong common sense and not to the social condition that placed him at the head of the home. There are thousands of homes in the United States, in which parents live hi Europe and speak the language of their ancestors, while their children live in America and speak the language of their adopted country. There cannot be much sympathy between parents and children under an arrangement of that kind. Americans can bring the hearts of parents and children into greater harmony, by enabling foreign-speaking parents to understand America and its customs, by telling the children that the story of their fathers' achievements is worthy of their admiration. These sons of worthy peoples can best serve America by being true to the rock whence they were hewn. " Honor thy father and thy mother " is a commandment that needs rehearsing in the ears of the sons of foreigners, but the precept will come with greater weight if we aid the son of the foreign-born to learn that there is much worth honoring in the nation to which he belongs.
Believe in the Sons of Foreigners. — Guyau once said, " All education should be directed to this end, to convince the child that he is capable of good and incapable of evil in order to render him actually so." This is a principle which should
338 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
be applied in our efforts to help the son of the foreigner. He is not perfect, he is more criminal than the sons of native-born parents, but we will make the greatest blunder if we treat him as " no good," " hopeless," " bad blood," and the like. The foreigner's son will commit blunders, he will fall into crime, he will be guilty of many shortcomings, but let us believe in him : though he fall, let us encourage him to rise again ; though he stumble, let us tell him that he can struggle forward and we are there to help ; if he " goes to pieces," let us tell him that there is good in him and by the power of " I will " he is capable of doing better. If that were done with every lad and young man of foreign parents, the record of crime which makes him notorious would soon be reduced. But as long as this descend- ant of men of a backward civilization feels the eye of contempt upon him, that no one believes in him, that court and society watch him with prejudice and regard him with antipathy, he will be a problem. The damnosa hereditas is no more the gift of nature to the sons of foreigners than to the sons of Ameri- cans; it is the curse that comes from dirty homes, ignorant parents, crowded tenements, and vicious companionship; it comes from dismal streets, dark alleys, degrading shows, and mendacious and anarchistic literature; it comes from lax administration of laws, corrupt officials, and unsympathetic courts — these are the curse of thousands of sons of foreigners, and they will not pass away until the native-born will champion the cause of this son of unfavorable environment and insist upon his getting a square deal and fair play in the game of life. American Standard should Prevail. — This problem will not be solved until all agencies concerned in the education of the son of the foreigner will join hands to bring American stand- ards and ideals into his mind and heart. If English is to be the language of this country, then every school in the land should give it first place, and every school that does not comply with this reasonable rule should be closed. If the son of the foreigner is to become a loyal citizen of this republic, then American history should be taught him first, and that of any other country second. If the son of the foreigner is to have a fair chance to
THE CHILD OF THE FOREIGNER 339
compete with the son of the native-born, he should be kept in school in compliance with the requirement of law. If the foreign-born parent is to cooperate in this laudable aim, he should be told what the laws regulating education are, what are the opportunities of getting an education in this country, and that his child is heir to all this, as much so as the son of the native-born who can trace his ancestry back to the men of the Mayflower. America is too small for two languages, as it was too small for two flags. Let the son of the foreigner know his mother tongue, but not at the sacrifice of English. Caste has no place in a democracy and should have no basis in our system of education. The requirements of all future citizens of this Republic are the same, and all our wards should be taught to play their part in the life of the nation without respect of person.
American Laws should be Enforced. — The child of the foreigner should be protected in his work. It is not right for foreign-born men to bring old-country standards to this country and decide when a child should begin to work. Foreign stand- ards are for foreign countries and should not be thrust upon an American community. The safety of the democracy lies in the intelligence of its citizens and the basis for this must be laid in the public school. Enlightened patriotism has laid down the age of fourteen years as the time boys should begin to work and, if ignorant of our language, sixteen years. These are laws passed by benignant statesmen in the states where immigrants live, and they should be observed. They can only be enforced, however, if public sentiment is back of them. No superin- tendent or board of directors will be strong enough to secure obedience to these wise statutes, unless the native-born uphold their hands.
Moral Education Needed. — The moral life of the sons of immigrants must not be forgotten. The instincts that are good should be fostered and those that are bad, crushed. Good exam- ple is the lever by which we lift boys to habits of goodness and virtue. The lives of immigrant boys as well as youth generally bound ever forward. They, as all the sons of men, seek those things that give them pleasure, enjoyment, and satisfaction.
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They are boys capable of goodness. What is bad let us be patient with and give it wise treatment — replace it with the good. Moral education he needs and it is comprised in the cultivation of good habits rather than in censure and punish- ment of bad habits. We must help him to overcome evil with good, to banish evil by the expulsive power of goodness. This is the only way success will meet our efforts in the treatment of the sons of foreigners as well as those of the native-born. Here, as elsewhere, a firm foundation in moral education must be laid, by relating the boy to the spiritual realities of life, in order that we may with assurance look forward to loyal citizen- ship and efficient workmanship as the superstructure.
PART VI CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER XXIII
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM
THE facts given in the preceding chapters point the way to an immigration policy which would remedy many, if not remove all, the evils that arise from the immigration problem. We acknowledge that it is a problem, but not as serious as some good people try to make it, and not a hopeless one by any means. All students of immigration should try to do two things : first, get the facts, argue from them, and discard popular prejudices and antipathies — we want to know conditions as they are and not as the biased imagine them to be ; second, not to lay at the door of the foreigners evils and conditions which are due to the cupidity, short-sightedness, and inefficiency of the native-born.
Scum of the Earth. — The statements that the millions of " the distressed and unfortunate of other lands and dunes," " the scum of Europe," " the beaten men of beaten races," " the in- efficient, impoverished, and diseased," seek American shores, are untrue, uncharitable, and malicious. Emigration from any land, taken as a whole, is made up of the most vigorous, enter- prising, and strongest members of the race. No one denies this when the character of the immigrants who came to America in 1820-1880 is discussed. Censors and prophets of evil pro- claimed the stereotyped catalogue of calamities when they came, but their fears were not realized; the men made good and their children are an honor to the nation. The men of the
34i
342 TEE NEW IMMIGRATION
new immigration are now under the eye of the censor, and the prophets of calamities are not wanting, but those who know the newer immigrants intimately believe that they, as their pred- ecessors, will make good and that their children will be an honor to us, if the same opportunities are given these men and thirty years of American influences are allowed to shape and mold their lives.* In the winning of the West, the Atlantic states lost much of its best blood by migration, and the same may be said of the exodus of young men from southeastern European coun- tries to America. Every European government, losing its workers by emigration, bemoans the fact and is looking around for some means to check the outflow of strong manhood : would any of them do this if the " scum," " the unfortunate," " the beaten " emigrated? The vast majority of immigrants come from agricultural communities; they are peasants and the sons of peasants, a fact which ought to count in their favor. Would America prefer to get the denizens of European cities? Students of population hold it as an axiom, that the cities must depend upon the country for a constant inflow of brain and brawn to keep up its supply of virile manhood. Is it different in Europe ? Is the " scum of the earth " grown on farms on the continent ? The slums of Europe are not sent here. The facts and figures of immigration to the United States clearly show that the men of the new immigration come from the farm, and they compare favorably in bodily form and strength with men raised in agricultural communities elsewhere. In the stream, undesirables are found, but the percentage is low. Taken as a whole, they do not show moral turpitude above the average of civilized men. Although transplanted into a new environment, living under abnormal conditions in industrial centers, and meeting more temptations in a week than they would in a life- time in rural communities in the homeland, yet when their criminal record is compared with that of the native-born males, it comes out better than even.
Many Return. — All the immigrants landed do not stay here. In the decade 1900-1910, 8,795,386 arrived, but the last census enumerators only found 13,343,583 foreign-born in the United
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 343
States, as against 10,213,817, in 1900. These figures clearly indicate that little more than 60 per cent of the total arrivals of that decade were in the country in 1910. A large percentage of this returning stream represents men and women who could not stand the stress and strain of American life ; or, in other words, the unfit were more carefully weeded out by industrial competition than by the laws regulating immigration. This again works in favor of virile accretions to the population of the United States.
Gold taken Out. — We constantly hear about the stream of gold going to Europe, which reached high-water mark in 1907, the year when immigration exceeded a million and a quarter, and the industrial boom was at its height. In that year, the Immigration Commission estimated the amount of money sent back to Europe at $275,000,000. America is a great country, and this sum should be compared with our industrial and commercial importance. The value of the coal mined that year was nearly two and a half times larger than the sum sent to Europe ; the products of our mines were eight times as valuable ; our commerce with foreign countries aggregated a sum more than eleven times as great; the value of the produce of the farms of the United States was twenty-one times as great ; the value of the products of our manufacturing was fifty times larger ; and if we compare the sum sent by immigrants to Europe during this year of prosperity with the total estimated wealth of the nation in 1907, it is about two- tenths of one per cent. Can the economists and statesmen, who, in this great country of ours, become excited over this item, as if the welfare of America depended upon its retention on this side of the water, be taken seriously ? We don't think they take themselves seriously. Estimate it again in the per capita amoui|t to foreign-born in the country. In 1907, there were between 12,000,000 and 13,000,000 persons of foreign birth in America, so that the millions sent abroad represented between $21 and $23 per foreign-born person in the land — about two weeks' pay. Is this an excessive annual tribute to pay to the countries which gave these people birth, raised them to the age of productivity,
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and then lost their help in the production of the wealth of the nation? If the annual production of each of these foreign- born persons amounts to $600, the sum per capita annually sent to Europe would be less than 4 per cent of the total wealth pro- duced by them — a sum every broad-minded man thinks insignificant to make much fuss about.
The Most Dangerous. — But we are told that " the immi- grants most dangerous are those who come ... to earn the higher wages offered in the United States, with the fixed inten- tion of returning to their families in the home country to spend those wages." l The fact is, that the immigrants earn the lower wages offered in the United States, suffer most from intermittent and seasonal labor, and, being largely employed in hazardous industries, pay the major part of the loss of life and limb incident to these operations. The country owes a debt to every immigrant who returns having spent many years of his life in our industrial army. Since 1907, the stream returning to Europe has been more than 50 per cent of the incoming one. These have been years of depression and suffering. For the last three winters, the suffering of the unemployed in our cities has been great: would it be to our advantage to have the 2,000,000 souls who returned to the home- land during these years of panic remain in the country and swell the army of the unemployed? Half a million men, work- ing for seven months in the year, keeping our railroads in repair, would not injure the country one iota if for the remaining five months they withdrew to the homeland. Indeed, it needs but a little imagination to conceive of an economic situation that might make the presence of 500,000 idle men a serious menace to the peace.
Bad Effects.-— We are also told that the foreigners have reduced wages and affected the American standard of living. On the first point, the Department of Commerce and Labor, after long and patient investigation,2 has failed to find a reduc- tion in wage in the industries largely manned by immigrants.
1 "Labor Problems," p. 108. Adams and Sumner. 3 Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 77, July, 1908.
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 345
Is it not a fact that wages were never as high in the industries of the United States as in 1907, the year when immigration touched high-water mark and 1,285,349 came to America? The immigrants from southeastern Europe, when they under- stand what the standard wage is, will fight for it with far greater solidarity than the Anglo-Saxon or the Teuton. The most stubborn strikes in recent years have been the anthracite coal strike, the McKees Rocks, the Westmoreland, etc., in each of which the men of the new immigration were in the majority. It would be difficult to give concrete instances of foreigners actually reducing wages, but many instances may be given where they have stubbornly resisted a reduction and bravely fought for an increased wage. As to the second point, the American standard of living is a shifting one. In the mill towns and mine patches of West Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama, the foreigners would have to come down many degrees in order to conform with the standard of living of Ameri- cans of purest blood. In a town in New England, a banker said that the New England Yankee was in his capacity to save money a close second to the Magyar, who led the foreigners in this respect. Put the native-born on $450 a year — the average wage of foreigners — and will he be able to build a home, raise a family, and push the children several degrees up in the eco- nomic scale? The immigrants are doing this. Suppose the new immigration had kept away, would the wages of unskilled labor be higher ? This leads us to the region of conjecture. One thing we know, that the wage has steadily advanced notwith- standing the unprecedented inflow of the last decade. The student of the wage question must face this economic fact, that the annual wage of 90 per cent of the male industrial workers of America is below $iooo.1 Of this 90 per cent, half the men do not get more than $600 a year. Is the American standard of living on $600 a year basis higher than that of
1 The native-born wage earners of native parentage, heads of families, have 13 per cent getting more than $1000 a year and 54.7 per cent getting less than $600. Of the native-born of foreign parentage the percentages are 13.7 and 54.6, respec- tively, and of the foreign-born the figures are 2.8 and 70.0, respectively. See Table XIX in addenda.
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thousands of homes of foreign-born parents? Never before in industrial America has the income of heads of families been higher than at present, and in every home the $600 rigorously prescribe the amount which can be spent for shelter, food, and clothing, and this is exactly what it does to the immigrants. The $600 a year American standard of living cannot be pulled down — it is already within sight of the starvation line.1 It is not our purpose to affirm or deny " the iron law of wages," but 54 per cent of the wage earners of America, whether native or foreign-born, must subsist on the above annual wage, and it determines the standard of living.
Racial Suicide. — We are further told that " the immigrants are not additional inhabitants," but that " their coming displaces the native stock " ; " that the racial suicide is closely con- nected with the problem of immigration." If " racial suicide " were a phenomenon peculiar to the United States,2 there would be force in the argument. There is no immigration into France, and yet sterility and a low birth rate have been the concern of statesmen and moralists in that country for the last quarter of a century. The same phenomenon is observed among the middle classes in England and the Scandinavian peninsula. Artificial restriction on natality is practiced in every industrial country by men and women whose income is such that they must choose between raising a family or maintaining their social status. One or the other of these two institutions must suffer and it is generally the family. This is the case in America. The native-born clerk, tradesman, machinist, professional man, etc., whose income ranges between $800 and $1200 a year, can hardly risk matrimony in an urban community. If he does take a wife, they can hardly afford to raise one child, while
1 The special committee on the standard of living of New York, working for the Russell Sage Foundation, found that an income of less than $600 a year for all purposes will not provide adequate food supply for a family in New York City. With an income of from $600 to $800, one family in three is underfed, while less than one in ten of the families having from $900 to $1000 fall short of the minimum of food.
J The registrar-general of Great Britain gives comparative figures of the birth rate in leading European countries for 1881 and 1908. In each instance, ex- cepting Bulgaria and Russia, the birth rate has decreased from 2 to 6 per 1000 inhabitants. See Table XX in addenda.
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 347
two cause great anxiety. A low birth rate is a condition that is superinduced by industrial development. The opportunity for advancement, social prestige, love of power and its retention in the family, etc., these are some of the causes of a low birth rate. "But greater than any other cause is 'the deliberate and voluntary avoidance of child-bearing on the part of a steadily increasing number of married people, who not only prefer to have but few children, but who know how to obtain their wish.' "* Immigration is no more the cause of racial suicide than the countryside superstition that a plentiful crop of nuts is the cause of fecundity.
Licenses Given. — The foreigners have many undesirable qualities, and chief among these is their love for drink. Wher- ever the immigrants live in colonies, the number of saloons in these localities is large. These drinking dens are scenes of vice and debauchery. They are responsible, either directly or indirectly, for 60 per cent of the crime committed by them. But in every state of the Union laws regulating the liquor traffic are in vogue, and the executive power is in the hands of men of native birth. In the state of Pennsylvania, the right to grant licenses is in the hands of the judges of the Courts of Quarter Sessions, and in no section of the country has the power been more abused. These cultured and capable men, in many counties, have given licenses to foreigners to sell intoxicants regardless of the needs of the towns, the sentiment of decent people, or the welfare of the communities. This shameful abuse of power is due to two causes, greed and politics : the greed of men in the brewery business is limitless and they have the ears of the court ; the cunning of politicians who use saloons as centers of influ- ence to control the foreign vote is equally selfish. But with very rare exceptions the men on the bench, in the brewery business, and in politics, dominated by these motives, are native-born. The Keystone state places the power of granting licenses in the hands of judges for the purpose of regulating the liquor traffic according to the well-being of industrial com- munities. These men have the power to limit the number of
1 See "Modern Social Conditions," by Professor W. B. Bailey, pp. 105-106.
348 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
licenses given foreigners or other men catering to their appetite for strong drink. They saw at every session of the court how the immigrants were debauched by liquor and how appalling was their crime record because of intoxicants ; and yet without consideration to their oath of office, without regard to their patriotic duty, and in the teeth of the demands of the Christian conscience, they issue the right to sell liquor to these men at the rate of one license per hundred people — men, women, and children. Can we blame the foreigners for their jamborees, their lawlessness, and their vice under conditions of this kind? They are much like children, and should be treated as such in the question of drink. If the governments of the several states in the immigration zone had restricted the number of licenses granted foreigners to one to every five hundred persons, the disgraceful orgies common in foreign colonies would not be wit- nessed, the heinous crimes committed in drink would not be as common, and the liquor laws of each commonwealth would be better enforced.
Laws on Housing. — The housing conditions of many immi- grants in industrial centers are disgraceful. Men who work for $1.35 a day want cheap rent and they crowd in unsanitary quarters, but in industrial centers these houses are owned by native-born men, are supervised by the native-born, and the boards of health in cities are invariably made up of native-born men. When rickety shacks are offered foreigners to live in by native-born employers, we cannot blame the immigrants for occupying them — this is the only shelter offered, and the alter- native is the open field. When industrial prosperity comes, the number of workers increases and in every industrial com- munity houses are scarce. When foreigners look for houses, they must take the dilapidated, which are located in the most unfavorable part of town, but they cannot help themselves, we cannot blame them ; it is Hobson's choice. When native-born men put up bunkhouses and expect the foreigners to take care of them, can we blame the men if the place is dirty and smells badly? Men who work hard every day have little inclination to clean house at night. If twenty men occupy a bunkhouse,
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 349
some shirkers are found among them, and their example is contagious. The science of sanitation has laid down laws for camp, town, and city life, and it is generally conceded that it is the duty of every municipality, having the preservation and promotion of public health in view, to see that the housing conditions of foreigners are sanitary. But should we not go farther than this and ask : is it not our duty also to teach these people how to live in crowded sections of the city, and avoid conditions which breed diseases and produce poisons which endanger life? If this is our duty, the obligation of leadership must rest on the native-born ; for they are the men in authority, they have the scientific knowledge, and they have the means to democratize it and bring it within reach of the tens of thou- sands of families of backward nations residing in our cities.
Laxity of Laws. — The crime record of the foreigners attracts much attention. Heinous crimes have been committed by foreign-born persons ; some foreign communities have attained notoriety for their vice, crime, and anarchy. But most of the immigrants come from countries where deference to authority is a cardinal virtue ; why do they lose this quality when they come to America ? One would expect that deference to authority, which is so well grounded in the peoples of southeastern Europe, would deepen and grow stronger in a new country where men are anxious to be thought well of, but the contrary is the case. Must we not seek the cause in the new environment? Is it not due to the spirit of America, the freedom from restraint and espionage on the part of government officials, and the tone of the public press. Too many foreigners, soon after they have come to the United States, feel that the spirit of lawless- ness in the air is contagious. The Americans and the Ameri- canized with whom they come in contact speak of violations of law as a thing of common occurrence. Our leading dailies in large cities recklessly charge corporations and men of affairs with willful lawlessness. Foreigners also observe that the laws regulating the liquor traffic are, for the most part, dead letters, and their leaders violate them with impunity. Hundreds of these men in industrial communities soon learn how to avoid
350 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
an inconvenient statute by the power of the dollar. They have also seen the man with a political pull, setting at defiance the laws regulating elections, prosper by lawlessness and cunning, while men with criminal records hold positions of responsibility. These conditions affect the foreigners, but are not of their making. The native-born are responsible for them, and, considering these anti-social tendencies in urban communities, the wonder is that the immigrant is as law-abiding as he is, sur- rounded by so many agencies that tend to break down respect for law and order.
Work needed Done. — The foreigners are despised for the work they do. Must this work be done? Can America get along without sewer digging, construction work, tunnel driving, coal mining, meat packing, hide tanning, etc. — disagreeable work, which the English-speaking shun? This labor is neces- sary and the foreigners do it uncomplainingly. Should they be contemned, despised, and dubbed " the scum of the earth " for doing basic work which we all know is a necessity, but which we ourselves will not perform? A percentage of foreigners is illiterate, and a still larger percentage is unskilled, but every one who has studied these men knows that they have common sense, meekness, patience, submission, docility, and gratitude — qual- ities which have made them admirably suited for the coarse work America needs done. The accident of birth accounts largely for skill in reading and writing as well as for a knowledge of the trades : we cannot choose the country of our birth any more than hereditary tendencies ; why, then, should we blame men for the consequence of these accidents? The best judges of America's need of unskilled labor are employers, men of affairs, and leaders in the industrial development of the nation, and these without exception say that the foreigner has been a blessing and not a curse. In 1910, the National Board of Trade received letters from ninety-three such men,1 residing in
1 The 93 letters received represented 23 governors, 16 mayors, 10 chambers of commerce, 3 commercial clubs, 28 railroad presidents, 6 boards of trade, and 7 others equally prominent in public affairs. See Hearing before Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, pp. 150 f.
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 351
thirty-five states, expressing their views as to the effect of immigration on labor and the industries, and the following is the summary of their answers : —
1. That the general effect of immigration to this country has been beneficial.
2. That immigration so far has not constituted a menace to American labor.
3. That it is still needed for our industrial and commercial development.
In view of these conclusions, the right of the foreigner to respect and honorable treatment from Americans ought to be acknowledged ; the credit due him for the part he has played in the industrial development of America should be freely given ; his right to the free enjoyment of the fruit of his labor wherever he chooses to spend his money should be conceded ; but unfor- tunately none of these rights is recognized by a vast number of native-born men in the immigration zone.
Philosophy and Practice. — As a philosophical reflection, " a slow expansion of industry which would permit the adoption and assimilation of the incoming labor supply is preferable to a very rapid industrial expansion which results in the immigra- tion of laborers of low standards and efficiency, who imperil the American standard of wages and conditions of employment " is admirable ; but when the mine operators have a chance . in a year to market 600,000,000 tons of coal, and the iron and steel manufacturers have a demand for 20,000,000 tons of steel, they rejoice, and produce the goods. We expect them to do it and would consider them unpatriotic if they did otherwise. We all wait patiently for the coming industrial boom. When it comes, we shall rejoice, quote startling figures of industrial prosperity, trade expansion, returns of clearing houses, bank deposits, etc., and congratulate the captains of industry for their splendid work. But we seldom think of the pressure imposed by an industrial boom upon superintendents and foremen who must man the plants. Their duty is to get men, and if the home market cannot supply them, they will draw from Europe. In- dustrial prosperity means dust, delving, danger, and death, and
352 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
the home-born shirk these, but the immigrants buoyantly accept them. When the sum total of productive goods is large, no nation bewails it as a misfortune any more than a city bewails the increase of its population ; but if we rejoice in the enjoyment of a rich harvest, ought we not also assume the responsibility of training backward men in American ideals rather than criti- cize them? If the foreigners answer the call of American employers, they should be welcomed. The greatest obstacle to-day, in the United States, to the assimilation of the immigrants is the prejudice and antipathy of the native-born. It is fostered and intensified by constant reiteration of the defects and fail- ings of immigrants in press and on platform, to the forgetfulness of what we owe them in the part they have played in the devel- opment of the country. This is not right, and the foreigners know it and feel it. These men ask for a square deal ; when it is given them, the problem of immigration will soon be solved.
More Laws. — Both the Federal government and that of cer- tain states have, for nearly a century, been seriously concerned with laws regulating immigration, and we are planning still more legislation. Congress, having spent in the last four years more than $700,000 in investigations of immigrant conditions in Europe and America, must do something. The Sixty-second Congress is taking up anew the question and at present a new bill is being discussed by our statesmen. The Conclusions and Rec- ommendations of the Immigration Commission have furnished the basis for discussion, but we are safe in saying that the legisla- tion suggested by the Commission will not be adopted any more than previous measures of similar tone and content.
International Relations. — The question of immigration is an international one, and the comity of nations ought to suggest a discussion of the question by an international conference. Such a gathering would, under the leadership of Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic nations, reach an agreement that would be bene- ficial to the weak as well as the strong, to the free as well as the oppressed. The Immigration Commission recommends that the " general policy adopted by Congress in 1882 of excluding Chinese laborers should be continued," regardless of the fact
'THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 353
that this event " changed the policy of the government, [was in] contradiction with the Constitution of the United States," and was the occasion on which " we turned our backs on the principle of freedom of migration and passed laws excluding the Chinese as effectually as they had ever excluded foreigners. " With Japan and Korea, the Commission recommends that the mutual satisfactory agreement already established be permitted to stand, while " an understanding should be reached with the British government whereby East Indian laborers would be effectively prevented from coming to the United States." No suggestion is given as to an international conference, and nothing is said of an agreement with the governments of south- eastern Europe, thousands of whose subjects we turn back each year, and thousands more having landed endure hardships and wrongs in America, which, if published, would melt a heart of stone. Every government in Europe is concerned about this important question, and it can only be settled justly and satis- factorily by an international conference in which every nation is represented. Upon this matter, however, the Immigration Commission has no recommendation to make.
Other Recommendations. — It recommends that " govern- ment officials " be placed on vessels carrying steerage passengers, and that " the system inaugurated by the Commission of send- ing investigators in the steerage in the guise of immigrants should be continued," for the purpose possibly of watching the official watchers. The aliens who attempt to persuade immi- grants not to become American citizens should be made subject to deportation, but the native-born who wrongs the foreigner and estranges him is a tenfold greater barrier to the assimilation of aliens, but no recommendation is made regarding him. The Commission believes that there is an over-supply of unskilled labor in the country and demands " legislation which will at the present time restrict the further admission of such un- skilled labor." Among the ways suggested to accomplish this result are : " the limitation of the number of each race " ; the excluding of aliens who " by reason of their personal qualities and habits would least readily be assimilated or would make
2A
354 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
the least desirable citizens " ; and " the exclusion of unskilled laborers unaccompanied by wives or families." An immigration policy, following these recommendations, would soon exclude the Slavs, the southern Italians, the Greeks, the peoples of the Balkan states, and others from eastern Europe and western Asia. It also recommends the adoption of the literary test, an increase in the head tax, and that the sum " of money required to be in the possession of the immigrant at the port of arrival " should be larger. It suggests that the division of information of the Immigration Bureau should increase its effort to attract immigrants to the land, but it has no suggestions to make as to safeguarding immigrants to their destination, or protecting them from the vampires found around railroad depots in important distributing centers, such as Philadelphia, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago, etc.
Too Much Legislation. — We have reason to believe that immigration to the United States suffers from too much legis- lation. Multiplicity of laws will not secure to the United States immunity from the evils of immigration. Each new barrier erected invites the cunning and duplicity of shrewd foreigners to overcome it and affords an opportunity to exploit the ignorant. It is the duty of the government to guard the gates against the diseased, the insane, and the criminal, and our present laws, in the hands of competent men, do this. The immigrant has a right to look for transportation conveniences on steamships and accommodations in detention stations, which comply with the demands of sanitary science and personal hygiene. Every important distributing center should have detention halls, where the immigrants could be kept until called for by friends or guided by responsible parties to their destination. America collects $4 per head from all immigrants coming to the country. Canada spends that amount per head to give the newcomers the necessary information as to agricultural opportunities and economic conditions, so that the men may exercise their judg- ment as to place to locate and employment to seek. The immi- grants will never be distributed in the states and the communities where their labor would count for most, as long as the hands of
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 355
the division of information of the Bureau of Immigration are tied by the want of funds to fulfill the purpose for which it was created. The attempt to regulate the inflow of immi- grants by legislation according to the labor supply of this country is impracticable and will inevitably lead to political skirmishing. Who is to decide the condition of the labor market, the operators or the trades-union ? Economic law will regulate this far more effectually and promptly. While the rec- ommendations of the Immigration Commission wait the action of Congress, industrial depression has driven 2,000,000 workers out of the country. If the " Conclusions and Recommenda- tions " of the Commission were written in 1907 instead of 1910, their tone would be very different. A few efficient laws
. left alone and well executed are better than many statutes, con- tinuous legislative tinkering, and inefficiency.
\ Private Efforts. — The assimilation of the immigrants must depend more upon private effort than upon legislation. No action of either Federal or state government can do half as much for aliens wishing to join the family as the conduct of Americans in the immigration zone, who can help this cause more by throwing open the school building than by urging the enact-, ment of state laws concerning the illiteracy of foreigners. Centers opened in every public school in foreign colonies, where immigrants could be taught, would do more for foreigners in one year, than ten years of legislative inhibition as to what the foreigners should or should not do. In every city, town, and village where immigrants live, public buildings could be used to impart instruction which the foreigners need in order to be assimilated ; in almost every foreign colony the question of getting a suitable place often defeats honest efforts to institute schools for their benefit. Socializing municipal property would solve this difficulty. The room in which instruction in English and citizenship is given foreigners should be made as attractive as possible and should harmonize with the purpose for which it is used. The portraits of heroes and makers of America, men and women of whom we are proud, should adorn the walls. The atmosphere of the school should be patriotic and
356 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
the men and women of foreign birth, coming there to study and receive instruction, should feel that America can mean to them, as it meant to millions who came before, the land of op- portunity.
The Public School. — The public school, for several reasons, is not the best agency to do this work. The teaching of English to adult foreigners is a wholly different problem from that of teaching children their mother tongue. Teachers employed in the daytime, and given a living wage, ought to earn their money. If they do, they are not fit to work overtime. Superintendents of city schools have more than they can gener- ally accomplish ; they have not the time to give to the problem of teaching immigrants. Public school teachers having peda- gogical instinct, resourcefulness, and common sense do good work among immigrants, but persons so qualified are rare ; the ordinary teacher follows the ways laid down on the written page, which admirably fit the work he does, but are not applicable to a group of foreigners, and he cannot hold their interest. The teaching of English to adult foreigners is a problem by itself, wholly distinct from the routine work of the public schools ; it demands adaptability, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and sym- pathy on the part of the teacher, as well as a system of instruc- tion wholly different from that used in the primary grades. These considerations lead me to believe that the education of the immigrants demands a special superintendent, a special corps of teachers, and a special system. Cities having 5000 or more immigrants should make special appropriations for the work of assimilation, employ a competent man to give all his time to the study of the foreigners in the city, get them into schools, map out courses of study adapted to their needs, secure teachers, and train them to do the work. The use of every public building should be at his disposal, and along with instruc- tion in English and citizenship, he should plan a series of lec- tures to be given periodically throughout the winter to the foreigners of the city. If cities where foreigners live are not disposed to make this investment, they should be willing to put the school buildings, together with heat, light, and janitor service,
Jf
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 357
at the disposal of any reliable organization undertaking to help the foreigners. Patriotic men, in every city in the immigration zone, feel an obligation toward the foreigners which cannot be discharged by the action of councilmen or by school directors. The best agency for the work is a committee of public-spirited citizens, organized for the purpose of helping the foreigners, and having at their disposal the use of public buildings. When this is done, a better understanding of the foreigner soon follows, and the peace and prosperity of the community is pro- moted.
Private Agencies. — The other needs of the immigrants must also be met by education, which will be ^most effective when done by private citizens. Laws passed upon housing, con- tagious diseases, garbage, the disposal of refuse, etc., will do little good unless the people are taught how to live and act in crowded communities. It is ignorance that kills and inca- pacitates. American civilization means enlightenment and responsibility, and before we can hold the immigrants respon- sible for conditions that are a menace to health, we must give them the light. The foreigners want to enjoy health and life, they want to preserve life in its fullness : if the principles of hygiene and sanitation are presented to them and the danger of crowding, bad air, filth, and contagion is shown, they will listen and learn. This is the only reasonable way to solve the problem. To send a dozen men with clubs to scare, arrest, and mulct is not the way to teach the people how to live. The law is a thing of terror, but to raise men above the fear of the law by conscious compliance with reasonable demands based on nature's sugges- tions should be our aim in this democracy. The foreigners, unless they are taught how to live and how to obey the law, will remain in their ignorance and suffer. Let the social settle- ments, civic clubs, patriotic organizations, and other philan- thropic and charitable agencies take up the matter of prepar- ing popular lectures and execute the necessary slides to illustrate them, so as to present this knowledge to the people, and a far greater amount of good will be accomplished than by spending money and time to knock at the door of legislatures, pass laws,
358 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
and imagine that the evils against which they are directed are removed.
Foreigners should Help. — In the effort to enlighten the immigrants, both the native- and the foreign-born should co- operate. The foreigners have their organizations and their leaders ; societies of some sort or other touch every town where foreigners live, and every group has its leader. No legislation can enlist the cooperation and interest of these men in behalf of American ideals; but personal contact, intelligent sym- pathy, and deep interest in their well-being will enlist their support. When the best brains among the foreigners and the native-born join hands for the redemption of the foreign colony from ignorance, isolation, and clannishness, beneficent results will soon be realized. Isolation is the greatest wrong to the foreigner. He should not be left to himself. The aggres- siveness of patriotic missionaries should be felt in every foreign colony. American standards should be brought to the homes of the foreign-born. American institutions should be intro- duced. American customs and habits should be explained. American law in city, state, and nation should be made known and interpreted. In thus intelligently attacking, by the weapons of modern civilization, the wall of partition now separating the foreign colony from the rest of the com- munity, we would soon see it crumble to the ground. In the attack, however, let us not forget that the brightest and most broad-minded sons of the immigrants should be enlisted for service.
Distribution of Foreigners. — Any scheme of distribution that leaves out of account the leaders of the foreigners and their societies will not go very far. The National Conference of Immigration, which convened in Washington, D.C., December, 191 1, urged the organization of state bureaus to cooperate with the division of information of the Bureau of Immigration. Representatives of twenty-five different states came together, but no representative of any of the national societies of the foreigners was invited to sit with them in the discussion of the important question of the distribution of immigrants. The
THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 359
division of information has tried hard amid many difficulties to distribute the immigrants, but last year it only succeeded in helping 4283 cases, while more than 800,000 immigrants came into the United States. Suppose a Carnegie or a Rocke- feller were to place a fund of $10,000,000 in trust for the purpose of purchasing abandoned farms ; then in conjunction with such societies as the Polish National Alliance, the Slovak National Alliance, etc., organize agricultural colonies, and in each put a man in charge as superintendent and instructor, to teach immigrants settling on the land how to work the soil and produce crops best calculated to supply the markets, and show them how to ship their produce — such a plan would more effectually aid the distribution of immigrants than all the state bureaus which may be organized in every state in the Union. The one would be free to distribute aliens, the other would play politics and be ever subject to political squalls.
Personal Contact. — Legislative action and private organiza- tions can do much for immigrants, but the most effective of all remedies is personal contact. We can legislate as we have a mind to, but unless the native-born is ready to take the foreign- born in confidence and sympathy into the family, there will be no assimilation. Of the 13,500,000 foreign-born in the country at present, about half of them are from southeastern Europe: in other words in a population of 90,000,000 whites, just one out of every fifteen is a child of the backward races of Europe, and we all stand in awe of him and say he is a menace. Would it not be better to trust the brother, believe that he is capable of infinite good, give him a fair chance in the race, secure to him all freedom of opportunity, and treat him at all times as a responsible moral being with rights and duties as other men? If this personal touch is secured, righteous treatment given, and broad sympathetic interest shown, the immigration problem will be solved in the light of the brotherhood of man and the spirit of our democracy.
ADDENDA
THE annual report of the Commissioner General of Immigra- tion for the years 1908, 1909, and 1910 gives details as to the number of aliens leaving the country.
TABLE I RETURNING IMMIGRANTS
TOTAL IMMIGRANT DEPARTURES |
MALES |
YEA^S |
14 TO 44 YEARS |
IN COUN- TRY LESS THAN 5 YEARS |
|
Old Immigration . New Immigration Total .... |
91,692 644,896 |
58,291 or 63.6 550,505 or 85.4 |
Per Cent 6.7 3-9 |
Per Cent 80.6 87.5 |
Per Cent 71-3 83.0 |
736,588 |
608,796 or 82.7 |
4.2 |
86.6 |
8l.6 |
It is interesting to compare the percentages in the above table with those in corresponding groups of admitted immi- grants, for the years 1909 and 1910 as given below: —
MALES |
-14 YEARS |
14 TO 44 YEARS |
|
IQOQ |
Per Cent 69 I |
Per Cent II 7 |
Per Cent 8^ I |
IQIO |
vy.A 7O.6 |
II. e |
8^.3 |
The males leaving form a higher percentage, the youths under fourteen years also are fewer in number, but those between the ages of fourteen and forty-four years form about the same percentage. Thus we see that men who leave are in the years of greatest productivity and the vast majority of them leave before they have been in the country long enough to make their " pile."
362
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
The following figures may be of interest to the general student of immigration : —
TABLE I A
TOTAL IMMIGRANTS BY DECADES
1821-1830 143,439
1831-1840 599,125
1841-1850 1,713,251
1851-1860 2,598,214
1861-1870 2,314,824
1871-1880 2,812,191
1881-1890 5,246,613
1891-1900 3,687,564
1901-1910 8,795,386
The following table shows the change in the character of immigration : —
TABLE II
COMPOSITION OF IMMIGRANTS BY DECADES
FROM NORTHWEST EUROPE |
FROM SOUTHEAST EUROPE |
ALL OTHERS |
|
Per Cent |
Per Cent |
Per Cent |
|
1821-1830 .... |
76.5 |
8.0 |
15-5 |
1831-1840 .... |
84-3 |
IO.O |
5-7 |
1841-1850 .... |
93-4 |
5-1 |
1-5 |
1851-1860 .... |
93-3 |
4-3 |
2.4 |
1861-1870 .... |
85-5 |
10.9 |
3-6 |
1871-1880 .... |
72.0 |
16.5 |
«-S |
1881-1890 .... |
68.0 |
18.9 |
12. 1 |
1891-1900 .... |
48.2 |
51.0 |
2.8 |
1901-1910 .... |
26.1 |
65-9 |
8.0 |
TABLE III DENSITY or POPULATION IN LEADING COUNTRIES OF EUROPE
COUNTRY |
POPULATION PER SQUARE MILE |
COUNTRY |
POPULATION PER SQUARE MILE |
Belgium .... Netherlands . . Great Britain . . Italy |
589 460 350 310 |
Poland .... Austria .... Switzerland . . France .... |
232 226 208 IQO |
Germany . . . |
291 |
Portugal . . . |
153 |
The density of population in the United States is about 30 to the square mile.
The increase of immigration at each decade .in the census is given in the following table : —
ADDENDA
TABLE IV
INCREASE OF FOREIGN-BORN IN POPULATION BY DECADES
363
CENSUS YEAR |
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION |
INCREASE |
PERCENTAGE INCREASE |
I&ZO |
2 24.4. 602 |
||
1860 .... |
4 138 607 |
I 804 CXK |
84 4 |
1870 |
S,<67,22Q |
I 4.28 CT32 |
34 <\ |
1880 |
6,670,043 |
1,112,714. |
2O O |
1800 . |
O,24O,t;6o |
2,<6o,6i7 |
»8.5 |
IQOO |
IO 341 276 |
I OQI 7l6 |
ii 8 |
IQIO |
1 7 24.3 ^83 |
31 20 766 |
30 6 |
It is estimated that about 30 per cent of those who come into the country return to Europe. The total coming in the decade 1890-1900 was 3,687,564, but of these in the country in 1900 only 2,609,173 were recorded, which was 71 per cent of the number that came in.
The distribution of the immigrants in the United States is shown in the following table : —
TABLE V DISTRIBUTION OF IMMIGRANTS
GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISION |
1850-1860 |
1860-1870 |
1870-1880 |
1880-1890 |
1890-1900 |
North Atlantic . North Central . Western . . . South Atlantic South Central . |
Per Cent 36.9 47.1 8.0 3-0\ 4-9 |
Per Cent 34-8 55-3 9.4 •3 .2 |
Per Cent 26.4 52-4 16.8 •7 3-7 |
Per Cent 41.8 44-5 10.9 i-3 1.9 |
Per Cent 80.1 9.0 6.9 •7 3-3 |
In the census of 1900, 66.3 per cent of all foreign-born lived in cities of 2500 or over population. But of the Russians, Italians, and Poles, members of the new immigration, 73.4, 61.2, and 60 per cent, respectively, lived in cities of 25,000 or over population. The census of 1910 will doubtless show that the new immigration is largely found in cities.
The total number deported after landing and debarred from landing may be judged from the following table. During the last two years the laws regulating the admission of immigrants have been far more rigidly enforced than ever before.
364
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
TABLE VI IMMIGRANTS DEBARRED AND DEPORTED
DEBARRED |
DEPORTED |
|
1802— i QCX |
sjQ.647 |
6 Ii7 |
1006 |
12,432 |
464*- |
13,064 |
1,272 |
|
1008 . |
10,902 |
2,o6o |
IQOQ |
10,411 |
2,124 |
24,270 |
2,8o8 |
|
1911 |
22,349 |
, 2,98l |
153,075 |
^7,925 |
The following table shows how the men of the new iir migra- tion come largely from the farms, having little experi ce in manufacturing previous to their coming. On the otht hand the men of the old immigration had manufacturing experience before they came.
TABLE VII
MANUFACTURING EXPERIENCE IN THE HOMELAND 1 NEW IMMIGRATION
NATIONALITY |
MANUFACTURING |
FARMING |
OTHER |
Bulgarian |
Per Cent 2 Q |
Per Cent - 7O <? |
Per Cent 2< 6 |
Croatian |
2 7 |
80 ^ |
16 8 |
Finnish . |
48 |
71 O |
24 2 |
Greek |
c i |
e/i o |
4O O |
Herzegovinian |
I I |
C7 2 |
AZ 7 |
Italian |
II 4 |
486 |
4O O |
Lithuanian . ^, |
e r " |
76 2 |
18 * |
Macedonian |
* 8 |
62 < |
^7 7 |
Montenegrin |
!.•» |
81 9 |
168 |
Portuguese . . . |
2.8 |
7O 2 |
27.O |
Roumanian |
5T |
7,1 2 |
20 6 |
Ruthenian Servian |
4-7 37 |
/4O 79.0 7e 7 |
16.3 20 6 |
Slovak |
4 4 |
75-7 72 6 |
02 O |
Slovenian |
57 |
6«: 2 |
20 I |
Turk |
•7 Q |
64 tj |
^ ' , •3J 6 |
Hebrew |
58.5 |
6.4 |
45-i |
Average |
68.7 |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on "Immigrants in Manu- facturing and Mining," rx 85.
ADDENDA
365
OLD IMMIGRATION
NATIONAIJTY |
MANUFACTURING |
FARMING |
OTHER |
nsrlish |
Per Cent 40.8 |
Per Cent 3.0 |
Per Cent 47.2 |
f Icmish. |
71. 0 |
9.7 |
19.3 |
•"rench |
40.4 |
8.6 |
42.0 |
29.1 |
28.8 |
52.1 |
|
Norwegian • |
IQ.7. |
18.4 |
62.3 |
Scotch. • .... |
36.4 |
4.2 |
59.4 |
Welsh |
58.2 |
2.6 |
39.2 |
Irish |
14.2 |
52.2 |
33-6 |
Average |
10.7 |
||
The following figures on industrial expansion show how it has been possible for the foreigners to get standing room : —
TABLE VIII INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION l
TOTAL CAPITAL |
VALUE OF PRODUCTS |
|
880 |
$2 7o8 Z4.Z 4.4.1? |
$<;, 212,^0^,186 |
1890 |
6 268 070 270 |
Q,OII, ^43,324 |
IQOO |
o, 384, 263,000 |
1 2, 346. < 30, 1 8 1; |
IQOC |
1 2.O3 1, ^88,0 "%O |
13,987,674,015 |
EMPLOYEES |
INCREASE |
|
1880 |
7,742,774 |
Per Cent |
1800 |
< 618 306 |
84.7 |
IQOO |
7,037,771 |
47-4 |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on " Immigrants in Manufac- turing and Mining," pp. 217 and 218.
366
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
TABLE IX
ANNUAL EARNINGS OF FOREIGN-BORN MEN
NATIONALITY |
LESS THAN $200 A YEAR |
LESS THAN $400 A YEAR |
LESS TH. $600 A Y |
Bulgarian .... |
Per Cent •7Q 7 |
Per Cent OO A. |
Per Cer |
Croatian |
14 I |
f2 |
yy.j. 87 o |
Greek |
26 6 |
6 |
°o-y 06 S |
Macedonian |
41 I |
o? 6 |
y^-o 100 o |
Roumanian |
2O O |
A-y ? |
860 |
Russian |
O 3 |
?A O |
864 |
Servian .... |
4O 7 |
O2 ^ |
f88 |
Syrian .... |
49- / " 14 Q |
CT 7 |
V8 |
Turk |
36 8 |
72 O |
986 |
Average |
27 O |
7O I |
O2.t; |
South Italian |
IO.4 |
ce.4 |
87.8 |
Lithuanian ]Vf atrvar |
5-4 i* 8 |
36.6 rj 7 |
85.1 87 3 |
Polish |
80 |
4.C Q |
w-o 84 4 |
Portuguese |
•2 O |
CA 6 |
no. 7 |
Ruthenian |
72 |
4C o |
88.7 |
Slovak |
6 2 |
43 7 |
8^.0 |
Slovenian |
6-3 |
J&6. |
68.3 |
Average |
7.CT |
46.3 |
84.4 |
Dutch . . . |
.7 |
2O.7 |
62.7 |
English . .... |
I.q |
12. c; |
41.4 |
German |
4.6 |
24.2 |
57.6 |
Irish |
2.7 |
16.1 |
50.0 |
Norwegian |
.O |
.0 |
10.7 |
Scotch ' |
1.2 |
18.4 |
46.0 |
Swedish |
•4 |
3.1 |
26.9 |
Welsh |
7.0 |
27.0 |
51.0 |
2.2 |
15.2 |
43-3 |
|
Native-born of Foreign Parentage Native-born of Native Parentage |
5-5 3.8 |
29.7 iS-8 |
60. i 43-5 |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on " Immigrants in Mam turing and Mining," pp. 131 f.
ADDENDA
367
TABLE X
PERCENTAGE or FAMILIES HAVING LODGERS OR BOARDERS*
THE OLD IMMIGRATION |
THE NEW IMMIGRATION |
||
NATIONALITY |
PERCENTAGE HAVING BOARDERS |
NATIONALITY |
PERCENTAGE HAVING BOARDERS |
Dutch |
6.3 12.8 16.2 14.8 3-8 8.9 I2.O 14.9 |
Brava |
30.0 59-5 33-8 57-6 53-6 48.4 77-9 54-7 56.9 02.8 36.0 32.8 30-9 |
English |
Croatian .... Italian |
||
German .... Irish |
|||
Lithuanian . . . Magyar .... Polish |
|||
Norwegian. . . . Scotch |
|||
Swedish .... Welsh . . |
Roumanian . . . Russian .... Ruthenian . . . Servian .... Slovak Slovenian. . . . Syrian |
||
Average1. . . |
|||
II. 2 |
Average . . . |
51.1 |
The men of the new immigration divide themselves into two groups, those who began to come thirty years ago and the more recent ones who began to emigrate fifteen years ago. The first two tables deal with these two groups. The third table deals with the old immigration.
The Immigration Commission gives the following figures as to the comparative fecundity of the women of native parentage, native-born women of foreign parentage, and foreign-born women under forty-five years of age married ten to nineteen years.
TABLE XI
PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN BEARING No CHILDREN2
RHODE ISLAND |
CLEVELAND |
MINNEAPOLIS |
|
Women of Native Parentage . . Women of Foreign Parentage . . Foreign-born Women .... |
Per Cent 17.5 10.5 7-2 |
Per Cent 15.2 8-5 5-5 |
Per Cent 12.7 7-9 6-5 |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on " Immigrants in Manufac- turing and Mining," p. 148.
2 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on " Fecundity of Immigrant Women," pp. 46 f.
368 THE NEW IMMIGRATION
AVERAGE NUMBER OF CHILDREN BORN
RHODE ISLAND |
CLEVELAND |
MINNEAPOLIS |
|
Women of Native Parentage . . |
Children 2-5 |
Children 2.4 |
Children 2.4 |
Women of Foreign Parentage . . Foreign-born Women .... |
3-9 4-7 |
3-3 4-7 |
3-4 4.0 |
AVERAGE NUMBER OF YEARS MARRIED PER CHILD BORN
RHODE ISLAND |
CLEVELAND |
MINNEAPOLIS |
|
Women of Native Parentage . . Women of Foreign Parentage . . Foreign-born Women .... |
Years 5-9 3-6 3-i |
Years 5-9 4.1 3-0 |
Years 5-7 4.0 3-4 |
A comparison of the fecundity of the women of the new immigration with those of the old immigration is of interest.1
TABLE XII OLD IMMIGRATION
NATIONALITY |
PERCENTAGE BEARING No CHILDREN |
AVERAGE NUMBER OF CHILDREN BORN PER MARRIED WOMAN |
YEARS MARRIED PER CHILD BORN |
7.7 |
2.7 |
3-8 |
|
English |
II.O |
3.2 |
4.e |
23. "> |
3.O |
4-7 |
|
German . . |
76 |
•3 7 |
2 8 |
Irish . . . |
8 3. |
A A |
2.2 |
Norwegian .... Scotch . . |
7-6 II O |
3-8 3.2 |
3-6 4. 3 |
Swedish ... |
cj.7 |
3.Q |
2.1? |
Swiss .... |
8.1 |
3-3 |
4.0 |
Welsh .... |
8.6 |
2.Q |
4.7 |
Average .... |
9-9 |
3-5 |
4.0 |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on Women," pp. 46-52.
Fecundity of Immigrant
ADDENDA
NEW IMMIGRATION
369
NATIONALITY |
PERCENTAGE BEARING No CHILDREN |
AVERAGE NUMBER OF CHILDREN BORN PER MARRIED WOMAN |
YEARS MARRIED PER CHILD BORN |
Austrian |
60 |
4. 4. |
•5 I |
Bohemian |
2.4. |
r.O |
tj |
Finnish |
6.7 |
4.8 |
2.8 |
Hungarian |
8.0 |
4.6 |
3.0 |
Italian Polish |
4.9 <? 4. |
4.8 e 7 |
2.8 2 4. |
Russian . . |
•3 o |
tr.2 |
2.7 |
Average .... |
5-2 |
4.9 |
2.8 |
TABLE XIII
POPULATION OF LAWRENCE, MASS., 1848 AND 1910 1
1848 |
1910 |
||
NATIONALITY |
NUMBER |
NATIONALITY |
NUMBER |
American |
37<o |
Irish |
21 OOO |
Irish |
2130 |
English |
0 ooo |
English |
28 |
Scotch |
2,300 |
Scotch |
French (Can ) |
I 2 OOO |
|
French |
German |
6 500 |
|
Welsh |
2 |
Polish |
2 IOO |
Italian .... |
j |
Portuguese |
700 |
German |
I |
2XOO |
|
Colored |
16 |
Italian . |
8 ooo |
Syrian .... |
2 7OO |
||
Armenian CitntTaTTfan Franco-Belgian .... American |
600 3,000 1,200 12 OOO |
||
Others |
I 4.OO |
||
Total |
^04.0 |
Total |
85,OOO |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on "Immigrants in Manufac- turing and Mining," pp. 238-242. 2B
370
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
TABLE XIV PERCENTAGE or IMMIGRANTS NATURALIZED1
OLD IMMIGRATION |
NEW IMMIGRATION |
||
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
Dutch |
77-8 65.0 65-4 79.1 68.5 84.9 84.0 |
Croatian |
J24-- 3-7 24.1 18.1 21.9 15.0 21.6 5-3 8-3 14.7 17.1 30.0 20.0 |
English |
'Greek |
||
German. |
Hebrew |
||
Irish |
South Italian .... Lithuanian |
||
Scotch |
|||
Swedish . . . |
IVtairvar |
||
Welsh ...... |
Polish |
||
Portuguese . |
|||
Russian ... |
|||
Ruthenian . . . |
|||
Slovak . ... |
|||
Slovenian ..... |
|||
Syrian |
|||
The illiteracy of the men of the new and old immigration may be compared in the following table : —
TABLE XV ILLITERACY OF IMMIGRANTS2
OLD IMMIGRATION
NEW IMMIGRATION
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
Dutch . . |
2 A |
Bulgarian |
78 i |
English .... |
I" 2 |
Croatian |
70 o |
German ..... |
2 O |
Greek |
"So? |
Irish |
A 2 |
South Italian . . |
67.-? |
Scotch |
e |
Lithuanian ... |
77. -2 |
Swedish |
.2 |
IMasrvar |
QI.O |
Welsh |
I.Q |
Polish . . . |
70-0 |
Portuguese .... Roumanian .... Russian |
47-5 82.6 74."? |
||
Ruthenian .... |
65.8 71.3 |
||
Slovak . . |
84.4 |
||
Slovenian ... |
87.5 |
||
Syrian |
63.6 |
||
Average .... |
1.8 |
Average .... |
74-8 |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on " Immigrants in Manufac- turing and Mining," p. 211. 2 Ibid., p. 167.
ADDENDA
371
Ability of the men of the old and new immigration to speak the English language may be judged from the following table : —
TABLE XVI ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH1
OLD IMMIGRATION |
NEW IMMIGRATION |
||
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
96.5 86.1 45-6 68.6 87.5 96.9 94-7 |
Bulgarian |
20.3 50-9 HI 51-3 21. 1 46.4 38.0 43-5 33-3 36-8 43-6 41.2 55-6 5Ii 54-6 22.5 |
|
Dutch |
Croatian |
||
Greek |
|||
French |
South Italian . . . Lithuanian .... Macedonian .... IVlagyar . ... |
||
German |
|||
Norwegian |
|||
Average .... |
Montenegrin .... Polish |
||
Roumanian .... Ruthenian .... |
|||
Servian « |
|||
Slovak . . . |
|||
Slovenian ..... |
|||
Syrian |
|||
Turkish |
|||
82.2 |
Average .... |
40.8 |
The following table shows comparison between the classes mentioned as to the percentage of children kept home, sent to school, or sent to work, of children six to sixteen years of age : —
TABLE XVII
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN AT HOME2
HOME |
SCHOOL |
WORK |
|
Native-born of Native Parentage . . . Native-born of Foreign Parentage . . . Foreign-born .... . . |
Per Cent 6.2 11.4 16.2 |
Per Cent 90.7 83.7 71 2 |
Per Cent 3-1 4.9 86 |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on " Immigrants in Manufac- turing and Mining," p. 201. *Ibid., p. 196.
372
THE NEW IMMIGRATION
The following table gives the percentage of native-born chil- dren in the high school, together with a comparison of the per- centages of children of the old and new immigrants in high
TABLE XVIII
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN IN HIGH SCHOOL l
OLD IMMIGRATION |
NEW IMMIGRATION |
||
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
NATIONALITY |
PER CENT |
Danish |
5-i 4.8 7-7 3-6 5-4 4-7 7.8 6.9 S-2 9-7 5-2 7.8 |
Hebrew (Polish) . . . Hebrew (Roumanian) . Hebrew (Russian) . . Italian (North) . . . Italian (South) . . . Lithuanian |
3-3 3-1 3-3 1.6 .8 1.4 3-4 1.6 •5 4.7 •7 |
Dutch |
|||
English |
|||
Finnish |
|||
French |
|||
German • |
|||
Hebrew (German) . . . Irish |
IVIagyar |
||
Polish |
|||
Norwegian . |
Portuguese |
||
Scotch |
Russian |
||
Swedish |
Slovak |
||
Welsh |
Average |
||
Average |
6.0 |
2.2 |
|
Native-born white 9.1 per cent.
The Immigration Commission, studying the annual income of wage earners who are heads of families, gives us the following figures:— TABLE XIX
ANNUAL INCOME OF HEADS OF FAMILIES
ANNUAL INCOME |
NATIVE-BORN OF NATIVE PARENTAGE |
NATIVE-BORN OF FOREIGN PARENTAGE |
FOREIGN-BORN |
$1000 + |
13.0 |
13-7 |
2.8 |
1000 - |
87.0 |
86.3 |
97.2 |
900- |
78.8 |
76.5 |
94.3 |
800- |
72.3 |
70.4 |
91-5 |
700- |
54-7 |
54-6 |
81.8 |
600- |
40.7 |
40-5 |
70.0 |
500- |
25.1 |
26.1 |
53.8 |
400 - |
12.2 |
". 7 |
34-0 |
300- |
3-7 |
3-i |
15.0 |
200 - |
i.i |
0.6 |
5-3 |
100 - |
.2 |
o.o |
I.O |
1 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on "The Children of Immigrants in Schools," p. 27.
2 Abstract of Immigration Commission's Report on " Immigrants in Manufac- turing and Mining," >p. 129-130.
ADDENDA TABLE XX
VITAL STATISTICS OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
373
BIRTH RATE PER IOOO |
DEATH RATE PER IOOO |
INFANT MORTALITY PER IOOO |
||||
1881 |
1908 |
1881 |
1908 |
1881 |
1908 |
|
Great Britain . . . Denmark Norway German Empire . . Austria |
32 32 30 37 37 42 35 24 29 38 35 47 |
26 28 26 32 33 36 29 20 27 33 40 48 |
18 18 17 25 30 34 21 22 22 27 16 33 |
15 14 14 18 22 24 15 19 16 22 24 30 |
124 121 f ? ? 182 I65 I87 69 252 |
118 106 76 178 204 199 125 143 1 08 153 170 256 |
Hungary Netherlands .... France |
||||||
Switzerland .... Italy |
||||||
Bulgaria |
||||||
New York Sun, February 4,
INDEX
Abandoned farms, foreigners on, 153. Accidents, compensation to foreigners for, 87-88.
criminal negligence for, id.
foreigners need protection against, 91.
hurry up cause of, 82, 84.
new appliances cause, 85.
no English cause of, 80.
no reliable statistics of, 78.
number of, 86.
thoughtlessness cause of, 83. Addams, Miss Jane, 276. Ambulance chasers, foreigners as, 176. America, backward Europe in, 307.
for Americans, 249, 252.
foreigners should know, 185.
heritage of, 303.
immigrants appreciate, 8.
immigrants influenced by, 10.
influences of, on immigrants, 342.
spirit of lawlessness in, 350.
the spirit of, 306.
American banks, foreigners employed in, 225.
suspicious of, 225.
American Car and Foundry Company, 56. American flag, presentation of, 264. American ideals, retention of, 260. American law, foreign parents fear, 326. American leadership, influence of, 311.
in foreign colonies, 186. American town, character of, 306. American workers, foreigners copy, 296.
qualities of, 94. Amusement, influence of, 277.
Jews in, 267.
popularity of, 276. Annual income, amount of, 166. Annual wage, Immigration Commission on, 70.
Anthracite coal fields, foreigners in, 55. Antipathy, result of, 299. Armourdale, Kan., 152. Ashokan Dam, N.Y., 59.
foreigners treated in, 135. Assimilation, patriotism and, 356.
personal effort in, 355. Association of Practical Housekeeping,
302.
Athletics, Greeks fond of, 192. Aurora, 111., bathing ordinance, 136.
dinner of all nations in, 316.
Balkans, customs in, 96.
States in, 5, 26. Baltic nations, 9.
Baltimore, bathing provisions in, 136. Bankers, foreigners trust, 181. Banking laws, effect of, 231.
inefficiency of, 231. Bank paper, value of, 226. Barbers, Italians as, 60. Barberton, O., 58, 100. Barge Canal, conditions in camps on,
112.
Bar-tenders, foreigners as, 178. Bathing, foreigners afraid of, 136.
foreigners patronize, 171.
needed conveniences for, 135. Beadenkoff, Thomas M., 136. Beneficiary societies, Church control of,
188.
Benevolent societies, 183. Berwick, Pa., steel plant in, 56.
steel plant, employment in, 97. Bigotry, spirit of, 210. Billikopf, Jacob, services of, 329. Birds of passage, 13.
375
376
INDEX
Bituminous coal fields, foreigners in,
55- Blaustein, Dr. David, on Jewish Boy,
288.
Blind tigers, 267. Boarders, and lodgers, percentage of, 130.
Immigration Commission on, 166. Boarding boss, unreliability of, 131. Boarding houses, crowding in, 169.
disgraceful condition of, 170.
laws relating to, 132.
regulations of, 170.
Boards of special inquiry, character of men on, 28.
reversal of decisions of, 29.
un-American procedure before, 29. Bosnia, 5.
Boston Common, a foreigner on, 163. Boys in crime, 240, 328. Brewer, D. Chauncey, 316. Brick plants, foreigners in, 58. Bride, dance with the, 149. Brinton, Professor Daniel G., 308. Brockton, Mass., Lithuanians in, 186. Building and Loan Societies, 183. Bulgaria, 10. Burritt, Elihu, anniversary of, 301.
Calumet, Mich., foreigners in, 54. Cambridge, Mass., mock election in,
316.
Camp Commissaries, jealous of out- siders, 114.
usefulness of, id. Camp, housekeeping in, 124. Camp officials, importance of, 115. Camps, effective work in, 312.
expert leaders wanted in, 127.
life in, 125.
number of employees in, 115.
privations in, 112, 137.
welfare work in, 115. Capital cities, foreigners in, 159. Captains of industry, foreign labor and,
350.
Carr, John Foster, 263. Catholic Church, power of, 284. Chemical works, foreigners in, 68.
Chicago, accident in, 89.
League for immigrants in, 317.
League for Protection of Immigrants
in, 40, 43.
Chicago Tribune, sermon in, 44. Chicago University, a foreigner in, 279. Children, at work or home, 121.
feeding of, 151.
neglect of, 147.
Children of foreigners, advancement of, 336.
ancestral heritage of, 337.
efficiency of, 330.
study of, 329. Chinese, exclusion of, 164.
immigration of, 26. Christianity, the foreigners and, 300. Church and State, separation of, 207. Church calendars, variation in, 151. Church societies, policy of, 189. Churches, abandoning foreign colonies, 202.
foreigners build, 265.
foreigners buy, 202.
Italians and. Slavs in, 208.
money spent on, 200.
pooling interest, 322.
serving foreigners, 318.
settlement work by, 318.
varying nationalities in, 202. Cities, anti-social tendencies in, 350.
conditions in, 310.
congestion in, 349.
foreigners in old sections of, 127.
foreigners want low rents in, 128.
ignorance of conditions in, 310.
redemptive forces of, 172. Cities of 100,000+ population, 158. Citizenship, failures to acquire, 254.
qualities for, 253.
religious basis of, 322. City property, appreciation of, 161. Civilization, conflict of, 326.
meaning of, 280.
preserve American, 307.
the veneer of, 320. Class legislation, guard against, 253. Cleanliness, Finns and Bosnians, 134. Cleveland, President, on Immigration, 251.
INDEX
377
Clothing trade, foreigners in control of,
52.
Lithuanians in, id. Clubs, anti-social, 184. Coal mining, efficiency of foreigners in,
100.
foreigners in, 55-56. Coal pit in Great Britain, 78. Coast States, men needed in, 14. Commissioner, outwitting the, 31. Commons, Professor John R., 279, 295. Communal habit, effect of in wage dis- pute, 106.
Community life, change wrought in, 154. Community meetings, kind of, 263. Congestion, peoples having worst, 168. Conjugal conditions, Immigration Com- mission on, 148. J Construction camps, foreigners in, 53. Contract Labor Law, beginning of, 250.
hardships of, 26.
Immigration Commission and viola- tion of, 26.
wide swath of, 29, 63. Conversion, nationality and, 210. Convert, an Italian, 209. Cooperation, among workingmen, 296. Corporations, all property held by, 105. Cosmopolitan cities, 159. Cosmopolitan meeting, character of,
301. ^
Country life, foreigners long for, 163. County of New York, crimes in, 234. Courts, foreigners in, 243. Crimes, detectives and, 240^ 242.
drink cause of, 238, 244.
education and, 284.
foreigners in, 233.
native-born in, 234.
nature of, 235.
peculiar to new immigrants, 238.
savagery of, 236.
tendencies to, 245.
Criminality, sons of foreigners and, 324. Criminals, district attorneys and, 243?™*
entrance of, 34.
escape of, 240.
failure to prosecute, 243.
foreigners as, 239.
foreigners hiding, 241.
Croats, old Catholicism among, 203. Crowding, beds work double shift, 130. Culture, among foreigners, 290. Customs, backward, 297.
Dance, a Grecian, 271. Dancing, a professor of, 266.
Syrians, 265. Daughters of the American Revolution
263. Davis, Rev. Ozora, farewell dinner to,
301.
Dayton, Italians in, 309. Declaration of Independence, spirit of,
297.
Degeneracy, causes of, in sons of for- eigners, 338.
Delray, its housing problem, 132. Democracy, duty of patriots to, 305.
spirit of, 250.
the leaven of, 291.
true lignt of, 303. Dependents, causes of foreigners as, 167.
percentage of, id,. Deportation, number in, 28.
poverty and, 27.
trivial cause for, 21. Destination, deciphering addresses to, 43-
girls and their, 41.
incorrect address to, 43.
must have address to, 23 (n).
percentage with address to, 42. Detention, causes of, 22.
unpleasantness of, 35. Diet, articles in foreigners', 218. Dillingham, Senator, 51. Discipline, breaking down of, 326. Discrimination, foreigners suspicious of,
7i.
Disease, communication of, 137. Displacement in cities, 161. Distributing centers, need of, 354. Distributing points, exploitation at, 36.
need of headquarters at, 44. Distribution, foreign societies and, 358.
literature and, 354.
the land and, id.
378
INDEX
Division of Information, 63. Domestic animals, variety of, 140. Drama, foreigner and, 275.
Italians and, id.
Dramatic clubs, organization of, 276. Drink, foreigners and, 76. Drink habit, regulation of, 269. Dukhobors, a family of, 321. Durham, M. E., 5.
East St. Louis, Aluminium Works in, 81. Economic Law, Immigration Commis- sion on, 63. Education, difficulty of, 281.
employers can help in, 108.
employers unfavorable to, 107.
immigrants want, 6. Efficiency, drink interferes with, 96.
elements in, 94.
foreigners increase in, 100.
wages a measure of, 93. Electricity, dangers of, 85. Eliot, Dr. Charles W., 304. Ellis Island, a foreigner in, 31.
a Scott in, 31.
attempted escape from, 24.
bathing facilities in, 20.
commissariat at, 37.
crowding in, 18.
examination dreaded, 33.
families divided, 25.
first impressions in, 33.
five months in, 24.
hardships in, 18.
hospital in, 31.
machinery of, 31.
missionary service in, 22.
physicians in, 15. Employer, beneficence of, 107. Employers, foreigners and, 74.
mix foreigners in plants, 75. Employment, discipline of, 334. Employment offices, foreigners at, 293. English, need of, 70.
possibility of teaching, 81.
suffering for want of, 165. ' English classes, nationalities in, 282.
number in, id.
Englishmen, complaints of, 20. English-speaking, industries forsaken by, S3, 67.
workers, displacement of, 72. Enlightenment, foreigners need, 357. Environment, cause of crime, 325. Equality, meaning of, 298.
repudiation of, 89. Europe, economic condition of, 5.
homogeneous working force in, 78.
influence of immigrants on, 10. European countries, deference to author- ity, 349- European governments, attitude of, 260.
loss by emigration to, 342.
weeding process of, 16 (n). European homes, pictures in, 304. Example, power of, 155. Exclusion, ground for, 353.
laws for, 354. Exploitation of foreigners, 164.
F
Faith, essentials of, 321.
foreigners leave fathers', 208. Faith in foreigners, need of, 279. Fall River, Chinese of, 164. Families, percentage keeping boarders,
1 68.
Fanaticism, out of place, 212. Fastidious, foreigners not, 140. Fatherland, gold sent to, 12, 343. Fertilizers, foreigners in, 53. Festas, Italians and, 208. Filth, danger of, 137. Firewood, getting, 239. Food, European custom in, 151.
foreigners eat too little, 98. Foreign-born children in school, 333. Foreign business, fraud in, 180 f. Foreign Catholics, church attendance among, 206.
devotion of, 207.
servility of, 206. Foreign churches, American leadership
in, 185.
Foreign colonies, causes of dilapidation, 162.
saloons in, 348.
INDEX
379
Foreign colony, ignorance of, 309. Foreign customs, sway of, 145. Foreign editors, attitude of, 262. Foreigners, ambition of, 325.
appreciated as workers, 102.
business ability of, 103.
childlike character of, 319.
clannishness of, 75.
contempt for, 327.
courts prejudiced against, 88.
cultured men among, 278.
degeneracy of, 303.
drink habit of, 270.
example given, 94, 117.
folly of, 302.
good men among, 119.
holidays of, 95.
honorable men among, 101.
houses rented to, 133, 348.
housing laws and, 460.
ignorance of city life, 162.
immoralities among, 142.
irreligion of, 319.
mental endowment of, 279.
mother wit in, 102.
needs of, 280.
one faith of, 319.
parental ideas of, 329.
pay for jobs, 164.
penury of, 167.
prejudice against, 246.
privileges granted, 250.
purity of life among, 141.
religious nature of, 215.
religious usages of, 205.
rickety houses of, 129.
sanitary instructor for, 134.
service to, 312.
should know America, 338.
Societies helping, 317.
suffering of, 163.
ubiquity of, 298.
under good examples, 120.
undesirable qualities in, 95. Foreign labor, despised, 292, 350. Foreign laborers, percentage of, 336. Foreign parents, ambition of, 335. Foreign press, reliability of, 261. Foreign societies, helpfulness of, 358. Foreign standards, advancement on, 296.
Foreign tongues, industrial regulations
in, 81.
Foreign town, character of, 306. Foreign vote, power of, 255. Foreign women, drudgery of, 142.
fecundity of, 143.
old country ways and, 144.
scarcity of, 142. Foreign workers, amenability of, 293. •
injustice to, 285.
isolation of, 295.
qualities of, 293, 350. Foreman, a kind, 286. Foremen, foreigners bribe, 76. Foundries, foreigners in, 56. Fraser, J. F., 46.
Frauds in banks, amount of, 229. Free library, interpretation of, 290. Frugone, F. L., 101. Furniture plants, foreigners in, 68.
Gambling, foreigners given to, 238.
foreigners in, 194. Gehenna versus flowers, 322. Germans, complaints of, 21. Government Employment Bureau, 22.
foreigner's relation to, 287. Granite City, Bulgarians of, 10. Grecian caf£s, character of, 271. Greek boys, information needed about, 328.
traffic in, 30.
Greek Orthodox Church, 204. Greeks, business ability of, 60.
division among, 181,
drama of, 276.
enterprise of, 104.
exploitation of, 181. Grinding, foreigners in, 57. Gumption, a Yankee's, 287.
H
Habits of foreigners, disagreeable, 76. Halls, bars in, 193.
dancing in, 268.
social life in, 193. Hammerling, Louis N., 51.
38o
INDEX
Head tax, 251.
Health, education and, 357.
lectures on, 286. Heredity and crime, 325. Heroes, each nation has its, 275. Herzegovina, 5.
Higher education, foreigner in, 334. Holocaust, native-born in a, 246. Home, the foreigner's idea of, 139. Home-building, influence of, 152. Homes, Americanization of, 146.
cleanliness of, id.
foreigners build, 154.
housewives in, 146.
Immigration Commission on, id. Homicides, number of, 235. - Hospitals, foreigners in, 167. Houghton, Mich., native-born in, 54. Households, persons to the, 128. Houses, foreigners tear, 134.
unsanitary, 132. Housing conditions among foreigners,
348.
Hunk ey town, a fenced village, 177. Hurley, Deputy Commissioner, 31. Hurry-up habit, 83.
Ideals, American, 305. Immigrant, an oppressed, 288.
a Persian, 9. Immigrant bank, amount in, 226.
no interest paid by, 223. Immigrant banker, a prosperous, 223.
popularity of, 224.
services rendered by, id. Immigrant bankers, character of, 221 f.
foreigners shield, 231.
fraud of, 227.
Jews as, 222.
methods of business, 222.
rise of, 221.
trustworthiness of, 228. Immigrant banks, a development, 220.
a side issue, 226.
description of, 217, 225.
location of, 216.
nature of, 216.
not in company stores, 217.
Immigrant families, stability of, 66 (n). Immigrant homes, cleanliness of, 170.
percentage of dirty, 170. Immigrant laborers, instability of, 65.
scarcity of, 65.
Immigrant names, change of, 43. Immigrant officials, courtesy of, 34. Immigrant train, character of, 41.
conductors on, 42. Immigrant trains, regulation of, 39.
unseasonable hours of, 40. Immigrant workers, qualities of, 61. Immigrants, birth rate among, 143, 346.
carelessness of, 68.
change in, 4.
character of, 341.
distribution of, 156.
enjoyments of, n.
farm hands as, 342.
fraudulent entrance of, 25.
illiteracy of, 5.
industrial efficiency of, 76.
inhuman treatment of, 66.
letters of, n, 63.
per capita tax of, 41.
percentage of change, 4 (n).
percentage of farmers among, 49 (n).
physical power of, 113.
prosperity of, n f.
protection of, 41.
quality of, 15, 17, 92, 304.
skilled workers among, 59.
skill of, 5.
states to which they go, 156.
unskilled workers among, 49. Immigration, an international question, 352.
causes of, 5 f .
centers of, 4.
economic law and, 457.
Federal control of, 33, 250.
old and new, 5.
State control of, 33,
volume of, 4.
Immigration Commission, conclusions of, Si, 3Si f-
New York State, 58, 254.
on banks, 226.
on crimes, 254.
INDEX
381
Immigration Laws, 15.
lax administration of, 36. Immigration policy, 248. Immigration problem, 341. Immigration zone, 156.
school buildings in, 355. Individuals, plan of work of, 312. Industrial calamities, foreigners in, 89. Industrial plant, discipline in, 92. Industrial prosperity, meaning of, 351. Industrial zone, 158. Industries, American character of, 49 f.
American development of, 50.
best paying, 69.
change in, 73 f .
common medium of communication needed, 81.
foreigners in special, 52.
foreigners needed in, 51.
immigrants in, 49.
immigrants weeded out by, 17.
injurious to health, 67.
multiplicity of tongues in, 79.
power increase in, 86.
religious usage and, 96.
risky character of, 82.
speeding up in, 86. Infant mortality, 144. Institutions, American, 305. Intermittent Labor, effect of, 334. International Banks, 226. Inventions, effect of, 73. Investigations, attempts at, 310.
individuals in, id.
scientific use of, 311.
Young peoples' societies and, id. Iron and steel industries, foreigners in,
56.
Iron ore mines, foreigners in, 56. Irreligion, cause of, 319. Irwin, immigrants at, 41. Ishpeming, Mich., iron ore mines, 54. Italian saloons, character of, 270. Italians, as politicians, 256.
break from church, 207.
difference in wages of, 69.
divisions among, 182.
gambling among, 270.
loss of life among, 86.
not Socialists, 105.
Italians, sentiments of, 8. walled towns of, 188.
Japanese, housekeeping among, 124. Jews, in industries, 60.
linguistic power of, 176.
religion and industry among, 151. Justice, defeating, 245. Justices of the Peace, inefficiency of, 246. Juvenile courts, sons of foreigners in, 327,
Kansas City, Greeks in, 128. Kaupus, Rev. A., on festivities, 269. Kellor, F. A., 135. Know Nothing Party, 324 f.
Labor agencies, foreigners use, 64. Labor camps, bathing facilities in, in.
bunkhouses in, no.
commissary in, 109.
cleanliness in, no.
life in, 109. Labor organizations, effect of, 195.
foreigners in, 194.
leaders of, 196.
percentage in, 195. Lake traffic, foreigners in, 58. Land-holding companies, 153. Landlords, greed of, 128. Lawlessness, foreigners in, 119. Lawrence, Mass., 159. Leader, an Italian, 322.
immigrants have a, 173.
the ways of a, 176 f. Leaders, foreign politicians as, 179.
genial and capable, 174.
jealousy of, 181.
Jews as, 176.
loyal to homeland, 184.
politicians use, 184.
power of, 173 f.
priests as, 183.
religious agreement of, 321.
religious divisions among, 182.
INDEX
Leaders, Slavs follow, 173.
unscrupulous men as, 176.
used by employers, 176. Leadership, American, 302.
foreigners must help in, 322.
need of, 184.
Lead works, foreigners in, 68. Lectures, foreigners in, 315.
possibility of, 287. Legislation, immigrant, 251.
too much, 456.
Librarians, anxious to help, 289. Libraries, aid to assimilation, 289.
children's hour in, 330.
foreign books in, 289, 376. Library, use made of, 277. Licenses, native-born grant, 347. Liquor laws, violation of, 118. Lithuanians, radicals among, 183. Literature, foreigners to choose, 290.
foreigners' taste in, id. Lumber camp, a meal in, in.
French Canadians in, in. Lumber camps, foreigners in, 54.
M
McGee, Professor W J, 14. Mack, Judge, 43. Magyar family, suffering of, 166. Magyars, difference in wages of, 69.
division among, 197.
industrial efficiency of, 100.
music among, 273. Male, preponderance of, 150. Map of immigration zone, 157. Marionettes, Italians and, 272. Marriage, fraud practiced in, 150. Married, wives in homeland, 148. Maryland Steel Company, drink con- trolled by, 97.
Matrimony and income, 346. Meat packing, foreigners in, 53. Medical card, necessity of, 23. Memorial Day, a foreigner on, 264. Military service, fleeing from, 260. Military societies, Greeks in, 192.
Lithuanians in, 191.
Poles in, id. Mine disaster, effect of, 90.
Mine inspectors, statistics of, 82.
warnings given by, 85. Mining camps, foreigners in, 54. Mining town, demoralization in, 117. Mining villages, schools in, 120 f. Minor ports, conditions in, 35. Missionaries, duplicating work, 318.
privations of, 213.
unworthy, 211. Mixed marriages, 214. Money sent to Europe, amount of, 343.
importance of, id. Most, John, arrest of, 302. Mothers, dreary life of, 121.
leaders needed by, 122. Moving pictures, Grecian, 271. Municipalities, graft in officers of, 132. Murder, a joke causes, 77. Murders, unavenged, 243. Music, charm of, 274.
foreigners and, 273.
foreigners appreciate, 274. Musical contests, the foreigner and, 273. Musicians, foreigners and, id.
N
Naming, custom of, 297. National Alliances, aims of, 196.
foreigners in, id. Nations, background of, 275.
commingling of, 304. Native-born, prejudice of, 352. Naturalization, Courts, clerks of, 254.
desire of, 259.
irregularity in, 256.
law of 1906, 253.
requirements of, 254. Naturalized, number of, 259. Nazarites, faith of, 205. Negroes, housekeeping among, 125. Neighborhood, know your, 309. New Brunswick, N.J., 6. New England, change in population, 159. New Haven, Italians in, 60.
remodeling house in, 161. New Immigration, the spirit of, 277. New immigrants, confidence in, 359.
number of, 359.
qualities of, 17.
INDEX
383
New Jersey, Iron Ore Mines in, 56, 80. New life, America awakes to, 288. New York law, midwives and, 144. New York Observer, 51. Night schools, effect of, 278. North America, area of, 14. North American Civic League for Im- migrants, 316.
Northwestern Railroad waiting room, 44. Norwegians, service to, 314. Nursery, English classes in, 315.
Oakland, Cal., a Greek in, 314. One room, families in, 140.
family and boarders in, 141. Operatives, prejudice of, 72. Operators, anxious for production, 351.
help from, 285.
prejudice of, 71.
Opportunity versus Socialism, 105 f. Order of United Americans, 249. Ore docks, Finns in, 58. Oriental blood, character of, 266.
Pace, the American, 45.
Padrone system, 64.
Padroni, diplomacy of, 114.
Palmer, Francis H. E., on Russian Life,
240. Pan-Ethnic Movements, 197.
divisions in, id.
Parents, and children, sympathy wanted in, 337-
encourage crime, 327.
immigrants loyal to, 12. Parochial Schools, children in, 331.
efficiency of, 331.
English in, id.
expense of, 333.
Immigration Commission on, 331.
standards of, 333. Paryski, A. A., 100, 175, 263. Patriotism, instruction in, 258. Penitentiaries, educational possibilities in, 285.
foreigners in, 284.
Pennsylvania mining laws, effect of, 72. Pennsylvania mining towns, drink in, 97. Perjury, prevalence of, 245. Personal cleanliness, variation in, 170 f. Personal touch, efficiency of, 323.
need of, 281.
Philadelphia, immigrant station at, 39. Phillips, Col. R. A., 315. Pictures, influence of, 327.
of patriots, use of, 258. Pink, Louis H., on Magyars, 267. Pittsburgh Survey, 309. Play, Americans at, 265.
foreigners at, id. Plow plants, foreigners in, 57. Pocket wards, cause of, 255. Poles, loss of life among, 87. Police going in pairs, 238. Polish Home for Immigrants, 196. Polish National Alliance, 10, 188. Political Clubs, leaders of, 179.
independent, id. Politicians, kindness of, 257.
magnifying foreigners, 262. Politics, foreigners in, 260 f.
foreigners independent in, 263. Population, increase of, 346. Port Commissioner, illegal act of, 36. Ports of landing, differences in, 25. Postal Savings Banks, need of, 230. Post Office, foreigners trust in, id.
orders of, id.
Press, the criminal records in, 327. Priest, laymen oppose, 182. Priests, abused, 211.
converted, 212.
devout men among, 183.
great power of, 184.
unworthy, 211. Probation, length of, 256. Professions, foreigners not in, 54. Proselytism, effects of, 320. Protestants, foreigners as, 205. missionaries among foreigners, id. Public buildings, the foreigner and,
355 *•» 277.
Public schools, adaptation needed, 282, 367.
children in, 330.
foreigners and, 333.
INDEX
Public schools, matron in, 333.
socializing the, 283.
use made of, 282. Push-cart business, Greeks in, 60.
R
Race suicide, immigration and, 346 £. Racial hatred, Armenians and Turks, 9. Racial prejudice, 75. Racial qualities, variation in, 92. Railroad agents, mistakes of, 39. Railroad car shops, foreigners employed
in, 57 f-
Railroad employees, a Samaritan among, 42.
courtesy of, 41. Railroad stations, exploitation in, 39.
immigrant rooms in, 38. Recent immigrants, crowding among,
130.
Redlight districts, foreigners in, 128. Relaxation, need of, 266. Religion, aim of, 320. Religious conflicts, leaders in, 191. Religious, harmony, need of, 214.
festivals, use of, 267.
prejudice, 214. Residuum, in cities, 161. Returning immigrants, character of, 16.
number of, 342. Riis, Jacob, optimism of, 242* Riot, ignorance leads to, 287. Riots, cause of, 298. Rock Island City, 111., 83. Roman Catholic Church, criticism of, 201.
difficulties of, id.
influence of, 202.
the problem of, 201. Rooms, crowding into few, 131. Rovnianek, P. V., on festivities, 269. Russia, persecution in, 7. Ruthenians, division among, 204 (n).
S
St. Joseph, Mo., 152. Saloon, a Greek, 271. Saloons, as labor agencies, 64.
Saloons, drinking dens, 270.
election day and, 262.
foreigners meet in, 179.
Lithuanians in, id.
political power of, 179, 262.
poor man's club, 269.
South Omaha and, 268. Sanitation, importance of, 137.
municipal duty and, 349. Savings, difficulty to keep, 219.
in funny places, 220. Scandinavians, complaints of, 21. Scranton, lecture to foreigners in, 315. Seamen, landing of, 26. Seasonal labor, 70. Secular Societies, anti-clerical, 190.
Italians in, id. Segregation, process of, 160. Service to a Pole, 313. Settlements, activity of, 317.
character of workers in, 318. Sewer pipe plant, foreigners in, 58. Sexes, intermingling of, 141. Shacks, housekeeping in, 125. Shipping companies, immigrants sifted
by, 16 (n).
Shoe plants, foreigners in, 59. Shoe shining parlors, Greeks in, 60. Siberia, escape from, 7. Sing Sing, criminals in, 234.
education in, 284. Skilled workers, foreigners and, 74. Slavs, socialism among, 106. Slavs, village organizations among, 188. Sleeping room, persons per, 130. Slovak, cooperation from a, 198. Slovak National Society, 10. Slovaks, English among, 278. Slovenes, organizations among, 187. Small towns, decency departs from, 117^
drink in, 118.
English-speaking residuum, 117.
Finns and Slavs in, 116.
nature of, id. Small villages, education needed in, 123.
neglected, id.
Smith, Frank, Italians and, 274. Soap Works, foreigners in, 53. Social Clubs, Italians in, 192.
Jews in, 193.
INDEX
385
Social conscience, need of, 247. Socialism, foreigners and, 104, 209. Societies, cause of, 188. cooperation with, 198 f. helpfulness of, id. number of, 187. religious differences in, 190. Sokol Societies, Slavs in, 192. Songs of nations, use of, 274. Sons of foreigners, ambition of, 325. cause of crime among, id. economic standing, 324. in cities, 326. moral life of, 339. protection and, id.
Sons of immigrants, checks to advance- ment, 337.
interpreters in home, id. South Chicago, block in, 160. Southern ports, immigrants landing in,
299.
Southern States, men needed in, 14. South Omaha, Brown Park, 153. Japanese in, 73. Riot in, 299.
Steerage, conditions of, i f . government officials on, 353. new type of, 3. Speculation, foreigners in, 180.
a Polish, 1 80.
Square deal, foreigners ask, 77. immigrants want, 48. need of, 297.
Stag boarding houses, 169. new immigration in, id. f Standard of living, 217. I difference in, 292.
European, 46. £ foreigners have low, 97.
foreigners raise their, 47, 219. i nations differ in, 219. \. varieties in, 345. Starvation line, foreigners in sight of,
167.
J Stealing, foreigners given to, 98. Steamers, introduction of, i.
passengers carried by, 2. Steamship business, amount of, 228. Strike, Greeks involved in, 70. Strikes, foreigners help to win, 344. 2C
Subjection, countries in, 8. Subject races, naturalization of, 260. Superstition, foreigners prone to, 147. Sympathy, foreigners need, 120.
Tables: 4SZ*~~^
Ability to speak English, 370. Annual earnings of foreign-born men,
366.
Annual wages of heads of families, 372. Children at home, 371. Comparison of fecundity of immigrant
women, 368. Composition of immigrants by decades,
362. Density of population in leading cities
of Europe, 362.
Distribution of immigrants by geo- graphical division, 363. Expansion of America, Industrial, 365. Fecundity of immigrant women, 367. Foreign-born in population by decades,
362.
Illiteracy of immigrants, 370. Immigrants debarred and deported,
364-
Manufacturing experience in home- land, 364. Percentage of children in High School,
372. Percentage of families having lodgers
or boarders, 367. Percentage of immigrants naturalized,
370.
Population of Lawrence, Mass., 369. Returning immigrants, 361 Total immigrants by decades, 362. Tanneries, foreigners in, 50. Taylor, F. W., 73- Teachers, day and night work, 283. specially trained, 356. sympathy needed in, 283. Tenements and crime, 326. Textiles, foreigners in, 59. Theft, crimes of, 239. Thrift, among foreigners, 218, 294. among single men, 219. the immigrant and, 47. Tonnage versus man, 84.
386
INDEX
Towns, nations in, 308.
study of, id.
Trade and commerce, foreigners in, 104. Traders, immigrants as, 60 f. Trades-union, foreigners and, 73. Tragedies, Lithuanian girl, 40.
two Polish girls, id. Truancy, cause of, 332. Truant officers, difficulties of, 333. Tyler, President, on immigration, 249.
U
Unemployed, foreigners as, 344. Uniates, difficulties of, 203.
usages of, id. United States, heterogeneous working
force in, 79. Universities, social service in, 315.
Venality, native-born and, 257. Veracity, foreigners weak in, 99. Vermont, marble quarries in, 56. Vices, foreigners copy, 94. Villari, Luigi, on " Italian Life," 8, 241,
286. Vote, power of a, 262.
W
Wage earners, economy of, 47. importance of, 295. number in America, 93.
Wages, annual among foreigners, 345.
foreigners affect, 295.
foreigners receive low, 344.
foreigners reduce, 344.
paid foreigners, 69 f .
variation in, 69. Ward, Lester F., 305. Waste, the immigrant and, 47. Wedding among foreigners, 149. Weddings, celebration of, 268.
disturbance in, id. Weddings, policeman in, 269. West, foreigners at their best in, 152. Whelpley, J. D., evils of immigration,
294.
White slave traffic, 239. Wilmerding Air Brake Company, 316. Wives, importing women for, 148. Woman leader, a Magyar, 176.
a midwife, 175.
foreigners need, 122.
the Italian Queen, 175. Women, Italian, 286. Working boys, foreign standards for,
232.
World ties, workmen and, 296. Wrestlers, foreigners as, 272.
Y. M. C. A., a foreigner in, 300. English classes in, 315. foreigners give to, 301. men touched by, 313. port work of, id.
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