Speech #620150401

Chairman. The facts are. with this unlimited horde coming to our shores from year to year and increasing in numbers with alarming rapidity. the future of the real American laborer is problematical indeed. I have here a table showing the occupations of immigrants coming to this country during 1911. That year 1.030.300 aliens entered. and of that enormous number only 13.496 were farmers. 160.000 were farm laborers in their own country. but they did not seek farm employment here. 175.000 were common laborers. 122.000 were servants. 246.000 had no occupation at all. making in that year 735.000. or threefourths of the entire immigration. who found their homes either in the slums of the great cities or were employed not upon the farms but in the Industries of the country in congested centers. In this connection I desire to read a page from Dr. Jenkss book with eference to the effect of this kind of competition upon the sanitary and safe conditions of the places where the employees of this country are employed: elative to the effect of recent Immigration upon native American and older immigrant wage earners in the United States. It may be stated. in the first place. that the lack of industrial training and experience of the recent immigrant before coming to the United States. together with his illiteracy and Inability to speak English. has had the effect of exposing the original employees to unsafe and insanitary working conditions. or has led to the imposition of conditions of employment which the native American or older immiarant employees have considered unsatisfactory and in some cases un)earable. When the older employees have found dangerous and unhealthy conditions prevailing in the mines and manufacturing establishments and have protested. the recent Immigrant employees. usually through ignorance of mining or other working methods. have manifesteda willingness to accept the alleged unsatisfactory conditions. In a large number of cases the lack of training and experience of the southern and eastern European affects only his own safety. On the other hand. his ignorant acquiescence in dangerous and insanitary working conditions may make the continuance of such conditions possible and become a menace to a part or to the whole of an operating force of an Industrial establishment. In bining. tle presence of an untrained employee may constitute an element of danger to the entire body of workmen. There seems to be a direct casual relation between the extensive employment of recent immigrants in American mines and the extraordinary increase within recent years in the number of mining accidents. It is an undisputed fact that the greatest number of accidents in bituminous coal mines arise from two causes: (1) The recklessness and (2) the ignorance and inexperience of employees. When the lack of training of the recent Immigrant abroad Is considered In connection with the fact that lie becomes a workman in the mines immediately upon his arrival in this country and when it Is recalled that a large proportion of the new arrivals are not only illiterate and unable to read any precautionary notices posted in the mines. but also unable to speak English. and consequently without ability to comprehend Instructions intelli gently. the inference Is plain that the employment of recent Immigranti has caused a deterioration in working conditions. Those people are used to a lower standard of living to thal enjoyed by the American laborer. Their highest wage scale ir the countries from which they came does not equal our lowesi wage scale.