It is too often true that the worst conditions prevail in the company houses. The extreme monotony of these identical rows of ugly dwellings is in itself sufficiently depressing. But in addition, it appears that many employers are wholly oblivious to the higher needs of their employees, and provide the most meager shelter which will suffice to keep body and soul together, charging therefor exorbitant rates. To say that these men and women are treated like beasts, is putting the case too mildly, for no well-to-do person would house a valuable animal as some of these human workers are housed. The shifting character of the population and the uncertain duration of a mining camp offer a quasi justification for some of these evils. Yet a self-respecting nation should not permit any type of industry to persist which requires its army of workers to live as do hundreds of thousands of these faithful toilers.[[217]]
In regard to the food of our immigrant population, such studies of individual races as have been made seem to indicate that, while the dietary of the average foreign family falls far short of what a native American would consider a satisfactory standard and is very deficient in variety, yet it is ordinarily sufficient in quantity and in amount of nourishment. Of course there are countless immigrant families of the poorer sort, just as there are of natives, who are habitually undernourished; yet the ordinary immigrant working family or individual appears not to suffer for lack of sustaining food. This condition is made possible by a long habitude in European countries to an exceedingly simple diet, and by a resulting knowledge of cheap and nourishing foods. The food item in the budget of an immigrant family from southern or eastern Europe is almost incredible to an American. The average cost of food for an individual immigrant mine worker in Pennsylvania runs from about $4 to $10 per month. Among the Italians in Boston, during the winter months, about a dollar a week will suffice for the food of a man. The south Italian berry pickers in New Jersey are said to be able to get along on as little as 25 cents per week, and other races live almost as cheaply.[[218]]
There appears to be a considerable difference in this respect between the different races, even among the newer immigrants. The lowest standard prevails among the south Italians, Greeks, Syrians, Bravas, etc. The Slavs are inclined to spend more of their increasing income on food; particularly is meat a more important part of their diet. The Jews are said to rank well above the Italians in this regard.
The quality and preparation of food leaves much to be desired. Italian children are sent to the markets of Boston to gather vegetables which have been thrown away as unfit for use. A brief walk through the East Side of New York, with an eye on the push carts, will convince one of the undesirable quality of some, at least, of the food eaten by the residents of that section. On the other hand, the Greek laborers on the railroads of the West are said to live remarkably well, and themselves complain of the staleness of American food, and object to our practice of putting everything up in “boxes.”[[219]] In general, the conclusion of investigators in regard to the food of our working classes seems to be that the faults of their dietary lie, not so much in the failure to spend an adequate amount of money for food, as in wasteful and ill-judged purchases, unsatisfactory preparation, and improper balance between the essential food elements (especially lack of sufficient proteids) and too much fat. It is not unlikely that in this particular the immigrants fare better than the natives in the same class. It is certainly probable that, taken on the whole, the standard of food of the immigrant families in this country is superior to that to which they were accustomed in their native land.
There is probably no other aspect of life in which the immigrant shows at least a superficial Americanization more quickly than in the matter of clothing. It is a matter where imitation is easy, and in fact almost inevitable. Any purchases of clothing made after the immigrant’s arrival in this country must, almost of necessity, be American in type. And the younger generation, at least, are eager to have their exterior appearance correspond to that of the older residents of their adopted country,—so eager, often, as to lead them to adopt the most extreme of the new fashions in cut and fitting, however cheap and flimsy the materials may be. In fact, this Americanization affects the immigrants even before they leave their native home. Officials on Ellis Island say that it is rare nowadays to see groups of immigrants arriving clad in their picturesque European costumes; the prevailing garb now is of the American type. It is a strange fact that some writers, apparently oblivious of the ease of this transition, seem to regard American clothes as an evidence of real assimilation.
As regards physical adequacy of clothing, the immigrant is probably as well off on the average as his native fellow-worker. It is not likely that any large proportion of our working classes actually suffer physical harm from insufficient clothing, unless it be through lack of proper protection against dampness, particularly in the matter of shoes.[[220]] In respect to cleanliness, and even decency, there is frequently room for improvement among the immigrants, just as there is among the native-born. There is, on the other hand, a recognized danger that the desire for a fashionable appearance, particularly on the part of the women, may lead to an extreme expenditure for dress, unwarranted by the family income.[[221]]
CHAPTER XIII
THE STANDARD OF LIVING (continued)
The standard of living of any family or individual[[222]] is the resultant of two principal factors. These are the desires and appetites of the individual or family and the amount of income available for the gratification of those desires and appetites. The casual observer, in forming his estimate of the immigrant, is in danger of forgetting the second of these factors, and of assuming that because the immigrant is found living in a certain status, he is therefore satisfied with that status and has no ambition to change it. It has already been hinted, in the foregoing paragraphs, that this is not the case. A full understanding of the limitations under which the immigrant is placed can come only with a study of the customary wages or income of the class to which he belongs.
| AVERAGE ANNUAL EARNINGS OF EMPLOYEES IN THE INDUSTRIES SPECIFIED[[223]] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | Per Cent of Employees Foreign-born | Average Annual Earnings | ||
| Males, 18 or Over | Male Heads of Families | Average Family Income | ||
| Iron and steel manufacturing | 57.7 | $346 | $409 | $568 |
| Slaughtering and meat | ||||
| packing | 60.7 | 557 | 578 | 781 |
| Bituminous coal mining | 61.9 | 443 | 451 | 577 |
| Glass manufacturing | 39.3 | 574 | 596 | 755 |
| Woolen and worsted | ||||
| manufacturing | 61.9 | 346 | 400 | 661 |
| Silk goods manufacturing | ||||
| and dyeing | 34.3 | 431 | 448 | 635 |
| Cotton goods manufacturing | 68.7 | [[224]] | 470 | 491 |
| Clothing manufacturing | 72.2 | 513 | 530 | 713 |
| Boot and shoe manufacturing | 27.3 | 502 | 573 | 765 |
| Furniture manufacturing | 59.1 | 575 | 598 | 769 |
| Collar, cuff, and shirt | ||||
| manufacturing | 13.4 | 637 | 662 | 861 |
| Leather tanning, currying, | ||||
| and finishing | 67.0 | 431 | 511 | 671 |
| Glove manufacturing | 33.5 | 625 | 650 | 904 |
| Oil refining | 66.7 | 591 | 662 | 828 |
| Sugar refining | 85.3 | 522 | 549 | 661 |
| Cigars and tobacco manufacturing | 32.6 | 1.92[[225]] | ||
[223]. Compiled from Rept. Imm. Com., Imms. in Mfg. and Min., Abs.