The sweat shop is manifestly an institution of the same general character as those which have just been discussed, and while it may not owe its origin to the immigrants, it is now practically dependent on them for its existence. The main features of this system are familiar. Its distinctive characteristic is the giving out of work by manufacturers to contractors, in order that certain processes may be carried on in the homes of the workers. It finds its fullest development in the clothing trade, which at the present time is almost wholly in the hands of the Jews.
The chief evils of the system are the unsanitary conditions of labor, the long hours, the extensive employment of women and children, the difficulty of proper supervision, the low wages, and the complete subjection of the workers to the control of the boss. The contractor himself is often in a precarious financial situation, being himself a victim of the system. Like the foregoing institutions, it results from the ignorance and lack of connection of the workers. Its persistence and wide spread in this country are due to the constant accessions of low-grade workers, unassimilated to the conditions of the country, which immigration furnishes. These supply the raw material upon which the system feeds. By so doing they have blocked the efforts of the cities of the United States to control or abolish this evil.[[254]]
There is another class of institutions which rests upon the helplessness of the newly arrived immigrant, which is, however, an alleviating, rather than an exploiting agency, and which belongs to the social rather than to the economic life. This is the immigrant home or aid society. These institutions are numerous in the seaport cities where immigrants arrive; there are said to be not less than sixteen in operation in New York City.[[255]] They are for the most part benevolent or philanthropic organizations (at least nominally), and many of them are under the control of some religious organization. Many of them work primarily with a single race or people. Their functions are looking after newly arrived immigrants who are not met by friends, and forwarding them to their destinations, furnishing them board and lodging while in the port of arrival, helping them to find work or to locate missing acquaintances, and in general safeguarding them while they are establishing a connection with some responsible party in this country.
Most of the immigrants who come to this country come to join relatives or friends, who generally meet them at the port of arrival, or send money or transportation to take them to their destination. But it frequently happens that the friends or relatives fail to put in an appearance. In that case the immigration authorities are unwilling to turn the immigrant adrift unprotected, especially in the case of unaccompanied women or girls. Consequently the government has allowed representatives of homes and aid societies to visit the immigrant stations, and offer their aid to the immigrants. At Ellis Island, immigrants whose relatives or friends fail to call for them are detained five days, and then given the choice of being sent back to Europe or of leaving the station in company with some representative of a home or aid society, often called a “missionary.” If the latter alternative is chosen, the immigrant is said to be “discharged” to the given person, who is thereupon held theoretically responsible that the immigrant shall not become a public charge. There are three general classes of immigrants who are thus discharged: (1) Immigrants whose friends or relatives fail to meet them, and whom the authorities do not deem it wise to land unless some one becomes responsible for them. (2) Immigrants who are without sufficient money to take them to their destination, and who must be cared for until the necessary funds are forthcoming. (3) Immigrants, particularly girls and women, who have no friends or relatives in this country, and need a home until they can secure employment. These homes and aid societies necessarily have something of the nature of employment agencies, and do a good deal of work of that kind.
The amount of work done by these organizations is very great. In the calendar year 1907, over 14,800 immigrants were discharged to such representatives at Ellis Island by the New York discharging division. This does not include the total number discharged, as the boards of special inquiry and the commissioners of immigration also discharge immigrants.[[256]] Six homes in New York City cared for a total of 48,275 immigrants in 1908.[[257]]
It will be seen at once that these homes and societies have great power over the immigrants, and are in positions of immense advantage and responsibility, inasmuch as the authorities give their representatives a semiofficial standing, and intrust immigrants to them without reserve. Unscrupulous and grasping persons, once admitted to the stations as missionaries, have large opportunities and every advantage to exploit the immigrants at will. This is especially true of the homes, where the immigrants can be charged—and over-charged—for every possible kind of service.
It might appear at first sight that the authorities would exercise every caution, not only in regard to the character of the representatives, but as to the character and conduct of the homes. The investigations of the Immigration Commission, however, revealed that this has not always been the case. Not only have many of the authorities used very little care or discretion in granting privileges to representatives in their stations, but they exercised practically no supervision over the homes themselves, and when the immigrant had once been discharged to the representative, they paid no more attention to him or his welfare. The Commission investigated carefully 102 immigrant homes and aid societies, in addition to twenty-five employment agencies, most of which had some connection with an immigrant home or aid society. A large amount of misconduct on the part of representatives was discovered, as well as undesirable conditions in the homes themselves. Many of the homes were found to be purely money-making institutions, where the immigrant was fleeced to the limit of his resources. The sanitary conditions in some of them were terrible. Some of the representatives seemed to care for nothing but to have as many immigrants as possible discharged to them, and were little more than runners for their respective homes. “It was the testimony of some of the leading officials at Ellis Island that the majority of missionaries and representatives there care only to secure the discharge of immigrants who have money and can pay for food and lodging.”[[258]] Some of the representatives were instrumental in securing the admission of contract laborers. “About two thirds of the homes investigated were clean, comfortable, and sanitary, and about one third were overcrowded, badly ventilated, filthy and insanitary.”[[259]] Many of the homes where bad conditions were found were supported by honest conscientious people, who had been duped and betrayed by their representatives and managers; others were intentionally nothing but money-making schemes.
These conditions are bad enough in themselves, but the most serious feature of the situation is the lack of responsibility and care in placing women and girls out in employment. The majority of the homes investigated showed absolutely no sense of their duty and responsibility in this matter. Only one sixth of them refused to place girls in situations where their morals would be seriously endangered. Many of them were perfectly willing to supply girls to work in houses of immoral character.[[260]] There was also a great deal of carelessness in the investigation of addresses to which girls were sent. Many of the addresses reported by the societies were found to be fictitious, many were false, that is, the girls had never been there, and some of them were admittedly immoral resorts. It is encouraging to note that since the investigation of the Commission vigorous measures have been employed in correcting these evils, and conditions have greatly improved.
The case of the immigrant homes and aid societies is a remarkable illustration of the eternal vigilance which is necessary to prevent exploitation and corruption from flourishing, even in connection with professedly benevolent agencies, when plastic material is furnished in such abundance as exists in the immigrant body.[[261]]
The effects of immigration upon the religious life of the immigrants and of the United States constitute a great field of research which has been surprisingly neglected, perhaps because of the difficulty of securing reliable data and establishing definite conclusions, perhaps because it has not seemed of sufficient importance to warrant exhaustive study.