SILK GOODS MANUFACTURING AND DYEING. CONTENTS. Period of residence in the United States of foreign-born employees and members of their households.... Racial classification of employees at the present time.. Industrial condition abroad of members of immigrant households studied.. Principal occupation of immigrant employees before coming to the United General occupation of males at the present time, in the households studied. General occupation of women at the present time, in the households studied. Relation between period of residence and earning ability. Annual earnings of male heads of families studied. Annual earnings of males 18 years of age or over in the households studied. Annual earnings of females 18 years of age or over in the households studied. The immigrant and organized labor. CHAPTER V. Housing and living conditions: Occupations entered in the industry. Hours of work per day and week in the industry. Effect of improved machinery upon industry and employees. Growth of the industry-Increase in the number of employees-Territory studied- Households studied-Members of households for whom detailed information was secured-The preparation of the report-Employees for whom information was During the past thirty years the silk goods manufacturing industry has undergone a remarkable expansion. In 1880 the capital invested in the industry in the United States amounted to only $19,125,300 and the annual output was only $41,033,045, as contrasted with a capital commitment of $109,556,621 in 1905 and an annual produc- tion to the value of $133,288,072. The growth of the industry in the United States and in the principal silk goods manufacturing States during the period 1880-1905 is shown in the table which immediately TABLE 1.-Growth of the silk goods manufacturing industry in the United States and in From United States Census Report, Manufactures, 1905, Part III, Table 16.] INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES. From the standpoint of recent immigration the most significant feature in connection with the growth of the silk industry has been the resultant increase in the number of employees due to the fact that the necessary operatives have been obtained largely from among recent immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. The expansion of the operating force of the industry may be readily understood from the fact that only 31,337 wage-earners were employed in 1880, as contrasted with 79,601 in the year 1905. The table below shows the increase in the number of operatives in the United States as a whole and in the principal producing States during the period 1880 1905: TABLE 2.-Increase in the number of silk goods wage-earners in the United States and in selected States, 1880-1905. [From United States Census Report, Manufactures, 1995, Part III, Table 16.] The investigation of the industry was restricted to the principal silk goods producing localities of the Middle and New England States, special emphasis being placed upon Paterson, N. J., and the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED. A total of 272 households the heads of which were employed in the industry, were studied in detail. In the following table the number of households studied is shown according to general nativity and race of head of household: TABLE 3.-Households studied, by general nativity and race of head of household: Paterson, N. J. Of the 272 households studied in this industry, 92.3 per cent are households the heads of which are foreign-born and 7.7 per cent are those the heads of which are native-born of native father. Among the households the heads of which are foreign-born, the South Italian households constitute a slightly larger proportion of the total number of households studied than do the North Italian or Hebrew households, and a very much larger proportion than do the Armenian, Polish, or Syrian households, the Polish and Syrian households each constituting 9.2 per cent of the total number of households studied. MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR WHOM DETAILED INFORMATION WAS SECURED. The table next presented sets forth, by general nativity and race of head of household, the persons in the households studied and the persons for whom detailed information was secured: TABLE 4.-Persons in households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household: Paterson, N. J. |