The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-01-02
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rIIE LABOR QuEsrIoN.


Americans Running 10 soed-Ihe For
eign Element TaIIIng the Lead ms Pro
dueeEs Roth Of wealth and Population
chiCagU Tribune,
Every day this city, 50 far at least as liz
population is concerned, is becoming less
dlstinctiveS American, and correspond.
lngy more cosmopolitan in character. The
means by which this constantly importing
army Of aliens win a livelihood in the met.
ropolIs otthe Northwest Is q question about
which the general public know nothing,
but which it would seem must have IN in.
terest for every one.
Lately the food Of immigration has been
most largely made up Of Italians, Poles,
SeandinayiaHs, B0liemianR, aud Irish. The
falling Oh in the number OF German inmi.
grants has been remarkable, but the writer
has been unable to ascertain any good rea-
son Why this should be 50. Asa class the
arrivals here from the countries named are
men and women habituated to hard work,
and they soon droBinto the humble cur.
rents Of city life. The Italians, It has been
ascertained, come chiefly from the sonth Of
Italy. They are good workers, and they
are much in demand. As an illustration q
tins TACT the construction Of the cable street
railroad on Stute street will serve. OF the
whole number Of iaborers employed this
week
FIFTEEN HUNDRED WE'RE ITALIANS,
and the quota would have been increased
L more ltaltuns could have been found.
These people live most cheaply, and hoard
Up every dollar they earn. Meat rarely
tgures III their bills Of fare, and they econ
omize on rent by packing their families
into the smallest possible space frequently
TWO or more families living in one room.
In one such case which came under the
observation Of the writer the children Of
both families were put to sleep in the
trunks and boxes in which the household
goods were transported from sunny Italy.
The quarters occupied by this class Of the
clty's inhabitants arc n constant menace to
the general health, and they will undoubt-
eddy be the first 10 feel the cholera epi-
dcmic which Health Commissioner be
VOL says Is bowlingalong in this direction
from the land Of the PhaEaohs. The men
OF this race are rapidly monopolizing the
outdoor labor not only Of this city, but Of
every section of the country. They are
temperate, and Us they live so chcaply they
can and do work for lower wages than
freshmen OF the same condition Of life can
be employed for. Like all other immt.
grants. they flock to Chicago from New
York because this city is conceded to be
the best labor market in this country, and
those OF them who do not Immediately
drop into employment here rudiate to the
other labor centres Of the North and North
west. A new feature Of the elngruut bust.
ness OF this city this year was the shipment
OF large numbers Of "grcenh0rn" labOrers
to the Southern States, where in some
cases they were expected to take the place
OF the native negro wOrkmen.
" has been found that in the car works
and other large establishments in the city
Il majority OF the laborcrs are Scandini-
VANS. In the Illinois Central ear shops
more than half the workmcn are Of this
nationality, and their growth into a mon
opo!ly OF this kind OF work promises to be
rapid and certain.
Thegreat lumber district OF the North
west, vast us it is, has nearly all its interests
at take in that part of the citylying within
The boundaries Of the.Sixth Ward. A few
yenrs ago the Irish controlled, to very
large extent, this labor market. How i'm.
portant it is will be understood when it is
stated that nearly $4,000 men find employ
nent directly in the lumber business, und
that these men represent families whose
aggregate is ut least equal to 7O,O9O:of the
entire population OF the city. The Irish,
however, have been driven out almost en-
tirely by the