The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1909-01-16
WORKERS PAY OEARl
!. . N PRODUCING \ III Steel ( /
Pittsburg and Homestead Labor.
ers Live in Wretchedness and
Work Like Slaves,
CONDITION IN INDUSTRY
rs A NATIONAL DISGRACE
Almost unbelievable That Such
Horrors Could Exist Under
! the Stars and Stripes.


NEW YORK, Jan. 1s.-Pittsburg
and Homestead laborers toll like
slaves, live in utter squalor and
and are needlessly
according to- investigation
made by the Russell Sage Foundation,
a charity organization.
The Report. ..s
In these opening years of a new
country we are preeminently an In
dustrial people. 1t is for our indus
trial progress that we are known
abroad as a great people,. And It is &
of our Industrial achievements that we
most often boast. TO typify our pres
ent civilization we must take an in
dustrial city.
What is our proudest industry?
STEEL!
Pittsburg is the logical city for such
a survey. !
A Typical Industrial Center.
We may regret the fact. but we
must admit it. Pittsburg is above all
our cities typical American civiliza
ton in 1908 -.
The planning Of a large part Of the
actual investigation has been the work
of the Charity Organizations society.
And their social Investigations always
carry great weight. We may not al
ways agree with them as to the best
way to solve our present problems,
but the facts they give us are above
suspicion : r..
= And this. Pittshurg survey, If we can
judge, by the first instalment OF re-#
ports, bids fair to be even a greater
contribution. to social data than their
tuberculosis work or any Of the pre-
vious publications of the Sage Foun-
dation. .....-a..s7s.s.
What sort Of picture does the word
Pittsburg bring to your mind /? + yoei
have been there, perhaps your mem
ory reconstructs the sweep OF I it's
mi 1nis and scassed
hills which encofnpas It. n you know
# only from the newspapers It prob
ably stands in your mind as the COR
rupt soil from which Harry iThaw
sprouted. AS you nave read over the
recent stories Of municipal graft, the
city has lost all individuality and has
sunk into a class. Philadelphia, st.
Louis, San Francisco-aH furnish sim
liar stories. Above all these transit
tory Impressions, however, Pittsburg
stands for most of US as the home OF
Steel. But it is also home Of Peo-s
pie. And it is from this point Of view
the point OF view Of the people who
live there-that the Survey has been
made. :. - II * 85a=sS
OF it's million population. only
33 per cent were born of native pa,
rents, 80 per cent were born IN this
country of foreign parents, ~ per
cent immigrants. And it is as medley
a crowd Of immigrants as. any city
affords.
Pittsburs Has Many Foreigners.
Here is the roll call Of the nations
taken from the books OF the Carnegie.
Steel company. s
Austria-Hungary, 10.421, Including
Slovaks, 6,4T; Hungarians, 1923;
Croalians, 1928; Poles, GIL; Ru1nan
ians, 40; German, 1876, and Bohemians
As.
Russia-2,577. Including Poles. IT,
644; Lithuanians, 476.
British Isles-2,010. Including Eng
land, 1,436; Ireland, 237; Scotland,
1877; Wales, 100. &ss.#:S
Sweden-287. a..
Bulgaria-58. : @ s.
France-52, aes5sssss5 ssS
Turkey in Europe-26. ss
Rumania-24. - ..-. = -
There are two interesting articles
about the Slavs Of Pittsburg: It Is
a significant subject. For these peo-
pie have not learned English; instead
they have developed a language Of /
their own. It is not Russian nor Boz
hemian, nor .Hungarian-but all these
Slavic pigeon English"
And besides this host Of foreigners
there are about $4,000 negroes in i
Pittsburg; 27.853 in 1900, just twice as
many as in $780,. The negro popula
tion has doubled every ten years since
the war. This by itself Is a problem
to make any city think. s
Pittsburg has also s22.1s5 wage
women, exclusive Of agricul-
ture and domestic service. And this
number is rapidly increasing. USE.
Industrialism, the race tangles OF
the increasing negro i
population, and the women in the fac
tories are the great problems Of all =
our modern cities Pittsburg is not
in these matters, but typi
cal. And the Survey IL record OF
what has been done to solve these
In no other city OF the country have
the bosses fought 30 hitteriv and ae. Sc