The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-21
Its Serious Problem and
Solution; Where Good
Labor Comes From.
PROMPT ACTION
is CALLED FOR
Industrial Expansion Down
South Demands Better Labor.
Problem That Confronts Us.
and Must Be Settled Right
and Settled Quickly-Im-
migration Question.
Ivy w. j. LAUCiS.

me remarkable industrial exnanston t
N virginia and other Southern Statea
Hlthin recent years Is q matter of gem
eral comment. Transportation facflt.
les In the South have been imnrovna
3y tho extension of the railroad svx-
sens and the building OF new ores. By
'eee means the exploitation OF rich
t"'ural resources In the shape OF lum-
Ger, coal and iron ore has been made
possible, and fertile agricultural sec
lions, which were previously lsolated.
hnve been brought into touch with tho Is
markets OF the country. Blast fur
aaces and steel plants have been erect
al ana II very large amount OF can't
al invested in the cunstrurtlu. and
squlpinehl ot cotton miis. me lruuo
anu shiphng OF the avutn Atlantic
pai's nave also Undergone remark &
able oeveiopment.
To the truvoler in the Southern
states the ctrects OF TINS Inuust-.nI ey
pahsioh are everywhere apparent inc
Southiand as whole gives the i'm
preston OF being in II state OF ,rans-
,oihha.ion. Many communities winch
nave been dormant ana uurnangeu Tor
decades seems to be sprlnx,u.r mo
ne ana activity before tne eyes or
fhe observer Especially In the u.tum-
nous coal mining and iron anu steel
ana textile notwithstanding centres
cities and towns have been pr,lrtlcal-
~ brought into existence within re-
cent years.
Tho industrial expansion OF tina
south ana the upbuiiuing of towns and
, cities has attracted the white farmers
ana mountainecra from their Isolated
homes to tho urban and Industrial
centres. These people hnve entered
the cotton mills the mines and the
furnaces and have made substantial
progress. Their children will doubtless
FORM the trained and skilled indus-
trial forces of the future and furnish
many valuable accessions to n.rcan-
Tue ana trade pursuits. The glamour OF
Inc town and city has also, untortun- 1
ately, iured the negro away from the 4
country. In the factories of the indus
trial centres he has been q failure, but
IN mining, rouEher construction and
other unskilled kinds of labor, he has
succeeded, and may perhaps duyelop
greater mechanical or Industrial Of.
iiclency.
The Inadequate Labor supply,
inc rapid movement of the whites
and negroes from the agricultural
sectlohs TO the cities has not, however
been sufficient to AFFORD an ADEQUATE
labor force to meet the constantly
growing demands OF the purely indus-
trial development 1t has been neces-
sary TO have recourse to outside
sources OF labor supply. Native whit.
labor with the training and expert.
ence needed to perform the skilled
work In connection with the newly
, established industrial enterprises has
been brought from other sections oc
the country. Expert English. Scotch,
German. Welsh and irish workmen
! have also been introduced into tito
Southern industrial communities
The growing demands for an un-
/, skilled labor supply have also been
partly. satisfied by bringing III tho
SlaVs, Italians, Maygars, Greexs and
, other races of recent Immigration from,
| Southern and Eastern Europe. These
races are found extensively employed
to-day In the mines OF Virginia. West
Virginia and Alabama, In the furnaces
and steel mills of the Birm.ugh ham
district. In the cotton mills of New
Orleans, and together with the Span
tards and Cubans, in the cigar and
tobacco factories OF the latter city,
and Tampa, Florida. In this conneu-
ton 1t should also be noted that the
movement of the native. Southern
whites and negroes from the farms to
the cities left vacant large uxricul-
tural areas, which are gradually be-
ing acquired or occupied by farmers
from Northern or Western Stu IS or
by representatives OF European races
of recent or earlier immigration. Tho
herman farmer IN the South Is Hecom-
ing familiar figure; the Italians, as
already described in these columns,
are cuitivatinE truck and other farms
from Memphis to New Orleans and
are supplantng the negroes on tho
Louisiana sugar plantations: tho
Japanese arc growing rice in Texas,
and tho Bohemians and MoraviaMs, as
well as other races, have established
agricultural colonies in Texas, Mr.
glnia and other Southern States
The South md Recent ImmiE ration
AS matter of fact, however, the
Ing South for few years and in very
small numbers. The incoming tide OF
immigration has followed the old cs-
tablished routes to the Middle States
and tho West. The 'aoor agents of
industries In these geographical areas
have also constantly endeavofed to
maintain these conditions and TO pre-
vent southwark movement.
The Southern and Eastern Euro.
pcnns, as we'll MS the older immigrants,
have been told that in the South they
Z. would be placed on the same social
i level as the negro, that wages wcrs
low, that there were no labor organs
cations. and that none Of their coun-S
| trymen were In Southern commute
/ ties These Misrepresentation, to.
, gethcr with the established immigrant (
/ routes, have been effective IN p-event-&
| Ing the South from getting the labor \
supply which 1t needed, s. !. al
Southern industry, therefore, faces a
| situation which Is exceedingly grave, i
The demand for labor e. greatly outs
t1Ggii I,ontinue6 on accom- d IA ~ IN