Denver labor bulletin., 1915-02-27
MIGRATORY Workers Area Menace
To Themselves and Skilled Labor
California Commission of Housing and immigration Makes
An Interesting Report of Investigations Made Into Con-
ditons of Casual White Liborers in That State

An investigation just concluded by the
commission of immigration and housing
OF California marks an advance in the
method of dealing governmentally with
casual labor and the problems arising
from seasonal employment in industry.
On behalf of the state government, and
as the agent OF the United States com
mission on industrial relations, the COM
mission has been studying the general
character of the seasonal and casual la
Dor force, the unskilled laborer as an IN
dividual and the conditions under which
he works and lives. Not only has the
commission, through its investigators,
interviewed employers, members of labor
unions, and officials, but has had men
working in labor camps, and travelling
over the state as itinerant workers, with
the aim OF coming into actual contact
with conditions and getting a real in
sight into the problems involved
The result of the investigation, includ
ing the findings of the field agents,
statistical summaries of several hundred
biographies obtained from actual work
ers of various types, tabular information
on living conditions jim labor camps, and
recommendations for remedial action, is
given in report the commission has
prepared. In addition to pointing out
the Importance of the fact that the
makeup OF California industry demands
a mobile and elastic labor force to sup
ply demand in the summer and fall
months, at least so 900 greater than that
in the winter months, the report deals
with the effect of these variations on
the character of the laborers, and en-
phasizes how unnecessary much of this
seasonable fluctuation is.
Unfit for Steady Work.
That living and working conditions in
camps and ION the road' between jobs,
together with the habit of casual labor
engendered by this way of living, tend
to reduce the migratory white worker
to condition in which he is physically
and mentally unfit for steady labor, and
to make him an inefficient industrial
factor, is asserted. As result this class
OF labor is finding itself unable to sue
cessfully compete in reliability and pro-
ductive utility with the alien labor
Asiatic and Mexican-in many of the i'm
portant agricultural industries. OF i'm
portance. also in this regard, is an al.
legged discrimination on the part of GER
tain employers in certain districts
against white labor in favor of Asiatics.
over" and the average length of jobs
in various industries are contained in the
report. A complete turnover of the Ia
Dor force in one month is very common,
while in some cases as many as 300 men
are hired in a month to keep UP a con-
slant working force of 75. The loss to
the employers and to the community be-
caus of this constant shifting, this
bringing in of new and inexperienced
men, is enormous. The cost of our sys-
TEN of casual labor falls not alone upon
the worker, though he feels it most
acutely, but stands as an enormous
waste in industry.
A condition of dormant unrest among
white casuals was also found to exist,
an unrest usually imperceptible, but
flaring up occasionally into compelling
prominence as it did at the burst hop
fields near Wheatland in August, 1918.
Played upon as this unrest has been by
various leaders and factions, yet is its
strength such that it cannot be ignored,
based as it is upon deep-seated feeling
of class injustice.
Investigators Suggest Remedy.
Though organization is highly desir-
able, the difficulties in the way of weld
ing this diverse mass together are SO
many tnat no sucn 1Orln OF organization
as we have in the more highly skilled
trades is possible.
The normal seasonal fluctuations in
the demand for labor are needlessly in
tensified by the holding of land in large
tracts, the devotion of large districts to
one or two principal crops, the failure of
American ranchers to farm intensively,
and the absolute failure of communities
to realize their obligations toward labor
and to appreciate the economic waste
involved in the present haphazard meth
cd of obtaining labor The vicious meth
cd of land development in farms too
small. at prices too high for investment
returns, to men without adequate work.
ing capital or adequate agricultural
knowledge, is one of the baneful under
lying causes of present evil conditions.
The remedies for these conditions sug
gested by the investigators of the COM
mission include various methods of regu-
larizing employment and eliminating
whatever of casualty can be eliminated
from our industries, with measures to