Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-01-19

N~S~Sw1y yssFSks @~~s~ <1S>FA~AN9 WV
smaller industrial towns. Pittsburgh
manufacturers are still in need Of la-
Dor, and this In spite Of the fact that
the railroads and q few OF the indus.
trial concerns of the locality have had
labor agcntR in the South. These
agents labor'ng under great Difficult.
ties because OF the obstructive tactics
adopted in certain southern commun-
tiles to prevent the Negro exodus,
have nevertheless succeeded in bring
ing several thousand colored workers
into this district. That they have
had little success in keeping these
people here. is acknowledged by all
OF them. One company for instance,
which imported about thousand
men within the past year. had only
about three hundred Of these work
ing at the tine Of the investigators
visit in July, 1917. One railroad,
which is said to have brought about
fourteen thousand people to the
North within the last twelve months,
has been able to keep an average Of
only eighteen hundred at work.
lilo describes another condition, too,
but he has already stated the result
OF his Investigations and the class Of
people who, with their famil es left
the sunny South. He remarks:
1t must be admitted that the labor
agents. because Of their eagerness to
secure as many mon as poss ble are
not particular as to the character of
those they are bringing hero, and
there is therefore q goodly number
Of idle and shiftless Negroes who are
floating ond undependab,e. On the
other hand We must not fail to recoE-
, nfza that most migrants come through
thor own yolttion, pay their own
fares. leave their native states, and
break up family connections, because
they are in search Of better oppor-
tunitles, social and economic. AS O
class they appear to DO industrious
ambitions, pious and temperate, and
are eager to got established with
their families.
white Southerners. then, were them
selves largely responsible for tho Sc
robustness OF this migration. As they
caused 1T, by kind treatment and bet
, ter laws, together with the vouchsaf-
ing to colored folks their fundamental
rights, these same colored folks Will
como back home again. Ha continues:
From the table, it Is apparent that
nncty-nve per cent Of the migrants
who stated their occupations, were
doing unskillcd labor in the steel
mills, the building trades. on the rail
roads. or acting as servants, porters,
jantors, cooks and cleaners. Only
twenty or four per cent out OF four
hundred and ninety-three migrants
whose Occupations werG ascertaiEcd,
were doing what may be called semi
skilled or skilled work, as puddlers.
wholesalers, painters and carpenters.
On the other hand. in the South fifty
nine or five hundred and twenty-nine
claimed to have been engaged in
skilled labor. while large number
were rural workers.
A comparison between work hours
Of migrants In the South and In Pitts
burgh. reveals another interesting
feature. AS against the twenty-seven
per cent who were working less than
ten hours a day at homo. only six
teon per cent are working for like
period here. A greater number work
q ten7hour day here than In the
South, (ffty.one per cent as against
thirty-e.ght per cent?, and there seems
to be greater number working over
twelve hours per day before coming
North, than afterward. This Is prob
ably due to the fact that consider
able body OF these men were farm
labordrs.
DR.. Epstein discusses the questions
OF wages In the North and in the
South. This information is given
first-hand. Here it is:
AS to the comparative wages paid
lsero and in the South, it appears
from table number X, that the great
mass of workers get higher wages
here than in the places from which
they come, fifty-siX per cent received
less than two dollars day in the
South. while only five per cent re-
ce1ved such wages in Pittsburgh.
However the number of those who
said they received high wages in the
South is greater than the number Of
those receiving them here Fifteen
per cent said they received more than
three dollars and sixty cents day
at home, while only five per cent Ne
celVed moro than that rate for twelve
hours work here. S:xty-seven per
cent or the four hundred aid fifty
thrco persons stating their earnings
here, earn less than three dollars per
day. Twenty-eight per cent earn
from three dollars to three sixty per
day, while only five per cent earn
more than three dollars and sixty
cents per day. The average working
day for both Pittsburgh and the
south is ten and four-tenths hours.