The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-10
Frederick Haskin's Letter
The Prolific Foreman.

any class which is highly prolis-
and reveals, for instance, thar rrai
workers and clergymen run A nscl,
and neck race in the production ~
children, while garbage men ana
scavengers have on an ayerse-
only 40 OF child more Der fs,o
lily than lawyers, justices Ana
judges.
1t is true that this tabula,ior
shows the professional classes ss
averaging about one-third less nro
life than the people who work n,
wages in a city; but it gives one
very strongly the impression thst
the poor mans huge family. wbic5
is always held up to US as sucb an
unfortunate and common thine
must be much less common than -
supposed. If it were commnn
some of these averages would in
evitably be- higher.
Factory Workers.
For example, the largest wapa-
earning class in the cities is thai NJ
factory workers. In the factories
you find most of those immigrant
families which are reputed TO be so
large. This tabulation lists about
40 different occupations in NAM
featuring and the mechanical IN
dustries. The highest aversgs
number of children living Der fam
lily is found among furnaceme7
smeltermen, heaters and pourers
who maintain an average of al
children per family.
Electricians and engravers ara
found to be the least prolific men
in the manufacturing industries
averaging only 81 children lfvinp
per family. The great majority oi
the types of workers in factories
have less than three children Iiy-
ing on an average.
Comparing these with the profes-
SIGNALS we find that clergymen ara
the only professional class having
an average of three living children
Architects, artists and sculutors
have two. Musicians, photoq-
rRphers, doctors, teachers and writ.
ers are in the same class with an
average of but 21 children per
family. Actors, chemists, dentists
inventors and engineers all aversgs
slightly less than two living chill
dren per family.
Thus it would seem that the DIFF
ference in size of families between
wage workers and professionals is
not nearly as large as has been
assumed, and that families Of mora
than three or four children must
be rare everywhere in the United
States.
It is also commonly asserted that
among working people many more
children are born to die than
among the well-to-do, but this is
also hard to substantiate fSom the
figures. 1t is true that the discreD-
ancy between number of children
born and number living is slightly
larger among IabOrers. stevedores
and loom fixers than it is among
doctors, lawyers and judges, but
the difference is not large. Steve
dores average 3.8 children born and
80 children living. Lawyers aver
age "a children born and % chill
dren living. The child of a lawyer
has only little better chance to
survive than the child of a steve
dore, according to this.
1t is only in the country that a
consistently higher rate Of increase
is found. Farmers, farm workmen
and farm labOrers have "a, SO and
3 children living on an average per
family, respectively. Here is a
slight increase, which doubtless &C
counts in part for the movement
from the farms toward the city.
In general, the picture which this
tabulation draws is that OF a Coun-
try where competition is hard in MI
occupations and reproduction there
fore naturally slow II is a cOun-
try getting over its age of pioneer
responsiveness, reaching the point
when its population, If let alone,
would become relatively stable But
this population is being constantly
increased from without by the IN
f1ux from countries where the
standard of living is lower.
The immigration We were getting
so years ago was one we needed.
There was abundant room for the
immigrant then 10 attain to the
American standard OF living. There
is no real room for the hordes who
are coming nOw-nO land, no jobs.
They can find places only by dis
placing, by underselliHg, someone
else.