3. What classes of workmen receive the highest wages in your locality? What is the relation of these high wages to the restricted number of this type of workman?
4. Study the methods by means of which land in your locality is utilized. In what ways, if in any, could various plots be made to employ more laborers?
5. By what means could the supply of capital in your locality be increased? In what ways might this increased supply of capital be utilized? To what extent would the utilization of this increased supply of capital justify the employment of additional laborers?
6. Do you believe that your community needs more entrepreneurs? What reason have you for believing that a training school for the technical professions would increase the productivity of your community?
7. Write to the Bureau of Education in your state for data relative to the status of vocational education in your commonwealth.
8. Interview one or more officials of a bank in your community for the purpose of learning of the ways in which banks encourage thrift.
9. Write to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in your state for information relative to the status of public employment bureaus in your commonwealth.
10. Causes of inequality. (Taussig,Principles of Economics, vol. ii, chapter liv.)
11. The Malthusian doctrine. (Malthus'Essay on Population. If this essay is not available, consult an encyclopedia under "Malthus.")
12. The principle of self-interest. (Carver,Essays in Social Justice, chapter iii.)
13. How much is a man worth? (Carver,Essays in Social Justice, chapter vii.)
14. Causes of the scarcity of labor. (Carver,Elementary Economics, pages 269-271.)
15. The importance of consumption. (Carver,Elementary Economics, chapters xxxviii and xxxix.)
16. Importance of thrift. (Annals, vol. lxxxvii, pages 4-8.)
17. Luxury. (Carver,Elementary Economics, chapter xl.)
18. Choosing a vocation. (Parsons,Choosing a Vocation.)
181. LABOR AND CAPITAL.—Strictly speaking, five distinct factors are involved in production: land, labor, capital, co÷rdination, and government. As a matter of fact, we are accustomed to speak of the immediate conduct of industry as involving only two factors: labor and capital. Used in this sense, the term labor refers to the masses of hired workmen, while the term capital is held to include not only the individual who has money to invest,i.e.the capitalist proper, but also the entrepreneur, or managing employer.
Labor and capital co÷perate actively in production, while the other factors remain somewhat in the background. As we have seen, both labor and capital are essential to industry, and fundamentally their interests are reciprocal. But in spite of this basic harmony, there are many points of difference and antagonism between labor and capital. This chapter discusses the more important of these disagreements, and outlines some suggested methods of reducing or eliminating them.
182. THE FACTORY SYSTEM AND THE LABORER.—Wherever it has penetrated, the Industrial Revolution has concentrated large numbers of landless laborers in industrial establishments controlled by relatively few employers. Very early in the development of the factory system, the laborer saw that he was at a relative disadvantage in bargaining with employers. Not only does the average laborer lack funds to tide him over a long period of unemployment, but the fact that his labor is generally his sole reliance obliges him to secure work at all hazards. The anxiety and discontent of laborers have been increased by the realization that the factory system affords little opportunity for the average workman to rise to the position of an employer. Most laborers are unable to secure either the training or the capital necessary to set themselves up as independent business men.
183. RISE OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—The risks and limitations which the factory system imposes upon the laboring classes have encouraged workmen to organize for the purpose of promoting their mutual interests. The individual gains, it has been found, when his interests are supported by a group of workmen acting as a unit, and bringing their united pressure to bear upon the employer. The labor organization has been the result of this discovery. A labor organization may be defined as a more or less permanent and continuous association of wage earners, entered into for the purpose of improving the conditions of their employment.
The first labor organizations in the United States were formed early in the nineteenth century, but it was not until about 1850 that the trade union assumed national importance. After 1850, however, and particularly after the Civil War, the trade union grew rapidly. In 1881 a number of national trade unions combined to form the American Federation of Labor. This body, while exercising no real authority over the trade unions comprising it, is nevertheless an important agency in co÷rdinating trade union policies throughout the country. It is important, also, as a means of formulating and expressing the aims and ideals of the working classes. The Federation had a membership of 2,604,701 in 1914, and in 1920 included more than 4,500,000 members. With the exception of the railroad brotherhoods, nearly all of the important trade unions in the country are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.
184. RISE OF EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS.—The growing power of the trade union after 1850 stimulated the growth of employers' associations. In 1886 the first national employers' association was organized under the name of the Stove Founders' National Defence Association. Later there was formed a number of other important associations, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Council for Industrial Defence, and the American Anti-Boycott Association.
The primary purpose of the employers' association is the protection of the employers' interests against trade union aggression. Some of the associations are frankly hostile to the trade union movement, while others take the stand that the organization of laborers is undesirable only if the power of the trade union is abused. The promotion of friendly relations between labor and capital is increasingly an important concern of the employers' association.
185. WHAT THE TRADE UNION WANTS.—One of the basic aims of the trade union is either to raise wages or to prevent their reduction. Because of the constant shiftings of supply and demand, the prices of commodities are rarely stationary for very long. Over any extended period of time prices are either rising or falling. During a period of rising prices the workmen are at a relative disadvantage, [Footnote: Rising prices affect all who purchase commodities, of course, but here we are intent upon the position of the laborer only.] because they have to pay for commodities higher prices than they had anticipated when they contracted to work for a definite wage. In such a case, the union attempts to secure higher wages for its members. When, on the other hand, prices are falling, the workmen gain, because they do not have to pay as high prices as they had anticipated. In this latter case, the laborers attempt to maintain their advantage by opposing any reduction in wages.
The desire of the trade unions to improve the general condition of the working classes has steadily widened the program of organized labor. Shorter hours and better conditions of work are important trade union demands. Unions quite generally approve the principle of a minimum wage, [Footnote: The principle of the minimum wage is discussed in the next chapter, Sections 205-207.] at least for women and child workers. Formerly, and to some extent even now, the unions have opposed the introduction of labor-saving machinery on the grounds that it displaces workmen and hence causes unemployment. Union members generally prefer to be paid by the hour or by the day, rather than so much per unit of product. The reason given for the preference is that strain and undue fatigue often result frompiece-work,as the system of pay on the basis of units of product is called. Trade unions universally demand that employers recognize the principle of collective bargaining, by which is meant the privilege of workmen dealing with the employer collectively or through the union. Very often, also, the unions demand the closed shop, that is to say, a shop from which all non-union employees are excluded.
186. WHAT THE EMPLOYER WANTS.—Price movements likewise affect the employer. But whereas the laborer is at a relative disadvantage when prices are rising, the employer tends to gain, for the reason that he secures for his product higher prices than he had expected. [Footnote: In a period of rising prices, the employer's costs also tend to rise, but generally not so rapidly as do prices.] Suppose, for example that a shoe manufacturer can make a profit if a pair of shoes sells for $4.00. If later the price rises to $5.00 and his expenses remain stationary or very nearly so, he reaps an unusually large profit. And whereas in a period of falling prices the laborer tends to gain, the employer often loses heavily, for the reason that he must sell at a relatively low price goods produced at a relatively high cost. If, in the case given above, the price of the pair of shoes falls from $4.00 to $3.00, while the expenses of the manufacturer remain stationary, or very nearly so, he may make little or no profit. Thus while prices are rising the employer attempts to maintain his advantage by resisting an increase in wages, while in a period of falling prices he seeks to cut down his expenses by reducing wages. In either case the immediate interests of workmen and employer are antagonistic.
Just as the growing complexity of the industrial situation has enlarged the trade union program, so the aims of employers have steadily increased in number and in importance. On the grounds that it restricts the fullest utilization of his plant, the employer very often objects to a shortening of the working day, even where there is a corresponding decrease in the day-wage. Some employers are unwilling to provide sanitary workshops for their employees, or otherwise to improve the conditions of employment. The employer generally objects to the minimum wage, as constituting an interference with his "right" to offer workmen what wages he chooses. Collective bargaining is accepted by many employers, but many others insist upon the right to hire and discharge men as they see fit, without being forced to consider the wishes of the union. Employers often oppose the closed shop, and insist upon the open shop, an open shop being defined as one in which workmen are employed without regard to whether or not they are members of a union.
187. METHODS OF INDUSTRIAL WARFARE.—Both capital and labor back up their demands by a powerful organization using a variety of weapons. The trade union generally attempts to enforce its demands by threat of, or use of, thestrike. A strike is a concerted stoppage of work initiated by the workmen as a group. Sometimes accompanying the strike is theboycott, which may be defined as a concerted avoidance of business relations with one or more employers, or with those who sympathize with those employers. The strike is generally accompanied by the practice ofpicketing, by which is meant the posting of union agents whose duty it is to attempt to persuade non-union workmen not to fill the places of the striking workmen. Pickets may also attempt to persuade customers not to patronize the employer against whom a strike has been launched. Sometimes picketing leads tointimidation and violenceon the part of either strikers or representatives of the employers.
In turn, the employer may employ a variety of weapons against workmen with whom he cannot agree. An employer may make use of thelockout, that is, he may refuse to allow his labor force to continue at work. Many employers also use theblacklist,i.e.the circulation of information among employers for the purpose of forewarning one another against the employment of certain designated workmen. The employer may also attempt to end a strike by persuading non-union men to fill the places vacated by the strikers. Such men as accept are known asstrike-breakers. On the plea that the strike may result in the destruction of his property, the employer may resort to theinjunction. This is an order secured from a court, and restraining certain laborers in the employer's interest.
188. THE COST OF INDUSTRIAL WARFARE.—The struggles of labor against capital constitute a species of warfare which involves the general public. Regardless of whether a particular dispute ends in favor of the laborers or the employer, every strike, lockout, or other interference with industrial co÷peration lessens the amount of consumable goods in existence. Thus aside from the fact that industrial warfare encourages class antagonisms, it is an important cause of the relative scarcity of goods, and the resulting tendency of prices to rise. Often great injury results from a dispute which originally was of small proportions. In 1902, for example, the anthracite coal strike cost the country more than $100,000,000, though the strike had been initiated because of a local dispute over recognition of the union. In 1919, when we were suffering from a general scarcity of goods, there occurred in this country more than three thousand strikes, involving a loss of more than $2,000,000,000 in decreased production.
189. NECESSITY OF INDUSTRIAL PEACE.—Industrial warfare very often results in the correction of abuses, but in many cases it seems to bring little or no benefit to either labor or capital. In any case, it is a costly method, and one which constitutes a menace to the peace of the community. American democracy demands that in the settlement of disputes between labor and capital, industrial warfare be replaced by some method less costly, less violent, and more in harmony with the principles of justice and civilized behavior. Responsibility for the present extent of industrial warfare cannot definitely be placed upon either capital or labor, but at least both sides should be obliged to recognize that the public is a third party to every industrial dispute. We should insist upon fair play for both capital and labor, but we should likewise insist that the interests of the public be safeguarded.
190. SOME METHODS OF INDUSTRIAL PEACE.—As has already been pointed out, profit sharing is not of great importance in lessening industrial unrest. Various systems of bonuses and pensions have temporarily improved the position of some groups of workmen, but experience has proven both bonuses and pensions to be limited in scope. Employers are often unwilling to adopt such devices as these, while the laborers frequently regard them as paternalistic measures which at best are a poor substitute for the higher wages to which they consider themselves entitled. Existing evils are often lessened by welfare work, which includes such measures as the establishment of schools, libraries, and playgrounds for the laborers. But in many cases welfare work is initiated by the employer for the purpose of diverting the attention of the workmen from their fundamental grievances, and for this reason it is often opposed by the workmen. All of the measures enumerated in this section are of more or less value, but as methods of combating industrial warfare, they have proved to be palliative, rather than remedial or preventive.
191. THE TRADE AGREEMENT.—In some industries there is a growing tendency for employers not only to recognize the union, but also to make a collective contract, or trade agreement, with the unionized workmen. The trade agreement may lead to the formation of councils in which representatives of both workmen and employer attempt to reach a friendly agreement upon disputed matters. The trade agreement has been particularly successful in many industries in England. In this country it is best known in the soft coal mining industry in eastern United States, and in the needle trades of New York City. On the whole, the trade agreement has not been markedly successful in the United States. Although it smoothes out minor differences, the unions still prefer to back their more important demands by use of the strike.
192. VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION.—Since 1898 the several states have been giving an increasing amount of attention to the creation of boards of industrial conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. [Footnote: The words conciliation, mediation, and arbitration are variously used, but the following distinction may be of use. Mediation is an attempt to get the disputants to come together for the purpose of discussing their grievances. Conciliation is aid extended to the disputants in the actual settlement of the dispute. Arbitration implies that a third party settles the dispute and renders a decision.] Most states now have some provision for a board whose duty it is to attempt to eliminate industrial warfare. The powers and duties of these boards vary from state to state. In some states the board may investigate labor disputes on its own initiative, but it is not obliged to make an investigation. In other states the investigation of industrial disputes is compulsory.
Boards of the type discussed in this section have no power tocompelthe disputants to arbitrate their troubles, though they maypersuadethe parties involved to resort to arbitration. When the disputants agree to allow the state board to arbitrate the dispute, and when also they previously promise to abide by the decision of the board, the award of the state board is binding upon both sides. When the parties to the dispute have not previously agreed to abide by the award, the board cannot force an acceptance of its decision, but can only rely upon public sentiment to help effect a just settlement.
193. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA.—The frequent refusal of labor and capital willingly to submit their differences to arbitration has led to the development of the principle of compulsory arbitration.
In New Zealand, compulsory arbitration was adopted as early as 1894. In that country the arbitrating body is known as the court of arbitration, the decisions of which are absolute and binding. At the discretion of the court, the awards handed down may be extended to embrace other employees or employers in the same trade, or in the same locality, or in the whole country. Violations of the award, either by labor or by capital, are punishable by heavy fines. An even more drastic form of compulsory arbitration has been adopted in Australia.
Due to the influence of many complicating factors, the status of compulsory arbitration in these two countries is uncertain. Many students of the question maintain that this form of arbitration has materially reduced industrial warfare; on the other hand, other authorities declare that compulsory arbitration in New Zealand and Australia has not markedly improved industrial relations.
194. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION IN THE UNITED STATES.—Although the principle of compulsory arbitration has been familiar to American students of labor problems for more than a quarter of a century, there is as yet very little sentiment in favor of its application to industrial disputes in this country. The explanation of this is not far to seek. Individualism is so strong in the United States that compulsory arbitration is regarded by many Americans as an unwarranted interference in private business. It is still generally true that both labor and capital prefer to settle their disputes in open struggle. Equally important, perhaps, is the feeling that compulsory arbitration laws would nullify the constitutional guarantee that no citizen shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. [Footnote: For an explanation of this point, see Chapter XIX, Section 214.]
However, a definite step toward compulsory arbitration was taken when in 1920 the State of Kansas established a Court of Industrial Relations "for the purpose of preserving the public peace, protecting the public health, preventing industrial strife, disorder, and waste, and securing regular and orderly conduct of the businesses directly affecting the living conditions of the people." The law of 1920 declared illegal the suspension of work in those industries which are designated as essential and necessary to the community life. Industrial disputes arising in such industries are subject to compulsory arbitration by the court. The merits of this court are still being debated. Some authorities declare that the court has already demonstrated its value, but other observers claim that so far this tribunal has not operated to reduce labor troubles in Kansas.
195. STATUS OF THE DEMANDS OF LABOR.—For a number of years the attitude of labor has been clearly aggressive, while the attitude of capital has tended to be one of resistance. In view of this fact, the simplest way of considering the merits of the industrial situation is to examine the demands of labor. The justice of these demands cannot be gone into here, but a few words of general application may be helpful.
The proper determination of wages depends, of course, upon the particular circumstances. No general rule can be laid down, except the very obvious one that wages cannot permanently go so high as to wipe out profits in an industry, nor yet so low as to render it impossible for the workmen to secure a decent living.
The steady improvement of living and working conditions is desirable, and is a challenge to any progressive society.
Shorter work hours are desirable, wherever the cutting down of the working day does not too greatly hamper production. Many economists feel that an eight-hour day will prove a social gain only if introduced gradually. They believe that it should be introduced in proportion as the industrial productivity of the country increases to compensate for the shortening of the working day.
Opposition to the introduction of labor-saving machinery is both useless and short-sighted. The officials of most unions now advise workmen not to oppose the adoption of machinery, but rather to fit themselves to operate the machines.
The question of a closed shop or an open shop is largely a matter of opinion. The problem will probably continue to be disputed for a long time to come. Many students of labor conditions feel that the closed shop is justifiable only when accompanied by the open union. By an open union is meant a union into which all laborers competent to do the work are admitted freely. Where the open union principle is adopted, Professor Taussig points out, the closed shop is no longer a monopolistic device to shut out competition and raise wages for a small group. It becomes, instead, a means of promoting mutual aid and collective bargaining.
Many employers still refuse to recognize the principle of collective bargaining, but from the social point of view collective bargaining is desirable. In many cases it so strengthens the position of the laborers that they are able to compete with the employer more nearly on terms of equality. Under such conditions competition in the labor market is in a healthy state. The difficulty is, of course, that some unions may take advantage of their strengthened position to enforce unduly severe conditions upon the employer.
196. THE OUTLOOK.—Although it is probable that industrial disagreements will long endure, we have a right to expect that continued progress will be made in settling these disputes peaceably. By many it is believed that compulsory arbitration is the most effective method of securing industrial peace, but for reasons already given, the extension of this form of arbitration will probably be slow in this country. English experience would indicate that we have not yet exhausted the possibilities of the trade agreement, but though this device is becoming better known in the United States, both the American laborer and the American employer are still disposed to settle their differences by means of the strike, the lockout, and similar weapons.
The present century is an age of industrial stress and change, and it is possible that the ultimate solution of the disputes between labor and capital has not yet been advanced. From the data now at hand, however, it is maintained by many that labor disputes must ultimately be eradicated through the development of industrial democracy. Industrial democracy implies the joint direction of industrial policies by employer and employees, working together harmoniously and in the spirit of equality. When industrial democracy is attained, according to this view, mutual trust and the spirit of friendly co÷peration will enable labor and capital to adjust their differences peaceably and economically, without dictation from any outside source.
1. Why are we accustomed to speak of labor and capital as the two chief factors in production?
2. Why have labor organizations arisen?
3. Name some employers' associations.
4. Contrast the aims of the union with the aims of the employers' association.
5. Discuss the methods of industrial warfare.
6. Why is industrial warfare undesirable?
7. What is the attitude of American democracy toward industrial warfare?
8. Name some minor methods of industrial peace.
9. Discuss the character of the trade agreement.
10. Distinguish between conciliation, mediation, and arbitration.
11. Discuss compulsory arbitration in New Zealand and Australia.
12. What is the significance of the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations?
13. What is the outlook for industrial peace in this country?
14. Define industrial democracy.
1. Williamson,Readings in American Democracy, chapter xviii.
Or all of the following:
2. Bullock,Elements of Economics, chapter xiii.
3. Carlton,History and Problems of Organized Labor, chapter v.
4. Ely,Outlines of Economics, chapter xxii.
5. Fetter,Modern Economic Problems, chapter xx.
1. What are the three types of labor organizations? (Fetter, page 299.)
2. Who were the Knights of Labor? (Bullock, page 316.)
3. What is the economic justification of the trade union? (Ely, pages 445-446.)
4. Outline the history of the American Federation of Labor. (Carlton, pages 74-82.)
5. What are some of the secondary functions of the trade union? (Fetter, pages 298-299.)
6. Among what groups of workers is the trade union strong? Among what groups is it weak? (Fetter, page 300.)
7. What effect has unionism had upon wages? (Fetter, pages 306-307.)
8. What is meant by limitation of output? (Ely, pages 449-450.)
9. What is a standard wage? (Bullock, pages 320-321.)
10. What is the legal status of the strike? (Bullock, pages 328-329.)
11. What is scientific management? (Bullock, pages 339-340.)
12. What will probably be the future development of the trade union? (Ely, pages 468-469.)
1. Origin and growth of the trade union movement in your section.
2. Select some one trade union for study. Obtain information on the following points, either by means of literature issued by the union, or by personal interview with union officials:
(a) Aims of the union.
(b) Insurance benefits.
(c) Political activities of the union.
(d) Strike procedure.
(e) Attitude toward arbitration.
3. Select for study an employers' association in your locality. Obtain information on the following points. (If no association is available, consult a friendly employer):
(a) Attitude of the employer toward the trade union movement.
(b) Attitude toward the closed shop.
(c) What the employer does when a strike is launched against him.
(d) Use of the injunction.
(e) Attitude of the employer toward arbitration.
4. If possible, investigate an actual strike and report upon it.
5. The laws of your state with regard to mediation, conciliation, and arbitration. Do you think further legislation on this subject is advisable?
6. History of the trade union movement in the United States. (Consult any available text on labor problems. See also Carlton,Organized Labor in American History.)
7. The Knights of Labor. (Any standard text on labor problems, or an encyclopedia.)
8. Trade union policies. (Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, pages 589-613.)
9. Program of the American Federation of Labor. (Any standard text on labor problems, or an encyclopedia.)
10. The theory of price changes. (Taussig,Principles of Economics, vol. i, chapter xxii.)
11. The problem of adjusting wages to prices. (Bloomfield,Selected Articles on Problems of Labor, pages 56-75.)
12. Reducing the labor turnover. (Annals, vol. ixxi, pages 1-81.)
13. Scientific management. (Any standard text on labor problems. See also Hoxie,Scientific Management and Labor.)
14. Incorporation of the trade union. (Bloomfield,Selected Articles on Problems of Labor, pages 262-267. Commons,Trade Unionism and Labor Problems, chapter vi.)
15. Employers' associations. (Any standard text on labor problems.)
16. Principles of industrial relations, as formulated by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. (Write to the Chamber's headquarters, Washington, D. C., for copies. Also reprinted in Edie,Current Social and Industrial Forces, pages 346-381.)
17. Closed shop versus open shop.
18. Should trade unions be obliged to incorporate?
19. To what extent does compulsory arbitration constitute an unwarranted interference in private business?
20. The shortening of the working day.
21. Effect of the World War upon relations between labor and capital.
197. INDUSTRY AND HEALTH.—Wherever the Industrial Revolution has progressed beyond the initial stages, there has been an enormous increase in wealth and prosperity. At the same time, serious evils have accompanied the transition from a relatively simple agricultural stage to a stage dominated by the factory system. The tendency toward overcrowding in rapidly growing cities, the difficulties of maintaining a normal family life where mother or children are employed in factories, and the danger of overstrain, accident and disease in industrial pursuits, all these factors render very important the problem of health in industry.
Though health in industry is only one phase of the general problem of health, it will be impossible here to exhaust even that one phase. We shall accordingly confine ourselves to the discussion of three questions: first, child labor; second, the employment of women in industrial pursuits; and third, the insurance of our industrial population against accident, sickness, old age and unemployment.
198. CHILD LABOR: EXTENT AND CAUSES.—There are in this country more than two million children between the ages of ten and fifteen, engaged in gainful occupations. In all sections of the country large numbers of children are found in agriculture, this industry generally being beyond the scope of child labor laws. The employment of children in factories, mines, quarries, mills, and shops, on the other hand, is now considerably restricted by law. This is true of all parts of the country. However, child labor is still of wide extent in the United States, due to the large number of children found in agriculture, domestic service, street trades, stores, messenger service, and tenement homework.
Of the immediate causes of child labor one of the most important is the poverty of the parents. Where the parents are themselves day laborers, it is often considered necessary or desirable to increase the family earnings by putting the children to work.
From the standpoint of the employer child labor is rendered possible and even desirable by the development of types of work easily performed by small children. In many cases the tendency of parents to put young children to work is encouraged by the lax administration of school attendance laws. This tendency has also been encouraged by the indifference of the public to the evil effects of child labor.
199. EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOR.—Students of the problem of child labor unanimously condemn the practice of habitually employing young children outside the home. Where poorly paid children compete with men and women, they serve either to displace adults, or, by competition, to lower the wages of adults.
The effects upon the children themselves are injurious. Stunted, crippled, and diseased bodies are the result of steady work at too tender an age. Schooling is interrupted, so that child workers generally develop into illiterate and inefficient adults. When children are forced into gainful occupations at an early age, the family life is disrupted, and proper home training is difficult, if not impossible. Still another factor is the greater temptation to vice and crime confronting the child outside the home.
200. CHILD LABOR LAWS.—Since 1870 the growing acuteness of the child labor problem, together with an aroused public opinion, has served to increase the number of laws restricting child labor. At the present time, forty-five states forbid the employment in certain industries of children under fourteen years of age.
A Federal child labor law was passed in 1916, but two years later the measure was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. [Footnote: For an explanation of this point, see Section 214 of this chapter.] In 1919 a new Federal law was enacted. In order to avoid the charge of unconstitutionality, this measure attacks child laborindirectly. The law levies an excise tax of ten per cent on the entire net profits received from the sale of all the products of any mine, quarry, mill, cannery, workshop, factory, or manufacturing establishment, which employs children contrary to certain age and hour specifications. The effect of this ten per cent tax is so to reduce the profits of the employers affected, as virtually to prohibit child labor. By this means the act prohibits child labor in several important groups of industrial establishments.
The difficulty with the law is that it touches only about fifteen per cent of our two million child workers. It does not affect, for example, the large number of children employed in agriculture, domestic service, street trades, stores and restaurants, messenger service, and tenement homework.
201. MINIMUM PROVISIONS OF A GOOD CHILD LABOR LAW.—The passage of more comprehensive child labor laws is being advocated by a number of social agencies, notably by the National Child Labor Committee. The minimum provisions of a good child labor law have been set forth by the committee somewhat as follows:
As a general proposition, no child should be regularly employed in a gainful occupation who is under sixteen years of age. There should be an even higher age limit for child workers in quarries, mines, and other dangerous places. Children should not work more than eight hours a day. Nor should they be allowed to engage in night work until they have reached the age of, say, twenty years. All child applicants for industrial positions should first be required to pass educational tests and a physical examination. A good child labor law should provide for a corps of factory inspectors, as well as for other means of securing the efficient administration of the law. Lastly, it is important that there be close co÷peration between employers and the school authorities in the matter of child labor.
202. INCREASED NUMBER OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRY.—There have always been women in industry, but of recent years the proportion of women so engaged has increased so rapidly as to create a serious social problem. From needlework, domestic service, and teaching, women have spread rapidly into trade, commerce, and the professions. A few years ago transportation and police work were monopolized by men, but to-day women are entering these fields rapidly. Though they outnumber men only in domestic and personal service, women are numerous in practically every important calling except plumbing and street cleaning. Altogether more than 8,000,000 women are engaged in gainful occupations in the United States.
203. WHY WOMEN RECEIVE LOWER WAGES THAN MEN.—Women generally receive lower wages than men. One reason for this is the physical weakness of women, which renders them less desirable in many types of work. Social conventions, home attachments, and, often, the lack of the venturesome spirit, combine to keep women from moving about in search of improved working conditions to the same extent as men. The expectation of marriage causes many young women to neglect to increase their efficiency, and this at least prevents their wages from increasing as rapidly as those of young men who undergo consistent training. The trade union is still little developed among women workers, a factor which often prevents higher wages from being secured. Low wages are often traceable to the fact that there is an over supply of girls and women in the labor market. Large numbers of girls and women are partially supported at home, and are able and willing to work for "pin-money" only. Many employers take advantage of this fact to offer very low wages.
204. LEGISLATION REGULATING THE LABOR OF WOMEN.—Although it would seem desirable to keep young children out of industry altogether, there is a general agreement among students of the problem that the labor of women ought to be further regulated rather than actually prohibited. A number of states have already enacted laws designed to safeguard women in industry. In some states the number of working hours for women has been cut from eleven to nine, while in other states the maximum number of hours during which women may work is eight. Some states prohibit night work for women in industrial establishments. The great majority of the states now provide for proper rest periods, guarded machinery, the ventilation of workrooms, and, where practicable, seats for women employees. To the extent that women actually do the same amount and quality of work as men, there is a growing feeling that men and women ought to receive equal pay.
205. THE MINIMUM WAGE.—A minimum wage law is one which specifies that in certain occupations laborers may not be paid less than a stipulated wage. The aim of the minimum wage is to protect the laborer against employment which, under freely competitive conditions, does not pay wages high enough to guarantee a decent living.
The first minimum wage law in the United States was passed by Massachusetts in 1912. The movement grew rapidly, and by 1921 more than a dozen additional states had adopted minimum wage laws. In some states the law applies only to specified industries; in others it covers all occupations. In some states the law covers only the employment of women, but in most cases the principle of the minimum wage applies to women and minors under eighteen, or even twenty-one years of age. In some foreign countries the minimum wage is also extended to the labor of men, but in the United States men are everywhere exempted from the operation of such laws.
206. ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF THE MINIMUM WAGE.—The champions of the principle of the minimum wage advance a number of arguments in its favor. It is contended that no industry is socially desirable if it cannot pay a living wage, for when wages fall below a certain minimum, poverty, ill-health, and vice are natural results. When laborers are themselves unable to improve their economic position, it is said, it becomes the duty of the state to guarantee them a living wage. Another argument in favor of the minimum wage is that it not only eliminates considerable poverty, but it makes possible a healthier and more contented labor force. It is claimed that strikes and social unrest are partially eliminated by the minimum wage.
207. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE MINIMUM WAGE.—In spite of the rapid spread of minimum wage legislation in this country, the principle has met with considerable opposition. It is claimed by some that where poverty is due to bad personal habits, the mere payment of a higher wage will not abolish poverty. It is also urged that because of price changes, and because of differing concepts of a standard of living, it is difficult to determine what is really a living wage. Some employers maintain that the minimum wage is contrary to economic law, since it forces the payment of a wage which the laborer often does not earn. The compulsory nature of the minimum wage is also opposed on the grounds that it constitutes an undue interference with individual rights. [Footnote: Formerly an important argument against the minimum wage was this: There are large numbers of people who cannotearnthe minimum wage, and because employers will tend not to employ them, such persons will have to be supported by charity. The force of this argument is reduced, however, by the fact that most minimum wage laws now make special provision for the part-time employment of such persons.]
208. THE RISKS OF INDUSTRY.—In spite of the fact that most States now have detailed laws providing for the guarding of machinery and the supervision of dangerous occupations, a half million persons are injured or killed annually in industrial employments in the United States. A considerable amount of ill-health is traceable to working with drugs and acids. Continued work in dusty mills and shops, as well as long exposure to the excessively dry or excessively moist atmosphere required by certain manufacturing processes, also give rise to "occupational" diseases. Old age frequently brings poverty and distress, in spite of a life of hard work. Lastly, the laborer runs the risk of unemployment.
209. THE PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL INSURANCE.—As a general rule, laborers do not voluntarily insure themselves against illness, unemployment, accident, or old age. This is partly because they lack the necessary funds, and partly because they lack the foresight necessary for such action. If, therefore, the risks of industry are adequately to be insured against, the initiative must be taken by some one other than the laborer. As a result of this situation, there has developed the principle of social insurance. Social insurance, as distinguished from insurance by trade unions or private agencies, is compulsory, and is administered, or at least supervised, by the state or Federal authorities.
From the standpoint of the community, social insurance may be justified on four grounds. First, the risks of industry are largely beyond the control of the individual workman, and hence he ought not to be held wholly responsible for the penalties which industry may inflict upon him. Second, the community gets the benefit of the laborer's efforts, and thus ought to feel morally obligated to safeguard his employment. Third, an injury to the laborer restricts the productivity of the community by crippling or removing one of its productive agents. Fourth, compulsory insurance is a social necessity, for where nothing has been laid aside for a rainy day, the interruption of earnings subjects the laborer and his family to hardship and disaster. Wisely administered social insurance prevents a great deal of poverty and distress which would otherwise constitute an added burden upon charitable organizations.
210. INSURANCE AGAINST ACCIDENT.—Accident insurance has been a feature of social insurance programs in Germany, France, and Great Britain for almost a half century, but in this country it was not until 1910 that compulsory insurance against industrial accidents began to be effective. Since 1910, however, the movement has grown rapidly, and at the present time the majority of the states provide for compensation to workmen for accidents sustained in connection with their work. Formerly our courts quite generally held that when a workman could be shown to have suffered an accident because of "personal negligence," the injured person was not entitled to compensation. Under the accident insurance laws of most states it is now held, however, that the personal negligence of the injured workman does not forfeit his right to receive compensation.
In most states the cost of accident insurance is borne primarily by the employer.
211. INSURANCE AGAINST SICKNESS. [Footnote: Sometimes known as health insurance.]—Compulsory sickness insurance has been highly developed in several European countries, but so far we have left insurance of this type to private effort. The question is attracting considerable attention in this country, however, and it is believed that this form of social insurance will soon be provided for by state law. In 1914 the American Association for Labor Legislation outlined a model sickness insurance law. Such a law would provide a sickness benefit for a number of weeks, arrange for medical care, and, in case of death, pay a funeral benefit. The cost of such insurance would be divided equally between workmen and employer, while the state would bear the cost of administering the law. This cost would be considerable, because illness may be feigned, and hence there would have to be more careful supervision than in the case of accident insurance.
212. INSURANCE AGAINST OLD AGE.—Compulsory insurance against old age is an important feature of social insurance systems in European countries, but it is very little known in the United States. We are familiar with the Federal pensioning of military veterans, and with local pensions for firemen and policemen, as well as with state and local pensions for teachers. Such insurance does not, however, touch the question of aged employees in industrial pursuits. Trade unions sometimes provide a measure of old age insurance for their members, but the proportion of workmen affected by this practice is very small.
In 1920, a beginning toward compulsory old age insurance was made, when a Federal law provided for compulsory old age insurance for the civil service employees of the Federal government. The question of compulsory old age insurance is also being agitated in a number of states.
213. SHOULD SOCIAL INSURANCE EXTEND TO UNEMPLOYMENT?—It is contended by many that to insure workmen against the loss of their jobs would encourage shiftlessness, and that for this reason the principle of social insurance ought not to apply to unemployment.
It is obvious that a considerable share of unemployment is traceable to personal negligence, and it is probably true that insurance against unemployment would discourage thrift and foresight on the part of many workmen. On the other hand, it has been shown statistically that a large share of unemployment is due to crop failures, market fluctuations, and other conditions beyond the control of the workmen. In so far as this is true, there would be a great deal of unemployment whether it were insured against or not. Because, therefore, some unemployment is inevitable, and because unemployment is in many cases beyond the control of the individual, it becomes necessary, or at least desirable, for the state to insure workmen against this unavoidable risk.
Insurance against unemployment has never been tried out in this country, but it is likely that we shall some day follow the example of the leading European countries, and include this type of protection in our general program of social insurance.
214. OBSTACLES TO LABOR LEGISLATION.—Labor legislation of the type discussed in this chapter is making rapid headway in the United States. Nevertheless, it should be noted that in this field we are behind the more advanced countries of western Europe. The chief explanation of this relative backwardness is that the extension of labor legislation in this country has met with considerable opposition. The reasons for this opposition may be summed up as follows:
First, the spirit of individualism is so strong in this country as effectively to check legislation which appears paternalistic. The weak position of women and children in industry has somewhat lessened the force of this argument in the case of laws designed to safeguard these two groups, but labor legislation in behalf of men is still regarded suspiciously in many quarters.
Second, it is difficult to secure uniform laws among the several states. Labor legislation in this country has been primarily a state concern, but the attitude of the various states toward social insurance, the minimum wage, and other types of labor legislation, has been so divergent that the resulting laws have often been conflicting. In many cases states fear to enact laws which they believe will hamper local employers and encourage the migration of capital to states which are more lenient in this regard.
Third, an important obstacle to labor legislation in the United States has been the difficulty of enacting laws which the courts will not declare unconstitutional. The constitutional provision [Footnote: See the fifth amendment to the Federal Constitution, Appendix.] that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law has often been interpreted by the courts in such a way as to nullify laws designed to safeguard the interests of the working classes. For example, a law restricting the employment of women might be declared unconstitutional on the grounds that it interferes with the "liberty" of women to work as many hours, and for as small a wage, as they choose.
Within the last decade, however, the obstacle of constitutionality appears to have declined in importance. Our Supreme Courts often reverse their own decisions, as well as negative the decisions of the lower courts, and it is therefore difficult to ascertain what is truly the trend of judicial decision. Nevertheless, many authorities believe that we are on the verge of an era in which the courts will weigh labor legislation primarily in the light of its social benefit, and only secondarily with respect to how it squares with the technicalities of the Constitution.
1. What three questions are discussed in this chapter?
2. What is the extent of child labor in the United States?
3. What are some of the causes of child labor?
4. What are the chief results of child labor?
5. Discuss Federal legislation with respect to child labor.
6. Outline the minimum provisions of a good child labor law.
7. Why do women generally get lower wages than men?
8. What is meant by the minimum wage?
9. What are the chief arguments in favor of the minimum wage?
10. Give the chief arguments against it.
11. What is meant by social insurance?
12. Discuss the four forms of social insurance. Which have been applied in this country?
13. What are the three great obstacles to labor legislation in this country? Which of these appears to you to be the most important? Which appears to you to be the easiest to overcome?
1. Williamson,Readings in American Democracy, chapter xix. Or all of the following:
2. Burch and Patterson,American Social Problems, chapter xiv.
3. Ely,Outlines of Economics, chapter xxviii.
4. Fetter,Modern Economic Problems, chapter xxiii.
5. Taussig,Principles of Economics, Vol. ii, chapter viii.
1. Why is child labor not always the cheapest labor? (Burch and Patterson, page 172.)
2. What is the sweat shop system? (Burch and Patterson, page 174.)
3. What are the chief occupations in which women are found? (Burch and Patterson, page 175.)
4. What is meant by the "dangerous trades"? (Burch and Patterson, pages 176-177.)
5. What is the extent of railway accidents in this country? (Burch and Patterson, pages 178-179.)
6. What are the main causes of irregular earnings? (Taussig, page 323.)
7. What form of social insurance was first developed in this country? (Ely, page 588.)
8. Outline the British Workmen's Compensation Act. (Taussig, page 325.)
9. What are the main features of the German system of old age insurance? (Taussig, page 331.)
10. What difficulties are encountered in insuring workmen against unemployment? (Taussig, pages 337-340.)
11. What is the "contributory principle" in social insurance? (Fetter, pages 363-364.)
12. What are the chief objections to social insurance? (Ely, pages 593-594.)
1. The extent of child labor in your state.
2. Control of child labor by the laws of your state.
3. The difficulties of enacting child labor legislation to cover the employment of children in agriculture. Interview some one familiar with farming conditions for data on this topic.
4. Relation of child labor to the administration of the school attendance laws in your community.
5. Extent to which women are employed in industrial establishments in your community or state.
6. Interview a friendly employer on the relative desirability of men and women employees.
7. The status of the minimum wage in your state.
8. Social insurance in your state.
9. Interview the officials of a trade union concerning the payment of sickness insurance by the union.
10. The emergency treatment of injured workmen in a near-by mill or factory. Compare this treatment with the treatment outlined in the references which are appended to Topic 21.
11. Causes of child labor. (Mangold,Problems of Child Welfare,part iv, chapter i.)
12. Effects of child labor. (Mangold,Problems of Child Welfare,part iv, chapter iii.)
13. Women in industry. (Select some phase of this problem for report. Consult Butler,Women and the Trades;MacLean, _WomenWorkers and Society; Kelley,Some Ethical Gains through Legislation; Annals,vol. lxv; Abbot,Women in Industry,and similar works.)
14. Relation of home conditions to industrial efficiency. (Annals,vol. lxv, pages 277-288.)
15. Industrial efficiency of women compared with that of men. (Lee,The Human Machine and Industrial Efficiency,chapter x.)
16. Housing the unskilled worker. (Wood, TheHousing of the Unskilled Wage-earner.)
17. Work of the National Housing Association. (Write to the association office in Washington, D. C., for descriptive literature.)
18. Summary of Irving Fisher's report on national vitality. (Bulletin of the Committee of One Hundred on National Health,etc., prepared for the National Conservation Commission, by Irving Fisher, Washington, 1909.)
19. Preventable diseases. (Hutchinson,Preventable Diseases.)
20. Occupational diseases. (Oliver,Diseases of Occupation.)
21. How to act in case of an accident. (Gulick,Emergencies; Tolman, Hygiene for the Worker,chapter xvi.)
22. The right to leisure time. (Kelley,Some Ethical Gains through Legislation,chapters in and iv.)
23. Legal status of workmen's compensation. (Annals, vol. xxxviii, No. i, pages 117-168.)
24. Health insurance. (Rubinow,Standards of Health Insurance, chapters iii and iv.)
25. The police power. (Guitteau,Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xii.)
26. The minimum wage for men.
27. Should old age and sickness insurance be made a feature of the social insurance program of your state?
28. Should pensions be paid out of public funds to mothers having dependent children?
29. Should labor legislation be enacted primarily by the Federal or by the state governments?
215. RACIAL ELEMENTS IN OUR POPULATION.—The Federal census of 1920 gave the population of continental United States as 105,710,620. Approximately nine tenths of this population is white, while about one tenth is negro. Those who are neither white nor negro, namely, American Indians and Asiatics, together constitute less than one half of one per cent of the population.
The great majority of our people are either European immigrants, or the descendants of European immigrants who came to this country within the last century and a half. With reference to European immigration we distinguish three groups: the foreign-born, the native-born children of the foreign-born, and natives. Natives include those whose ancestors have been in this country two or more generations. On the basis of this classification, about one seventh of our population is foreign-born while over one third is either foreign-born or the native-born children of foreign-born parents.
The ease with which immigrants have adapted themselves to American life prevents any accurate classification of nationalities in our population, but probably Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, Italy, Russia, (including Poland), and Austria-Hungary have, in the order named, contributed the largest numbers.
216. THE "OLD" IMMIGRATION.—European immigration to the United States may be divided into two groups, the "old" and the "new." The "old" immigration extended from the beginning of our national history to about the year 1880, and was derived chiefly from Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries. Between 1820 (the first year for which we have accurate records) and 1880, about nine tenths of our immigrants came from these countries.
The striking features of the "old" immigration should be noted. In comparison with present-day immigration, it was relatively small in volume. In view of the abundance here of free land, and our consequent need for pioneers, the small volume of immigration prevented the rise of any serious problem. Moreover, the "old" immigration was largely made up of individuals who were similar to the original American colonists in political ideals, social training, and economic background. The "old" immigration therefore merged with the native stock fairly easily and rapidly.
217. THE "OLD" GIVES WAY TO THE "NEW" IMMIGRATION.—In the period centering about the year 1880 there was a distinct shift in the immigration movement. Whereas before 1880 most of our immigrants had been Anglo-Saxons and Teutons from northern Europe, after 1880 the majority of our immigrants were members of the Mediterranean and Slavic races from southern and southeastern Europe. Before 1880 about nine tenths of the aliens coming to our shores were from northern Europe and only one tenth were from southern and southeastern Europe. In the period since 1880, less than one fourth of our immigrants have come from northern Europe, while more than three fourths have been derived from southern and southeastern Europe. The bulk of this new immigration has come from Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Italy, and the Balkan countries.
218. INCREASING VOLUME OF IMMIGRATION.—Since it is in connection with the "new" immigration that the modern immigration problem arises, it will be profitable to inquire more fully into the character of the movement after about 1880.
Not only has the character of immigration changed since the eighties, but the volume of immigration has steadily increased. Of approximately 35,000,000 immigrants who have come to our shores since 1800, more than half have come within the last thirty-five years. The peak of immigration was reached in the decade preceding the World War, when as many as a million and a quarter of immigrants landed in this country in a single year. This heavy flow was interrupted by the World War, but after the signing of the armistice in the fall of 1918, a heavy immigration again set in. [Footnote: Various classes of immigrants are excluded from the United States by the immigration laws summarized in section 223 of this chapter. In addition to these laws, which may be said to constitute the basis of our permanent immigration policy, President Harding signed, in May, 1921, a bill relative to the temporary exclusion of aliens who would ordinarily be admissible. This temporary exclusion act provided that between July 1, 1921, and June 30, 1922, the number of immigrants entering the United States from any other country might not exceed three per cent of the former immigrants from that country who were within the bounds of the United States at the time of the last census.]
219. DISTRIBUTION OF THE "NEW" IMMIGRATION.—One of the most significant facts in connection with the immigration problem is that our immigrant population is unequally distributed. About two thirds of the immigrants in this country are in the North Atlantic division; about a quarter of them are located in the North Central division; while less than one tenth are located in the western and southern sections of the country combined. Three fourths of our foreign-born live in the cities of the North Atlantic and North Central divisions. Forty per cent of the present population of New York City is foreign born, while in Boston and Chicago more than a third of the population is foreign born. In the smaller manufacturing cities of the North Atlantic division it often happens that from half to four fifths of the population is foreign born.
220. ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION.—In the earlier part of our national history free land was abundant and immigration relatively small in volume; after the eighties free land disappeared and immigration increased rapidly. It was toward the end of the nineteenth century, therefore, that the economic aspect of the immigration problem became acute. In the last decades of that century manufacturing developed rapidly, and American cities became important centers of population. Large numbers of immigrants were attracted by the opportunities for employment in urban centers. An addition to this factor, immigrants continued to concentrate in the cities, partly because of the spirit of clannishness, partly because of the disappearance of free land, and partly because the development of agricultural machinery reduced the demand for agricultural laborers. Still another influence was the fact that the unfamiliar American farm was less attractive to the southern European immigrant than was the opportunity of performing unskilled labor in the city. To-day four fifths of our immigrants are unskilled laborers who are employed chiefly in mining, construction work, transportation, and domestic service.
From the economic standpoint, the chief objection to unrestricted immigration is that it prevents the wages of American workmen from rising as rapidly as would otherwise be the case. The newly arrived immigrant usually has a lower standard of living than has the native American; that is to say, the immigrant is content with less in the way of food, clothing, house room and education than is the native. When newly arrived immigrants come into competition with native workmen, the immigrant generally offers to work for a lower wage than the native. But though relatively low, this wage is so much higher than the newly arrived immigrant has been used to, that he feels justified in marrying early and rearing a large family. This adds to the supply of unskilled labor.
In order to compete with the recent immigrant, the native must accept relatively low wages. In order to get along on these relatively low wages, the native must either lower his standard of living or postpone marriage. Sometimes he has lowered his standard of living; sometimes he has preferred to retain his relatively high standard of living, and to get along on the decreased wage either by postponing marriage, or by permanently abandoning his plans for a normal family life. It is contended, therefore, that an oversupply of unskilled immigrant labor in this country has had at least two injurious results. First, it has kept the standard of living of American workmen from rising as rapidly as would otherwise have been possible. Second, it has caused the birth rate to decline among the native groups.
221. SOCIAL EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION.—The tendency of immigrants to concentrate in American cities gives rise to a number of serious social problems. Urban congestion is unqualifiedly bad. It is difficult or impossible for immigrants living in crowded quarters to maintain proper health standards. Nor does overcrowding conduce to healthy morals. The foreign born do not show an unusual tendency toward crime, which is remarkable when we consider the immigrant's ignorance of our laws, as well as the ease with which unscrupulous persons exploit him. On the other hand, the children of the foreign born often show a strong tendency toward crime and vice, a fact which is attributed to the bad social conditions surrounding their homes. The percentage of dependency among immigrants is rather high. This is not surprising, however, for many immigrants must go through an adjustment period in which lack of financial reserves is likely to force them to call upon charitable agencies for temporary aid.
222. DIFFICULTY OF ASSIMILATING THE "NEW" IMMIGRATION.—Those who made up the "old" immigration assimilated rapidly: they were relatively like the native stock in manners and customs, the volume of immigration was relatively small, and the newcomers spread out into frontier communities where habitual contact with natives was unavoidable.
Those who make up the "new" immigration have assimilated less rapidly: they are relatively unlike the native stock in language, race, and customs; the volume of immigration is very great; and rather than being uniformly distributed, the "new" immigrants tend to concentrate in cities where they are often little subject to contact with natives. Members of foreign "colonies" not only tend to remain ignorant of American life, but unfamiliarity with self-government encourages their exploitation by political "bosses." It is admitted by the most careful students that the lack of proper civic ideals among unassimilated foreigners in American cities is a large element in the corruption of our municipal governments.
223. RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION.—Exclusive control of immigration is vested in the Federal government. During the Civil War Congress actually encouraged immigration, but since 1882 our policy has been one of restriction. In the latter year the first general immigration act was passed, though considerable legislation on the subject was already on the statute books. Supplementary laws were enacted from time to time, the most important piece of legislation since 1900 being the Immigration Act of 1917. A brief summary of this and previous acts will serve to show the nature and extent of Federal control over immigration.
The chief aim of our immigration laws has been so to restrict immigration as to protect us against undesirable persons. In the interest of health, persons afflicted with contagious diseases, such as tuberculosis, and trachoma,—a virulent eye disease,—are excluded. Certain persons whose character is clearly immoral are excluded. Polygamists are excluded. The Act of 1917 excludes anarchists, and likewise bars from our shores all criminals, except those who have committed political offenses not recognized by the United States. In order to reduce unnecessary tax burdens, as well as to safeguard community health, we also exclude insane persons, idiots, epileptics, beggars, and other persons likely to become public charges. Contract laborers are specifically excluded, the Act of 1917 using the term "contract labor" to include anyone "induced, assisted, encouraged, or solicited" to come to this country "by any kind of promise or agreement, express or implied, true or false, to find employment." Persons over sixteen years of age are excluded from the United States if they cannot read English or some other language. [Footnote: Certain near relatives of admissible aliens, purely political offenders, and persons seeking refuge from religious persecution, are exempted from this literacy test, however.]