The RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT BY JEROME DAVIS Sometime Gilder Fellow in Sociology at Columbia University Assistant Professor of Sociology at Dartmouth College Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Political Science Columbia University THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1922 The RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT BY JEROME DAVIS Sometime Gilder Fellow in Sociology at Columbia University Assistant Professor of Sociology at Dartmouth College Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Political Science Columbia University THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1922 Copyright, 1922 By the MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and printed. Published September, 1922 DEC 141922 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To the Russian worklngmen whose unstinted toil helps to maintain the basic industrial mechanism of Amer- ica, but who for the most part are by this very service kept out of reach of the warm, friendly heart of our people. VITA The author of this dissertation, Jerome Davis, was born Dec. 2, 1891, at Kioto, Japan. He was prepared for college at Newton High School, New- ton, Mass., and at Oberlin Academy, Oberlin, Ohio. He completed his collegiate work at Oberlin Col- lege in 19 13, majoring in economics, and was gradu- ated with the degree of A. B. In 19 14-15 he studied at Union Theological Sem- inary and Columbia University, in 19 15-16 continu- ing his graduate work at Oberlin Theological Sem- inary. From 19 1 6 to 19 18 he was in Y. M. C. A. War Work in Russia. In the spring of 19 19 he completed the work for the Master's degree at Columbia University, and the following year con- tinued graduate study at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary. He received the diploma of the Seminary in 1920. In 1920-21 he was Gilder Fellow in Sociology at Columbia Uni- versity. In 192 1 he became assistant professor of sociology at Dartmouth College. Besides contribut- ing a number of articles to periodicals, he assisted in the preparation of a Summary of Housing Laws in the United States and Canada, which was pub- lished by the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association in 19 14. PREFACE Sociology must begin Its investigations with ob- servation. As Dr. GIddings says of It, "Descrip- tion and history will keep well in advance of ex- planation." ^ Of such a study as The Russian Im- migrant, this Is especially true. Moreover, this sub- ject does not readily lend itself to adequate statis- tical treatment — the data thus far collected by our Federal Government are too meager, and to attempt an independent investigation would involve large resources and an extensive organization. The pres- ent monograph is an attempt to describe only the main social forces impinging on the Russian In America, and their Inevitable effect on his mind. Of many shortcomings In this treatise, the writer is very much aware. At best it can be but an ap- proximation of conditions among the majority of Russians In this country. The reader must bear In mind that the research was made during a period when the Russian's attitude was affected by the great social upheaval In his native land, and must remember that in America one result of the war spirit was a series of repressive measures against aliens, especially Russians. ^ Giddings, F. H., The Principles of Sociology (New York, 1916), p. 54- vii viil Preface Since the bulk of the Russian immigration to the United States is made up of the peasant and work- ing classes, it is with them that we are chiefly con- cerned. By Russian, as used here, is meant the Great Russian, inhabiting Central Russia; the White Russian, living between Poland and Russia ; and the Little Russian, from what was formerly South Rus- sia. It does not include the Jews, Poles, Finns, Letts, Lithuanians, Ruthenians from Galicia, or other Slavic races. Throughout this study we shall refer to the Russian group defined above as Rus- sians or Russian Slavs interchangeably. The method employed has been as follows : First, the printed matter available on the Russians in America was analyzed. A partial list of books, pamphlets, and government reports used is to be found in the appendix.^ Second, unpublished mate- rials, the result of surveys made by others, were utilized. Among these were researches by Mr. Cole of Chicago, by the Russian Division of the Foreign 2 The only book which the author found dealing exclusively with immigrants from the Russian empire was a paper-bound volume entitled The Russians in America, which dealt with Jews and Poles as well as the Russian Slavs and was available only in the Russian language. The author, Mr. Vilchur, was formerly editor of The Russkoye Slovo, a Russian newspaper printed in New York. His book is more in the nature of a popular historical sketch than of an analysis of the relationship of the Russian to our American society. In addition to this, there was a pamphlet in Russian, On the Question of the Organization of the Russian Colony, the result of a study made by E. I. Omeltchenko, a member of the Extraordinary Russian Mission sent to the United States by Kerensky in 1917. This contains the results of personal visits to the various Russian colonies, and the conclusions reached are important. Preface ix Language Governmental Information Bureau, by the Carnegie Foundation, by the Inter-Racial Council, and by Mr. Sack of the Russian Information Bu- reau. Third, a personal investigation of Russian groups In the United States was made. The writer was particularly fortunate in having had the back- ground of two years and a half in Russia and a knowledge of the Russian language, without which this study would have been impossible. He per- sonally visited the following cities, each one being the headquarters of a district of the Russian Greek Orthodox Church In America : New York, Includ- ing Brooklyn; Bridgeport and Hartford, Conn.; Boston, Philadelphia, Scranton, Olyphant, Coaldale, Pittsburgh, Donora, in Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis. Others he visited were Ansonia, Waterbury, Seymour, and New Ha- ven, Conn. ; Braddock and McKees Rocks, Pa. ; Akron, Ohio; and Denver. Among Russians In the states of North Dakota, Washington, and Califor- nia, special investigations were made on a uniform basis, and the detailed reports were incorporated with those gained by personal investigation. In each of the communities the leaders of the various Russian groups were interviewed. These included any or all of the following: (a) the Russian priests, (b) the Russian consul, (c) the editors of Rus- sian papers, (d) Russian professional men, (e) Russian workmen or farmers. Where possible, visits were made to observe: (a) workmen's clubs, X Preface (b) Russian Socialist or Communist party head- quarters, (c) typical homes of Russian workmen including boarding houses. In some cases, con- ferences were held with the following American agencies when they were doing work for Russians: (a) American churches, (b) Americanization com- mittees, (c) industrial or Americanization Y.M. C.A. secretaries, (d) International Institutes of the Y.W.C.A., (e) banks, (f) labor union offi- cials, (g) employers of Russian labor, (h) public hospitals where Russians are treated, (i) U. S. Im- migration officers, (j) teachers or experts who had special contacts with foreigners. Russians impris- oned on Ellis Island and in Hartford were also per- sonally interviewed. Later, with the authorization of the Assistant Secretary of Labor, Mr. Post, the writer talked with over one hundred other Russians imprisoned by the Federal Government in Detroit and Pittsburgh. The writer wishes to express his appreciation of courtesies extended him in securing copies of letters, documents, and articles from the Foreign Language Governmental Information Bureau, now under the American Red Cross. He is indebted to the various authors of the Americanization studies of the Carnegie Founda- tion for original material and for permitting access to advance copies of their manuscripts, and to the Research Department of the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Association Preface xi for allowing the freedom of their files. He ac- knowledges the kindness of the United States De- partment of Labor In having given him every as- sistance in visiting the prisons where Russians were confined and in furnishing original data. His warmest thanks are due especially to all the Russian Individuals and groups too numerous to mention, who gave so generously of their time, and whose cooperation was essential to the completion of the study. The author is grateful to Dr. Thomas Reed Powell, Dr. Henry R. Seager, Dr. Robert E. Chad- dock, Dr. W. F. Ogburn, and Dr. R. S. Wood- worth for reading certain chapters or making help- ful criticism. He desires also to express his especial appreciation of the assistance of Dr. Alvan A. Ten- ney. To Dr. Franklin H. Glddings the writer feels under lasting obligation for being the first to open his mind to the deeper implications of sociology and for influencing his thinking on the subject of this study. The responsibility for the viewpoint taken and for any errors or shortcomings in the treatment, rests on the writer alone. CONTENTS PAGK Preface. Scope and Method .... vii Chapter I. Introduction: the Russian Problem i 1. Importance of the problem ... 2 2. Dearth of knowledge about Russians in America 4 3. This study a cross section of social forces acting on the immigrant . 4 Chapter II. Migration and Distribution . 6 1. First migrations to Alaska and Cali- fornia 6 2. A slow aggregation 8 3. Estimated numbers in America . . 10 4. Distribution 1 1 5. Migration within the United States 13 6. Summary 15 Chapter III. Environing Economic Forces 16 1. Means of livelihood 16 2. Conditions of labor 19 3. The employer 22 4. Accidents 27 5. The boss 30 6. The labor union 36 7. Wages 42 8. Banks 47 9. Conditions on the farm . . . . 51 10. Conclusion 54 xiv Contents PACK Chapter IV. The Russian in his Home Environment 56 1. Isolation ^6 2. Housing 57 3. Factors relating to health . . . 66 4. Single Russians 77 5. Married Russians 80 6. The second generation .... 83 7. Recreation 84 8. Conclusion 89 Chapter V. Organized Social Forces: Re- ligious and Educational .... 91 1. The Russian Greek Orthodox Church 91 2. The Protestant Church . . . 103 3. American public and private agencies 105 4. Russian non-political organizations . 1 1 1 5. Russian political organizations . . 114 6. The Russian press 123 7. Summary 142 Chapter VI. The Russian's Relation to our Government 144 1. Legislation 144 2. Agencies of law and order: the police 157 3. The Courts 159 4. Federal agents 161 5. The effect of the Russian revolution 172 6. Conclusion 174 Chapter VII. Conclusion 176 1. America's contribution to the Russian 176 2. Isolation and unlikeness of foreign- born Russians 178 3. Need of increasing the likeness be- tween the Russian and American mind 184 Contents xv FACE 4. Possible methods of securing like- mindedness 188 Appendix. The Social Impress of an Au- tocracy 197 1. A peasant immigration . . . .197 2. Land holdings 198 3. Agricultural backwardness . . .198 4. Conditions in industry . . .199 5. The peasant's attitude toward the land 200 6. The cooperative movement . . . 200 7. Health 201 8. The family 202 9. Recreational life 203 10. Religion 204 11. Education 204 12. Relation to the government . . . 205 13. Summary of environmental conditions 208 14. Obstacles to immigration . . . 209 15. Characteristics of the Russian . . 211 Bibliography. The Russians in America . 215 THE RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT CHAPTER I introduction: the Russian problem Never before in history has a democratic nation attempted to assimilate such a large and con- stantly inflowing stream of foreigners as has the United States. In consequence, we have become a heterogeneous nation of mixed races. The thir- teenth census tells us that two-fifths of our popula- tion are foreign-born. During the war it was found that twenty-four and nine-tenths per cent of the men in the draft camps were illiterate.^ Unless we can strengthen likemindedness and a sense of national solidarity this situation is pregnant with danger.^ Following the war the immigration problem has again forced itself on public attention. Congress has for the first time enacted a measure which restricts incoming immigrants to a percentage of the number of the nationals ^ of each country residing here. This effectively stops the flood of foreigners 1 U. S. Bureau of Education, Report of the Commissioner of Education (1919), p. 44. 2 Cf. Giddings, Inductive Sociology (N. Y., 1901), pp. 227-8, "The Laws of Liberty." ^Nationals here means all persons of foreign birth whether naturalized or not. I 2 The Russian Immigrant who desire to escape the hardships resulting from the World War but affords scant aid to the millions now in the United States. Up to Jan. i, 1922, Congress had not yet taken any action whatsoever, on any of the bills for the promotion of Americani- zation.* Within the vast aggregation of foreigners already here, each racial group presents its own problems. Among others, those who came from the old empire of the Russian Tsars have attracted particular attention as including within their ranks dangerous alien agitators and Bolshevik agents. Early in 1920 the Department of Justice took oc- casion to warn the country of the "red menace," and even sent to the newspapers, at its own expense, plates ready for printing with the following head- lines:^ "Warns Nation of the Red Peril — U. S. Department of Justice Urges Americans to Guard Against Bolshevism Menace." We have only to recall the series of raids instigated by state and na- tional authorities during 19 19 and 1920 to appre- ciate the situation. In New York State the Lusk Committee instituted a vigorous search for "red" aliens, while in the nation at large the Department of Justice conducted raids in which over five thou- sand were arrested. It now has cards of two hun- dred thousand ultra-radical individuals and organ- ^ Letter to the author from the Chief Clerk of the U. S. Bureau of Education. * Dean Pound of the Harvard Law School and eleven other prominent lawyers, Report Upon the Illegal Practices of the United States Department of Justice (Washington, 1920), p. 67. The Russian Problem 3 izations in the United States.® According to the report of the Attorney General, fully ninety per cent of those considered the most dangerous are aliens/ Since the chief targets of these activities were those from the Russian Empire and over ninety per cent of those deported were sent to Russia, it is especially important that we know and understand the Russian Slav in America. It is true that since many Russians are now vol- untarily leaving our country, the problem might seem to be simplified; in reality it thus becomes more complex. For two and one-half years the writer was in intimate contact with soldiers and peas- ants in many parts of Russia; and he found it diffi- cult to find a peasant or soldier who had been in America and was still friendly to us. Instead, they cursed us as a nation of money-getters and selfish capitahsts. The thousands of disappointed and em- bittered Russians who have already left our shores are doubtless now acting in many cases as agents of hatred, as they go through city, town, and village; they serve to spread the gospel of enmity towards America, and prejudice large numbers of the people against our nation.** From the merely selfish stand- point of international trade, this will prove costly; from the standpoint of international peace and mu- tual undei'Standing it is most deplorable. The activ- * Report of the Attorney General of the United States, I920, p. 173. ^ Ibid., p. 177. * Professor Petrunkevich of Yale has noted this danger. C/. Standard, Feb., 1920, p. 175. 4 The Russian Immigrant ity of the American Relief Administration and the appropriation of twenty millions by Congress in December, 1921, for the work of that organization in Russia is helping to counteract this; nevertheless the attitude of the multitude of Russians who have been and are now in America, may in the long run count for more. Besides these motives there is yet a stronger rea- son for centering our attention on the Russian Slav. No books in the English language and but meager material describing this one nationality in America are available.^ Most writers have attempted to analyze conditions as they affect the Russians as a part of a general consideration of the immigrant races, sometimes reviewing but one phase of the problem such as health. ^*^ In the present study in- stead of cutting across many racial lines we shall hope to get a cross section, as it were, of the out- standing social forces acting on the one racial group, the Russian. To some extent, however, the experi- ence of the Russian Slav Is the experience of all the races from southeastern Europe. Since 1882, the aliens from southeastern Europe, frequently termed the "new immigration," have been growing numeri- cally over those from northwestern Europe In an ever-increasing ratio. A study of the Russian problem, therefore, will have a value for the larger Slavic group as well. ^ Cf. footnote, Preface, p. viii. 10 See the volumes of the Americanization Studies of the Carnegie Foundation. The Russian Problem 5 Further, a study of one foreign race among us is also in some part a study of American civilization. It will obviously be fragmentary and without unity; but sidelights and a flash here and there may dis- close parts of actual structure that need to be known. These alien races form the human sub-structure of many of our industries. Our treatment of them is one test of the social institutions of our democracy. Do we avail ourselves of the highest scientific knowl- edge in our treatment of potential citizens? Are the trained psychologists, sociologists, and educators, behind our policies and methods? In a democracy, the problem of the potential citizen must be a major one. If we find that intelligent and trained opinion is not being used in treating one problem, it occasions the query, Are we using more rational methods in other fields? Furthermore, it is interesting to raise the question as to how justly in the eyes of a new group of the foreign-born, our democratic institu- tions are functioning. Sociology maintains that if the social point of view which the foreigner brings with him, and the social forces which are to act upon him are known, the attitude which the majority of his nationality will take toward the foreign country to which they come can be predicted. Even a partial description of these forces will help to explain the resulting attitude of the Russian." 1^ The author strongly urges that the section on "The Social Im- press of an Autocracy" in the Appendix be read at this point be- fore tailing up Chapter II. CHAPTER II MIGRATION AND DISTRIBUTION First Migrations to Alaska and California The beginnings of Russian migration to America read like a romance. Over twenty-five years before the United States declared her independence, as early as 1747, Russian colonists, searching for a bet- ter climate and a more fertile soil than Siberia af- forded, embarked in rude boats built of green lum- ber and manned by Russian convicts/ Many of them went safely across Bering Sea, along the coast of Alaska and made their first center at Kodiak Island. A profitable fur trade with the Alaskan natives de- veloped, and some of the latter were won over to the Russian Orthodox faith. In 1792 the Holy Synod sent out a special mission of monks to minister to the colonists and their converts, and the first Orthodox Church was built in America. It proved successful and thousands of natives were baptized. From that time on until the transfer of Alaska to the United States, the number of Russians steadily increased. They pushed out in all directions. Some went on 1 Cf. Semple, E. C, Influences of Geographic Environment (N. Y., 1911), p. 29. 6 Migration and Distribution 7 to Baronoff Island; by 1812 they had explored the California coast, and decided to locate in the red- wood belt of Sonoma County. The tract of timber was the deciding factor in the location; with it they fenced their farms, built their homes and even estab- lished a ship-building plant. They constructed the first ocean-going vessel launched on this side of the Pacific. For thirty years they grew and prospered. They had their cultivated farms, their herds, their schools and churches. Unexpectedly one day a ship arrived from Russia ; in a few minutes the cannon on the cliff were boom- ing and the bell in the Greek Church was ringing, calling the Russians to assemble. Owing to trouble with Spain, the Tsar's regime had ordered the col- onists to return at once. Still believing, as they did, in the Tsar, there was only one thing for them to do. Sorrowfully they abandoned all the accumulations of their toil, and embarked for home. The red- wood buildings still stand as monuments to their ad- venturous achievement.^ Later on, after the sale of Alaska in 1867, many more of the Russians returned home, while others went to California. As a result of their influence, the headquarters of the Russian Church in America was removed to San Francisco in 1872. Since that time, California has always contained an important Russian colony. 2 Gregory, T., Sonoma County, California, pp. 18-28 ; Bancroft, History of California, vol. i, pp. 298, 628-635; vol. 2, chaps, xiv, xxviii. 8 The Russian Immigrant A Slow Aggregation It was not until 1872 that from the entire Russian empire, exclusive of Poland, as many as one thousand immigrants entered the United States in any one year.^ By 1882 the number had increased to 16,918 and in 1892 reached its high water-mark for any year in the nineteenth century, with 81,511 immigrants. These figures, however, are of little value as an indi- cation of the actual number of Russian Slavs who came to America. The records of the census are not sufficiently detailed. Until 1899, with the exception of Poland, all who came from territory controlled by the Tsar's government were classified as Rus- sians. The statistics of those entering from 1899 to 1 9 10 show that the predominating element from the Empire, or 43.8 per cent, were Jews; next came the Poles with 27.0 per cent, while the Russians com- prised only 4.4 per cent, the remainder being scat- tered among various other nationalities.^ It seems probable, therefore, that up to 1899 the number of Russian Slavs was insignificant. From Russia the Jews were the chief settlers in America and their enthusiastic reports stimulated the Russians them- selves to make the venture. From the year 1899, however, there was almost a steady increase in the number of Russian immigrants until in the year 19 13 alone there entered a total of ^Reports of the Immigration Commission (1911), vol. 3, table 9, p. 14. * Ibid., vol. 3, p. 52. Migration and Distribution 9 51,472. In 19 14, the war stopped further immi- gration from Russia and to-day a revolutionary Bol- shevik power prohibits emigration, so that from 19 14 on, America has been, if anything, losing Rus- sians through emigration instead of gaining them. Estimated Numbers in America There were in the United States in 19 10, accord- ing to the census, 57,926 foreign-born Russians; but 13,781 were Russians from Austria and 1,400 were from Hungary. On the other hand, 3,402 persons were counted as Ruthenians who came out of Rus- sia. In all, therefore, probably about 46,147 for- eign-born Russians were to be found in the United States in 1910.^ In addition, the same census re- cords 37,211 Russians of foreign or mixed parent- age born in this country. From July i, 19 10, to June 30, 1919, there has been a net increase of 76,595 Russians over those departing.® This would make a total now in the United States of 159,953; but we have not included the surplus of births over deaths among the Russians here. Yet the 1920 Census records 392,049 foreign-born Russians in the ^ In considering these figures it should be remembered that our census listed as Russians all those who called Russian their native language. But since the last Russian census, in 1897, records the fact that two per cent of the entire European population were Jews who would fall within this class, and since the great majority of emigrants to America from Russia were Jews, undoubtedly much more than two per cent were so included in our census. Cf. Thirteenth Census, Population, vol. i, table 3, p. 963. ^ U. S. Bureau of Immigration, Annual Report of the Commis- sioner-General of Immigration. TO The Russian Immigrant United States and including those born in America of Russian parentage, a total of 731,949. Those familiar with the methods of census enumeration know that this number is open to a large possible error. Different authorities make widely varying estimates. The Inter-Racial Council and the Presi- dent of the Central Executive Committee of the Fed- eration of Russian Organizations in the United States, Professor Alexander Petrunkevich of Yale, estimate that in 1920 there were at least 400,000 Russians here," while Dr. Hourwich, a well-known writer on immigration, places the number below 300,000.* The figure given by the Secretary to the Russian Consul General in the same year was ap- proximately half a million, while that of the head of the Russian department of the American Red Cross is as high as 600,000. Although these conjectures are of uncertain value, the official census figures would seem to justify accepting the number as about 700,000, although this is an increase of 700 per cent since 1910. Distribution When the Russian first lands in America, he is practically in poverty. From 19 10 to 19 14 inclu- sive, out of 155,002 only 8,332, or 5.3 per cent, had over fifty dollars.^ Almost penniless, his first task '^ The Standard, February, 1920, p. 176. ® Estimate given in an interview with the writer. ^ U. S. Bureau of Immigration, Annual Report of the Commis- sioner-General of Immigration, table 7, pp. 20-21, 1910; pp. 20-21, 1911; pp. 74-75, 1912; pp. 46-47. 1913; PP- 42-43. I9H- Migration and Distribution 1 1 is to find employment. His destination is usually determined by one or both of two factors, the de- mand for hard labor in factory and mine, and the location of other Russian groups. The following table is only indicative of the dis- tribution of the Russians in the United States to-day: The Number of rp,, ^ ^ ..t? t» • • ^u T he Intended Fu- Kussians in the ^ t> • j t. Chief States Ac- [^'^ Residence of cording to the Cen- the Russians Ad- r* ^L mittedtothe sus or iQio in the tt •.. j c * c r\^A^^ ^t T-k^:^ United States From Order or 1 heir ,„ T .. IQIO to IQIO 1" Importance ^ ^ ^ State Order Number Order Number New York i 34,612 i 50,189 Pennsylvania 2 24,558 2 27,401 Illinois 3 4,036 4 15,199 New Jersey 4 4,031 6 7, 861 Ohio 5 3,871 8 4,384 Connecticut 6 3,013 7 7,328 Massachusetts 7 2,674 3 16,372 North Dakota 8 1,886 20 920 Maryland 9 1,875 9 4,^46 California 10 1,828 11 2,997 Minnesota 11 1,517 13 2,453 Michigan I2 1,274 5 8,378 Missouri 13 1,104 ^7 i,ii9 Wisconsin 14 956 15 2,029 Washington 15 666 10 3,222 Colorado 16 546 27 490 Iowa 17 511 21 899 Indiana 18 504 16 1,420 West Virginia 21 376 14 2,040 New Hampshire 29 251 12 2,490 Others 5,048 . . 9,738 Total 95,137 171,075 According to the distribution in 19 lo, we find that of the total, 95,137, New York had over 34,000, ^"Compiled from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner- General of Immigration. 12 The Russian Immigrant or 36.5 per cent, Pennsylvania over 24,000 or 25.2 per cent, while New Jersey and Illinois had only about 4,000 each and Ohio just over 3,800. Accord- ing to the 19 10 Census, five-eighths of all the Rus- sians were in New York and Pennsylvania. Once a substantial number of Russians have ar- rived in America and found work, we might expect that others as they come would seek to join them. As a matter of fact, we find that those arriving since the 19 10 Census have done this only in part. At least the table showing the list of the states in the order of intended future residence of those en- tering from 19 10 until 19 19, does not follow ex- actly the order of the distribution by states as shown by the Census of 1910.^^ Massachusetts occupies the seventh instead of the third place, displacing IlHnois. Michigan is in the fifth Instead of the twelfth place, displacing Ohio, Connecticut, and New Jersey; New Hampshire appears in the twelfth place instead of the twenty-ninth, while North Da- kota falls from eighth to twentieth. These differ- ences seem to reflect changes In our industrial order and a shifting of nationalities In certain industries. Massachusetts is now using large numbers of Rus- sians In her textile industries which have expanded rapidly since 19 10. Michigan has developed huge " It must be remembered that this is not necessarily conclusive evidence. Each table is based on diflferent data, one representing where the Russians actually were in 1910, the other where, since that date, the Russians declared they were going to live after their entry into the United States. Migration and Distribution 13 automobile plants, while New Hampshire now uses large numbers of Russians in her paper mills. As for North Dakota, she has little more available good land for homesteading and, in any case, a large amount of capital is needed to develop it success- fully. No doubt the war played its part in shifting the Russians to the munition and shipbuilding centers. New England now has a larger number of Russians than it had in 19 10. The Inter-Racial Council esti- mated in 1920 the approximate numbers of Russians in the more important states as follows: "New York, 60,000; Illinois, 50,000; Massachusetts, 40,- 000; Pennsylvania, 35,000; Ohio, 45,000; Michi- gan, 30,000; New Jersey, 35,000; Connecticut, 20,- 000. According to the same source the largest Rus- sian colonies are to be found in the following cities : New York, 25,000; Detroit, 17,000; Chicago, 20,- 000; San Francisco, 15,000; Pittsburgh, 14,000; Philadelphia, 12,000; Newark, 10,000; Jersey City, 8,000; Cleveland, 5,000; St. Louis, 5,000." ^^ Migration Within the United States Within the United States, the Russian family groups do not move often. After talking with over one hundred famihes scattered in the various cities visited, the writer found that eighty-five per cent of them, irrespective of the length of their stay in 12 Vilchur, M., The Russians in America (N. Y., 1918), gives approximately the same figures, pp. 60-61. 14 The Russian Immigrant the United States, had not made more than one change from city to city, if they had moved at all. This is, of course, not a large enough statistical sample to be conclusive, but it seems probable, once a family is settled, takes in boarders, rents a house or apartment, that it would find moving difficult, and the testimony of the Russian priests to the author was one further confirmatory evidence. It is chiefly during strike conditions, general unemployment, or unusual opportunities to secure better work, that the Russian family moves. If the man hears of better work elsewhere, he will sometimes go alone to test it out, sending for the family if everything proves satisfactory. Russians without families in this country move somewhat more frequently. Some of them have been in as many as eight different states in five years, but this is unusual. In seventy-eight cases of Rus- sian political prisoners in Detroit who came to the United States within the last fourteen years,^^ the following facts are significant: twelve out of the 78 or 15 per cent had remained in the same place since coming to America, the average number of changes in residence was 2.2 times in 7 years." These facts seem to indicate that even the single Rus- sians do not move often. These men may not have been typical of the average Russian, but it would appear that those who have been arrested or who 1^ Only two of these had wives in this country. 1^ From a personal investigation made by the author. Migration and Distribution 15 have grown dissatisfied through failure to become adjusted to America, would move more frequently than those who have become so adjusted. Summary The aggregation of Russians in the United States has conformed to a law both of physics and of so- ciology: it has followed the line of least resistance. The mass of Russians have taken the first positions that were available and this has concentrated them in urban communities. According to the United States Census, 87 per cent of all the foreign-born from the Russian empire exclusive of Finland lived there in 1910.^'^ Because they have been played upon in like ways by similar forces they have become segregated in colonies and industrial centers. The various social and economic forces in Russia and America have acted on them to place them where they were just as truly as have the giant glaciers acted on certain boulders and rocks to leave them in the valleys. In the succeeding chapters we shall attempt to trace other forces which are molding the attitude of these newcomers towards our people and our country. 15 Thirteenth Census, Population, vol. i, table 22, p. 8r8. CHAPTER III ENVIRONING ECONOMIC FORCES We have seen that the economic and social con- ditions of the Russian newcomers force them to ac- cept almost any opening in the labor market. We shall now attempt to analyze some of the definite stimuli which affect them in their new and strange economic world. Means of Livelihood The Russian born are chiefly to be found among the lowest types of manual laborers in the mines and factories of America. Definite statistics as to what proportions are engaged in the various occupations at the present time are not obtainable. The United States Immigration Commission made a study in 1909 of 507,256 wage-earners in mines and manu- facturing establishments of America and found that of these, 1.6 per cent of the male and .9 per cent of the female foreign-born workers were Russian. To be more exact, there were 6,588 male and 914 female foreign-born Russian workers and 1,299 male and 1,305 female native-born workers of Rus- sian parents constituting in all 1.5 per cent of the total number of wage-earners investigated. Most 16 Environing Economic Forces 17 of the foreign-born were found in coal mining and in the iron and steel industries. This fact has been confirmed by other studies/ A ranking of the in- dustries according to the number found employed in them made by the Immigration Commission follows: Russian Parentage Industry ^^^^ .^^ j^^^^j^ ^^^^ ^^ U_ S. Coal Mining 1,853 176 Iron and Steel i»372 150 Slaughtering, Meat Packing 1,010 324 Clothing 536 555 Wool and Worsted Goods 527 52 Cotton Goods 471 87 Sugar Refining 372 2i Agricultural Implements 307 250 Cigars and Tobacco 220 180 Leather 207 106 Glass 147 84 Boots and Shoes 123 64 Oil Refining 103 14 Construction Work 103 2 Silk Goods 70 489 Iron, Ore Mining 24 6 Collars, Cuffs and Shirts 22 4 Furniture 18 21 Copper Mining, Smelting 6 17 Silk Dyeing 5 o These statistics record over three times as many foreign as native born. They seem to indicate that the second generation Russian leaves the harder lines of work and shifts into the easier. For ex- ample, in coal mining there was the proportion of 10 foreign to one native-born of Russian parents, in iron and steel 9 to i, and in sugar refining about 1 Vilchur, M., The Russians in America, op. cit., p. 62; Balch, E. G., Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (N. Y., 1910), p. 282. 1 8 The Russian Immigrant 1 8 to I. Yet in agricultural implements, leather, glass, boots and shoes, and tobacco there are over half as many native of Russian parents as foreign- born; in clothing there are more of the second gen- eration, while in silk goods there are seven times as many.^ Another investigation conducted by the U. S. Im- migration Commission in 1909 among 80,000 em- ployees on the Pacific Coast and in the Rocky Moun- tain States showed that the greatest number of Rus- sians were in the following industries, in the order of their importance : ^ i , steam railway ; 2, coal min- ing; 3, lumber; 4, beet sugar manufacturing; 5, can- neries; 6, glass; 7, smelting; 8, cement; 9, electric railways. It will be noticed that these are all indus- tries in which large numbers of unskilled workers are employed. The Russians take the job at the bottom of the ladder; they have the roughest and hardest tasks; as they express it in their native lan- guage, they do the "black work." This is doubtless inevitable since they are illiterate, penniless, and speak a foreign language, but it is unfortunate that the conditions in the industries employing these marginal workers should be as unfavorable as they are. 2 It should also be borne in mind that the Russian immigration is new, and that these industries may use more children than the others. ■^Abstracts of Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. i, table 3, p. 627. Environing Economic Forces 19 Conditions of Labor We have seen that the greatest number of Rus- sians are found in coal mining and the iron and steel industry. Let us examine briefly the conditions un- der which they labor. Judge Gary has admitted that 69,000 men have been working the twelve-hour day (that is from eleven to fourteen hours) for the U. S. Steel Corporation.* The author's investiga- tion as well as that of others including the Inter- Church and the Pittsburgh Survey, has found that most of the Russians are in the class that has been working in this way; they are subjected not only to the twelve-hour shift but the seven-day week.^ About every fortnight they have been forced to work an eighteen- or twenty-four-hour day, when the turn from a night to a day shift occurred. "In some plants the thirty-six-hour turn is still not un- known." ^ What this means in the actual life of the employee can be realized by the testimony of one of them. "Time on the job, 91 hours; eating, about 9; street car (45 minutes each way), 10.5; sleep (7^ hours a day), 52,5; dressing, undress- ing, washing, and so forth, 5; that totals 168 or every single hour in the week, and it's how I slave." This is not a rare occurrence for those who live a * U. S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor, Investigation of Strike in Steel Industries (1919), vol. i, p. 157. ^ Inter-Church World Movement Report on the Steel Strike of I919 (N. Y., 1920), pp. 44-84. ^Ibid., p. 47. 20 The Russian Immigrant considerable distance from their work, and is bit- terly resented. As another Slavic worker expressed it, "Wor'rk, wor'rk always every day, every week, ten hours days and twelve hours nights — alia time — no spell — and alia time every d furnace hongry." "^ The twelve-hour day does violence to the Russian's play instinct just as truly as to that of an American, although each might find expression for it in a different manner. Furthermore, as the Inter-Church report says, "The twelve-hour day makes any attempt at 'Americanization' or other civic or individual development for one-half of all immigrant steel workers arithmetically impossible." (p. 12). It is not the long hours alone which arouse re- sentment, but the fact that in contrast to former work in the fields, the present tasks are hazardous, unhealthful and unpleasant. To those who have been through a large steel mill at night a description is unnecessary. For those who have not, let me quote from an officer of a steel company who him- self went into the steel mills and worked as a com- mon laborer for several months during 1919 : "Then when the white-hot steel is roaring and blazing into the huge ladle — he must lift large paper sacks of coal to his shoulder, run towards the ladle and with all his strength hurl them into the blazing, scorch- ing torrent. Thereupon the flames, fed by the ■'Williams, W., What's on the Worker's Mind (N. Y., 1920), p. 25. Environing Economic Forces 21 carbon, leap to the roof and the heat is fearful," ^ Or again the same observer remarked that he could not have stayed ten minutes in the checker cham- ber: the temperature was so high that scientists could prove it was impossible to maintain life there (sic). Yet the foreigners endure it for half-hour periods at a time, taking out brick.^ The reaction of a Russian to these tasks, while not so violent as that of an American, nevertheless is distinct. Even when the tasks are not so hazardous as the ones mentioned, they are likely to be grindingly monoto- nous and are carried on at a higher speed and more continuously than anything the Russian has before known. In the mines the hours are shorter, but the lack of light and air and the constant stooping posi- tion (depending on the mine worked) is just as strange. Furthermore, the Russian claims that he is assigned the worst seams where the work is hard- est and the proportion of slag is greatest. In gen- eral, the conditions of labor in the mines have been found better than in steel.^° Nevertheless, many Russians, owing to the irregularity of the employ- ment and the underground work, prefer the steel industry." ^ Ibid., p. 35. ^ Ibid., p. 247. 1*' C/. Commons, J. R., in Charities and Commons (1909), XXI, p. 1051. 11 From 1913-1S the average number of forced idle days in the coal areas of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pittsburgh was over 158. gtelzle, C, World Outlook, Jan., 1920, p. 38. 22 The Russian Immigrant For the larger proportion of Russians, the job is their first real taste of America and it is decidedly a bitter one. The contrast to Russia makes it diffi- cult for him successfully to adjust himself to the speed and monotony of large scale production even in such employments as textile or automobile manu- facture. Nevertheless, those who find themselves in mining or steel might change to other industries if they knew how, but the difficulties in the way appear formidable. In ordinary times it is no easy task to find work in an unfamiliar occupation. Unless the immigrant were particularly fortunate after his arrival, he must have had an anxious period of hunt- ing employment. The fear of joblessness and of the loss of savings makes him endure what he otherwise would not. Even in such a prosperous year as 19 19, Whiting Williams, a college graduate with a splen- did physique, had great difficulty in getting work.^" How much harder it must have been for the Russian is indicated by the fact that hundreds were out of employment in Pittsburgh alone in the same year/^ The Employer In the early stages of American industry the Rus- sian might have hoped at least to see his employer. There would have been a chance for some point of ^'- Williams, op. cit., pp. 3-10. '^According to testimony given to the writer by representatives of the International Institute, by the Russians themselves, and by investigators of the Inter-Church World Movement. Environing Economic Forces 23 contact making for mutual understanding and co- operation. To-day except for vague concepts from hearsay and misrepresentation, the employer is an entirely unknown quantity to the Russian. Nor is this entirely one-sided. In the "absentee" type of corporation to which the basic industries of which we have been speaking belong, the employer rarely sees, much less knows, anything about the workmen. This is well illustrated in the steel industry. As the Inter-Church report states, "Ultimate control of the plants was vested in a small group of financiers whose relation to the producing force was remote. The financial group's machinery of control gave it full knowledge of output and dividends but neg- ligible information of working and living condi- tions." ^^ In the investigation conducted by the writer in factories and mines in Eastern states, the manage- ment seemed to know almost nothing about the Russians employed. In many cases they did not even know how many of that nationality were on their books, for Poles, Finns, Jews and other races were lumped together. At one time the sending out of a questionnaire to manufacturers on the num- ber of Russians employed, their health, housing and living conditions, was considered by the writer. The project was abandoned on the advice of the person- nel departments of a number of plants, who said the companies themselves did not have the facts. ^* Inter-Church Report, op. cit., p. ii. 24 The Russian Immigrant The personnel superintendent of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., for example, said that al- though that company has been employing Russians in all departments, they have "no statistics to show how many there are." A letter from the secretary to the Immigration Committee of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association of New York City, advised that such a questionnaire would be useless, as "most large employers know very little about the character or habits of their employees aside from productive ability." ^^ The attitude which an employer assumes towards the worker is partly the product of social pressure and in some cases seems to have its primary source in the organs of public opinion. At any rate, after the scare about the Bolsheviks had been sensation- ally exploited by our press, Russians began to be laid off right and left simply on account of their nationality. Harvey Anderson, formerly in charge of Y.M.C.A. work for Russians in America, sums up the general situation in 19 19 as follows: "Since the 'Bolshevik' regime began in Russia, the Russian is regarded everywhere as a 'Bolshevik' and is shunned. I encountered a case the other day where an employer got the idea that the distinguishing feature of a 'Bolshevik' was a beard, so he refused to give employment to some faithful and loyal Old Believers whose religious conviction does not per- mit them to shave. Whenever the employer has 18 Letter to the writer from M. E. Dodge, Dec. 29, 1920. Environing Economic Forces 25 found It necessary to cut down the number of em- ployees, the Russian has been the first to go. When he seeks new employment he is inevitably met with the suspicion that he is a 'Bolshevik' and he goes on hunting for a job and in his soul grows and grows a spirit of revolt. He begins to hate Amer- ica and everything American, and is ready to believe anything bad about her." ^^ The inevitable result has been that whereas these men were good honest workers, they became revolt- ers against the existing order. This is expressed in a letter from an educated Russian of Worcester, Mass. : "Many thousands of Russians in this coun- try while they work have hardly enough to live on, and now that the war is ended, they are discharged from factories, and told 'You are a Bolshevik.' Many of them do not know what Bolshevism and what capitalism mean — but they make real Bolshe- viks out of them." In Akron in 1920 some Rus- sians even shaved their beards and used English names in order to get jobs as Americans. Representatives of several large firms frankly told the writer that they" refused employment to Russians. "We can get plenty of other nationali- ties," said one employer, "why take Bolsheviks?" Unfortunately, from the standpoint of the Russian worker, it does not seem quite so simple or so fair. He comes to our country, works seven years In the steel plant, loses his best strength in the work, and 18 From an unpublished statement transmitted to the author. 26 The Russian Immigrant then is laid off because the Bolsheviks seize control in Russia. The great majority stoically struggle on, but a priest told me of two who were found dead on the railroad track with the following note in Rus- sian : "We prefer death to starvation. Have slaved in a steel plant for seven years. Now they discharge us and we can't find a job." This discrimination against the Russian on the part of the employer, and lack of information, lead to equally absurd conclusions by the worker, who is led to believe that like the rich barons in Russia, the greedy capitalist is exploiting him for profit. Mr. Whiting Williams, whom we have mentioned, after his experience as a laborer, states that "the relation between the large employer and, for the most part, the foreign-born and foreign-speaking worker in the labor gangs" is expressed by the phrase of the workers, "Aw, w'at da hell! w'at da hell da companee care 'bout us?" Mr. Williams concludes that the astounding ignorance of the worker "concerning the plans and purposes, the aims and ideals, the character of the other human element in the same problem, his employer, is un- equaled by anything I can think of — unless it is his employer's ignorance of him ! To each the other stands as the 'x' in the equation of the factory or- ganization." " Because this is true, it is all the more unfortunate and a potential cause of trouble that there is no 1^ Williams, W., Collier's Weekly, July 3, 1920, p. 7. Environing Economic Forces 27 department in a great many of these plants to settle a grievance or to give information. Mistakes occur in industrial life as elsewhere, and too often the Slav does not know how to secure redress. Even Mr. Williams found himself "fired" when he tried to secure a loan on the wages already due him in a steel plant. In another case he nearly lost his wages because he had no time card and on leaving the company was unable to secure his money because it was not pay day.^* These and a hundred other things occur with Russian workers who do not know English and, not having the social background to understand that it is partly their own fault, they often set it down as deliberate injustice. Accidents The feeling that the employer, like the Russian baron, cares nothing for the worker, receives a fur- ther stimulus from the prevalence of accidents and the absence, in many cases, of any particular effort on the part of the company to make permanent pro- vision for the injured. Although the employers' liability laws and safety appliances have eliminated both a great many accidents and also a large share of the injustice connected with them, there is still room for a great deal of improvement. In the coal mines alone there were 2,317 fatalities in 19 19 and 2,260 in 1920.^^ Indeed the average death rate 1^ Williams, W., op. cit., pp. 144 and 161. 18 U. S. Bureau of Mines, Monthly Statement of Coal Mine Fatalities in the United States, June, 1921, p. 6. 28 The Russian Immigrant from accidents in coal mining per one thousand workers in the United States is three times that of Great Britain.^" The number of those who are merely injured in coal mining and in the iron and steel industry, although unknown must be far larger. Yet a surprising number of injured Russians still claim never to have received any compensation. In the few cases the author attempted to investigate, the failure seemed to be due to the ignorance of the Russian, his lack of legal advice, and the fact that he feared that action on his part might debar him from all chances of further employment by the same company. It also seems to be true that the Russian is indifferent to danger; he is willing to accept haz- ardous work and therefore is injured oftener than many other nationalities. Nevertheless, in common with most people, after he has been injured, he feels that he has been unfairly treated and is sometimes very bitter about the indifference of the company to his plight. This feeling seems to be shared to some extent by all the Russians. Most of the states have fairly adequate compen- sation laws but New Hampshire and New Jersey, two states in which considerable numbers of Russians are employed, still expressly exclude alien non-resi- dent dependents from compensation.^^ Even in Pennsylvania and in New York, the Russians claim ^° International Labor Review, vol. v, no. i, Jan., 1922, p. 140. 21 Pamphlet of the American Association for Labor Legislation, Nov., 1920. Environing Economic Forces 29 that since communication with Russia has been sev- ered following the Bolshevik control, no compensa- tion could be collected in most cases for wives and children in the homeland. The writer has listened to scores of cases cited by Russian priests, who were willing to swear to the facts, that injured men of their congregations had received no compensation in spite of the law. They, too, testify that the Rus- sian is ignorant of its provisions and has scant legal aid. The following is merely one illustration from Father Kozuboff of Hartford : "In the hospital now there lies a man whose legs were crushed when a bucket for loading coal broke loose from the chain. The doctor says he can never walk, yet when he leaves the hospital he gets nothing, for he has no witnesses to the accident." Whether or not such statements are exaggerated, they go to show that the Russian is a mere cog in the machine of production. Indeed, he does not receive the care that parts of a machine do. They are constantly oiled and pro- tected. Every possible care is taken of them, and when the machine is not in use a guard is kept on the premises. But for the human cog, little thought is taken. He can over-work, eat bad food, sleep in rooms ill-ventilated and unsanitary — and the em- ployer seemingly cares nothing. When the Russian "lays off" the job there is too often no human guard from the factory to see what can be done to help and protect him. If the cog is smashed to atoms or even only injured so that he needs patching, the accident 30 The Russian Immigrant insurance covers the costs. The cog can be replaced immediately without cost by a new Russian. If the machine is broken, it means delay in production and new costs. In a large steel plant visited in the summer of 1920, the doctor stated that an aver- age of one-fifth of the working force visited the dis- pensary every month. "Most of them come from accidents to their eyes. We have not yet secured glasses which can be worn in the intense heat of the blast furnace," said he. Now although the Russian is of a stoical tempera- ment and accepts these conditions with seeming in- difference, if one can win his confidence, his real thoughts can be uncovered. He feels that he is being treated as a mere tool; that his unknown com- pany employer does not care what happens to him. The Boss In contrast to the employer whom he rarely if ever sees, the worker is in very close and constant relations with one man, the boss or foreman, who comes more and more to represent the industry to him. Often he is even hired or fired by the boss and if he does pass through an employment depart- ment it is merely for a formal question or two and for registration on the company's books. Not only is the boss an ever-present reality, but he is usually so unlike the Russian that mutual misunderstanding results. In the great majority of factories and shops which Environing Economic Forces 31 the writer has visited, the foreman for the unskilled alien is also a foreigner. There were German, Polish, Italian, Irish, Magyar, and Welsh bosses — Mr. Williams speaks also of Greek and Spanish. Too often the most conspicuous "Americanism" they have absorbed is profanity. Mr. Williams expresses it in these words, "The gang bosses, at least those of the labor gangs, seem to be the worst examples of what-the-hell philosophy." " That neither the boss nor the Russian wholly understands the other is but natural, for they are unlike products of different European backgrounds, possessing strong racial an- tagonisms. Sometimes all they have in common in the matter of language is a most meager vocabulary, slang English, "job" phrases pronounced with a for- eign accent to the accompaniment of much profan- ity. It is natural that when the worker is new, his lack of understanding is profound, hence the num- ber of oaths that are hurled at him is enormous. It is small wonder that he dislikes the boss even when he is an American. H. W. Anderson, formerly in charge of the Y.M.C.A. work for Russians in America, says: The Russian has ever thought of the government as an oppressor, and he transfers his mistrust, suspicion and hate for the Russian government to the "boss" where he works, who represents to him America. A few days ago we wit- nessed a typical incident. Something had gone wrong with the work of some Russians. The men were not to blame, 22 Williams, op. cit., p. 18. 32 The Russian Immigrant yet the young American foreman blamed it all on the , , lazy . They faced the angry tirade of the fore- man with stolid, sullen faces and made no reply, but in their hearts they registered one more case against America.^^ This is but a typical specimen of conditions which are all too widely prevalent. It is true that some of the Russians draw a dis- tinction between the squad foreman who works with them and the boss foreman. The former shares in their labor and is often friendly, but they consider the latter as almost invariably bad, feeling that he deliberately makes them do work that is too difficult. For example, a Russian in Philadelphia said, "The boss makes two of us carry steel which should require four. If I refuse, I lose my job. Lots of weeks the work is so heavy I get pains in my back and have to lay off three days out of seven." Or again, in a mill in Pittsburgh, the boss, Pete, accord- ing to the testimony of a Russian, is a giant who can do the work of two ordinary men. In some- what exaggerated language more clearly to convey his meaning, he said: "The boss can lift two tons himself. He will watch us straining to lift a two- ton iron and will laugh at us and yell, 'You Polack, push.' We will break our backs try- ing and he will not lift a finger to help us." Occasionally the writer ran across Russians who did have good foremen as in the following case. "Bopp, our foreman, has lost an eye, and is a good 23 From an unpublished statement transmitted to the author. Environing Economic Forces 33 American. When the work is heavy he will help us. He rarely swears at us, all the other bosses do." But even in this case, the Russian did not have any more friendly attitude toward the management. He seemed to feel that "Bopp" was good in spite of a grasping and dishonest company. The Inter-Church Report summarizes what it considers the grievances in the life of the Russian immigrant steel worker as follows: Nine times out of ten he is a peasant, taking an industrial job for the first time. At the start, only as wages fail to keep him and his family as he wants them to be kept, or the hours break down his health, does he care much about "con- trolling'" either wages or hours. What matters most to him is that if the mill is shut down, he is the first to be laid off; if the job is unusually hot, greasy, or heavy, he is the first to be set to it. He is the most arbitrarily, often brutally, shifted and ordered about; if he takes a lay-off, he is the most likely to be heavily docked, and he is the most likely to be kept beyond his hour with no additional pay. If there is sickness in his home or he is otherwise kept away, his excuses get the shortest shrift. If he is the butt of unusual prejudice in either his foreman or some fellow worker evinced in profanity or the penalties of always the nastier task, he knows least where to go for redress or how to speak it.^* Yet the writer is convinced that aside from the fact that the Russian is usually the marginal worker, -* Inter-Church Report, op. cit., pp. 135-136. The above quota- tion includes certain other foreign workers besides the Russian.) 34 The Russian Immigrant most of these grievances arise directly from his rela- tions with the boss who to the worker typifies the Industry. For his Master's thesis at Chicago University, J. S. Cole ^^ made a careful study of 1 12 single Rus- sians, the majority of whom were either employed in the stock yards of Chicago or in stables, or were temporarily out of work. He reported that they were very bitter against the boss, their attitude be- ing summed up in the following remarks : "Before war, very good; but now all, no mat- ter what nationality, laid off on least excuse. If horse no can pull wagon, put on another horse. If man no can pull truck, lay him off." "Foreman very severe; sometimes lay off day for being minute late. Rush so at work that you almost faint. Treatment worse now since it is very easy to replace men." "Boss very hard. Fired one man, he was in his place two minutes before whistle blew to enter shop." "Bosses very unreasonable. One man left truck to get drink and boss fired him. Have to bribe boss to keep job." "Too strict about time; If one minute late, dock one-half hour. Getting worse all the time. Often work so hard get weak and when tell foreman he says we are drunk." 25 Cole, J. S. R. (Chicago, 1919), unpublished study transmitted to the author. Environing Economic Forces 35 "Treat Russian like dog." After talking with several hundred Russians in mining and steel plants, the writer found the re- sponses much the same; ninety per cent or more fear and hate the boss. Even when ignorant of English they are all famihar with the common epithet he hurls at them, "You Polack." The dis- regard of all racial distinctions simply accentuates the insult. In their eyes the boss is as autocratic and domineering as the Tsar's officials. And so, during working hours, the chief social bond affect- ing the worker's effort is despotic power and a fear- inspired obedience. This is not true of all the Rus- sian workers, but there is something of this feeling among a great many. It is tempered by the fact that they are free to leave the employment per- manently at the end of a day's work, but in that case the job is gone and savings begin to dwindle. The Russians expressed their feelings to the writer in these terms — to cite two examples: "The boss is worse than the Tsar's officials; they would flog us and let us go, he drives us to a slow death." "If he were good, would not be boss. Boss like dog, always snapping and swearing at every- body." These reactions in the mind of the Russian show how little friendship he has for the boss. No doubt part of this is inevitable in the relationship which must exist between the one directing a task and a 36 The Russian I ru migrant group of ignorant foreigners who are doing the ac- tual disagreeable work, yet at present it does seem that the relationship is unnecessarily antagonistic. Apparently little or no attempt is made in our basic industries to give adequate instruction to the fore- men or bosses in the art of human relations, and as a result the Russian does not see the good side of the management or of America in the factory or mine. Instead, the contrast to his former free peas- ant toil in the fields eats into his soul; the boss has instilled the caustic of resentment. He is the task- master who drives him on at a killing pace, who exploits him — he seems to represent America. The Labor Union The Russian toiling at the bottom of our indus- trial ladder has no chance to join the ordinary trade union which is jealously watched over by the skilled or semi-skilled. Even for the exceptional Russian of ability, the initiation fee is likely to be higher than he cares to pay. One of the educated Russians, a skillful carpenter, told me he could not afford to pay the initiation fee, nor did he care to serve as an apprentice at the low rate of pay required by the Union before he would be eligible for the better position. He preferred to work as a non-union man. For the rank and file of the Russians working outside of the mines, there is little opportunity to join a labor group other than the I.W.W., or the purely Russian political organization known as ''The Environing Economic Forces 37 Union of Russian Workers," which will be treated in another chapter. The head of the Union's Fed- eration in Akron stated that although there were hundreds of Russians in the rubber plants, there was not a single one in the Union. On the other hand, as we have already noted, the Russian in his native land has been used to coopera- tion. He is therefore willing and eager to join with his fellows in a class organization. Furthermore, in industrial conflicts his idealism and loyalty to the union even at great cost to himself are well known. No doubt the most important reason for this is that he feels the bad conditions under which he is work- ing and that he has less to lose, but there is still another reason: he is used to hardship and coopera- tive effort and will endure to the end if the group will thereby gain. This was shown in the great an- thracite coal strike of 1902, in the strike in the Chi- cago slaughter houses in 1904, in the textile strike in Massachusetts and the steel strike in Pennsylvania in 1919.-'^ The attitude of the Russians in the steel industry as an American labor organizer, W. Z. Foster, views it, follows: He has that group idea very strongly developed. In his own country individualism plays a small part. He is labeled and tagged and oppressed, and he is classed, and his psycholog>- is pretty simple over there. He knows what he is, and if there is any possible chance for him to do any- thing, he feels that it is as a group, not as an individual. -^ Cf. Balch, op. cit., pp. 290-291. 38 The Russian Immigrant He comes over here and he seems to respond to an appeal better than Americans do. But he is very materialistic in his demands. You know you can convince the Americans and you can hold an organization for years in a plant with- out getting a cent of benefit out of it directly. But the foreigner you can't hold that way. He comes in for in- crease of wages and shortening of hours. He comes in quite readily, but if you don't get him the results, he drops away quite readily also. Then a peculiar thing happens. When the fight occurs, he is a splendid fighter. He has the American beaten when it comes to a fight. I don't say that in criticism of the American, but I think it is due to the position he occupies in the industry. The American usually holds the good job, and he has a home half paid for, and he is full of responsi- bility; whereas the foreigner is more foot-loose; has a poor job anyway, and he doesn't feel that so much is at stake. He will stick, while the American will go back to work. That is what happened in the mills just now. When the fight occurs the foreigner displays a wonderful amount of idealism, a wonderful amount of stick-to-it-iveness that is altogether dissimilar to the intensely materialistic spirit he shows in his union transactions.^'^ The Bulletins issued every few days by the Na- tional Committee for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers were printed in Slavic and Polish as well as English. The Russian workers usually had some one who could read either one of these languages or could translate from the Enghsh. The character of the text was naturally not such as to make them 27 Inter-Church Report, op. cit., pp. 162-163. Environing Economic Forces 39 look favorably on our capitalists or the American press. Several of the Russian workers furnished copies and the following is from Number 13, dated October 23, 1919: "Trade Unions are mighty in power, but their power is not like the power of the Steel Trust. The Steel Trust has millions and millions of dollars to fight with ; the labor unions have no money or very little, but they have millions and millions of men.'* Bulletin Number 12, dated October 20, states that the Homestead steel plant, in absolute contra- diction to the newspaper accounts, is closed instead of "running 'practically' at capacity." These bulletins, together with inflammatory speeches at those meetings which were permitted, as well as the action of the constabulary, to be treated later, increased the hostility of the Russians towards America. When the strike was lost, the Russians complained about the Union as useless and of Amer- ican workers as traitors for going back before it was ended. "We didn't start the strike," said one to me, "Americans are at the head of it. They told us that we would be traitors to our fellow workmen if we did not support it. Now we have done it and the newspapers call us 'reds,' 'I.W.W.'s,' 'Bolshe- viks.' Us they refuse to take back, but the Amer- icans get their jobs." One of these men whom the writer visited was refused employment following the strike. It so hap- pened that his tenement house was right next to the 40 The Russian Immigrant steel plant. After two months' search he found a job in a mill one hour away by street car. He worked eleven hours a day one week and thirteen hours a night the next. On his night shift fifteen hours were spent daily at his work and traveling to and fro. It is small wonder that he was bitterly discouraged and blamed the union and America. His wife claimed that they went to church when they could, and before they had become disillusioned by the heartlessness of the corporation they had believed in America. An American flag and a relig- ious picture over the bed seemed to confirm her statement. She concluded, "We now know America means money. We Russians are only like flies, too small — company doesn't care." The United Mine Workers of America is one of the few industrial unions accepting all who work in and about the mines for membership. Consequently, nearly all the Russians engaged in the coal industry belong to it, although their exact membership is not known, all Slavs being classed together. According to the union officials, the Russians make very faith- ful members. The weekly journal of the Union contains three pages in Slovak. While, as many writers claim, the unions do a great deal toward Americanizing the foreigner, ^^ it is not strange that they should represent the coal corporations in a bad light. The United Mine Workers oppose I. W. W.- 28 Balch, op. cit., p. 292, and article by Charles Stelzle, World Outlook, Jan., 1920, p. 27. Environing Economic Forces 41 ism, Bolshevism, and radicalism, but they do not hesitate to acquaint their members with what they consider unjust in our industrial order. For ex- ample, one number of their journal ^^ has articles entitled "Harrowing Story of Fiendish Cruelty Practiced on Families of Non-Union Miners at Cru- cible, Pa.," "Cruel Discrimination by Harlan County Operators," "If a Coal Miner Is Guilty, Is an Operator Guilty for Doing the Very Same Thing?" "More Misrepresentation," "More of That Propaganda." These articles attack the corpora- tions and statements of such men as Judge Gary and Senator Pomerene of Ohio. On the other hand, the same number says much about the honesty of the American people as a whole and proclaims the fact that the miners "believe in and uphold Amer- ican ideals." In spite of this the United Mine Workers of America are not making the Russians enthusiastic supporters of our nation, they see too much of the dark side. Moreover, they do not often mingle with the American men. As several of the Russian and Slavic organizers, interviewed, said: "The Russians are loyal t-o the Union. They pay their dues well, but they stick together and take little interest in the meetings which are usually run by i^mericans or leaders of other nationalities. We are content if they pay their dues." If this is true even in the United Mine Workers organization, to which a great many of the Russians belong, it can -^Jan. 15, 1920 (appeared during a strike period). 42 The Russian Immigrant readily be understood that, taken as a whole, the social impress of the Union on the Russian is not great. He accepts it where he has the chance, but it does not vitally concern him; he is an outsider, a passive participant in its activities. His relation to the Union at least teaches him something of demo- cratic government, for he has an equal vote with his American fellow workers even though he other- wise plays a minor part. Wages As would be expected with a marginal worker, the Russian is receiving a low rate of pay. Judge Gary admits that 70,000 men in the steel industry are receiving the lowest rate.^° We have already indi- cated that the Russians are in this class. The rate of pay was "less than enough for the average American family's subsistence," ^^ according to the budgets of Professor Ogburn, Professor Chapin, the New York Factory Commission, the New York Board of Estimate, all brought up to date to con- form to the rise in the cost of living. ^^ But in the matter of money wages, the Russian is vastly better off than he was in his home land, and this is one of the big compensations to him for the hard condi- tions. If he can but save enough, some day he will return to Russia as a comparatively wealthy peas- 30 Inter-Church Report, op. cit., p. 5. 3^ It must be remembered that the majority of Russians were single or without their wives in America. 32 Ibid., pp. 225-263, 92-95. Environing Economic Forces 43 ant. If that is not his ambition, he is able to send amounts, which will seem fabulous to them, back to his relatives or he can send for his wife and chil- dren to join him here. The study of the Immigration Commission in 1909 ^^ showed that 2,819 foreign-born Russians re- ceived an average wage of $2.06 a day; this was three cents below the average of all the foreign-born. The 248 of the second generation received only an average of $1.98, which was 35 cents below the gen- eral average of native-born of foreign fathers. This may be partially explained on the supposition that the children of the Russians are younger because Russian immigration is newer. The war increased wages tremendously; the or- dinary day laborer who had been getting two to three dollars a day (in Bridgeport, Youngstown, Cleveland and other centers) during the war reached as high as forty or more cents an hour. By means of a large output and overtime rates some of the men received as high as fifty dollars a week. But after the war the earnings of Russians began to drop again. A study of 95 single Russians in Chi- cago in 19 19 revealed the fact that they were making from 12 to 30 dollars a week. The over- whelming majority and the average number earned 23 dollars. Of 112 Russians studied in this same report, 10, or 9.4 per cent, were out of employment and had been so from three weeks to four months. 23 Abstract, vol. i, table 26, op. cit., p. 371. 44 The Russian Immigrant They claimed discrimination on account of their nationality.^* In Pittsburgh in 1920 the writer found that the average Russian workman received from $25-30 a week, but this does not take into account time lost from shutdown, sickness and other causes. In the next chapter we shall discuss the standard of living which the Russian maintains. The amount he saves, however, because of his frugality and thrift is at least a partial indication of whether his pay Is more than enough to meet the standards he is willing to endure. No matter how much the Russians were earn- ing, we know that a good many were saving money. From July i, 1913 to June 30, 19 14, 546,775 postal money orders totaling $13,469,839.02 were sent to Russia or an average of about $24.60 per or- der.^^ Because of the outbreak of the war, the amount In subsequent years was not significant. The statistics of the money sent through the Russian Consul General In New York are: Average Remittance for the For Deposit For Friends Total Two Years 1916 $359.7"-55 $38,311.76 $ 395,023.31 $151 1917 776,265-48 283,993.95 1,060,259.43 But since some send twice In the year, the consul believes that the yearly average per person making remittances in 19 16 was much more and In 19 17, nearly double. The Russian Embassy undertook an 34 Cole, unpublished study, cf. supra, p. 34. 36 U. S. Post Office Dept., Annual Reports, 1914, p. 360. Environing Economic Forces 45 investigation of the financial condition of the Rus- sians in America in November, 19 18 under the direc- tion of Professor C. V. Gayman who visited the various colonies and secured first-hand information from Russian individuals and banks. His report though never published contains financial estimates of value. He found that the average amount of money per individual sent to Russia yearly through private banks was $250. Now of course these figures include the Jews who are more prosper- ous than the average Russian laborer. Moreover, Mr. Gayman believes that they represent only one quarter of the total Russian group. Even so, they indicate a probability that the other Russians were also saving. At the second general {Syezd) meeting of Russian organizations held in New York City on the 13th of December, 19 18, eighty of the two hundred or more delegates had an average of $900 in the bank. The others did not give the amount of their savings. Of course all the delegates represented some organization and were presumably above the average Russian working man. Mr. Gayman esti- mates that Russians without families are able to deposit $250 each year. Mr. Vilchur states that in 19 1 7 the average Russian was saving from 20-25 dollars a month; ^*^ but since the war this has been greatly reduced. Mr. Cole in his Chicago report found that out of 112 Russians, all of whom had 36 Vilchur, M., The Russians in America, op. cit., p. 68 , 46 The Russian Immigrant been saving before the war, only twenty were able to do so In 19 19. In traveling among the Russian colonies, the writer found conditions varying in this respect, but in general, most of the single Russians save something. All claim that it Is much less than before the war. This Is in large measure due to higher standards of living acquired during the period of high war wages, to lowered wages, and still more, to irregularities of employment. The steel strike exhausted the savings of thousands of Russians, and the fact that the coal miners were working but a few hours a day during most of the spring of 1920, also had its effect on the conditions as the writer saw them. The banks Interviewed claimed that single Russians who had accounts, saved about $20 a month, but they admitted that those who patronized the banks were only a small percentage of the total Russian community. Data which seem to cast some doubt on the reliability of the consensus of opinion already given, are found in the results of the careful Investigation made by the Ford Motor Company In 1917. Among 1138 Russian work- men, 917 had no bank account although this company has the reputation of paying high wages. ^'^ It is probable that some were not banking their money and in any case 229 were paying for the purchase of homes. The average amount on deposit, of the 221 who had bank accounts, was $563. It must 37 From a personal statement to the author by the head of the Welfare Department of the Ford Company. Environing Economic Forces 47 not be forgotten, however, that even not counting those who were buying a home, over half had no money in the bank even in a period of war wages. Since the statistics record 715 as married, it may be that those constituting this half were supporting families either here or abroad. Banks Formerly, many of the Russians kept their money with private individuals, mostly Jews, but today they more frequently deposit it in some sort of private banking Institution. In every large city there are a large number of small "Russian" banks operated usually by Jews. New ones open and others close every year so that the number In any city at a given time is difficult to ascertain. In Detroit, for In- stance, 22 banks for Russians were opened during the war.^^ The activities of these banks cover a wide range. They may, i— accept savings, 2— buy, sell and exchange Russian rubles, 3— send money to Russia, 4— buy and sell Liberty Bonds and Russian Loans, 5— sell steamship tickets, 6— act as notaries public for affidavits required for military service, passports, or steamship tickets, 7-gIve information and help on any of the following: (a) recommend doctors and lawyers, (b) lend money or write insurance, (c) give addresses of relatives in America, 2^ Mr. Cayman's investigation. Cf. supra, p. 45. 48 The Russian Immigrant (d) give addresses of Russian- American firms, (e) find the location of refugees, runaways, or prisoners, (f) typewrite letters, (g) send money to friends in America. These banks resort to all manner of practices to get patronage. They advertise in all the Russian papers, they locate in a Russian section of the city, they use the flashiest American methods of street advertising, they keep open holidays until nine in the evening, and will often employ agents in nearby places where there is no bank. But besides these methods they try in other ways to make themselves indispensable to the Russian. Many of them, as for example, Salynak in Cleveland keep the addresses of all the Russians in the city. Others permit their bank room to be used for public lectures and meet- ings in Russian, which will draw the colony to their places of business. Sometimes they will go to the extent of arranging a lecture. ^^ Occasionally they provide free billiards to attract customers. Mr. Gayman says that he knows of a bank in Cleveland which has even permitted prostitutes to occupy the basement in order that the bank may draw a still wider clientele of victims. It is obvious that banks which are operating in these ways are not in the business for anything ex- cept profit. Many of them go through voluntary bankruptcy in order to secure large secret profits. In 3-' The Spiri Bank tried to get Professor Gayman to lecture on South America in their bank. Environing Economic Forces 49 19 1 7 alone, In Chicago there were fourteen of these failures/*' The Russian immigrant has rarely had experience with banking facilities and thinks that if his money is returned to him, that is all he should desire. The banks take advantage of this fact and rarely pay interest, besides taking an excessive profit on buying, selling, or exchanging Russian and Ameri- can money. In every one the writer visited, the quotations were always several points dearer to the customer than in the reputable American institutions. The investigation conducted by the New York World and printed in that newspaper during Decem- ber 1920, also corroborated that fact. One bank in San Francisco even went the length of giving out counterfeit rubles to those returning to Russia. Sometimes the banks accept money to send to Rus- sia when they know it cannot be delivered, as for example. In territory occupied by the Germans or the Bolsheviks. Methods Illustrated by the follow- ing show the criminal practices sometimes resorted to. Through Its own lawyers, a bank may spread the rumor little by little that it is insolvent. A run on the bank occurs and the establishment closes its doors. The lawyers having now won the confidence of the Russian workmen depositors, obligingly offer to get back fifty per cent of their money. Most of the Russians fall into the trap and the lawyers then divide the remainder with the bank. Accord- ■*° Mr. Cayman's investigation. Cf. supra, p. 45. 50 The Russian Immigrant ing to the study conducted by Mr. Gayman, there were in 19 19 suits against such banks to the amount of two million dollars in Baltimore alone. Although this figure must certainly include action on behalf of many who were not Russian Slavs, it does give some idea of the extent of the exploitation. The worst feature of the matter is that many of the Russians when they have been thus exploited feel that it is the fault of America, and they treasure up this added grievance, while in reality it may be a foreigner who has done the deed. "The people of foreign countries," said the Hon. C. J. Keenan, Deputy Appraiser of the Port of New York, "generally look upon a bank as a government institution, which accounts for the practice so preva- lent among them of patronizing private banking institutions after they come to this country. An enterprising foreign-born citizen will oftentimes, after reaching a certain stage of prosperity, open a bank with the legend 'State Bank' over the door." " Naturally whatever happens in this bank is at- tributed to the government. The reason why the Russians do not, to any extent, patronize our sound financial institutions such as national or postal savings banks is that most of these do not have Russian interpreters and do not try to reach the Russian through foreign language advertising. In cities where a large bank has at- *i Davis, Immigration and Americanization (Boston, 1920), p. 730. Environing Economic Forces 5^ tempted to secure Russian business in these ways it has usually succeeded and some have in the aggre- gate very large deposits from such sources. But it seems probable that more Russians have been exploited by dishonest agencies than have been helped by reliable banks. On the whole, the experi- ence of the Russian with financial institutions here has not been so favorable as to increase his respect and admiration for America. Conditions on the Farms Here and there throughout America are to be found Russians who have either broken away from the industrial world or else have gone directly into agriculture. The conditions confronting them have often been severe at the start, but, with a fair chance, their love of the soil and untiring industry have carried them through. For example, the colony of Stundists in North Dakota now numbers over 10,000. They even have their own little towns, one of which is named after Kiev, in Russia. Their ven- ture has become a marked success and the colony is deeply loyal to America. There are other settlements in South Dakota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Flor- ida, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan also have a few. In Virginia there is a colony of about fifty families, nearly every one of which has one thousand dollars in the bank and some have property worth fifty to 52 The Russian Immigrant seventy thousand dollars/^ Most of the families own their own houses which are built after the Amer- ican style. The attempts at farming have not all been suc- cessful, it is true. Where the soil has been very poor or in cases of deception and fraud, the Russian has gone back to industry. To cite but one instance, a Russian workman in California writing to a gov- ernment bureau about his experience said, "I do not dream of buying a farm any more. I have tried it twice." The first time he was swindled out of his money with a forged document. The second time, a seemingly official "Russian American agent" in Salt Lake City who showed fine specimens of fruit and vegetables, and "photographs of good cattle and splendid fields," offered this land at $25 an acre. So he with other Russians sold their houses and bought the property. When we arrived we found a waterless desert. Several returned immediately seeing their mistake but about thirty families remained, tilling the soil and suffering hunger. Soon they saw what they had planted did not grow, and were obliged to leave everything and go to the nearest cities in order to earn money. That is what happens to the Rus- sian people in America.*^ Some of the Russians are more shrewd and send *2 Mr. Cayman's investigation. Cf. supra., p. 45. *^ From a letter written to the Governmental Information Bureau of the Committee on Public Information, of which the writer has a copy. Environing Economic Forces 53 one of their number to see the property before pur- chasing it, but even then they occasionally are cheated through legal technicalities. Those Russians who do locate on good soil usually believe in America. The contrast with the tyrannical conditions in Russia is so great that they are happy. M. I. Wolkoff, a Russian professor in the College of Agriculture of the University of Illinois, testifies that the Russians on the land are "the most contented" of any in America. "They are much better off financially than their city coun- trymen, and perhaps this is one of the chief rea- sons." ** Undoubtedly another is that they are free to work as they please and are engaged in an occu- pation which they like. On the land, moreover, although somewhat isolated from Americans since they tend to settle in groups, they at least see a favorable side of our country. It is therefore to be regretted that those engaged in agriculture are but a small fraction of the number here. Russian authorities estimate that over 90 per cent of the Russians in the United States are working in our industries and mines. ^^ The very fact that the Rus- sians can be made to like America so easily if they have a fair chance, together with the fact that we sorely need agricultural workers, makes it seem all the more deplorable that little is done to assist them ** Letter to the author. *s The Secretary to the Russian Consul General, E. I. Hourwich, M. Vilchur, and others. 54 The Russian Immigrant to become farmers or to make them more contented in industry. Conclusion In this chapter we have been describing the reac- tions of the typical Russian worker. It is true, there are some industries and some instances even in steel and coal mining where the Russian is happy and successful in his work. But as we have seen, the majority are plunged into an environment to- tally at variance with their European background. The economic forces in the situation provide little outlet for their legitimate instinctive responses. Especially does their situation give little opportunity for what Giddings calls the "desire for recognition" or for what McDougall speaks of as self-assertion and Thorndike as mastery. The lowest of the labor group, they feel that regardless of how well or faith- fully they work there is no opportunity for them to rise; that they will always be looked down on by Americans. This fact, and the total absence of in- formation about the men higher up, together with a growing conviction that their human side is totally disregarded, is what Russian workers have so often tried to express to the writer. The solitary favor- able factor, the amount of the wage, is too often destroyed by exploiting or dishonest banks or agen- cies which swindle the hard working and thrifty ones out of their earnings. It is true, moreover, that as Environing Economic Forces 55 fast as they adopt American standards, their margin of savings dwindles or disappears. American industry has rendered a tremendous service in giving employment to aliens from other lands where poverty, disease and tyranny prevail, and in turning out more goods than any other nation and thus enriching the entire world. Yet we must remember that the great structure of American industry has been built upon the brawn, indeed, the very lives of foreigners. Business men and writers agree that Americans would hardly be willing at any price to do the work these foreign-born are doing. Since we sorely need what they have to give, is it any more than just that the economic forces which condition their success as workers and their well- being as men should be a help rather than a hin- drance? CHAPTER IV THE RUSSIAN IN HIS HOME ENVIRONMENT We have glanced briefly at the influences which mold the Russian's life in the economic world. As we turn now to his social environment, one of the outstanding facts is that he is effectively cut off from most of our own contacts with American life. Isolation In nearly every city the Russians live in a group by themselves. When they first come to a com- munity they naturally gravitate to the poorest sec- tions where rents are cheapest. A process of segre- gation results, for race prejudice, strange customs, and language barriers all make the American loath to live close to these Slavic immigrants. Hetero- geneous America has, to some extent, a social strati- fication based on likenesses in income and nationality. Once a district has begun to be invaded by the Rus- sians, Americans avoid it and other Russians follow where their own kind already are. Usually the Rus- sian-speaking Jews settle in a locality first and are followed by the Russian Slavs. Thus Pittsburgh has her Soho District and the neighborhood around Pennsylvania Avenue and Mulberry Street. Even in the mining towns, the Russian shacks tend to s6 The Russian in His Home Environment 57 crowd together into a definite group. Like follows like. This sociological law is as true to-day as it was when the ancient maxim about "birds of a feather" first found expression. The Russian dis- trict is peopled almost entirely by the foreign-born, and whether it be housing accommodations, food supplies, or medical aid that the immigrant seeks, he is likely to meet the foreigner almost exclusively. Yet his impressions and opinion of America become deeply affected by his experience in these "alien" centers. Housing Housing conditions vary according to the colony. In the agricultural districts, where the Russians are not migratory workers, they usually own their own dwellings. Many of these houses may be favorably compared with those of Americans. In the mining communities the Russians rent and occasionally buy small houses. In the study of Russian households which was made by the U. S. Immigration Commis- sion in 1909,^ out of 83 studied only one house was owned by the occupant. Since then, however, the percentage may have increased considerably. For instance, among 50 Russian families investigated in Los Angeles in 19 15, 26 owned their own homes.^ The average value was about two thousand dollars. In 19 1 7 in Detroit, among the 11 60 Russian em- ^ Abstract, vol. i, table 89, op. cit., p. 467. - Sokoloff, L., The Russians in Los Angeles (Los Angeles, 1918), p. 6. 58 The Russian Immigrant ployees of the Ford plant, eighteen owned their own homes and 229 were buying theirs — a fact which is considered exceptional. As is usually the case where the tenants are the owners, the houses are in better repair, are cleaner and more sanitary than rented ones, possibly because those who buy are the more progressive foreigners. The great majority of Rus- sians, however, still live in rented rooms in tenement houses. Because overcrowding is common in the home- land, Russians are willing to accept similar or worse conditions here. In the United States Immigration Commission's study,^ out of 75 Russian households there was an average of 2.85 persons per sleeping room, the general average for the total foreign-born being 2.53. Mr. Cole in his Chicago study of 19 19* found that only 35 per cent of the single Russians and 18 per cent of the family Russians had in their sleeping rooms the 400 cubic feet of air per person required by the city ordinance. In the same report he states that out of 30 apartments occupied by Rus- sians there was an average of 7.2 individuals living in an average apartment of 4.3 rooms. Eleven of these were front apartments, while 14 were in the rear; four occupied a whole floor and one was in the center. Sixty of 85 rooms had only one window each, 23 had two, one had four, and one alcove room had none. Approximately half were so dark or ' Abstract, vol. i, table 72, op. cit., p. 430. * Cf. supra, chap, iii, p. 34. The Russian in His Home Environment 59 gloomy that on a bright day one could not read in the center of the room. Eighteen families had toilets in their own apartments. Eleven had hall toilets, shared by eight to nineteen neighbors, and one had the toilet in the yard, which was also used by twelve outsiders. Only two of the thirty had a bath tub; in one of these cases the tub was used for laundry purposes. The author's investigation in the various Russian communities showed that the over- whelming number of Russians are living in the worst type of tenement apartments. These have but few windows and no baths. The homes occupied by Rus- sian workers employed at the Ford plant in Detroit In 19 17 were an exception. Out of 1160, 978 had good homes, 157 fair and 25 poor.^ As the chief standard here considered, however, was cleanliness, and as the Ford plant attracts the best type of worker, this does not necessarily imply that there was no overcrowding or that these cases are typical. The homes seen in Pittsburgh are perhaps a fairer sample. In one apartment of three rooms, a Rus- sian family of five was paying $17 a month. This was to be increased to $20 on May i, 1920. There was one inside room where all the family slept, which was entirely without windows and was heated by an ill-smelling gas stove. The second room was used by five boarders, each of whom paid six dollars a month for the privilege. The other was a kitchen, laundry, and living room all in one. In one apart- ^ From an investigation made by the Ford Company in 1917. 6o The Russian Immigrant ment of four rooms in a frame tenement near the steel mills the family, consisting of father, mother, and four children, slept in one room and seven men slept in the other three. All the windows were closed, and the floor served as a common spitoon. The rent for the bare dilapidated rooms without heat was $ 1 8 a month. Large cracks in the wall were stuffed with rags, a motley array of clothes was hanging in the room to dry. This was representative of many apartments in Pittsburgh." Michael M. Davis in his study of Immigrant Health and the Community for the Carnegie Amer- icanization studies describes the various types of tenements inhabited by foreigners and concludes, "Wretched and unsanitary housing is not the immi- grants' responsibility alone. The native American must bear a large share of the blame." He gives a fair picture of the Russian huts in some of the mining districts: "The coal and iron mining regions of the country to which so many of the Finns and Slavic peoples turn, show some of our worst housing conditions. Shacks are built both by individuals and by mining companies close to mine shafts, pits and coke ovens. Tin cans, tar paper, and old boards furnish building materials for crazy shelters. Into one or more small rooms crowd the large families of the workmen. Toilets are either absent, or else ^ According to the statement of the Russian worker at the Inter- national Institute. The writer, himself, saw at least ten of this description, out of forty or more visited. The Russian in His Home Environment 6i miserable privies are erected and neglected. Out- door pumps furnish water, and the ground surface serves as a sewer." ^ In some construction and laboring work the com- panies still provide barracks for the men. Although they vary considerably, perhaps the following quota- tion describing foreign bunk-houses which sometimes contained 36 men in 3-tier bunks, from Francis A. Kellor, the secretary of the Inter-Racial Council, is typical. "These are rather dark, having been fin- ished in creosote to keep down the vermin. Some are heated with stoves, all built upon posts, not very clean — and represent an outlay of $20 per employee housed, exclusive of ground and ground improve- ments. There is a sink outside with sewer connec- tions for slops, and shower baths and toilets at the end of each row." ^ Several college graduates who worked in the lumber camps of Washington in 1920 gave similar descriptions but added that the bar- racks were never cleaned, so that a shovel would have been more effective than a broom. Where they worked, moreover, there were no shower baths. The Russian priest in Cleveland even tells of one of his families which lives in a freight car, and of his christening a baby born there. The writer has interviewed several groups of single Russians who were living in similar lodgings, but these are excep- tional. In every such case they were working for '' From a manuscript copy transmitted to the author. ^ The Immigrants in America Revietv, April, 1916. 62 The Russian Immigrant the railroad and when they left the company's em- ploy had to leave their domicile. The accommodations of Russians in New York are perhaps more varied than in most other cities. But if one cares to visit the throbbing, dusty district of lower Second Avenue and has the courage to enter one of the small side doors and to climb a dark, narrow stairway of two flights, he can see one type. The plaster is cracked and here and there are spots where it has broken off, thus adding to the dust on the floor. The apartment consists of one room about ten by fourteen feet and an alcove seven by six feet shut off by heavy curtains and containing a double bed. The room has two windows opening on a fire escape, but the alcove bedroom has none. For this room — including only the bare walls and the sink — eleven dollars a month are paid. The small coal stove, the few chairs, a cheap chiffonier and the bed, all belong to the family. Of course there is no toilet except the one in the hall which is shared by the other families. The apartments on Cherry Street are in a poorer locality, the refuse on the streets is scattered about, and the saloons still sell cheap liquor.^ While some of the apart- ments are worse than those already described, the majority are larger, but have more dark rooms and a generous assortment of lodgers who fill up the extra space. In Boston the living conditions of the Russians * February, 1921. The Russian in His Home Environment 63 resemble those we have described; the rooms and corridors are dark, with little ventilation and much overcrowding. There is the usual common toilet and in some cases the apartments do not even have running water. One Russian, speaking before the Volstead Act became operative, expressed his reac- tion to the conditions by saying, "We don't see anything but saloons, and factories, and bad housing in America." There are, of course, communities where the housing conditions are much better, such as those we have mentioned in California and Detroit. But it is obvious that the vast majority of places present a decided contrast to the villages of Russia. There, in spite of dirt, at least the open fields were near and sunshine and fresh air abundant. The priest in Hartford reports that some of the more energetic Russians in his locality are so desirous of getting reasonable lodgings in the country that they will rent places in New Hampshire, thus necessitating three changes of electric cars in reaching their work. Besides this they must get up at four in the morn- ing and do not return till nearly ten at night; but each one has a little garden which adds to the at- traction of the Sunday holiday. The majority ac- cept the bad housing as one of the handicaps to life in America. One can hardly wonder that Dr. John Kulzzyszki, a practicing Ukranian physician in Scranton told the author: 64 The Russian Immigrant The greatest thing that America can do for the foreigners is to control the renting of houses. Americans build holes which are not fit for the pigs to live in, and rent them out to Russians. People say the Russians live badly because they live that way in Russia, but there they were compelled to live so; here they should have a chance to improve. Undoubtedly, part of the blame for these condi- tions is due to the lack of initiative of the Russians, but certainly it is no credit to our social order that more is not done to help educate them to better standards, or to compel the American owners to make decency possible for their tenants. That the housing conditions provided for the Russians were just as poor as the owners dared to have them, was the opinion of the United States Immigration Com- missioner in Pittsburgh. Frequently the person who collects the rent may be a foreigner, but as the Russians say, "How can we tell? He speaks English, he is an American to us." The agent, according to the Russians, rarely agrees to make any improvements, although they may be sorely needed. Few tenants dare to insist, for they may receive a request for an increase of rent by way of reply. One priest told me his expe- rience with these agents: When they are Americans they are very polite as long as they think they can get your money. One insurance agent crossed himself as he opened my door. After he re- ceived my order he went out slamming the door and spitting The Russian in His Home Environment 65 on the porch. When others come for the rent, they will offer me a cigarette ; when they have no business, they won't even recognize me on the street. The average worker does not care especially for recognition by an agent, but often he isn't treated even decently, and if he is at all delinquent in his payments he is likely to find himself on the street. Not only does this isolation and bad housing sep- arate the Russian from Americans, but he feels that he is regarded as an inferior. The expansion of his consciousness of kind to include Americans is hindered or wholly prevented. Americans do not show any sympathy for him nor does his tenement life give opportunity to gratify his desire for a rea- sonable amount of recognition. The Russian sees little opportunity for the expression of his ego or of his pride in family or home. Woodworth be- lieves that most human mechanisms, once aroused, are capable of furnishing their own drive and of lending drive to other connected mechanisms." But as we have already seen, the mechanism of the Rus- sian has little chance in his daily task either to re- spond to the drive of certain instincts or to give expression to his native capacities. These instincts and capacities suppressed in the industrial field might conceivably find an outlet in his home life. But here he is living in a sordid environment of 10 Woodworth, R. S., Dynamic Psychology (N. Y., 1918), pp. 36-43. 66 The Russian Immigrant cheap tenements — ugly or dilapidated — with their accompaniment of congestion, noise, and dirt. Americans look askance at the "Dagoes" and "Po- lacks." The Russian feels this if he goes into an American shop to trade; he notes it in the attitude of the rent collector. It is impossible to say how far this condition creates in the Russian a dislike for our country, but it is one decided factor which cannot be overlooked. No matter what the angle of approach to the housing conditions and the associations incidental to them, the conclusion is inevitable that a large ma- jority of the Russians have here little or no oppor- tunity for favorable contacts with Americans. Factors Relating to Health The Russian's food is usually purchased in a Jew- ish grocery or meat market in his neighborhood. The turnover is not large and the proprietor makes as much as the traffic will bear. As tested by the writer, prices were always higher for the same qual- ity of goods than in the better grade of grocery stores for Americans. It was, of course, extremely difficult to make sure of the same quality, but it was interesting to find that a cheap grade of butter cost less at the large American store than at the for- eign one. In the Jewish grocery the same brand of flour was higher per pound, while certain brands of cereals and canned goods were three or four cents The Russian in His Home Environment 67 more. Mr. Sibray, the U. S. Immigration Commis- sioner in Pittsburgh, says that we charge the for- eigner decidedly more than we charge ourselves. A Russian-Jewish storekeeper in Detroit explained that these high prices were due to capitalistic prof- iteering, and Russian workmen seldom account for the high prices in any other way. To offset them, the small shopkeepers often buy food of the lowest grade; stale meat and withered vegetables. The Russian has been used to fresh food, the products of his own fields, but here in the market, accessible to him, the same articles are few, old and expensive. He is likely therefore to change his diet to one con- sisting largely of meat of questionable age, the qual- ity of which is less noticeable to him. The wife of the priest in Hartford tells of seeing one Russian boarding-house keeper in 1920 buy 27 pounds of meat for $1.50. It was the cheapest there was, for the butcher picked it out from the scraps under the table. A heavy meat diet is undoubtedly responsible for a great deal of digestive trouble among the Rus- sians, and Jewish doctors with whom the writer con- sulted stated that this malady was the most com- mon cause of complaint. There are few other single factors which are more potent in contributing to discontent than poor food and a disordered stom- ach. In giving his opinion of the greatest need of the Russians to a government bureau, one Russian from Gary, Indiana, wrote, "We need fresh food products and fresh meat and there is no such meat 68 The Russian Immigrant now in America." " He judged, of course, only from his own limited experience. Nearly all the doctors who were consulted men- tioned tuberculosis also and venereal disease as ex- isting, but perhaps not to a greater extent than among other races. They thought that the factory work with its absence of outdoor healthful labor and its contrast to field work cannot but increase the prevalence of tuberculosis, as the absence of normal family life has increased venereal disease. The fact that, as a rule, only the strongest Russians migrate to America minimizes the prevalence of dis- ease to an extent difficult to estimate. It seemed to be the opinion of the Russians in the mining and steel industries that more were laid off on account of accidents than by illness. Statistics by nationality are extremely difficult to secure from the hospitals, and when obtained are not very rehable for the Rus- sian, since so many patronize private doctors. A study conducted by Dr. E. H. Lewinsky-Cor- win under the auspices of the New York Academy of Medicine in 19 19 among 8,645 individuals and 2,023 families of which 357 famihes and 1,692 indi- viduals were Slavs, showed that over ten per cent of the Slavs were ill at the time of the investigation. This was double the percentage for the Italians and was, next to the Irish, the highest. It is significant that the Slavs used the dispensary in only 2.2 per cent of their cases, the general hospital in only 2.3 1^ From a letter of which the author has a copy. The Russian in His Home Environment 69 per cent and did not use the maternity hospital at all. They avail themselves of institutional help less than any of the other nationalities; in fact, not quite one half as frequently as the next in order, the Ital- ians. On the other hand, 58.2 per cent secure the services of private physicians. This is the largest percentage with the exception of the Italians, while in 35 per cent of all the cases they utilize a mid- wife, a druggist, or depend on themselves — a higher proportion than in any other group. Considering only confinement cases, 87.5 per cent of the Slavs employed a midwife, the same percentage as for the Italians and more than for any other race. In minor complaints such as colds, stomach trouble or being "run down," 58 per cent of the Slavs visited private physicians, more than any other nationality, and only 1.7 per cent used a dispensary, the lowest percentage of all. Of the remainder, 39.1 per cent depended upon non-professional care, and i.i per cent on their lodge or society physician.^^ In giving their reasons for not going to a dis- pensary, over one-quarter of the Slavs said they did not know that such an institution existed, while the others said that they were able to pay a private doctor, or that they could not speak English, or were afraid, or were dissatisfied with the kind of treatment given, or that there was no dispensary near. It must be remembered that it is extremely ^2 Public Health Committee of the New York Academy of Medicine, The Problem of Disease (N. Y., 1921), pp. 1-23. 70 The Russian Immigrant difficult to get the real reasons in such an investiga- tion and those who replied that they were able to pay, undoubtedly had other unexpressed objections to using a dispensary. Although these statistics in- cluded other Slavic races besides the Russian, they corroborate the investigation of the author. Most Russian Slavs either do not know where to go or have never even heard that there is a dispensary. Those who might go cannot speak English, and dis- pensaries and hospitals rarely provide interpreters. Some seem to be prejudiced, fearing that they will be experimented on by doctors "who do not care whether we get well or die." "If you go to the hospital they poison you and cut you up for prac- tice," is a saying occasionally heard. One man even told the writer that in the case of a friend who had gone to the free ward the doctor had used a hypo- dermic injection. The Russian had protested, but the doctor replied that he wanted to see how it would work on him anyway. The conclusion of the Russian, although apparently erroneous, was that the doctor was less interested in curing him than in experimenting upon him. The effect on those who have been in our hos- pitals is not always so bad. For example, a Russian woman on Cherry Street in New York City, who has lived in America eighteen years and can yet speak no English because she "has not met Amer- icans" went to Gouverneur Hospital. Her husband had been killed four years before; she was support- The Russian in His Home Environment 71 ing her three children by cleaning one downtown office daily from three to nine a.m. for $15 a week and a dentist's office three hours in the evening for $8 a week. On this money she lived in a dark little apartment of three rooms. The ceiling was mil- dewed and the plaster was falling off. Only the room which she rented out had direct access to the fresh air. She became afflicted with severe pains and the Jewish doctor informed her that the trouble was appendicitis. An operation was too expensive, so she continued her work, but her condition finally became so serious that she was confined to her bed. A boarder called a policeman, who, in turn, sum- moned an ambulance, and an operation in the hos- pital followed. After she was discharged, the in- stitution continued to look out for her welfare by sending her a box of supplies and a daily bottle of milk. This one friendly experience has made her an enthusiastic believer in America. In the absence of hospital data about diseases among the Russians, the testimony of priests and Russian-speaking doctors in the following places is worth recording as, perhaps, representative. From Connecticut: "In the cotton mills there is little ventilation, the air is saturated with small par- ticles of cotton fiber. Few Russians can work more than four years in this environment. In the rubber factories, the fumes from the acids bring on disease and in the majority of cases after six years they lose their health." 72 The Russian Immigrant "In the rubber company after three years they get sick from tuberculosis from the acid fumes." From Pennsylvania: "In steel if he is working twelve hours a day, the ordinary Russian is abso- lutely used up in a few years. One example is Sapit- sky, who worked six years at the Crucible Steel car- rying heavy steel bars. He has now been in the hos- pital a year." "In the mines tuberculosis is common. I have just come from the home of a Russian who has been here fifteen years. He is forty-nine years old, and has eight children, and is dying of tuberculosis." "The custom in America of sleeping on mattresses simply results in providing a better breeding ground for vermin. The housing conditions are so bad the Russians get sick." "In Russia they have clean food and good veg- etables so they can eat them without washing. Here in America the Russian buys the worst and it is full of disease." "Not healthy work, all die young. There is not one who has lived to be sixty in my parish." From Akron: "While improving on the financial side the Russian is deteriorating on the physical side." "Rubber works are hard on the teeth. Tuber- culosis and venereal disease exist in spite of the nat- urally strong constitution of the Russian." From Lawrence : "The Russian is constitutionally strong, but the textile industry is very dusty and is The Russian in His Home Environment 73 hard on the lungs; the longer he remains, the more prone he is to tuberculosis." From Cleveland: "The most prevalent disease among the Russians is tuberculosis." Whether or not these are accurate observations, they do indicate what Russians believe to be true, riamely, that, in their situation, America is not a healthy place to live in. Most of the Russians ad- mit that our cities are cleaner than those of Russia and that the water supply and sewage system are something they did not have at home. But these advantages do not seem to impress themselves with great force on the Russian from the village; he points to the loss in his own weight as an index of the deleterious effect of America. One will fre- quently say, "I was one hundred and seventy pounds in weight, now I am only one hundred and thirty," or "I weighed two hundred pounds, now I am only one hundred and forty." What makes ill health worse for the Russian is that he has no family physician to whom he can turn. Rarely speaking English, he must patronize those who can understand him, and these are often quack doctors who use every device for ensnaring him. The editor of one of the Russian newspapers told me that his paper only kept running from the ad- vertisements of these "leeches." Another stated that his paper secured thirty per cent of its income from medical advertisements. Yet after an analysis of medical advertisements in Russian papers, Mi- 74 The Russian Immigrant chad M. Davis of the Boston Dispensary and head of the department of Health Standards of the Americanization Studies of the Carnegie Founda- tion, says that they are "very obviously fakes." Here is a sample of one advertisement translated into English. "This is the only doctor from the old country Fellow citizens: look for help where you can find it, which will bring you out on the right path. This is the only doctor from the old country. He speaks Russian and has a practice of twenty-five years. He cures with the best reme- dies, chronic and all diseases. Do not lose any time. Come promptly to his office. Advice free." Another reads : "Do you suffer from weak nerves, lame back, forgetfulness, palpitation of the heart, weak lungs, dull heavy feeling, headache, dizziness, dimness of vision, weakness of limbs, ulcers, sores, catarrh, dripping in the throat, pain in the stomach or back, sore throat, coated tongue, constipation, rheumatic pains, pimples? These and many others are the first warnings of the loss of health. Come to me at once, if you need treatment. Delays are dangerous. No disease lies dormant." The Russians testify that they never go to these doctors without learning that they have a serious complaint, and paying a good round sum. A Polish doctor told me that quack doctors frequently scare the Russians into the belief that they have serious maladies and then charge them as much as they will The Russian in His Home Environment 75 bear. A Jewish doctor told me that the Russians always pay whatever he asks without a murmur and that he greatly preferred them to Americans, who always make trouble over the bill. Although the Russians report going to German, Polish, Jewish, colored and even Japanese doctors they seldom con- sult an American one. In answer to my question as to where he secured a brilliant scarlet-colored fluid for spraying his nose, a Russian worker in Philadel- phia replied that it came from a negro doctor. "He charges less than the Jewish one," was his reason for patronizing him. Another described his pref- erence for a Jewish dentist. "The American one says, 'Hurry up, get a jump, open your mouth wide, hold up your head high.' In fifteen minutes the work was done. The Jewish doctor takes an hour and does the job good." Still another told me that an American dentist pulled out the wrong tooth. When he went back the dentist said, "Well, I was busy and didn't notice." After finally pulling out the right one, this man charged him for both teeth. Whether true or not, this story reflects the narrator's state of mind. In addition to his experience with the doctors, the Russian, along with everybody else, is exposed to the patent medicine danger, only he has not been educated with regard to its injurious effects. Here Is a specimen advertisement: 76 The Russian Immigrant EVERY RUSSIAN MOTHER knows that the only certain medicine for the crying and discomfort and sleeplessness of her baby is "Romko," manu- factured by the Baby Safety Company. Do not let your baby cry and suffer for hours. If your child has a stomach ache or suffers from constipation ; if its teeth are coming and it is sick for this reason ; if it cries and is discontented, do not wait one minute, but buy in the local drug store, for thirty-five cents, a bottle of "Romko," manufactured by the Baby Safety Company. If you cannot get the original there, send a paper dollar for three bottles, or stamps for thirty-five cents for one bottle, to the following ad- dress : ^' To all too many Russians, patent medicines and quack doctors are another side of America which stands for money-getting rather than friendship. Perhaps the chief charges the Russians lay up against America on the side of their health are : 1. The climate is bad. The damp atmosphere with the alternating hot and cold temperatures is far different from the dry cold of Russia. 2. The change from the open fields to the factory air surcharged with chemical fumes, dust and other impurities Is a radical one. 3. The unsanitary tenement houses with the re- sultant overcrowding, breed disease. 4. The constant meat diet, as contrasted with the 13 Advertisement given to the author in translated form by Michael M. Davis, of the Carnegie Americanization Studies. The Russian in His Home Environment 77 fresh vegetables of the Russian peasant, is harmful. 5. The exploitation of quack doctors makes them a prey to greed when they most need help. It is a matter of common knowledge that indi- viduals who do not have the right diet, or are below par physically are inclined to be pessimistic toward all their environmental situation. Now the Rus- sian, as we have just noted, has come from a dif- ferent climate with different food and from an out- door life into factory conditions and tenement con- gestion. These things cannot but affect his health. If, in addition to this, he is exploited by the foreign doctor to whom he turns for help, his mental reac- tion may be prejudiced against every situation in which he is placed. This factor alone might pre- dispose him to dislike America. It certainly leaves him open minded towards radical propaganda, which always bitterly assails the existing conditions. Single Russians The overwhelming majority of Russians in this country are single, or without wives here. In the Immigration Commission Report of 1909, 41.4 per cent of the 6,621 Russians twenty years of age or ov^er were single. Out of the entire number there were only 140 married Russian women, a fact tend- ing to indicate that the wives of the great majority of married males were still in Europe. From 1898 until the outbreak of the war, 14 per cent of the Russian immigration has been female and 86 per 78 The Russian Immigrant cent male. This means that on entering the United States at least seventy-two per cent of the Russians were single or without their wives/* This paucity of Russian women results, to some extent, in a suppression of normal sex responses. These tendencies must either be repressed entirely or find expression in abnormal ways which Amer- ican mores prohibit. The frequent advertisements in the Russian press asking for news of the where- abouts of a wife who has run away with one of the boarders is but one index of this situation. "Freud considers that the origin of all cases belonging to certain varieties of mental disease can be traced back to factors connected with a single one of the great instincts, that of sex." ^^ While Freud is considered by many to have overemphasized the role of sex, few would deny that in many cases his explanation has a large measure of truth. The suppression of the normal opportunity for sex responses in the Rus- sian is one more factor which affects his attitude. In addition to this fact, the single Russian has few contacts with the favorable side of American life. He usually secures his room from foreigners and makes his living arrangements in one of the fol- lowing ways: a — By renting a room and boarding himself. ^* U. S. Bureau of Immigration, Annual Report of the Commis- sioner General of Immigration for each year from 1898-1914, table 7. IS Hart, B., The Psychology of Insanity (Cambridge, England, 1912), p. 166. The Russian in His Home Environment 79 b — By renting a room and boarding at the restaurants. c — By renting rooms cooperatively with other Russians, In this case members of the group eat chiefly at restaurants, but take supper and Sunday meals together in their rooms. Often they have no system in their buying. First one man makes a purchase, then another, and each time the cost is divided. d — By boarding in a family where the landlady does the cooking and the washing. There are several ways of pay- ing for the board. Sometimes, although rarely, there is a flat rate, in which case the landlady keeps no books. In other cases she buys all the food and once every two weeks the total bill is divided. Another method is for each man to have his own account book ; the landlady purchases what he wants and charges it to him. In Mr. Cole's Chicago study,^" the average wage of the single men was only $23 a week and fifty- one per cent were spending $20 or over each week. In contrast to the married Russians they often buy expensive clothes and enjoy a heavy diet in restau- rants. This was the daily food ration of some of these workmen in Pittsburgh : at 5 A. M., coffee and bread; at 9 A. M., "on the sly," so they say, sausage (culbasa), bread and perhaps an apple; at noon, coffee, steak, and bread; and at six o'clock cabbage soup, one-half pound of meat, bread and potatoes. Others interviewed had coffee with eggs or ham in the morning; sausage, bread and butter and apple pie at noon; and half a pound of meat I'* Cf. supra, chap, iii, p- 34. 8o The Russian Immigrant with soup and bread at night. In New York City the patronage of cheap foreign restaurants seems to be almost universal. The ones utilized are mostly Jewish. For example, in Brownsville, a Jewish-Rus- sian section of Brooklyn, there are only two Rus- sian and two Polish restaurants, although there arc a great many places where the Russians eat, the pro- prietors of which are foreign-born Jews. The result is that patronizing a restaurant does not ordinarily bring Russians into contact with Americans. Rus- sians with whom the writer talked in New York City in 192 1 claimed that their food cost them from $1.40 to $2.00 daily per person. Apparently, they can live more cheaply than Americans chiefly be- cause they are willing to put up with congested quar- ters and low rents. These very conditions, how- ever, keep them isolated from American life in an alien environment which by them is falsely thought of as typifying America. Married Russians We have already shown that the overwhelming majority of Russians in America are single or with- out their wives. The scarcity value of the Russian women who are here is well illustrated by the follow- ing incident. A young woman inserted an advertise- ment in the Russian paper for a secretarial position; within a week she had received over fifty replies ask- ing for her hand in marriage. The result of the scarcity of Russian girls is that there is some inter- The Russian in His Home Environment 8 1 marriage with Ruthenians, Poles or any Slavic na- tionality. It is obvious that life in congested and dilap- idated tenements cannot be ideal. For many mar- ried Russians the sitting room, kitchen and bedroom are all in one. The writer visited a family of five who were living in this way. The husband worked twelve hours a night and was sound asleep at eleven in the morning, oblivious to his caller or the children. The wife contributed her share toward the support of the family by renting her other room to boarders. The apartment of two rooms cost sixteen dollars a month. The walls were mildewed and in spots the paper hung down in tatters, and it is obvious that little wholesome family life can exist in such a house — yet there are many such Russian homes. The two older children attend an American public school; their last report cards showed a good record. They get no help from their parents, who are illiterate. Both these children enjoyed school; but as soon as possible they will be sent to work in order to con- tribute their share towards the family income. I went over the expenses of the family with the mother and found that they were not saving a cent. The cost of food and clothes for the children, who wanted to be dressed as well as the others in the school, made saving impossible. The women work exceptionally hard. For ex- ample, one known to the writer cares for seven chil- dren and eighteen boarders. She gets up at six A. M. 82 The Russian Immigrant and works until night, cooking, washing, and scrubbing daily for twenty-seven people, yet she thinks she is not doing over much. Nearly all the women either take in boarders or do outside work, and some do both. In Ansonia, Connecticut, for ex- ample, some of the mothers sew on buttons; in Phila- delphia they frequently work in the candy or cigar factories. One family there adopted the plan of having the husband at his job during the night and the wife during the day, so that some one was at home with the children all the time. In Boston and Lawrence the women are in the spinning mills and candy factories. In some of the mining towns they keep a few chickens, selling the eggs. In Hartford the priest said that many of the women string to- bacco. Wherever they are, the women find extra tasks, and their lot is not easy. Frequently the husband will start away at eight in the morning and be back at six in the evening; but the wife must have the breakfast ready before the men leave and then care for the children all day; perhaps, also, doing some sewing for a clothing con- cern. She must purchase the groceries, wash the clothes, clean and cook, not only for her own family but for the boarders as well. The pall of heavy, monotonous labor lies upon the entire family. The men return from the day's labor in blast furnace or mine tired out and incapable of any real comrade- ship with their children or wives. In the family re- lationships, then, the Russians are, as a rule, isolated The Russian in His Home Environment 83 from wholesome influences except those which may come through the children who attend the pubhc school. The Second Generation The Russian children, as a whole, know English better than they do Russian. They will understand when their parents speak in the Old Country tongue, but will usually answer in English. They attend the public schools until they can pass muster as old enough to work. Considerable violation of the school law occurs, because, although the Russians take pride in their children and wish them to secure better jobs and live easier lives than they have, eco- nomic pressure is too strong for them. As far as they can, the children dress like American children and often look askance at the peculiar habits and customs of their parents. A common schooling breaks down a good deal of racial prejudice, and the children mingle with almost any of those in the neighborhood, even the blacks. All too early, however, they must begin to con- tribute their share to the family income as office boys, clerks, candy-factory workers, errand or mes- senger boys, drivers, and what not. The girls often work at the bargain counter at an extremely low wage, which they feel is inadequate for their needs. They do not know how to spend their money wisely and naturally desire the silks and furs which are worn by others at the dances, their chief amusement. 84 The Russian Immigrant It is seldom that they are not able to purchase some of these clothes, but often it is at the expense of their food. The young Russians of the second generation, in so far as they have gone to our public schools, have come in touch with some of the wholesome influ- ences of our American life, and they respond with appreciation. They feel more American than Rus- sian. Unfortunately, the majority leave school somewhere between the sixth and eighth grades with hardly more than the barest rudiments of reading and writing, and are destined to live among the low- est ranks of our citizens.^^ Recreation Mr. Cole in a tabulation of the predominant rec- reational interests of ninety-eight Russian men in Chicago^^ notes that sixteen claimed the saloon and more than half of the entire number frequented it; next came the movies with thirteen, although nearly all stated that they attended occasionally. The other interests follow in the order of their importance: Reading 13, dancing 11, music 11, home 6, girls 5, church 5, walking 4, bowling 4, theater 3, pool 3, cards 2, meetings 2. The men who worked seven days a week were very bitter '^'' The Russian is among the newest of our immigrants. There has not yet been time for a large number of the second generation to grow up in our country, and this study is primarily concerned with the foreign-born. ^^ Cf. supra, chap, iii, p. 34. (Mr. Cole secured data on their recreational interests from 98 out of the 112 men investigated.) The Russian in His Home Environment 85 when asked, "What do you do when you want to have a good time?" One said, "When we want a good time, sleep a couple of hours." Another said, "We work like bull, no time even for rest." The prohibition amendment has brought a change in the recreational life of many Russians. Although they can still purchase liquor in some places, it is expensive. Some have begun to make their own liquor at home, but this is by no means universally true. In one mining town in Pennsylvania the au- thorities stated that in the days of the saloon they had to keep a special policeman all the time to handle the drunken quarrels arising among the Rus- sians and Ruthenians. Now they have no policeman at all. Our American civic and religious forces have, as yet, put nothing in the place of the saloon, and the Russian spends his time as best he can. Prob- ably the greatest single number patronize the mov- ing picture houses; nearly all the Russians go oc- casionally. The cases of Russians arrested in the Communist raids may be somewhat exceptional, and yet they are significant. Out of 40 men interviewed, 18 had been accustomed to attend the movies once a week or oftener and the theater once or more in two weeks. Nine of these had gone on an average of 2.7 times a week. The other twenty-two varied widely, eleven patronizing a performance once in two weeks or a month, while the rest attended but rarely. Those who frequented the movies over twice a week went 86 The Russian Immigrant to the theater about three times a month. As might be expected, the foreigners usually patronize the smaller shows. The character of the pictures as seen by the writer was largely of the sex appeal mingled with the dime novel mystery and murder. One Russian workman in Akron characterized them as "only play, killing and jumping." Often they de- pict the life of miUionaires living in idleness and luxury, and naturally the Russian who seldom comes into contact with real Americans often forms a part of his conception of American life from what he sees in the pictures. They make him think of the contrast between his own surroundings and those portrayed in the film. Card playing is a constant source of amusement. Many of the Russians play at home and often there is the added incentive of money stakes. This is hardly to be wondered at, for when they cannot read they have few other amusements. Dances are frequently given among the Russians and are largely patronized by the younger men and women. Occasionally, also, amateur theatricals are staged. Most of the Russians love music; the bala- laika ^^ and other stringed instruments are popular. The beautiful Russian folksongs and the music from their own celebrated masters — Tschaikowsky, for ex- ample — present a striking contrast to our American ragtime. It is no wonder that the Russian appre- 1^ The balalaika is a Russian musical instrument resembling a guitar. The Russian in His Home Environment 87 ciates his own music and that in the dark city tene- ments he will occasionally recall his homeland in such verses as these : ON THE BANKS OF THE VOLGA ^o On the waters of our little-mother Volga The storm is lashing, and the waves rise high ; Alone a tiny boat is battling Alone 'midst the fury of the gale; But look ! at the helm there stands a figure, Scorning death in the waters dark and grim, 'Tis the hero of our little-mother Volga Our Stegneka Rasine. THE FAIR LITTLE MEADOW O meadow, fair little meadow, wide in sweep, wide in sweep, On thee, fair, dear meadow, the shadows descend, the shad- ows descend. The lad loved a lass, loved with a love not of earth, but profound. So few are the Russian gathering places that com- paratively seldom do the Russians join together for a Sunday walk as in Russia. Until the wholesale arrests by our Federal authorities in 1920,"^ many of the Russians attended small political clubs and meet- ings; after that, group meetings were, for a time, precarious and consequently secret, but now, in 1922, they are beginning again. 2" From a translation by Miss Isabel Hapgood, used on the program of a Russian musicale in New York in 1921. 21 This refers to general arrests directed against Communists and alien radicals. Cf. chap. vi. 88 The Russian Immigrant In the agricultural districts the dearth of enter- tainment is even more apparent. Perhaps it has not been an entire loss that in so many rural communities the modern brand of moving pictures has been lacking. In associative recreation as well as in other forms of group activity, the basic factor is consciousness of kind. Those that are alike tend to associate to- gether. There is what Woodworth calls a social impulse, "an impulse to act together, as well as to be together." This can best find expression if Rus- sians can be with Russians or if they can be made to feel at one with Americans. Under the conditions prevailing in America, this social impulse does not find normal outlet with Russians and practically not at all with Americans. "A people can be judged and its career can be predicted from the character of its pleasures, with more accuracy than from any other data." " We have already seen that the Rus- sian has a background of wholesome recreation in his homeland. His folksongs and native festivals far surpass in sociality our usual American pleas- ures. Here, the Russian can attend a moving pic- ture play and gaze silently at what is usually an abnormal and frequently harmful exhibition pur- porting to be American life.^^ But this really does 22 Giddings, Democracy and Empire, op. cit., p. 243. 23 In several cities and states in 1921 there has been an organized movement against the low quality of the moving pictures. New York State passed a moving picture censorship law. Michigan prohibits the exhibition of a crime, and Kalamazoo attempts to enforce the law. Things reached such a pass in Tulsa, Oklahoma, The Russian in His Home Environment 89 not offer scope for the expression of the social im- pulse, it merely arouses the emotions. Conclusion It is, then, apparent that in most of these recrea- tional activities, little contact is made with the good side of American life, although some of our foibles such as cheap "jazz" music and questionable moving pictures are foisted upon the Russian, We have seen that he usually lives in a cheap foreign district among a group using an alien language and having, in the main, different manners, customs, amusements, arts, and standards of living from the American. It is one of the striking achievements of our civiliza- tion that we do reach the foreign children to some extent, but we give them only the barest opportunity to secure something of our culture and well-being. We are content to leave their parents isolated in a foreign atmosphere, and in that environment the children are brought up. Some device ought to be utilized to bring these people into contact with good American influences. The foreign-born Russian instead of growing more like-minded with Americans through the forces we have herein described has, too often, been grow- ing still further unlike. There are few points of common stimulation, inter-stimulation and response that after a campaign against the portrayal of crime in the motion pictures, one newspaper, the Tulsa Tribune, refused to accept all moving picture advertising. 90 The Russian Immigrant between Americans and Russians to bring about re- semblance. In order to analyze still further the causes determining this differentiation, we shall next discuss the educational and religious social forces which surround the Russian Slav. CHAPTER V ORGANIZED SOCIAL FORCES: RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL The Russian Greek Orthodox Church We have already noted in Chapter II that repre- sentatives of the Russian branch of the Eastern Orthodox Church followed the Russian colonists to Alaska and California toward the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. As immigration to the United States increased, the number of churches and priests multi- plied until in 19 16 there were 169 churches with 99,681 members/ This membership includes all the men, women and children living in a parish who ever attend services; the majority are Ruthe- nians from Galicia, and not strictly Russian Slavs. The church is controlled by an archbishop who, until the revolution, was appointed by the Holy Synod in Russia. This Synod used $77,850 annually from the Tsar's treasury for the support of the mission in America; in addition, the Missionary Society of Russia donated $1,481. The churches in America are divided into twenty- 1 Bureau of the Census, Religious Bodies, igi6 (Washington, 1919), part 2, p. 261. 91 92 The Russian Immigrant seven districts supervised by superintendents ap- pointed by the Archbishop. It is the custom in the Greek churches to hold religious services on Satur- day evening and Sunday morning. Religious instruc- tion is usually provided for the children, either on Saturday, or during the week after school hours. In 19 1 6 there were 126 such schools with 150 offi- cers and teachers and 6,739 students.^ The instruc- tion is carried on in the Russian language, and sev- eral priests frankly told the aiithor that up to the revolution the attempt was made to keep the children loyal to the Tsar and to Russia. The chief subjects taught are: the Russian language, Russian history, Bible history, the catechism, prayers and church sing- ing. Besides this, the church maintains a theological seminary, a girls' college, an Immigrant home, a monastery which in 19 16 contained 12 men, and an orphanage which in the same year supported about ^^ children. Affiliated with the Church is the Russian Ortho- dox Society of Mutual Aid, which was founded in 1895. Its aim is to spread and strengthen the Or- thodox faith and church organization in America and to provide insurance for accident, sickness, and death besides aiding widows and orphans. It also maintains a weekly paper. ^ In April, 1920, the so- 2 In 1920, when the author visited these schools, the priests testi- fied that there had been a great falling oflf in attendance of children, due to the unpopularity of the church. 3 Bureau of the Census, Religious Bodies, 1916, part 2, of. cit., p. 260. Organized Social Forces 93 ciety had 188 Brotherhoods with 7,336 members, composed largely of workingmen. The largest num- ber came from the borders of Hungary, the next largest from Russia. In the period from 1905 to 19 1 8 inclusive, the society paid out for death bene- fits $677,787.85, for sick benefits $53,845, and gave in charity $164,013.03. In April, 1920, its total insurance liability was $5,304,500. Five-sixths of the membership was insured for either $500 or $1,000.* Besides this organization there is a rival mutual aid company, the Russian Brotherhood So- ciety, which also enrolls many of the attendants of the Russian Orthodox Church. This society was organized in 1900 as the result of a split in the Ukranian People's Society. From the beginning it stood firmly on a nationalistic platform for Russia from first to last, refusing to be associated with any agitation in favor of an independent Ukraine.' In 19 1 7 the Russian Slav membership was about 3,000 out of a total of over 12,000. Over half the men were insured for $600 and over one-third for $1,000, while over four-fifths of the women were in- sured for $300.^ From its organization in 1900 to 1920, this society paid out over 1,850 death claims totalling over a million dollars. It is therefore apparent that these organizations have rendered * Russian Orthodox Society of Mutual Aid, Russians and Ortho- dox in North America (Wilkesbarre, Pa., 1920), pp. 136-137 (tr. from Russian). * E. I. Omeltchenko, Russian-American Register (N. Y., 1920), p. 214. ^ Omeltchenko, op. cit., p. 215. 94 The Russian Immigrant service to the Russian workers in the emergencies of sickness and accident. But being distinctly Rus- sian they have failed to give them an insight into /American life. Although these societies are democratically or- ganized, the church as a whole, coming as it has out of the Russia of the Tsars, is quite the reverse. The Russian workmen give their savings for its support, yet have little or no voice in its management. In some cases the funds for church maintenance are deducted directly from their pay envelopes; for ex- ample, in Coaldale the coal companies deduct one- half a day's wage from each Russian worker every month and give it to the priest. His receipts from this source in 1919 were $14,917.78. The church there cost $200,000, so he claimed, having a debt of only $26,000 outstanding. Although these Rus- sian workers are thus constrained to support the church, they yet have no power to elect their priests and the property stands in the name of the Arch- bishop at New York. Following the revolution in Russia, many of the members became dissatisfied with the autocratic con- trol which vested all the titles to the property in the name of the Archbishop. One instance occurred in Chicago when some of the congregation demanded an accounting of money contributed. Their de- mands finally became so insistent that the priest preached a sermon in which he said that the money belonged to the Lord and would be accounted for Organized Social Forces 95 to him. This so enraged a portion of his listeners that they protested loudly in the midst of the service. The final result was the starting of an Independent Church which used many of the old ritual forms but the title to the property rested with the parish- ioners.' Much the same thing happened in the Rus- sian Orthodox All Saints' Church in Detroit, organ- ized in 19 14. During 19 18 there was a growing controversy among the members as to who should own the property. In November a new priest was sent to the congregation in spite of the objections of many. Finally, dissension became so general that in March, 19 19, members of the church had a meet- ing at which a new board was elected, the majority being in sympathy with the democratic management, control and ownership of the church by the con- gregation. The old board refused to give over the property, and an independent church was formed. In 1920 there were independent churches in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Brook- lyn, Baltimore, Bayonne City, N. J., and Lawrence, Mass. These used the old forms and acknowledged the authority of the Patriarch in Russia, but would not submit to the authority of the acting head in America. Ordinarily these separate churches carry on a larger educational and social work than do the Orthodox ones. The Orthodox Church has been still further weak- ^ According to the testimony of several who had been in the congregation at that time. 96 The Russian Immigrant ened by various unfortunate occurrences within Its own organization. A suit was brought against the Archbishop and Consistory by seventeen priests, charging offenses ranging all the way from fraudu- lent handling of money to personal immorality.* This resulted In the court's appointing a Receiver.' Since the revolution the acting Archbishop has had fifteen lawsuits on his hands, five of them concern- ing the control of church property. United States customs officers also seized goods belonging to the church because, although they had been admitted free of duty Into America, the church was now sell- ing them. The autocratic character of the church was frankly admitted when the Archbishop declared that he was accountable to no one. He stated fur- ther that there was no necessity for keeping books, since the goods were sold If the customer had money, and If not were given away,^° The powerful Or- thodox Society of Mutual Aid attacked Archbishop Alexander in their paper and year-book on three grounds :^^ I — That he had been intriguing to get his predecessor Evdokim out of America in order to seize control himself. 8 Taken from an unprinted brief submitted in the legal proceed- ings, J. S. Kedrofsky against Archbishop and Consistory of the Russian Orthodox Greek Church, Supreme Court, New York County (1919). • The order appointing Mr. Francis S. Bangs, Receiver, was made March 22, 1919, and was filed in the office of the Clerk of New York County, March 24, 1919. ^° From the brief for the defense in answer to that of Kedrofsky in the suit against the Archbishop, op cit. ^1 Russian Orthodox Society of Mutual Aid, of. cit., p. 59. Organized Social Forces 97 2 — That in reality he favored an independent Ukraine. 3 — That he had tried to break up the Orthodox Society of Mutual Aid. All these facts, many of which were sensationally treated in the Russian press, strengthened the bad impression made. Many Russians, some of whom may have been previous supporters of the church, became deeply suspicious of its purpose and sin- cerity. Before the revolution, when the church was more popular among the rank and file, it had been given, as we have noted, a yearly subsidy from Russia, and prayer was regularly made for the Tsar. It frankly tried to keep the people loyal to him, and to Rus- sia, according to the testimony of priests to the author. The feeling of an educated Russian in Cleveland was, "The priests are simply the Tsar's officials." In 1920, three years after the revolution, a priest in Pennsylvania showed me into his study in which still hung pictures of Tsar Nicolas and the nobility. Another priest, himself, said that the church in America had always been used in the interest of the Tsar's government, and had often tried to make its parishioners dislike America that they might remain loyal to Russia. In the Russian Land, a religious Russian news- paper, there appeared in 1916 a series of anti-Amer- ican articles signed "Black Diamond." In the law- suits brought by Father Kedrofsky It was charged 98 The Russian Immigrant that Archbishop Alexander was the author. While this is denied by the church authorities and probably justly so, it seems unfortunate that a religious pe- riodical purporting to reflect the spirit of the Ortho- dox Church should have published such attacks on America. A sample is here given in order that the readet- may gather something of the state of mind of the editor.^^ SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY All the factories are the selfsame ichor which poisons the worker's soul and body. Capital is a cruel master; workers are his slaves foredoomed to death. Each working day shortens the worker's life for a few months, saps the living juice out of him, dries out the heart, dampens the noblest aspirations of the soul ; transforms a living man into a sort of machine, embitters the whole life. The ragged soul and body of the worker bring forth to the world half sick children, paralytic, idiotic — therefore the factory's poi- son kills not merely the unfortunate workers, but also whole generations. It kills invisibly, imperceptibly, in such a man- ner that the workers themselves — the voluntary slaves of capital — fail to see the whole frightfulness of their own situation. . . . In Russia, more attention is paid to the man. There, they say: "Men are not cattle"; "Men are not made of iron"; "Work and rest." The mining of gold and silver and iron is called in our land "sing-sing work" (hard labor) which ^2 From no. 203 for Friday, August 26th. The translation is given in the main as presented in the brief of Kedrofsky, but has been checked over by the author with the newspaper article itself. Individual words may be translated differently, but the spirit of the article is correct. Organized Social Forces 99 is done by the most hopeless of criminals, not by thieves but by cut-throats — soul-killers or traitors to the State ; whereas in America any work is sing-sing (hard labor), and the workers are galley slaves although they call themselves free citizens. In contrast with this, the church has published many patriotic things; usually in its services there are prayers for the President of the United States and sometimes sermons on patriotic themes. On Sunday, October 26th, 1920, for instance, at the service in the cathedral in New York, the priest spoke on Theodore Roosevelt, and afterwards at the door blanks for the Roosevelt Memorial Asso- ciation were handed out. Nevertheless, the church as a whole is frankly a Russian institution, giving the Russian little about America. Its priests, for the most part, do not even speak English. The attitude of the ordinary workman toward the church is one of suspicion. Stephen Graham in his book, fVith Poor Immigrants to America, re- ported a Russian here as saying that the priests keep the immigrant down, that they like to have the im- migrants drunk in order to get more money from them, and that it would be a good thing if the Or- thodox churches were demolished and the priests sent to Europe. After the Bolshevik revolution the priests incurred enmity from many more by taking a partisan stand in the civil war. One in Cleveland gave out anti-Bolshevik propaganda and urged the men to sign up to fight with Kolchak. The church 100 The Russian Immigrant leaders, also, in many cases supported the owners of the businesses in which their parishioners worked. In Hartford, Father told me that he knew of one priest who, in time of strike, received money from an employer to urge the men in his congrega- tion to return to work. In Philadelphia the priest asserted that the Bethlehem Steel Co., at South Bethlehem, Pa., in 191 8 forced each Russian work- man to pay $1 a month to the Orthodox Church. Those who refused were discharged. He added, "If only all the companies would adopt this policy we would have no difficulty." It is only natural that the priests should strive to secure financial support from the companies which employ Russians. The following letter reveals the method adopted by one in Akron in 19 18 and to some extent reveals his state of mind. The priests have testified to the author that they seldom meet with success in such appeals. Mr. F. A. Seiberling, President, The Goodyear Tire ^ Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio. Dear Sir: Not less than three thousand of your employees are speak- ing the Russian language and still more than such were born in or belonged to the Russian Greek Orthodox Cath- olic Church. True Christianity always makes a man better in all re- spects. One cares more for his family, is more earnest in his work, is less vulnerable to the poisonous teachings of Organized Social Forces lOi some modern agitators trying to inoculate hate, envy and crime into those hearts of men where Christianity has planted love, respect, order and justice after long years of painstaking work. The present conditions are particularly critical to the Russian workingmen who, without proper education and surrounded by new conditions of life, may become the adepts of some devilish doctrine, nourished in concealment by treacherous enemies of the United States. They may be- come infested with such doctrines unless the moral influ- ence of their mother church will save them. We need a couple of thousand dollars to finish our task, but as I am most of the time on my missionary work, it will take a long time before I shall be able to pay the above money, unless a well meaning citizen, as you, with a broad understanding and sincere desire to improve our working community morally as well as materially, will contribute to the con- struction of this church, which no doubt is a great factor in the up-building of higher morals and better material con- ditions of this community. As per custom of our church, we shall pray every Sunday for those who helped to build this temple of the Lord, and God will recompense you tenfold for what you will con- tribute to the benefit of his faithful worshipers. Your sincere friend and humble servant of the Lord. In Pennsylvania an Orthodox Father told the au- thor that his predecessor secured funds to build a church by pledging the workmen that the money ad- vanced would be paid back to them. Now he leaves and his successor is, of course, unable to repay the money. 102 The Russian Immigrant All these things add to the hostility of the work- men against the church. One priest in Brooklyn estimated that 75 per cent of the Russians oppose the church. "Even if bread were offered to them free from a church," he said, "they would refuse. As long as a Russian is healthy, he does not need the church." That the masses from Russia have always distrusted the Orthodox Church and that this is the reason why such a large part of its member- ship is made up of Ruthenians, is the opinion of E. I. Omeltchenko,^^ who as member of the Extraor- dinary Russian Mission sent to the United States after the revolution by the Temporary Government, made a survey of the Russian colonies in America. If the church has always been unpopular among Russians, it is doubly unpopular now. In his in- vestigations the author visited church after church, where there were only five or six in the audience dur- ing the services. The priests complained bitterly that contributions were exceedingly small. Joseph B. Polonsky, manager of the Russian Section of the Foreign Language Information Service of the American Red Cross, recently made a trip to the more important Russian colonies, going as far west as North Dakota. After visiting all the Orthodox churches he reported that the priests were preaching to only a mere handful; in consequence many asked him about securing other work for themselves. In spite of these facts, individual churches are 13 In a statement to the author. Organized Social Forces 103 popular and the Cathedral in New York is usually well filled on a Sunday morning. It must not be forgotten, moreover, that many of these Russian priests are sincere men who are unselfishly trying to serve. The writer became convinced that many are really doing a splendid work for their parishioners. Even if the Russian workman is distrustful of the church, he is likely to attend on Easter and at marriages. For funerals and christenings even the skeptical feel the need of the church. The priests are, at least, sharing the isolation of the mining camps at meager salaries and are giving their countrymen the opportunity of having beautiful religious services. The Protestant Church The work of the Protestant Church on behalf of the Russians is very small even in the aggregate. The U. S. Census of Religious Bodies tells us that all the Protestant denominations combined, not counting the Greek Orthodox and the Roman CathoHc, have only fifteen churches exclusively Rus- sian, with a total of only 811 members. In addition there were ten churches with a mixed membership of 3947, which included a variety of other nationalities besides Russian." It must be remembered that even these figures are likely to be somewhat exaggerated, for a Russian pastor of one such 1* Bureau of the Census, Religious Bodies, I916, part i, op. cit., pp. 78-82. 104 The Russian Immigrant church told me that the number enrolled as mem- bers included many whose addresses the church no longer knew. Apart from any matter of mem- bership, the Protestant Church does touch others who are not members. For example, the St. Paul's M. E. Church in Jersey City, N. J., permitted a group to organize in their own way and to hold meetings as they wished in the church rooms. They called themselves "The Russian Self-Educated Circle." Soon the number of members reached about sixty. They had an open forum every Saturday night following a lecture, and classes in English were held on Monday and Tuesday nights. Later, mathematics and civics were added. Volun- tarily this group began to make contributions to the church expenses and finally several joined the church on their own initiative. Now, with entertainments and moving pictures added, this church has a group of about 300 Russians in its settlement work in Jersey City and 200 in Elizabethport. The Church of All Nations and the Labor Temple in New York City have also reached numbers of Russians who were not members. The Gary Chapel and Neigh- borhood House in Gary, Ind., have tried to help all the various nationalities, including the Russian. Eight national foreign societies hold meetings in the house. There are classes in English, boy scout meetings and religious services. Even making due allowance for all such work, what the Protestant Church is doing is almost negligible in comparison Organized Social Forces 105 with the numbers involved, approximating two hundred thousand Russians in the United States. Moreover, much of the work is conducted by Rus- sians in the Russian language, without any attempt to teach English. Among all the Russian churches listed in the United States Census, only two used the English language as well as the Russian in their services. For the most part they are conducted on a strict denominational basis, rigidly emphasizing certain dogmas. An analysis of fifty tracts printed by eight different organizations in Russian and collected by the Inter-Church World Movement showed that in general they were based on the literal divine inspiration theory of the Bible and used "the proof text" method. Fourteen were attempts to prove some disputed theological dogmas, such as the observance of the Sabbath on Saturday instead of Sunday. Considering all the phases of its activity, therefore, the influence of the Protestant Church in Americanizing the Russians is slight. American Public and Private Agencies The greatest assimilating agency that we have in America is the public school. Jane Addams says that the only service America is thoroughly equipped to offer the immigrant and his children is free education. When we consider that in 19 10, accord- ing to the census, over one-fourth of the children in our schools were of foreign or of mixed parentage, io6 The Russian Immigrant we can realize something of the service that is being rendered the foreigner in this way. Several private agencies, are however, trying to meet the needs of the alien. The social settlements invite the Russians along with other nationalities. One in New York City, for instance, offers its rooms for the use of Russian groups who have nowhere else to meet. It now has four such groups, and, as a result, several individuals have joined the English classes and other activities which the settlement maintains.^^ But the settlement reaches chiefly the women and children, and of these not many among the Russians. The Y.M.C.A. in its industrial departments and among the foreign-born has frequently done good work for the Russians. The Brooklyn Asso- ciation, for one, has organized an English class in Brownsville. This class has been popular and has already stimulated a number of the men to take out citizenship papers. Mr. Harvey Anderson and Mr. Thomas Cotton in New York, and Mr. Theodore G. Demberg in Philadelphia have also been active. They have organized lectures, classes, and informa- tion bureaus for the Russians, besides cooperating with other welfare agencies in the city. The Y.W.C.A., through its International Insti- tutes, serves the Russians in various ways. In Pittsburgh, for example, it has an information service with a paid Russian worker, and any who ^^ Daniels, America via the Neighborhood (N. Y., 1920), p. 227. Organized Social Forces 107 need advice or help can receive it there. Besides this, classes in English are conducted in the factory districts where the Russians live. The Foreign Language Governmental Informa- tion Bureau organized by the Committee on Public Information of the Government and now affiliated with the Red Cross has been rendering notable service as a connecting link between the Government and the alien. At first it sent bulletins to the Russian papers giving material relating chiefly to the war; later it began to give general information to Russians. By Interpreting our laws, it was the means of saving them thousands of dollars of income taxes wrongly collected. It has translated books on hygiene, technical works, histories of the United States, works on citizenship, and historical plays for the free use of the foreign language schools, churches and societies. Moreover, It has sent Russian lecturers to all parts of America who speak in Bolshevik clubs, workmen's halls and other meeting places on such subjects as American Ideals or Abraham Lincoln. During and since the war, Americanization com- mittees have had a mushroom growth. While there is no doubt that they have done a great deal for the foreigners, they have not touched the life of Russians as much as that of other nationalities. In illustration of this : an Investigator of Russian condi- tions for a department of our Government says, "The Pittsburgh public school authorities are / ^-'^ io8 The Russian Immigrant carrying on Americanization campaigns, aided by the Chamber of Commerce, which every so often invites the 'leaders' of the foreign-born to a dinner. As far as the Russians are concerned the results of this work are invisible." ^^ Mr. George Creel, Head of the Committee on Public Information of the Government during the war says, "Americanization activities have largely been stupid when they were not malignant. . . , The sinister attempts of em- ployers to identify Americanization with industrial submissiveness are with us to-day as in the past." ^^ A Russian priest in Cleveland expressed his feelings about the Americanization work by saying, "If I came to Russia and they made me disown everything dear to me and swear I loved hard work in the factory and bad housing I would never become a Russian." Mr. Sibray, the United States Immigra- tion Commissioner in Pittsburgh, says, "Our Ameri- canization committees are largely a sham. On the average they think merely of getting the foreigner to take out citizenship papers and that is the last thing that ought to be done." A social organization in 1920 sent a Russian officer to make a study of the Russians in Cleveland and asked him to visit the Americanization committee because it has done notable work for many of the nationalities. In his written report, after questioning what the committee had done for the Russians, he said, "Almost none 1^ From a letter, of which the author has a copy. ^''Foreign Born, Jan., 1920, p. 19. Organized Social Forces 109 of the Russians knew anything about America, Americanization committees, or the Y.M.C.A." A quotation from one of the Russian papers is characteristic of the feeling of most of the Russians with whom the writer talked: "Many Americaniza- tion committees exist only on paper. They make much noise, praise themselves in the newspapers, but they do not do much good. . . . They mostly laugh about the poor foreigners. ... If they want to help, they must come with love in their hearts." ^* No doubt the Russians at the present time are difficult to reach because they have suffered from the fact that the public has associated them with the Bolsheviks in Russia. The Americanization committees are contending with a difficult problem and have naturally confined their efforts to the nationalities that responded most readily. Government agencies such as the California Immigration Commission have done some construc- tive work in giving information to Russians and in forcing Americans to improve working conditions for their employees. ^^ This commission has realized that one of the important tasks of all Americani- zation work is the education of the American employer in his responsibility toward the workman. One reason that American agencies fail to do more is that large numbers of the Russians are illiterate, and this fact is not sufficiently taken into considera- ^* From Pravda, Sept. 30, 1919. ^^ Davis, Immigration and Americanization, op, cit., pp. 440-473, no The Russian Immigrant tlon. The U. S. Immigration Commission in 1910 found that out of a total of 7,390 Russians interro- gated, 29.5 per cent admitted that they could not read and write. ^° The illiterates among the Rus- sians entering this country for the five years from 1910-1914, when the war stopped immigration, roughly averaged 35 per cent.^^ As the average Russian at the port of entry would probably claim that he was literate if he could read anything at all, these figures are probably low. If, then, over one-third of the Russians are illiterate it is not strange that they do not learn English, especially when it is realized that they are practically isolated from Americans and that they live, sleep and work together. Since an average of 35 per cent are illiter- ate and a much larger number can read but little in their own language, how can we expect them to keep up with a mixed class of various nationalities? In Mr. Cole's study in Chicago, out of 112 Russian workmen, 80 said they could speak some English, but only 12 claimed to be able to read it, and in the case of these 12 no test was made. The fact is that there have been few scientific attempts made to understand how to help the Russian learn English. As Professor Petrunkevitch of Yale says : Although ostensibly for the benefit and instruction of uneducated and foreign workmen [the night schools] are, as 20 U. S. Immigration Commission, Abstracts of Reports, vol. i, table 77, pp. 438-442. ^1 Calculated from the U. S. Bureau of Immigration, Annual Reports of the Commissioner-General, table 7, pp. 20-21, 1910; pp. 20-21, 1911; pp. 74-75, 1912; pp. 46-47, 1913; pp. 42-43, 1914. Organized Social Forces 1 1 1 at present constituted, in reality of very little help. The Russian workman has first to learn English before he can understand instruction in other subjects ; but even in this, he becomes quickly discouraged. He is a stranger to the teacher, who does not take into account his peculiar psychol- ogy. A few days, perhaps a few weeks of most strenuous work in the evening after the day's work at the factory, and the Russian workman gives up in despair.^^ Russian Non-Political Organizations In spite of the agencies we have listed, the foreign-born Russians in the aggregate are largely untouched. Probably more have been reached by the Foreign Language Information Service than by any other means, for in addition to other methods, it sends out information through the Russian press. The Russians have a mass of organizations of the small non-political type in various parts of America. There are a few trade unions which are either Russian or else have Russian branches — for example, the Russian-Polish department of the Union of Cloakmakers, the Russian branch of the Union of Men's and Women's Garment Workers, the Society of Russian Bootmakers, and the Society for Russian Mechanics. All of these admit Russian Jews as well as other Russian nationalities. There are also cultural-educational societies, of 22 Petrunkevitch, Alexander, "The Russian Problem in the United States," The Standard, Feb., 1920, p. 176. 112 The Russian Immigrant which, perhaps, the largest is Nauka (Science). This was organized in 1905 and had in 19 18 six branches.-^ Besides paying a sick benefit of $5 a week and $200 in case of death, the society has a reading room and organizes lectures, concerts and socials. Other similar ones are Znamenie (The Sign), Samo Obrazovanie (The Society of Self- Education), Prosvishenie (Enlightenment), and the Society of Russian Citizens. In Boston and some other places there are branches of a Society of Mutual Aid for Russian Workers. It is their aim to have one member who will be expert on some one particular need of the Russian, such as: sending money to Russia, purchasing steamship tickets, employment, housing, and so forth. Since the organization is poor, all such activities have to be carried on voluntarily. The regulations of the society recognize the dangers involved and provide that no one so appointed shall have a secret arrange- ment with any company or agent whereby he makes a profit. In the past few years a number of societies have sprung up which relate directly to the Russian revolution. Thus, in Los Angeles, there was formed a Society to Help Free Russia; in other places there were organizations for the sending home of political emigrants. While these sound very well as names, in practice most of them are very small and at 23 Vilchur, M., The Russians in America, op. cit., pp. 124-125 (tr. from the Russian). Organized Social Forces 113 best serve as centers providing a social rendezvous and an occasional lecture, but rarely affording any contacts with Americans or giving much information on America. Two Russian educational institutions are, however, doing extensive work. One is the Russian Collegiate Institute in New York City, which received a grant of $10,000 from the Carnegie Foundation and raised $6,000 from other sources. Its purpose is "to offer to Russian workmen within a small radius of New York City useful knowledge which will enable them to better their economic and social position." ^* All political subjects are for- bidden and the school is open to all, whether pro- or anti-Bolshevik. The institute is divided into three departments : ( i ) preparatory or night school, (2) academic, and (3) tech- nical. The night school prepares the workmen for entrance into such institutions as Cooper Union. Instruction is given two hours every evening except Saturday and Sunday. The subjects taught are English, Russian, geography, history, arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, physics and chemistry. Besides these courses, the institute is carrying on lectures before larger groups than can attend the classes. Its secretary claims an average weekly attendance of 1,400 from January to May, 1921. A similar school, called the Russian People's -* From an article by Alexander Petrunkevitch, the President of the Institute, in T/ie Standard, Feb., 1920, op. cit., pp. 177-178. 114 The Russian Immiffrant University, was started in Chicago with a foundation of $10,000 contributed by interested Russians.. It has adopted also a non-political attitude and in May, 19 1 9, had an enrolment of about eighty. The courses in agriculture proved to be the most popular since many Russians desire to prepare for such work in Russia. Undoubtedly these institutions are doing something toward giving the Russian a better under- standing of America, but they exist in only two cities. Even taking into consideration all the societies mentioned, the Russian is relatively unor- ganized, as is shown in the 19 17 survey of E. I. Omeltchenko, already mentioned. He concludes that in respect to organizations the real Russians have the least of all. "They are out of touch with every kind of cultural and educational influence both American and Russian." ^* Russian Political Organizations Before the author started visiting the Russian colonies, he secured lists of Russian socialistic, anarchistic, and radical clubs. The names and addresses included over 200. Probably the largest and most extensive of these was the Union of Russian Workers, which has branches in every large industrial center and in many small mining and manufacturing communities. It unites all the Rus- sian workers affiliated with it, regardless of their 25 Omeltchenko, E. I., On the Question of the Organization of the Russian Colony {N.Y,, 1917), p. $• (C/. footnote Preface, p. viii.) Organized Social Forces 115 trades, Into one revolutionary organization, endorses direct action, and, in general, is sympathetic with anarchistic theories. Each branch is composed of not more than sixty members. It has no relation to other American organizations, although it is in friendly affiliation with some Russian anarchistic groups."^ Its purpose is given in the agreement of the Federation of the Union of Russian Workers of the United States and Canada." THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE FEDERATION The present Society is divided into two opposing classes: on one side the unprovided laborers and peasants who have created the world's riches with their labor; on the other side the rich men who grabbed all those riches into their hands. Many times has the unprovided class arisen against the parasitic rich and their trusty servant and defender, the Government, for the purpose of gaining full liberation from the yoke of capital and authority, but each time suffers defeat because it does not know clearly the ultimate purpose and the means whereby to gain it and becomes a tool in the hands of its enemies. The strife between those classes is continuing also at the present time, and will be finished only when the working masses, organized mto a class, will understand their true interest and v;ill take possession by means of forceful revo- lution of all the wealth of the world. 28 Ibid., p. 6. 27 Translation given to the author at the Detroit ofiBce of the United States Department of Justice. Ii6 The Russian Immigrant Having accomplished such transposition, and having de- stroyed at the same time all the institutions of Government and authority, the unprovided classes will have to announce a society of free producers who will be anxious to satisfy the needs of every separate individual which later, in turn, will give to the society its labor and knowledge. To reach our purpose, we, first of all, prove the necessity of creating a wide class of revolutionary organization of toilers, which, leading a direct fight with all the institutions of capital and authority, must teach the laboring class initiative and self-action in all its undertakings, developing within it in this manner a recognition of the necessity of the unavoidability of a Universal Strike — Social Revolution. Organizing, therefore, into Unions of Russian Work- ers, We, as a part of the toilers of the whole world, will strive in all our future work that the principles underlying the Federation will always be a leading thread in the matter of organization of the wide masses of Russian Immigrants for the speediest liberation of Russia and of humanity. In spite of these radical statements, the unions are in reality quite peaceful, according to E. I. Omeltchenko, and existed for seven years without molestation until U. S. Attorney General Palmer declared them illegal. They did circulate a surpris- ing amount of radical literature, however, for the author found the following pamphlets in Russian on sale : -* "What is Anarchism?" by Novomirski. -8 The titles are, of course, translations from the Russian, in which the pamphlets are printed. Organized Social Forces 117 "God and Government," by Mihael Bakunin. "Manifesto of Anarchist-Communists," by Novomirski. "Whom Does the Soldier Serve?" Anonymous. "The Question of Communism," by A, Karelin. "The Chicago Drama — First of May, 1886," Anonymous. "The Moral Beginning of Anarchism," by Peter Kro- potkin. "The Speech of Matreni Presashuk before the Kiev War Tribunal the 19th of July, 191 8." It is unnecessary to quote from these for the titles and authorship show, for the most part, that they are radical. The pamphlet concerning the soldiers tries to prove that they simply serve the rich; that on the Chicago Drama describes America as a land where there are more hungry, more oppressed, more slaves than in any other land. It tells of "the shedding of the workers' blood" in Chicago by the militia, and says that up to the present time many thousands of people have lost their lives fighting for freedom in America, and that the laws are made simply to protect the power of the rich and private property. One of the most dangerous is the Manifesto of Anarchist-Communists. In one place it says : "We may, therefore, formulate our tactics thus : By participating in the struggle of the working class, guiding it, and uninterruptedly widening and deepen- ing that struggle, kindle and maintain the conflagra- tion of civil war until we have torn up by the roots Capitalism and Government." These pamphlets. ii8 The Russian Immigrant however, are circulated by only a few. Many Rus- sians whom the author interviewed did not seem to be interested in the propaganda but rather in having a social club and in attending classes. Besides this Union there are many branches of the Russian division of the Socialist Party. In affiliation with these are a number of "Societies for the Help of the Russian Revolution." In 19 15 eighteen branches joined together in a federation representing 300 members, and by the fall of 19 17 there were 29 branches with an active paying membership of 600. Following the revolution the activity of these branches increased to such an extent that in 19 19 there were 150 branches and over 12,000 members.^® Moreover, a radical element that did not believe in parliamentary procedure began to agitate in favor of direct action. Before long the entire socialist party of Russians had accepted this position. There were three chief reasons : ^®* (a) The vast increase of new members, (b) Allied intervention in Russia, (c) Dislike of Denikine and Kolchak, the leaders in the civil war against the Bolsheviks. Many Russian socialists even plotted to overthrow the conservative leaders of the American party, but were thwarted when the executive committee threw out all non-American citizens. As a result of this 29 Omeltchenko, Russian-American Register, IQ20, op. cit., p. 232. 2»a Ibid, p. 23a. Organized Social Forces 119 action, the Russian socialists, together with radicals from other groups, held a congress toward the end of 19 19, which resulted in the formation of the American Communist party. A few breaking away from the others joined the American Communist Labor Party. Pravda (Truth) with a circulation of between three and four thousand was one period- ical which supported their position. ^° This Com- munist Party also circulated considerable radical propaganda and in 1920 wholesale arrests of Rus- sians followed. The radical Russian papers, Pravda and Novy Mir, were suppressed.^^ In spite of these facts concerning the activities of the central organization, many of the socialist clubs visited by the author appeared to cater merely to the social impulse of the Russian. As is usually the case where some definite group activity arises, whether it be in connection with a saloon or whether it be a Communist club, some useful things were accomplished. For example, in New York City during the spring of 19 18, 23 Russian organizations joined together to form a "soviet," ^^ with head- quarters at 133 East 15th Street.^^ The chief ^° Ibid., p. 233. 31 Although not used as authority in this study, the Report of the Joint Legislative Committee Investigating Seditious Activities, Revolutionary Radicalism (Albany, 1920), in Chaps, v and vi pp. 739-818, treats of the formation of the Communist parties. 32 A soviet is a council made up of the representatives of various organizations or professions. 33 Some disbanded, others dropped out, and in 1919 the secretary said there were only thirteen left. The principal ones were: The Federation of Russian Workers, The Society of Russian Peasants, 120 The Russian Immigrant feature of the activities in the building was the Soviet School. According to the secretary It was started by placing advertisements in the Russian papers and by holding large meetings and urging enrolment. By this means, in 19 19, over 300 paid students were secured, and there were more applicants than there was room. Russian and English classes were started first, and later automobile and electrical classes, courses in algebra, history, astronomy and agricul- ture. If ten students desired some new course, the management arranged for it. If even a single individual left on the ground that the teacher was not satisfactory, a committee was appointed to investigate. Each student paid ten cents an hour for his class and each teacher received a dollar and a half. While undoubtedly considerable propaganda was circulated, the majority of the classes were in subjects which, by their nature, are not easily used for that purpose. In Boston the author visited a club on Dec. 14, 19 1 9. Hanging on the wall was a certificate of incorporation which read: Mutual Aid Association of Workmen from Russia for the purpose of paying death or funeral benefits not exceed- ing two hundred dollars, and disability benefits not exceeding ten dollars per week. The association shall maintain a library and conduct lectures for the purpose of educating its members and also assist them in raising the standard ot The Society of Dock Workers, and two anarchistic groups publish- ing Bread and Freedom and The IVorkman and Peasant. Organized Social Forces I2i their living. The membership is limited to persons of Rus- sian birth and descent. The charter was granted by the State of Massachu- setts on Dec. 6, 19 15. On the walls were pictures of all the Russian revolutionary leaders, Gorky, Lenin, Trotsky and others, and a certificate of membership in the Communist Party hung on the wall. The club had both men and women members. Classes in Russian and arithmetic met nightly and all the leading Russian daily newspapers were accessible. A buffet which served soft drinks actually paid for the rent of the room, which was twenty dollars a month. The club also maintained a school for the children of members which met three times a week. As far as one could judge, although the club Included political elements. It also met a legitimate social and educa- tional need, and to that extent was constructive. After listening for hours to study classes in the various Communist clubs, one could but admit that they do attempt to teach their own members. They also have merit In that they do not go over the heads of the Illiterate workers. Still, such clubs also have lectures on Communism and Bolshevism, and there is little doubt that part of the propaganda work then going on In the club just described was directed against our political system and American ideals. In addition to these groups the representative of 122 The Russian Immigrant the Soviet Government, Mr. Martens, formed a Technical Department of his Soviet Bureau. Its purpose was to organize and register all the tech- nical, industrial and professional strength of the Russian colony in America to aid in building Russia into a Communistic Socialistic Republic.^* As was testified to in the deportation hearing of Mr. Martens: "This section has organized, throughout all America, associations for technical assistance to Soviet Russia, which now number more than ten thousand members." ^^ The societies which were organized plan to send not only workers, but also certain branches of production as a unit, with both machinery and workmen. The popularity of the plan and the extent of sympathy which exists toward Soviet Russia is attested by the fact that It was possible to secure 10,000 volunteers. In spite of all that can be said In favor of these educational programs, they are Russian In their make-up and scope and certainly do not, in the main, make the Russian love America or her institutions, nor do they provide contacts with them. There may be a few Russians who can say, as did one who wrote to a government bureau, "The American socialists helped me to love America. Then I understood that America is not only composed of capitalists and 34 Circular on "Technical Department of the Soviet Bureau in America," published by the representative of the Russian Socialistic Federated Soviet Republic in America. 35 Brief on behalf of Mr. Martens argued before the Department of Labor in 1921 (New York), p. 48. Organized Social Forces 123 bourgeois. Many great Inventors were Americans." But they seem to be rare. For the majority, such clubs, while fulfilling a perfectly proper and natural educational and social function, actually do stimulate distrust of our government and her institutions. The Russian and American Press The newspapers and journals printed in Russian in the United States have had a long and checkered career. The first to be published was the Alaska Herald, a bi-llngual semi-monthly periodical in Russian and English. The English material was arranged to interest Americans, and treated phases of the political and social life of Russia. The remainder gave Items interesting to the Russians about American life and laws, or about the Russian colonies in Alaska and San Francisco. It was not until 1889 that another periodical, the Sign, a weekly, was issued ; this lasted less than a year. From that time on, there has been a constant appearance and disappearance of periodicals and newspapers. M. Vllchur ^^ lists 52 others, of which 18 were discontinued during the first year of publication, 12 during the second year, 7 during the third year; only 5 are now published In 192 1. Of these five the oldest started in 1902. At present there are four Russian dailies published in the United States. A fifth, the Novi Mir (The New World) was suppressed by the Government in '6 Vilchur, The Russians in America, op. cit., pp. 114- 117. 124 '^he Russian Immigrant 1920 because it was affiliated with the Communist Party in America. The I.W.W. weekly in Chicago, however, has been permitted to appear regularly, and is sent through the mail. The history of the Novi Mir is worth recording, as showing how politics enter into the management, and so into the news given to the Russian readers. The Novi Mir was founded in 191 1 by the Russian Socialist Publishing Association and represented the Social Democrats or Mensheviks, as the party is termed in Russia. The editorial board was elected by the 300 Russian members of the Socialist Publish- ing Association. At first the entire nine members of the board of management were Mensheviks. Grad- ually, after the paper became prosperous, the original 300 members dropped away until there were only 75 who remained active. Now, under the rules of the Association, anyone who had been a member of the Socialist Party for six months could join by paying one dollar. The Russian Bol- shevik sympathizers decided to secure control of the paper. They persuaded Buharin and Chu- duafsky, both Bolsheviks, to come from Sweden in 19 16 with the intent of placing them on the editorial staff. Under the rules of the manage- ment no one could get more than $15 in this capacity and the result was a dearth of good writers, so that it was easy to secure the positions for these able writers. Every month the Bol- sheviks brought in new members to the Association Organized Social Forces 125 until they had secured a majority vote and won control, whereupon all the Menshevik members of the board resigned.^' Leon Trotsky was on the staff from Jan. 15, 1917, to March 27, 1917. In 1916 the Association, because it was opposed to war, passed a resolution refusing the acceptance of war loan advertisements. In October, 19 17, the second class mailing privilege was withdrawn by the post office department. In November, 19 17, the paper was excluded from circulation in the United Kingdom. In 191 8 many copies of the paper were held by the postal authorities; in the second half of July, out of fourteen issues printed, ten were so withheld. By August 12, 19 18, thirty-seven issues of the paper had been declared non-mailable under the Espionage Act. On August 15 th a disloyalty order was issued, denying the paper the privilege of receiving mail. In 1920 the paper was raided by agents of the Lusk committee and its printing presses were damaged; since then it has been closed. In 19 1 8 the editor-in-chief was Gregory Weinstein, who made the following statement regarding the paper, ^^ "Novi Mir is a revolutionary Socialistic organ, supporting the Soviet government of Russia. There is no connection between our party and the I.W.W. Some of our aims may be similar, but we do not work together. Novi Mir was excluded from ^^ According to Alex. Gumberg, a member of the Menshevik staff, in a statement to the author. 3^ From an unpublished statement as given to a representative of the Carnegie Foundation. 126 The Russian Immigrant the mails here because we republished in our columns an article from the Hearst paper, the Washington Times, which said that the money to carry on the war should be raised by taxing capital." He claimed for the paper a circulation of 8,000. Two of the four other dailies, the Novoye Russ- koye Slovo and the Russky Golos are published daily, including Sunday, while the Americanskiya Izvestia and Svobodnaya Russiya do not appear on Sunday. Ayer's American Annual for 1921 gives the circulation for Novoye Russkoye Slovo as 32,256 (P. O. statement) and the Russky Golos as 35,143 (published statement). ^^ The names of the other two papers are not given at all. Joseph B. Polonsky, already referred to as Manager of the Russian sec- tion of the Foreign Language Information Service of the American Red Cross, stated that the sworn and published statements were worthless and his testimony was corroborated by Mr. Vilchur, one time editor of the Russkoye Slovo. In the opinion of Mr. Polonsky, instead of 32,000, the Novoye Russ- koye Slovo had a circulation of 10,000 and the Russky Golos about 15,000. He thought the Ameri- kanskiya Izvestia had a circulation of 3,000 and the Svobodnaya Russiya 3,000. As for the I.W.W. paper. The Golos Trushenka, instead of 6,000 claimed by the management, he thought no more than 700 copies were sold. It must be remembered ^^Ayer, N. W., American Ne 433-43, 533-43; vol. 39, pp. 13-22, 115-24, 217-25, September, 1903-May, 1904. Commons, J. R., "Slavs in the Bituminous Mines of Illinois," Charities and the Commons, vol. 13, pp. 227-9, December 3, 1904. Commons, J. R., "Wage Earners of Pittsburg," Charities and the Commons, vol. 21, pp. 1051-64, March 6, 1909. Durand, E. D., "Our Immigrants and the Future," World's Work, vol. 23, pp. 431-43, February, 1912. Elkinton, Joseph, "The Dukhobors," Charities and the Commons, vol. 13, pp. 252-6, December 3, 1904. Fetler, William, "Russians in the United States," Missionary Review of the World, vol. 38, pp. 923-8, December, 1915. 2i8 The Russian Immigrant Fleming, W. L., "Immigration to the Southern States," Political Science Quarterly, vol. 20, pp. 276-97, June, 1905. Foster, Maximilian, "The Citizen," Everybody's, vol. 19, pp. 628-40, November, 1908. Gruszczynski, Maxim, "Russian Immigrant on American Conti- nent," Pan-American Magazine, vol. 26, pp. 29-34, November, 1917. Henry, J. R., "Do Russians Make Good American Citizens?" World Outlook, vol. 6, pp. 14-15, May, 1920. Hine, L. W., "Immigrant Types in the Steel Districts," Charities and the Commons, vol. 21, pp. 581-8, January 2, 1909. Hrdlicka, Ales, "The Slavs," Czecho-Slovak Revieiv, vol. 2, pp. 180-187, November, 1918. Hughes, Elizabeth, "Chicago Housing Conditions," American Jour- nal of Sociology, vol. 20, pp. 289-312, November, 1914. Kellogg, P. U., "The McKee's Rocks Strike," Survey, vol. 22, pp. 656-65, August 7, 1909. Kellor, F. A., "Protection of Immigrant Women," Atlantic Monthly, vol. loi, pp. 246-55, February, 1908. Koukol, A. B., "The Slav's a Man for a' That," Charities and the Commons, vol. 21, pp. 589-98, January 2, 1909. Lauck, W. J.. "The Bituminous Coal Miner and Coke Worker of Western Pennsylvania," Survey, vol. 26, pp. 34-51, April 1, 1911. Lee, Joseph, "Assimilation and Nationality," Charities and the Commons, vol. 19, pp. 1453-55, January 25, 1908. Literary Digest, "Russians in America," vol. 63, p. 41, November 29, 1919. Lloyd, J. A. T., "Teuton versus Slav," Fortnightly Review, vol. 105, pp. 883-93, May, 1916. Lovejoy, O. R., "The Slav Child: A National Asset or a Liability," Charities and the Commons, vol. 14, pp. 882-4, J^^Y i> i905- McLaughlin, Allan, "The Slavic Immigrant," Popular Science Monthly, vol. 63, pp. 25-32, May, 1903. Mayo-Smith, Richmond, "Theories of Mixtures of Races and Nationalities," Yale Revieiv, vol. 3, pp. 166-186, August, 1894. Miller, H. A., "The Lost Division," Survey, vol. 40, pp. 307-9, June 15, 1918. Moravsky, M., "Greenhorn in America," Atlantic Monthly, vol. 122, pp. 663-9, November, 1918. Norton, E. S., "The Need of a General Plan for Settling Immigrants Outside the Great Cities," Charities and the Commons, vol. 12, pp. 152-4, February 6, 1904. Outlook, "Russian Immigrant and His Savings," vol. 114, p. 13, September 6, 1916. Parker, E. H., "Russians in Business," Chamber's Journal, pp. 103-6, February, 1915. Ripley, W. Z., "Race Factors in Labor Unions," Atlantic Monthly, vol. 93, pp. 299-308, March, 1904. Bibliography 219 Ripley, W. Z., "The European Population of the United States," Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 28, pp. ^21-40, 1908. Roberts, Peter, "The New Pittsburgers: Slavs and Kindred Immi- grants in Pittsburg," Charities and the Commons, vol. 21, PP- 533-52, January 2, 1909. Ross, E. A., "Slavs in America," Century Magazine, vol. 88, pp. 590-8, August, 1914. Sayles, M. B., "Housing and Social Conditions in a Slavic Neigh- borhood," Charities and the Commons, vol. 13, pp. 257-61, December 3, 1904. Smith, R. D., "Some Phases of the McKee's Rocks Strike," Survey, vol. 23, pp. 38-45, October 2, 1909. Sokoloff, Alexis, "Old Believers," Survey, vol. 33, pp. 145-51, November 7, 1914. Steiner, E. A., "From the Lovezin to Guinea Hill," Outlook, vol. 89, pp. 247-52, May 30, 1908. Steiner, E. A., "The Foreign Born Population of the United States," Scientific Monthly, vol. 8, pp. 380-3, April, 1919. Survey, "Russians in American Schools," vol. 44, p. 590, August 2, 1920. Survey, "United for Freedom at Home," vol. 40, p. 292, June 8, 1918. Townley-Fullam, C, "Pan-Slavism in America," Forum, vol. 52, pp. 177-85, August, 1914. Tridon, A., "Russian Baiting in Our Ports," Public, vol. 21, pp. 698-700, June I, 1918. Wilson, H. L., and Smith, E. W., "Chicago Housing Conditions Among Slovaks," American Journal of Sociology, vol. 20, pp. 145-169, September, 1914. Wing, M. T. C, "The Flag at McKee's Rocks," Survey, vol. 23, pp. 45-6, October 2, 1909. Woolston, Florence, "Slavs in the United States," Technical World, pp. 135-44, October, 191 1. BJl CO^G' .B^ss