U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, 
 
 W. B. WILSON, Secretary, 
 
 WASHINGTON'. - 3 t 13, 1 0 2 ^ • 
 
 VREPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE SECRETARY OF 
 LABOR TO INVESTIGATE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE TEMPORARY 
 ADMiSSION OF ALIENS FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. 
 
 Sir : Pursuant to your appointment of the undersigned investi¬ 
 gators to conduct a survey of the labor conditions obtaining as a 
 result of the departmental order of February 12, 1920, and the sup¬ 
 plementary order of April 12, 1920, admitting temporarily Mexican 
 laborers for employment in agricultural pursuits, we have visited 
 and made a study of the greater portion of the country into which 
 these laborers have been imported. The protests filed in the Depart¬ 
 ment of Labor and presented to the House Immigration Committee 
 against the issuance of these orders have likewise been given thorough 
 consideration, and a systematic effort made to determine whether 
 these protests were based upon a comprehensive knowledge of the 
 labor conditions in the communities where these protests originated. 
 In addition to the conversation had relative to this subject you di¬ 
 rected your assistant, Mr. H. L. Kerwin, to provide the signers of 
 this report with the following memorandum : 
 
 May 8 , 1920 . 
 
 Memorandum for Mr. Grant Hamilton and Mr. A. L. Faulkner. 
 
 In connection with the verbal instructions given you by the Secretary con¬ 
 cerning your investigation into the temporary admission of Mexican laborers 
 into the United States, and after a conference with the Secretary this morning, 
 lie feels that there are three paramount phases of the situation : 
 
 First. Surplusage of labor. 
 
 Second. The allegation that a large percentage of Mexican people coming into 
 the States for agricultural pursuits drift into the cities and go into competition 
 with wage workers there. 
 
 Third. It is claimed that the necessity for the temporary admission of Mexi¬ 
 cans for agricultural purposes was of first importance to the agricultural in¬ 
 dustry of the border States because of the inability to obtain the necessary 
 help to plant and harvest crops. The bureau granted temporary admission of 
 this class of labor, realizing that any impairment of the supply of food brought 
 about through any cause would affect the workers and all our people and 
 would be reflected in the cost of living. 
 
 H. L. Kerwin, 
 Assistant to the Secretary. 
 
 In proceeding to carry out these instructions no effort was made 
 to gather an elaborate array of statistics. The gathering of such 
 statistical data would have required a large field force, and would 
 have resulted in only an elaboration of our findings. Our practical 
 plan was to make a rapid survey of a wide territor} 7 , tapping those 
 sources of information that were essential to secure reliable general 
 information. Approximation based on first-hand knowledge, the 
 
2 
 
 result of a visitation of an extensive area of the country west of the 
 Missouri River, indicates very clearly the status of the labor situa¬ 
 tion in the entire western territory. 
 
 The purpose of this investigation originates in the claims and 
 counterclaims of individuals and organizations relative to the dearth 
 or surplusage of farm labor, the movements of Mexican labor admit¬ 
 ted under the exemption order of February 12, 1920, and the sup- 
 plementary order of April 12, 1920. The investigation involves the 
 question of whether the exemption orders were justified by the cir¬ 
 cumstances existing in the farming communities, it having been de¬ 
 clared that Mexican labor, in the absence of other procurable labor, 
 was imperatively necessary to plant, cultivate, and harvest foodstuffs 
 in order that an increased acreage of essential products might be 
 planted, given proper attention, and prepared for the market. 
 
 The order of February 12, 1920, and the supplemental order of 
 April 12, 1920, admitting alien laborers, contained specific instruc¬ 
 tions to supervising immigrant inspectors to admit aliens without en¬ 
 forcement of the head tax and the literacy test provisions contained 
 in the immigration laws for the purpose, as stated in the order, of 
 admitting temporarily agricultural laborers from Mexico and Canada 
 during the season of 1920, to perform labor in the border States and 
 Florida, together with provisions expressly authorizing the sugar- 
 beet growers in the large western beet belt to recruit alien labor 
 under the terms of the orders. 
 
 That this survey may not be wholly restricted to the order of 
 February 12, 1920, and the supplemental order of April 12, 1920, 
 there is incorporated in this report statistics which have been gath¬ 
 ered by the Immigration Service covering the entire period of four 
 years, during which time exceptions have been authorized permitting 
 the entrance of alien laborers for agricultural work. 
 
 In order that a comprehensive survey might be made, your investi¬ 
 gators visited 10 of the Western States, selecting those cities for our 
 field of operation that formed the gateway through which these 
 laborers passed, and also those cities adjacent to the communities in 
 which the Mexicans were employed. This route traversed the terri¬ 
 tory in which the great bulk of western farm products are produced, 
 as well as covering practically the larger portion of that territory 
 where sugar beets are grown. The States in which the investigation 
 was made are as follows: Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, 
 Texas, Arizona, California, Kansas, Nevada, and Utah. 
 
 Information was secured from representatives of the organiza¬ 
 tions of labor, employment offices and labor recruiters, representa¬ 
 tives of sugar companies, chambers of commerce, social service 
 bureaus, immigration officers in charge of ports of entry, immigra¬ 
 tion inspctors, railroad employees, farmers, and in any other quarter 
 which, in our judgment, seemed likely to be fertile ground for securing 
 information bearing upon the general subject under consideration. 
 
 The rapid expansion of the sugar-beet industry in the western 
 country created a likewise expanding field for the employment of 
 common or unskilled labor. Immediately following the declara¬ 
 tion of war on April 6, 1917, the normal flow of immigration into 
 this country practically ceased, and with the mobilization of a large 
 Army there came an acute shortage in labor of all kinds, and par¬ 
 ticularly was this true of farm labor. It is common knowledge 
 
aaDJ 
 
 3 
 
 that even before the war there was a distinct drift of labor from the 
 farms to the cities. This condition was intensified during the war 
 and is still a serious problem. 
 
 From the date of the declaration of war to the date of this report 
 it is universally conceded that the demand for labor of all kinds gen¬ 
 erally has been greater than the supply. No data exist showing the 
 number of men in this country who have been or are unemployed, 
 but doubtless the aggregate reaches considerable proportions, yet, 
 under the conditions which exist at the present time and which have 
 existed for three years, such employment statistics as are available 
 prove that there has been a very insistent and continuous demand 
 for common or unskilled labor and that wages have been materially 
 advanced. Until that demand is supplied it is self-evident that there 
 is a dearth of available unskilled or common labor. Workmen who 
 are voluntarily unemployed where opportunities for work are wide¬ 
 spread and at reasonable remuneration can not in reasonableness and 
 good faith challenge the right of this country to expand its industry 
 and its agriculture by seeking necessary labor where it may be found. 
 
 The existing high prices of foodstuffs are no doubt affected in 
 some measure by speculators and others who deal in necessaries of 
 life. It is equally true that the farmers are likewise receiving a sub¬ 
 stantial advance for their products, and they also have been com¬ 
 pelled to meet heavy increases in operating expenses, particularly 
 in cost of farm labor, due to an unprecedented shortage attributable 
 to attractive remuneration offered workmen in industries other than 
 farming. 
 
 If the cost of living, therefore, is to recede from its present high 
 level, there must be a generally sustained effort to increase produc¬ 
 tion to the point where a supply of sufficient magnitude is created to 
 not only meet the present volume of demand but to exceed it. 
 
 The sugar-beet industry comes under the category of a seasonable 
 industry. It requires ordinarily four operations—chopping or thin¬ 
 ning, first hoeing, second hoeing, and chopping off tops and loading. 
 In some sections, notably California, sugar beets must be treated at 
 the refineries within a short period after pulling and chopping off 
 the tops to prevent deterioration, while in other sections they can be 
 siloed and the sugar content preserved for a considerable length of 
 time. Between the operations mentioned there is a period tvhen no 
 work in the beet fields is usually necessary. To successfully cultivate 
 sugar beets these operations must be performed at stated and definite 
 periods in their growth. 
 
 These facts have frequently been made the basis for statements 
 that there is unemployed labor in this industry, and that there is a 
 surplusage of the character of labor needed to perform the necessary 
 work to bring the crop to the point where it is ready for treatment 
 in the refinery. There has been some idleness in the beet fields be¬ 
 tween operations, but there has been also a widespread effort on the 
 part of the sugar companies and the sugar-beet farmers to provide 
 wherever possible other farm labor to take up the idleness between 
 operations in the process of growing beets. In numerous sections of 
 the beet-growing area supplemental work has been provided at re¬ 
 munerative wages. The providing of continuous employment tends, 
 of course, to reduce labor turnover, and especially to curtail recruit¬ 
 ing expenses. 
 
4 
 
 The labor employed in growing beets ft usually compensated under 
 a contract. The prevailing price paid this year ranges from $30 to 
 $35 an acre, according to locality. Where the contract price is $30 
 an acre the division of payments are as follows: 
 
 Per acre. 
 
 For chopping or thinning_. $13. 00 
 
 First hoeing___ 3. 50 
 
 Second hoeing__ 2. 50 
 
 Pulling and chopping off tops and loading__ 11. 00 
 
 The average acreage assigned to each laborer for the season is 10. 
 
 In some of the beet fields visited, where labor shortage had been 
 acute, Mexican laborers were being employed chopping out weeds, 
 receiving $4 for a day of nine hours. Representatives of sugar 
 companies engaged in importing Mexican laborers have been offering 
 the contract price referred to above and the going wages of the dis¬ 
 trict into which they are shipped for farm labor other than beet 
 cultivation, with a guaranty that 35 cents an hour shall be the 
 minimum. 
 
 The urgency for the production of sugar has resulted in a largely 
 increased acreage and a consequent increased demand for labor. The 
 sugar companies, in executing contracts with the farmers, generally 
 now agree to provide the labor necessary for cultivation. In one 
 beet-growing district about 70,000 acres are under cultivation. The 
 resident laborers number approximately 2,000. According to the 
 ratio of 1 laborer to 10 acres, this district must be provided with 
 5,000 additional laborers to cultivate and convert the crop into sugar. 
 This necessity for additional labor is illustrative of the general situa¬ 
 tion in the beet belt, with variations based on locality and other 
 conditions. 
 
 Reverting to the wage problem it was found that remuneration of 
 labor in what is known as the low-wage section of the South had 
 appreciably risen over the prewar standard. In former years Mexi¬ 
 can labor has been secured in this section at a wage rate as low as 
 12^- cents per hour. In a communication dated June 7, 1920, the 
 immigration inspector in charge at Phoenix, Ariz., gives the follow¬ 
 ing data relative to scales of wages paid in the vicinity of Phoenix: 
 
 Wages paid for unskilled white farm labor is $3 a day and board for 10 hours 
 work. 
 
 Local -Mexican laborers, for unskilled farm labor, $3 a day without board for 
 10 hours work. 
 
 Local labor (both white and Mexican) for irrigating, which is considered 
 harder work than ordinary farm labor, 35 and 40 cents per hour. 
 
 Local labor for teamsters on farms, $3.50 a day with board for white labor 
 and $3.50 a day without board for other labor, 10 hours work. 
 
 The Arizona Eastern Railway pays its section hands or track laborers (all 
 Mexicans) 34 cents an hour or $2.72 an eight-hour day. 
 
 The Santa Fe, Phoenix & Pacific Railway pays its section hands or track 
 laborers 374 cents per hour or $3 for an eight-hour day without board; track 
 laborers on extra gang at the rate of 40 cents an hour or $3.20 for an eight-hour 
 day, with time and a half for overtime. 
 
 The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (coast lines) pays its section 
 hands or track laborers 35| cents per hour or $2.82 for an eight-hour day, with¬ 
 out board; track laborers in extra gangs 40 cents per hour or $3.20 for an eight- 
 hour day, with time and a half for overtime. 
 
 Unskilled labor (both white and Mexicans) in Phoenix doing pick and shovel 
 work, working in concrete, and in general roustabout work, receives 50 cents per 
 hour or $4 for an eight-hour day. 
 
 * / ' 
 
5 
 
 The State of Arizona pays its unskilled labor (white or Mexican) on road 
 work and other construction work, 50 cents an hour or $4 for an 8-hour day, 
 with a deduction of $1.20 a day for board, or at the rate of $2.80 per day with 
 board. 
 
 Maricopa County pays its unskilled labor (both white and Mexicans) on 
 road work 50 cents an hour or $4 for an eight-hour day, with a deduction of 
 $1.25 a day for board, or at the rate of $2.75 a day with board. 
 
 The Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association pays its unskilled labor 
 (all Mexican) doing pick and shovel work, cleaning canals, $3.50 for an 
 eight-hour day, with $1 per day deducted for board. Carpenters, electricians, 
 and pipe men, $6 for an eight-hour day, with $1 per day deducted for board. 
 
 Rates of wages paid skilled labor for eight hours’ work in Phoenix, as follows: 
 
 Plumbers_1— $12 
 
 Bricklayers_ 10 
 
 Carpenters_ 8 
 
 Members of the Arizona Cotton Growers’ Association in the Salt River Val¬ 
 ley pay the Mexican laborers imported under departmental exceptions for 
 agricultural laborers as follows: 
 
 Chopping cotton, pick and shovel work, cleaning ditches, $3 per day for 10 
 hours’ work. 
 
 Teamsters, $3.25 to $3.50 for 10 hours’ work, according to the efficiency of 
 the individual. 
 
 Three cents per pound for picking cotton, first and second openings; the 
 average adult will pick 100 pounds; later in the season, when the cotton is 
 thinner, the rate is raised to 4, 6, 7, or S cents a pound, and as high as 10 
 cents per pound toward the last of the season. 
 
 Of course a man with a family always makes good money during the pick¬ 
 ing season, making from $40 to $75 a week. 
 
 These aliens are furnished quarters, wood, and water free. 
 
 Housing conditions for seasonal labor in the agricultural sections 
 of the territory under consideration are not altogether ideal. In 
 California, the State housing law has been responsible for the erec¬ 
 tion in labor camps of habitable buildings in many parts of the 
 State. In States where there is no regulatory legislation agricul¬ 
 tural laborers are housed in numerous ways, farm outbuildings and 
 tents predominating. The urgent need of farm labor, however, is 
 acting as a stimulus to provide suitable habitation for- an increasing 
 army of laborers, so that they may be housed comfortably in all 
 seasons of the year. 
 
 It is exceedingly pertinent to state that the Japanese are invading 
 the sugar-beet industry not only as laborers but as proprietors. 
 They are reported to be buying beet land, as well as land in the 
 cotton-growing sections. The invasion has not assumed large pro¬ 
 portions as yet, but the future may, and probably will, especially if 
 other labor is not available, witness large numbers of this oriental 
 race in possession of a considerable proportion of sugar-beet and 
 cotton areas of the country. In discussing this phase of the situation 
 in various parts of the territory visited there appeared to be a grow¬ 
 ing apprehension that if Mexican labor could not be procured to 
 perform what is known as “ squat ” labor the J apanese would eventu¬ 
 ally comprise the bulk of labor necessary in this industry. 
 
 The Mexicans of our day, being descendants of a race in whose 
 veins flow in dominating measure Indian blood, evince the same mi¬ 
 gratory characteristics that have always been a feature of the Indian 
 race. Mexicans brought into the country under the exemptions for 
 temporary work on the farms have not all remained in the employ 
 of the farmers. There have been a considerable number of Mexicans 
 
 8415-20—2 
 
6 
 
 that have left the farm and sought and secured other employment, 
 to what extent is reflected in the immigration reports. The great 
 bulk of the Mexicans now employed in the western territory outside 
 of the beet fields and the cotton area are employed on the railroads 
 in manual labor required in construction and rehabilitation work. 
 
 It can be stated, however, that even though there has been a viola¬ 
 tion of their agreement by the Mexicans in leaving the farms, there 
 has been during the present season a greater demand for common or 
 unskilled labor than there have been workmen to supply it. 
 
 Every employment office in the States visited, numbering some 
 55 in 10 States, reported their inability to meet the demand for 
 unskilled labor in practically all branches of industry. It must be 
 borne in mind in dealing with the question of Mexican labor that 
 there are in this country many thousands of Mexicans who are native 
 born, and likewise those who have been here for years and are nat¬ 
 uralized citizens, as well as large numbers who are able to qualify 
 under the tests prescribed by the immigration laws, who cross and 
 recross the border at varying intervals. 
 
 In the 25 cities and towns visited it was found that the number of 
 Mexicans displacing white men was negligible. The fact must not 
 be lost sight of that Mexicans in considerable numbers are members 
 of local labor unions. Mexicans are members of the United Mine 
 Workers, the packing-house unions, the various skilled trades, and 
 federal labor unions chartered by the American Federation of Labor. 
 At the time of our visit to Phoenix, Ariz., it was reported by officials 
 of the Arizona State Federation of Labor that the American Fed¬ 
 eration of Labor had detailed an organizer into that field to organize 
 the Mexicans employed in the cotton fields, who were admitted under 
 the exceptions. The Pan American Federation of Labor, which was 
 organized through the instrumentality of the American Federation 
 of Labor, seeks to render sympathetic assistance to the Mexicans. 
 I hese agencies, afford the Mexicans protection against exploitation. 
 Mr. Gompers is president of the Pan American Federation. 
 
 At the time this report is being written there are still efforts being 
 made to recruit labor for the beet fields. While the great bulk of 
 the labor has been secured, the migratory character of the Mexican 
 makes it necessary to continue recruiting labor until the beets are 
 harvested. The situation, however, is fairly good, although our in¬ 
 vestigation reveals no impending surplusage of common labor in 
 this industry during the last operations. Our information justifies 
 the statement that there has been no surplusage at any time, and that 
 the lateness of the crop, because of weather conditions, was one of 
 the fortunate instances that alleviated what portended to be a very 
 serious labor shortage at the beginning of the season. Even with the 
 lateness of the season, Mexican laborers and other laborers in suffi¬ 
 cient numbers were not secured until the season was well advanced. 
 
 Referring to the large number of protests that were filed before 
 the Immigration Committee last spring, protesting against the ad¬ 
 mission of Mexican laborers, particular attention was given to this 
 phase of the situation. These protests stated either directly or in- 
 ferentially that there was no shortage of common or unskilled labor 
 in the communities where the protests originated and that Mexicans 
 admitted under the exemption order of February 12, 1920, and the 
 
7 
 
 supplementary order of April 12, 1920, were displacing white work¬ 
 ingmen. In order to illustrate the fallaciousness of many of the 
 statements made in these protests there is included in this report 
 a synopsis of an investigation made in Texas as the result of charges 
 made that Mexican labor was displacing white labor. It will be ob¬ 
 served that the result of this investigation, performed at the instance 
 of the complainant, failed to substantiate the statements made. This 
 report is indicative of the general situation, and shows conclusively 
 that the Mexican laborers referred to were employed only in the 
 capacity of unskilled laborers, and that they were not admitted 
 under the exceptions of February 12 and April 12, 1920. The report 
 follows: 
 
 Fort Worth, Tex., May 29, 1920. 
 
 Inspector in Charge, 
 
 Immigration Service, El Paso, Tex.: 
 
 Referring to your indorsement No. 3032/1, dated the Ttli instant, transmit¬ 
 ting copy of bureau telegram dated April 24 last, in re Mexican laborers im¬ 
 ported under departmental exemptions being employed for labor other than 
 agricultural, Mr. II. E. Evans, international president Oil Field, Gas, and 
 Well Refinery Workers of America, stated the 15tli instant that there was an— 
 
 “ illegal use Mexican labor in industries other than those indicated under 
 the rule under which Mexican laborers are imported; that he had not 
 so far completed a thorough investigation; however, that he had found 
 sufficient reason to believe the situation needs a thorough investigation. 
 That thousands of Mexicans in the mid-continent oil fields are being used 
 to displace American labor on pipe lines where there is ample supply of 
 Americans, who are solely dependent upon this particular line of work for 
 their existence, and that he felt a thorough investigation would reveal 
 startling facts of the wholesale violation of the purpose for which the 
 emergency rule was established.” 
 
 Mr. Evans introduced 
 who stated that— 
 
 Mr. J. A. Russ, secretary Burkburnett Local, No. 49. 
 
 “on April 30, 1920, there were five carloads of Mexicans unloaded at 
 Burkburnett, and upon investigation with an interpreter secured at the Mag¬ 
 nolia found these Mexicans had been sent from the La:*odo district to do 
 work for the Texas Co. This was denied by the superintendent. How¬ 
 ever, they are working on the line that belongs to the Texas Co., which 
 follows the Magnolia 8-inch line coming in on the main highway from 
 Wichita Falls. Another instance, a 12-inch line being laid across the 
 Wagnor pool to block 821, under construction by Booth & Flynn, con¬ 
 tractors.” 
 
 Mr. Evans arranged meetings with other heads of crafts allied with his 
 organization with a view to gathering data upon which an investigation could 
 be commenced, advising that Mr. U. M. Lee, deputy, district No. 5, Fort Worth, 
 Tex., Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of Texas, was assisting him and 
 his associates in the investigation, and requested the writer to accompany 
 him to Hillsboro, Burkburnett, and Breckenridge, Tex., Mr. Evans courteously 
 supplying the services of an interpreter and stenographer for use in the fields. 
 
 On the 19tli instant, accompanied by Mr. Lee, statements were obtained from 
 the Mexican pipe-line crew employed by the McPliearson Contracting Co., in 
 laying a gas line in the vicinity of Hillsboro, Tex. The records indicate the 
 
 status of the laborers as follows: 
 
 Admitted under departmental exception 1 _ 0 
 
 Domiciled_i-,- 1 
 
 Admitted, payment of head tax_1- 4 
 
 Entered without inspection- 11 
 
 Total_ 16 
 
 Mr. Lee advised that there was no other Mexican labor employed in the 
 vicinity of Hillsboro, Tex. 
 
 1 Mexican labor was being used to assemble the rubber gasket joined pipe line in the 
 vicinity of Hillsboro, Tex. (McPhearson Contracting Co.) 
 
8 
 
 Accompanied by Mr. Lee and piloted by J. A. Russ, secretary Burkburnett 
 local No. 49, every oil lease, refinery, and tank farm in the entire district be¬ 
 tween Burkburnett and the Red River, including the entire Burkburnett field, 
 
 was visited, resulting: 
 
 Mexican laborers or residents found_ 0 
 
 White labor laying pipe lines, crews_ 3 
 
 White labor engaged in other vocations_ All 
 
 On the 24tli instant, accomapnied by Mr. Lee and piloted by Messrs. Harris 
 Campbell and R. Hoyt, members and organizers of the Breckenridge local, 
 Breckenridge, Tex., statements were obtained from Mexican laborers employed 
 by Westinghouse-Church-Kerr & Co. (Inc.), engineers and contractors for the 
 Texas Co., working in the pipe-line crew on Parks lease. The status of the 
 
 Mexican laborers is as follows: 
 
 Admitted under departmental exception 2 _ 0 
 
 Admitted, payment head tax_-___ 2 
 
 Entered without inspection_ 15 
 
 Total_ 17 
 
 Approximately 50 other Mexicans were employed in performing common 
 labor on the Parks lease. Mexican labor was not being used on other leases 
 visited in the Breckenridge field. 
 
 Mr. U. M. Lee to-day informed me that he knew of no other fields where an 
 investigation was desired by this service. 
 
 Supplemental to this report you are advised the several labor agencies visited 
 in Fort Worth, Tex., indicate the following with respect to Mexican laborers: 
 
 
 Shipped. 
 
 Standing 
 
 order. 
 
 
 Shipped. 
 
 Standing 
 
 order. 
 
 Oregon Short Line. 
 
 200 
 
 5,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 8,000 
 
 3,000 
 
 8,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 Texas & Pacific. 
 
 
 400 
 
 200 
 
 1,500 
 
 16,100 
 
 Union Pacific. 
 
 Pipe lines. 
 
 
 G. W. Beet Sugar Co. 
 
 Rock Island & Frisco. 
 
 Santa Fe. 
 
 Farm laborers (next 30 days). 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M. H. Jones, * 
 Immigrant Inspector. 
 
 In connection with the foregoing statement it will be interesting 
 to refer to the statistical record compiled by Mr. F. W. Berkshire, 
 supervising inspector of immigration at El Paso, Tex. This record 
 is a compilation of the Mexican agricultural laborers admitted under 
 departmental exceptions for the years 1917, 1918, 1919, and 1920. 
 This record is compiled as of June 30, 1920. It shows that during the 
 period mentioned there were 40,700 Mexican laborers imported into 
 the United States, and that 19,604 are now employed, while 12,800 
 have been returned, and 8,078 deserted. Included in the statistical 
 statement is the number of Mexicans imported for Government con¬ 
 struction and mining during the year 1919. Adding the totals of 
 Mexicans imported for Government construction and mining in 1919 
 to the total number of Mexicans imported during the four years 
 mentioned it is found that there has been a grand total of these labor¬ 
 ers imported amounting to 50,852, 17,186 having been returned, while 
 22,637 are now employed and 10,691 reported deserted, with a death 
 list of 327. Analyzing the grand totals, assuming that all the desert¬ 
 ers are still in this country, which is exceedingly improbable, it is 
 found that there are remaining in this country as a result of the im¬ 
 portations some 33,000 Mexican laborers, over 22,000 of whom are 
 now employed, with desertions of approximately 11,000. 
 
 2 White labor was being used for ox-welding the joints of the pipe line on the Parks 
 lease, in the Breckenridge field. (Westinghouse-Church-Kerr & Co. (Inc.).) 
 
9 
 
 A reference to the immigration statistics of the country during 
 the years preceding the war shows that a vast multitude of workmen, 
 approximating something like 1,000,000 a year, entered this country, 
 and while this vast number did not all secure labor for which ade¬ 
 quate remuneration was received, yet the great bulk was absorbed by 
 the expanding industries of the country. In 1917, when Congress 
 declared war, this large volume of immigration ceased, while the de¬ 
 mand for labor at the same time became greater than at any period 
 within the history of the United States. The records show that dur¬ 
 ing the period of the war and since the signing of the armistice the 
 shortage of unskilled or common labor has been very acute. 
 
 It is a generally accepted fact that upon the signing of the armi¬ 
 stice and returning to this country of the vast army sent abroad and 
 its demobilization the men demobilized did not generally return to 
 the vocations in which they were engaged at the time they were called 
 upon to perform military service. In fact, the authorities claim that 
 there has been a general reluctance upon the part of farm laborers to 
 return to the farm. With the mounting cost of living, particularly 
 in food products, great efforts have been made to increase farm pro¬ 
 duction, but the supply of labor has been difficult to obtain to culti¬ 
 vate that vast area necessary to produce sufficient for the wants of 
 the people of our own country and meet the demands for export. 
 
 The figures given with reference to the number of Mexicans com¬ 
 ing to this country under the exceptions appear as exceedingly modest 
 when the actual conditions which obtained at the time that the 
 exceptions were made are taken into consideration. 
 
 In making this comparative statement your investigators are of 
 the opinion that a dire and imperative need was met in making the 
 exceptions and permitting Mexican labor to enter this country on 
 easy terms to meet the abnormal demand for common labor. The 
 fact that this country comprises a large area, and that our industries, 
 particularly agriculture, must expand to meet an increasing popula¬ 
 tion, makes imperative a similar increase in common labor to meet 
 the demands of expansion. 
 
 The increase of sugar-beet acreage of the country indicates the 
 growing demand for labor in that industry alone. The folloAving 
 table is a summary of the United States sugar beet acreage, as com¬ 
 piled by the statistical divisions of the sugar companies: 
 
 State. 
 
 1920 
 
 1919 
 
 1918 
 
 1917 
 
 Colorado... . 
 
 260,514 
 153,000 
 136,783 
 112,000 
 81,689 
 
 56.500 
 52,050 
 34,800 
 
 19.500 
 18,600 
 
 . * 
 
 50,315 
 
 230,348 
 138,298 
 130,168 
 110,200 
 67,644 
 54,700 
 47,462 
 18,800 
 
 141,508 
 123,627 
 126,989 
 90,478 
 46,069 
 40,500 
 45,376 
 23,850 
 
 183,600 
 109,450 
 190,200 
 91,100 
 54,194 
 46,500 
 30,750 
 . 21,300 
 
 Michigan. 
 
 California. 
 
 Utah... . 
 
 Nebraska. . 
 
 Idaho. . 
 
 Ohio. 
 
 Wisconsin. . 
 
 Iowa . 
 
 Wvoming . . . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 Montana. . . . 
 
 i 81,800 
 
 i 72,236 
 
 2 45,747 
 
 Washington.. . 
 
 Kansas... . 
 
 South Dakota.. . 
 
 Minnesota. . 
 
 Illinois. . 
 
 Indiana. 
 
 Total. . 
 
 975,751 
 
 879,420 
 
 710,633 
 
 772,841 
 
 
 1 Including Iowa and Wyoming. 2 Including Iowa, Wyoming, Oregon, and Nevada. 
 
10 
 
 The number of sugar-beet refineries in operation this year will 
 aggregate 98. Utah will hold first place by operating 20 refineries, 
 Colorado next with 18, while Michigan will operate 17. 
 
 According to the generally accepted estimate that one laborer is 
 needed for each 10 acres, the growing and harvesting of the 1920 
 beet crop will require 97,500 laborers. 
 
 In some quarters there has been developed a strong opposition to 
 immigration, and in some of the arguments against the immigration 
 of certain aliens there is a general acquiescence in the opposition, but 
 it can be said that so far as the Mexican is concerned he presents 
 certain economic advantages not possessed by other nationalities. 
 
 The acreage of sugar beets, and likewise cotton, is expanding, and 
 these two industries require manual laborers in increasing numbers. 
 
 Other elements enter into this problem. They are questions of 
 wages and conditions. The southern portion of those States resting 
 on the Mexican border has been known as the “ low-wage ” section. 
 Mexicans coming across the border in normal times have not always 
 been able to secure adequate remuneration for their labor in the sec¬ 
 tions referred to; but as the war created new demands for labor in 
 all sections, wages of Mexican labor rose in accordance therewith. 
 It would be presumptuous to make the positive statement that Mexi¬ 
 cans in all parts of the West were receiving adequate remuneration 
 for services performed, but it can be said that the remuneration re¬ 
 ceived by the large body of Mexicans now employed in the beet fields, 
 cotton fields, and upon the railroads is a wage which ranges from 
 100 to 300 per cent greater than before the war. It undoubtedly is 
 true that in some localities where Mexicans are employed the condi¬ 
 tions are not what they ought to be, but the fact that there has been 
 such an imperative need for laborers has brought home to the em¬ 
 ployers of this class of labor the imperative necessity of continually 
 improving conditions, so that the laborers employed can be retained. 
 
 Another feature of the situation is the illegal entry of Mexicans. 
 It has been impossible for the Immigration Service to maintain an 
 adequate patrol on the Mexican border because of lack of funds, thus 
 opening the way for illegal entrance. Another reason assigned for 
 illegal entrance is that in the northern Mexican States, which were 
 under the domination of Villa, the people of the country became so 
 impoverished for lack of food that it became necessary for them to 
 migrate to keep from starving. At one time during this year a large 
 number of Mexicans came to San Antonio, Tex., and for a brief 
 period were given aid by the municipal authorities. The officials of 
 that city are authority for the statement that four meals to each 
 refugee was the limit of the assistance rendered. No definite state¬ 
 ment can be secured as to the number of illegal entrants into San 
 Antonio or any other place on the border. Notwithstanding the fact 
 that the number of these Mexicans so entering reached considerable 
 proportions, yet the effect upon the labor market was not appreciable. 
 
 Without understanding.the characteristics of the Mexicans, it is 
 quite probable that the uninformed would assume that of all the 
 Mexicans coming into this country—those who came in under the 
 exceptions, those entitled to come by complying with immigration 
 regulations, as well as the illegal entrants—remain in this country 
 indefinitely. Such is not the case. There is a stream of Mexicans 
 coming out of Mexico into the United States, and another stream 
 
11 
 
 fy < // 
 
 returning from the United States into Mexico. Of the returning 
 stream there are no complete records being kept, neither are they 
 possible. Your investigators, however, made observations of the 
 trains running south in sections near the border, and it was found 
 that on practically every train running in this direction there were 
 carried Mexicans in less or greater numbers returning to their native 
 country. 
 
 The fact that Spaniards and Mexicans have been the pioneers in 
 various parts of the western country should not be lost sight of. 
 There is a large population of Mexicans in the West and South that 
 are native born, and, therefore, American citizens, and in the sec¬ 
 tions of country where they reside have made for stability of govern¬ 
 ment and progress, and while the Mexican of the present day is not 
 of pure Spanish blood, being an admixture of Spanish and Indian, 
 yet they have not brought to this country preconceived notions of 
 erratic governmental policies or attempted in any way to impede 
 the progress of orderly and representative government. 
 
 Summarizing the information secured, giving due weight to the 
 questions involved, we make the following statements: 
 
 That protests filed against the admission of Mexican labor under 
 the exceptions could not be substantiated by facts. 
 
 That though the restrictions on the southern border were even 
 more lax than they are under the exceptions, no detrimental economic 
 situation would be presented. 
 
 That our investigation proves beyond a reasonable doubt that 
 white men are averse to accepting, and refuse to accept (as they 
 have the right to do), employment as unskilled or common laborers, 
 except, perhaps, where that employment is within the limits of towns 
 or cities. 
 
 That at the time this report is submitted the employment offices 
 in all of the Western States visited are unable to supply the demand 
 for common labor. 
 
 That wages paid and conditions provided for common labor, while 
 perhaps in many instances not ideal, yet present a vast improvement 
 over the period preceding the war. 
 
 That our investigation disclosed the fact that Mexicans are not 
 displacing white laborers in any appreciable degree. 
 
 RECOMMENDATION. 
 
 While we find that admission of Mexicans under the exceptions 
 has thus far been necessary and beneficial, both to them and to the 
 United States, we respectfully suggest, as a safeguard against any 
 possible undesirable development through continuance of this policy, 
 not only adequate Federal supervision of the border but inspection 
 of employment to insure the establishment and maintenance of 
 proper living and working conditions. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 Grant Hamilton. 
 
 A. L. Faulkner. 
 
 Hon. W. B. Wilson, 
 
 Secretary of Labor , 
 
 W ashing ton, D. C . 
 
 WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1920