SOME PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOR 847 



etc. A letter of instructions and a pamphlet were then promptly 

 mailed from the main office to each owner or superintendent, calling 

 attention to the special needs of his camp, and inviting correspondence 

 with the office of the Commission if any difficulty arose in trying to 

 make his camp conform to the requirements. 



The active inspection began on April 10, 1914, and ended Novem- 

 ber i, 1914. Practically no reinspections were made during this 

 period, it being the policy to visit as many camps as possible during 

 the summer months. Camps were classed as "good," "fair," and 

 '"bad," according to a rating established in connection with the mini- 

 mum standard; 297 of the 876 camps were "good" and housed 21,577 

 persons; 316, housing 22,382, were "fair"; 263, housing 16,854, 

 were "bad." 



A striking feature of these statistics is the tabulation of nationali- 

 ties. Forty different nationalities were represented, and of all the 

 workers in the camps, 50.7 per cent were immigrant aliens; 49.3 per 

 cent were American born and naturalized immigrants. The statistics 

 as gathered do not show the proportion of the 49 .3 per cent that are 

 foreign born naturalized citizens. These figures show how close is 

 the connection between the work of labor camp sanitation and the 

 work of raising, or protecting, the standards of living of immigrants. 

 In improving labor camp conditions, the Commission has done much 

 to protect its immigrant wards, and has guarded against the lowering 

 of the workers' standards of living by those races that are more care- 

 less and more ignorant in this regard. 



The table further shows the presence of 2,659 women and 1,553 

 children in the camps as against 31,741 men. This comparison is of 

 social interest and significance. A census gathered when the camps 

 are filled to their ultimate capacity would probably show a larger per- 

 centage of women and children, since such a census would cover hop, 

 berry, and fruit camps, etc., where women and children are more 

 often employed. 



The figures on the proportions of skilled and unskilled laborers are 

 of economic and social value in that they throw great light upon the 

 character of our casual or migratory laboring class. Of the 30,020 

 laborers concerning whom data as to skill were obtainable, 22,560 

 were unskilled and only 7,460 were skilled. 



Up to January i, 1915, 228 camps had been reinspected. The 

 results are most gratifying. Where it was found that no effort had 

 been made to correct abuses and improve conditions, the attitude of 



