SOME PHASES OF SWEATING SYSTEM IN CHICAGO 639
foreign labor. 1 The federal government might be able to pro- tect one state against another, and yet, if all had proper laws efficiently enforced, such protection would not be necessary.
In the matter of immigration, however, federal legislation might have a place without encroaching on the duties of the" separate states. Perhaps the only addition that is needed to our present restrictions is the educational test carefully applied. Yet Mr. John Williams, chief factory inspector in New York, urges the complete prohibition of immigration for ten years. New York feels the evils in this respect more keenly than Chicago, because so many of the new immigrants flock into the trade and keep the prices low and the conditions bad. A further suggestion in connection with immigration that seems very valuable is the establishment of a national land and labor employment bureau in New York to help immigrants find suitable work upon land- ing. This might be especially valuable in dealing with the Italians, to offset the padrone system and to help them to find work on the farms instead of settling down in the cities.
Illinois needs further state legislation, providing first of all for a larger appropriation and a larger force of factory inspectors with larger powers. Massachusetts had in 1897 an appropria- tion of $93,300 with 33 inspectors, New York over $60,000 with 44 inspectors, Pennsylvania over $60,000 with 24 inspectors, and Illinois only $15,000 with n inspectors. 2 The Illinois report for 1898 urges the doubling of the appropriation and the addition of five deputy inspectors. Other changes which the chief's experience has made him deem it wise to recommend are the use of a tag and the granting of licenses to satisfactory shops. If all garments made in tenements or dwelling-houses were so labeled, few people of any intelligence would wish to buy them. Furthermore, if the inspectors had power to grant or refuse a license to any individual wishing to employ persons outside of his own family, judging from a personal inspection of the size and cleanliness and sanitary condition of the room or rooms to be used, the number of tenement shops could be greatly reduced, and the standard of their condition raised. The efficiency of 'See p. 604. J See Illinois Factory Inspector's Report, 1898, p. 6.
