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CONTENTS.

Page.

Padrone system and signification of the term..

391

Origin of the system in the United States and application of the term.... Extent of system in the United States and races to which it is at present confined.....

391

392

Living conditions and environment of Greek aliens laboring under the system.
Effect of system on aliens, mentally, morally, and physically

393

396

History of the padrone system in the United States in connection with shoeshining establishments..

398

Effect of system in certain industries..

402

Methods adopted in Greece to induce migration of new material for labor under the system..

Causes in Greece and in this country which render the aliens willing to submit to the system...

402

404

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THE GREEK PADRONE SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES.

The United States Bureau of Immigration has been conducting for some time an investigation aimed at the suppression of the padrone" system in so far as it violates United States statutes. The Immigration Commission therefore deemed it unwise to inaugurate a new investigation, but decided to secure a brief report from one of the inspectors of the Bureau of Immigration. This report was prepared by Mr. A. A. Seraphic, who has been employed by the Bureau of Immigration on the padrone investigation for several

years.

PADRONE SYSTEM AND SIGNIFICATION OF THE TERM.

The term "padrone" is originally an Italian word signifying proprietor, boss, or master, or a person who has either legal or moral power over others. A wife in Italy often refers to her husband as the padrone, and the father, or head of a family, is known as the padrone of his household. In countries where the laboring classes are wholly under the control of their employers, the term "padrone" is applied to the manager, superintendent, foreman, or proprietor of any mercantile establishment, and signifies that in the person designated as padrone absolute authority is vested to control employees. He has the right to prescribe the character of the work that each laborer shall perform, to increase or decrease at will the hours of work and the wages received, and to punish him physically at times. By custom and usage the padrone is regarded by laborers as the rightful person in authority, so that when quarreling among themselves, or when having disputes or differences to settle, they apply to the padrone, and generally abide by his adjudication of their affairs.

ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES AND APPLICATION OF THE TERM.

In the early period of Italian immigration, ignorance of the English language and of the conditions of labor in the United States compelled laborers of that race to depend entirely upon their employers, who were, as a rule, contractors of the same race and fairly familiar with the language and labor conditions here. Some of these employers boarded the laborers in their charge and paid them a certain stipulated amount as wages, with the understanding that anything received above the said amount on account of their labor should go to the padrone. Among Italians the term padrone was used by the laborers to designate their employers, and the term "padrone labor" came to be applied to all workmen who were exploited by

their leaders or padrones and who submitted to conditions which laborers fully comprehending their rights would not be likely to tolerate. In this way the term "padrone system" came to embrace laborers of other nationalities among which conditions existed similar to those found among the Italians.

EXTENT OF SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES AND RACES TO WHICH IT IS AT PRESENT CONFINED.

The padrone system in the United States is at present confined to races or peoples that have little aptitude in acquiring a knowledge of English. Ignorance of the language naturally impedes the progress of such alien races, and in many cases they do not have an opportunity to improve their standard by contact with American workmen. As a rule, during their first few years' residence in the United States they live in an atmosphere almost as foreign to American standards as if they still lived in their own country.

During the earlier Italian immigration movement to the United States the padrone system flourished among laborers of that race in this country, but as more progressive colonies were established the evil diminished rapidly, and now only a few sporadic cases are found. These cases as a rule are confined to children, women, or men employed as organ grinders. Contact and association with the American people were chiefly responsible for the practical disappearance of the padrone system among Italians in this country, although the Italian Government and various organizations of Italians were also influential in this regard. Among Italians the padrone system was mostly confined to laborers employed on railroads and by Italian contractors, but this phase of the system has largely disappeared.

The system was also in operation for a number of years among Syrians, and the padrones had under their control a considerable number of people of that race engaged in peddling notions and dry goods in large cities and in the country. The peddlers were usually controlled by merchants who furnished them with peddling boxes and merchandise and sent them out daily to peddle. Usually these peddlers were paid a monthly or yearly salary, but some worked on a commission basis. They were lodged and boarded at the expense of the merchants and lived generally under insanitary conditions. This exploitation has in recent years been abandoned, for peddling has ceased to be as profitable as it was in the past. The old peddlers have learned enough to refuse to submit to such control by others of their race and the Syrian immigrants now coming to the United States usually prefer to work in factories and on railroads rather than to attempt to earn their living by peddling. The padrone system was also operated in the past among some of the Austrian races or peoples, but now it is found only in a few isolated cases among Italians, Syrians, or Austrians.

The system at the present time is operated in the United States among Bulgarians, Turks, Macedonians, Greeks, and Mexicans, and, as previously stated, in some cases among Austrians and Italians. Among Bulgarians and Turks it is confined to the New England States, the States of Illinois and Indiana, and some other sections of the West, and while now on the decline, it still affects to some extent

laborers of these races in factories, mills and foundries, and on railroads. Among Macedonians the system for the most part affects peddlers of fruit and candies in many of the larger cities. Of the Bulgarians, Turks, and Macedonians who are under the control of padrones, the majority are adults.

Among the Greeks the padrone system is in operation in every city of the United States of over 10,000 population, with few exceptions, and is confined in the main to shoe-shining establishments, although it is to a considerable extent prevalent among railroad laborers in the western States and among flower, fruit, and vegetable venders in Chicago. The aliens utilized by the system in peddling and in shoe shining are as a rule from 12 to 17 years of age, while those employed on railroad work are generally adults.

LIVING CONDITIONS AND ENVIRONMENT OF GREEK ALIENS LABORING UNDER THE SYSTEM.

Greeks employed under the padrone system as flower venders are few in number and are found principally in the city of New York. They are boys under 16 years of age, hired by florists and sent to Park Row and other points in the city to sell flowers, principally old stock that can not be sold at the stores. There are flower-peddling companies also that utilize boys, but these are very few, as the business has now ceased to be profitable. The boys employed by regular florists usually live in good quarters, are well fed, and receive their board and from $50 to $100 a year in wages. When not employed at peddling they are used as delivery boys for store orders. Those employed by padrones engaged in peddling candy, fruit, and vegetables usually live in basements or in filthy and unsanitary rooms; their quarters are sometimes located over stables in the same buildings in which are kept the horses and wagons used in the business. Such quarters consist of two, three, or four rooms, one of which is used as kitchen. The bedrooms are small and poorly ventilated, and each is furnished with one or two beds, according to the amount of space available; no sheets are used, no pillowcases, and no pillows at times, but only rough, woolen blankets brought from Greece. These are seldom washed, and their odor is offensive owing to the filth and perspiration that permeate them.

In these ill-smelling rooms occupants are crowded at the rate of two, three, and sometimes four in one bed, with windows closed tight to permit no ventilation. All fruit and vegetables left unsold are stored during the night in the kitchen and in these bedrooms. The breakfast of the boys consists of black coffee and bread. With few exceptions they fast through the day until evening, when the day's work is done and they return to their living quarters. Among vegetable and fruit peddlers in Illinois the work of the boys usually consists in going up to the flats from the rear of buildings with samples of vegetables or fruit and securing orders while the padrone is watching his stock. It is not infrequent that two boys are used on each peddling wagon. Knowledge of English on the part of both the padrones and the boys is limited, as a rule, to the names of fruits and vegetables and their prices. In this business the employment of boys is desirable, and in fact necessary, for the reason, as

82401°-VOL 2-11-26

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