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Armenian, 14 English, 10 French, 19 German, 8 Irish, 6 Italian, 8 Scandinavian, 3 Scotch, 3 Welsh, 3 Austrian, 1 Canadian, 4 Mexican, 9 American negroes, and 371 native-born whites being reported. The wages paid, both to men and women, varied from $1 to $2 or over per day. The median wage, without board and lodging, for males and females was $1.50 per day, or about $39 per month.

Pool rooms.-Playing pool is the chief amusement of the Japanese, and the number of pool rooms has kept pace with the increase of the Japanese population. In 1904 there were 13; at the end of the year 1908, 35 of these establishments. Some of them have only one or two tables, and are run in connection with some other branch of business, while others have as many as 18 tables. They are all located in the two districts in which the Japanese are colonized. Almost all are patronized by other races which live in these districts as well as by Japanese, but in most cases the members of the last-mentioned race constitute the majority of the patrons. The character of the patronage of some of the establishments is indicated by the fact that the prices charged and other matters are posted on the walls in the Japanese, Spanish, and English languages. The charge is uniform, viz, 2 cents" per cue" in the Japanese and in other pool halls, but as a result of the changes in the character of the population and the fact that Japanese patronize almost exclusively the halls conducted by their countrymen the profits of the white proprietors have been seriously affected by the competition of the increasing number of Japanese establishments. However, some of the larger pool rooms conducted by white men are well patronized and yield fairly large profits.

Restaurants. From the time of their first settlement in Los Angeles the Japanese have conducted restaurants serving American meals. The number of such establishments in 1897 was 14; in 1904, 21; in 1909, 25. These are all comparatively small and serve lowpriced meals. A few are conducted by the proprietor and his wife without other assistance; the largest has 11 employees. The average number of persons employed by the proprietor (who is frequently first cook) is about five. Some of these restaurants serve meals for 10 cents, others for "15 cents and up." The latter are patronized in about equal proportions by white men, chiefly laborers, and Japanese, the former by Mexicans, negroes and white laborers, most of whom are foreign born, and a very few Japanese. Of three restaurants charging 15 cents per meal, two reported that their Japanese and white patrons were about equal in number, 97 per cent of the patrons of the third were members of the various white races. Of two serving 10-cent meals, one reported that 60 per cent of its patrons were Mexicans, 30 per cent white persons, and 10 per cent Japanese; the other, 5 per cent Mexicans, 25 per cent negroes, and 70 per cent white persons. The restaurants serving 15-cent meals have washable cloths on the tables, clean silverware, and fair "service," and serve good meals considering the lowness of the price. The restaurants serving 10-cent meals are very much inferior to these in every respect. Most of the Japanese restaurants are located in the district first occupied by the members of that race, but the number located in the newer quarter occupied by them is increasing. The restaurant keepers of other races in the former of these districts complain of the competi

tion of the Japanese establishments. In the other districts, however, their competition has scarcely been felt. The number of white people living in the older of the two districts has diminished in recent years as the number of Japanese has increased. This has seriously affected the "white restaurants" for the Japanese, partly because they are clannish and partly because they are not, as a rule, welcomed elsewhere, almost invariably patronize restaurants conducted by their own countrymen. Moreover, it is the opinion of the agent of the Commission that the Japanese serve better meals than their competitors serve at the same price.

The agent of the Commission obtained data relative to the employees of several Japanese restaurants and of five conducted by white men-one Dalmatian and four natives—as well as regarding the wages paid by all, in the same localities, the restaurants of the two groups being of the same general type, except that those of the latter group were on the whole larger and did a larger business in the course of the year. The Japanese proprietors employed members of their own race only, though a few of those not included in the investigation employ white waitresses. The Dalmatian employed his own countrymen exclusively. Three of the other four white proprietors employed Japanese as dishwashers and "general help," while two of these three employed Japanese cooks. Only white waiters and waitresses were employed. On the whole, the white proprietors paid higher wages than the Japanese, though comparison is rendered difficult by the fact that while those employed by the former receive board only in addition to wages, those employed by the latter are usually provided with lodging as well.

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The Japanese male waiters employed in the Japanese restaurants investigated were all paid $35 per month. The waiters employed in the white restaurants were paid from $10 to $16, the waitresses from $6 to $10 per week, the average for the two classes being $10.62 per week or about $45 per month. The dishwashers and general help" employed in the Japanese restaurants were all paid $30 per month. The white men and Japanese employed in the other group of restaurants were paid from $6 to $9 per week, the average being $8.41 or about $36 per month. The wages paid to cooks in Japanese establishments varied from $30 to $70, and for the 9 averaged $48.33 per month, while the wages paid to the cooks in the somewhat larger competing establishments varied from $13 to $25 and averaged $17.45 per week or about $75 per month. Because lodging was not provided, the Japanese dishwashers employed in three white restaurants received $8 or $8.50 per week as against the $30 per month earned in Japanese restaurants.

The number of restaurants serving Japanese meals and patronized by Japanese only is much larger than that of restaurants serving American meals and patronized by the members of the various races. Of these, 12 were reported in 1904, 58 in December, 1908. Most of these were opened in 1906 and 1907, when the number of boarding and lodging houses with which some of them are connected greatly increased. Nearly all of these establishments are small, the employees of the 58 being reported as 182 in number, or an average of something more than 3 each. Japanese men are employed as cooks and "kitchen help," while Japanese women are almost exclusively

employed as waitresses. The 15 waitresses from whom data were obtained received $25 per month with board and lodging. In most of these establishments the service is à la carte, but where table d'hôte meals are served the price is 15 cents.

Previous to May, 1909, about 30 of the restaurants serving Japanese meals were also selling intoxicating drinks, but were without licenses to conduct a business of that kind. During the latter part of the month mentioned these were closed by the police. In August following, 13 of them paid the city liquor license of $900 and were permitted to conduct their business as before.

Cobbler shops. The number of Japanese cobbler shops has increased rapidly in recent years. In 1904 there were only 2; at the time of the investigation in 1909 there were 17, two of which also carried stocks of shoes. These are all small shops, and the old method of handwork is employed. The gross earnings of three typical shops for 1908 varied from $1,200 to $2,500, the net earnings from $720 to $900. Though the percentage of Japanese patrons is large, all of the three shops have many patrons of other races. Because of the increase in the number of small Japanese shops and of the racial changes in the locality, the cobblers of other races located in the older Japanese colony have lost much of their business. Those located in the newer district in which the Japanese are now settling have been affected to a less extent. These small cobblers have at the same time suffered from the competition of larger shops equipped with machinery, doing better work and turning it out more expeditiously. The Japanese cobblers are all members of the shoemakers' union, controlling the shops conducted by the members of that race throughout California. The prices are fixed by this organization, but those actually charged by the cobblers of Los Angeles are, as a rule, somewhat less than those fixed by the union. In some of the shops conducted by white men in the same localities prices of some kinds of work were the same as, of other kinds higher than, those fixed by the Japanese union. In the other shops practically all the prices were materially higher. In shops owned by white men the price for halfsoling men's shoes, hand sewed, was $1 or $1.25, in Japanese shops, $0.90. Corresponding differences were found to obtain in the prices charged for other kinds of repair work. Evidently there has been much underbidding by the Japanese cobblers.

Tailoring and cleaning establishments. In 1904 there were only two Japanese merchant tailors; at the time of the investigation there were 14 tailoring and 2 dressmaking establishments. With the exception of 1, with 7 employees, 1 of whom is an Austrian, these are all small shops, with 1 or 2 employees at most. The total number of employees and proprietors is about 40. Most of the establishments are

a The prices fixed by the organization are as follows:

Men's shoes half-soled (hand sewed)

Men's shoes half-soled (pegged)

Women's shoes half-soled (hand sewed)

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The prices charged for the first four items are in practice 10 cents less.

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engaged chiefly in cleaning, dyeing, and pressing suits. The standard price for pressing is 50 cents, for dyeing, cleaning, and pressing 75 cents per suit. These are the prices commonly charged at other small shops in these localities. Only a small percentage of the suits purchased by Japanese are made by these tailors, and their competition in the tailoring trade has been of little or no consequence. The percentages of white patrons of 4 shops investigated were from 20 to 50. All of the employees of the 4 shops investigated, save 1, were Japanese. Two of the 10 Japanese were paid $50, another $60 per month. Of the other 7, one was paid $65, two $45, and the other four $40, $30, $25, and $20, respectively, with board and lodging. The wages of the Austrian employed in the largest shop was $15 per week. Provision and grocery stores.-At the time of the investigation by the agents of the Commission there were 27 Japanese provision and grocery stores. In 1904 there were but 6. The expansion of this branch of business is given a somewhat undue importance by these figures, for the majority of the larger provision stores were opened previous to 1905, while most of the large number which have been subsequently established have comparatively little capital invested and a small annual volume of transactions. Nevertheless the growth of the Japanese provision and grocery trade was very rapid between 1904 and 1908. This is accounted for by the rapid increase in the number of agricultural laborers in the southern part of the State, the increasing number of Japanese farmers in Los Angeles County, the larger number of Japanese residing in Los Angeles, and the development of trade with other races. Previous to 1903 or 1904 the vast majority of the Japanese in the southern part of the State had been at work in large groups and chiefly on the railroads, and were provided with their supplies by a limited number of provision stores. More recently the number of men thus employed has diminished, while the number employed in small groups, chiefly as agricultural laborers, has rapidly increased. With this change and the rapid increase in the number of farmers in the vicinity of Los Angeles and a larger settled Japanese population in the city itself, it has been possible for more men to engage with profit in the provision trade. ~ At the same time several small groceries have been opened to secure the trade of the members of the other races. During the year preceding the investigation, however, this branch of business, considered as a whole, did not prosper because many of the neighboring Japanese farmers were growing strawberries and the prices received for their crop were unremunerative. Indeed, because of the straitened circumstances of many of the farmers three or four Japanese provision and grocery stores had failed during the year preceding the investigation.

Agents of the Commission secured data from 9 of the 27 supply stores and groceries-one of the 9 carrying a stock of gentlemen's furnishing goods as well as groceries. These 9 were selected as typical of the larger number. It is noteworthy that of the 9 stores investigated, 2 had been established in 1903, 3 in 1906, 1 in 1907, and 3 in 1908. One employed a capital of $50,000, another $26,000, a third $7,500, a fourth $7,000. The amount of capital employed by the other 5 varied from $700 to $3,000. The amount of business transacted during the twelve months preceding the time of the in

vestigation varied between $2,400 and $140,000, the total for the 9 establishments being $423,400. In some cases the figures were taken directly from the books, while in others, and chiefly in the case of the smaller establishments, they are only rough estimates. Four of the 9 establishments were so small that they were conducted by the proprietor and his wife or by the partners engaged in the business. The other 5 employed from 1 to 12 clerks. Of the 25 clerks and drivers employed, all but 1 were Japanese. The salaries of 2 managers were $125 and $90 per month, respectively. Of 21 other male Japanese employees, 3 were paid $50, 2 $45, 3 $40, 9 $35, and 4 $30 per month, while 1 female was paid $25 per month-all with board and lodging. The 1 native white employee was paid $60 per month.

One of the smallest groceries investigated carried a stock of American goods only. That much of the stock carried by the others is of non-Japanese origin is shown by the fact that from 20 to 80 per cent of the goods sold were reported to be of that character. Of sales reported aggregating $423,400 for the year, approximately 51.5 per cent were said to be of goods of non-Japanese origin. The largest single item among the sales was of rice, and that is purchased in Texas. The small grocery carrying a stock of "American" goods only has practically no Japanese customers. From 50 to approximately 100 per cent of the sales of the other stores were made to Japanese. According to the estimates made by the several proprietors approximately 81.5 per cent of the business transacted was with the Japanese. These estimates are at best only approximately correct, but are believed to be sufficiently accurate to indicate in a general way the character of the supply and grocery business conducted by the members of this race. Though the number of white patrons of some of the Japanese stores is not small, such competition as has developed has been scarcely felt by the white grocers. At any rate no special complaint of Japanese competition was made by these men.

Fish and poultry and meat markets. The Japanese also conduct three fish and poultry markets, which, together with the business of a fish peddler, were investigated by agents of the Commission. The markets are all located on East First street. With comparatively small capitals invested (aggregating $4,600), they do a large amount of business their sales amounting to $6,000, $12,000, and $28,800 per year. The profits realized in all cases were comparatively large. The majority of the patrons of two of the markets were Japanese. Sixty per cent of those who patronized the largest markets, however, were members of other races. The fish peddler had Japanese patrons only. One meat market was found which was conducted by the proprietor with the assistance of one butcher and patronized by Japanese almost exclusively.

Art or curio stores.-Aside from the provision and grocery business, the curio or art stores, dealing in oriental wares chiefly, are the most important branch of retail trade engaged in by the Japanese of Los Angeles. Small shops were opened many years ago. In 1904 the number of stores, some of which carried large stocks of goods, was 7. In 1909 there were 15, 6 of which were investigated. Three of these 6 were very large establishments, with a combined capital of $120,000 and with 28 employees. The other 3 had a combined capital of $13,400 and had only 3 employees. White clerks, because of

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