Percontc.ges

Tro..nsporti•.tion to the continent ir.1proved soon 8.ftor v��J D-Y• This, plus continu0d recruit Puerto cl.emand Ricans for for 1.mskillod domestic, workers, farm and J.0d a number of facto.t:';j' work. H ag,mcies to iami, Chica30, and Philadelphia hnve roceivod sev0ral grrn.1.ps of s•,l'Vfl.:nts. Pennsylvania, t!ow Jersey, Florida c.nd California truck and frt:d t fnrrns havo usod many fa.rm workors,and laborers havo found industrial omployment in Chicago, Atlanta and other manv.facturing centers.

Thc nowspapors have carriod many accom1ts of the complaints of the mir_-rants. Tho Chica.ge gronp of houseworkers furnishod heo.dlínes .for som0 woel�s early in 191+7• ported satisfiod and .About .half of th0 362 1-1ho wont sátisfactory in Fobrunry, about to Chicago were rethroe to four months after the bulk of thcm arrivad in the 1ri-Tindy City11 • Sorne ;_o or 30 re-

1

turncd to tho island within a few weeks. Somo landed in jail A.ftor bocom:l.ng prostitutes and others went to hospitnls �,i th various diseases, among them tuborcu.losis. Puerto Rican students at tho University of Chicugo took the lead in giving publicity to tho complaints of some of the girls and <'-11. off::..ci2.l invostigation wus rnade. Sonator 1/iccntc G0igol PolC!.nco, in hio rcport, slw.mv..rizsd the siti:.ation and pointed out the mistakes that hn.r1 boen made. He found sev0nt:"-fivc percent of ·'· ,he girls sc�tisfiod nnd th3 rost co:,1plo.ining of overwork, no day of i·est, and inadequate pay. The contr2.ct provid0rl :for a pr:.ymrmt of ,:?60 per month, but deductions Jrought the c,:,sh in the pay cnvelop0 düim to �;42.6?.

His recommendaUo:1s included tho foJ.lowing points: bctter selection of rccruits, taking ago, h00.lth, trainin¡; or é::h'Perfonco into consideration; roauiroment of somo knowlodge of English, a.nr1 elim::i.nation of murricd womon, unloss thvir husbanél.s are also ;;oing to the so.I!le locution.

Sixty malo Puerto Ricans Horking in the Iforth Chic2.go Hardware Foundry Co. wore fo�md to be housod in u.nhcnt�d railroad cars and suffering so m9.ny doductions thc:.t in somo cnses the �;34. 50 a ¡,eok for which their cont 8.ct c..i.11.Jd shrank to ns low as 50 conts. 0nly thirtoen of th0 original sixty foundry worko1·s ug ·e still at their jobs four months uftor they had boen recruited.W Tho agencies work:tng in tho Philadelphía and J1Tow Jersey arca soem to have had more experioncc. The groups thcy rocrt'.ited have given riso to few compl2.ints.

The Depo..rt1ncnt of Labor is no,r closely m.1.perv:1s1ne ·cl:.o rccrui t.ment of Puerto Ric2.ns for work on the continont and has call0d upan tho Division of Social �-Jelfara of t'1e )epartment of Poalth for 8.id in investigating thc bL.ck0ro1.:.nd of personR who apply far availablo jobs.

A í'airly substantio..l numb0r of veterans havo n-:ade their way to the continont in search of work. Dr· . J. Sorra Chavarry, .egiomü Director of the Veteran I s Administr�, _tion, r..;portcd in r·ovcmJ·)r, 1946 that 2456 veterans had 10ft t.e isl.2.nd far tho continent and were receiving their ";20 a woek unem:olovment comoansa tion thero. This rnovomunt to the cont:Lncmt had . cen · pa'.t,U.ally offs3t by a movc bc.ck to tho island from the rnainland of on.ly 494 vetcrans.

Dr. Serra Chavarry issued a warning that liPuorto Rican 0x-sol,iiers are nrr:1-vin[s in l'icw York with an crroncous conception of the econo:·.üc and socia.l conc�itions which prevail in the Uni ted Statos. 11 He s2.id fur1thor, 11Those migrating vctorans whoso ocononic 2.n:l academic eouipment is many times quj_te deficient a.nd whose knowledgc of tho English lan6uo.go is limi ted, s..1101 .iJ.d be warned of the Cj:i tical sHue.tion in which thcy muy find themselves on the continent. 11 Thc big majority of tho votere.ns wore going to tTew York, accor0ling to Vetare.ns Administration officio.:1.s.

The only lmown stud.y of spontaneous out-migr2.tion at the source was m.ado by thc Divisdion of Statistics of the Bureau of tho Buar�ot in November 1946. Approximately 10 pcrcent or 965, of the outgoin� passengers on airlinos and on tho SS Mo.rino Tigor were intervicYt-1d with a schedule craftod by the Social Scienco l'-loscarch Center. The r•3sults a,;:� re;::iort')d in 10 tables which 2J·e summarize:i in the study as follows:221

Tho Insular D0partm0nt of Health ostimatod the popuL:i.tion of Puerto dico as ;;',079,430 as of July 1, 1946. Thc urban p9ptüation compris0d 36 porcent of this total. 1'ho study disclosed thJ.t ne rly 87 porcont of porsons who lcft th-� Isl.3.nd 1·csic�od in the urban zonc, indicnting that the nrban populat:Lon supplied omigrants in a pToportion two and a half tb.ces hi�h0r than its rola ti ve share of tho total IsJ.cmd 1 s populatfon.

I:foarly he,lf, 47 perccnt of the total persons who loft, livod in the Motropolit2.n a.;:'0a in spito of the fa.et that its populJ.tion comi)"f.'Ísod only .20. 5 pcrcent of thc total population of Puerto nico on J,.,;.ly 1, 1946. Emi�ro.nts from ;san Juan e.ccountc::1 for 35. 3 perccrrt of the total, yot this city poopled only 10.4 percent of t.hc total population of ttJ Islm1<.1.

Almost 8.ll tho other largo municipalities, rn:-.mol3r, Poncc, Ma.;;·az-t,�ez, Río Piodrp.s, Caguas, Eaya."lón, Humacao, Guayam,.1., Ag1.u:.diJ.la, and F--,_J¿n•do, supp1ied emi-:;ro.nts to a higher porcenta�e than their r-:)Spoctivo pro�_,01�t�.on of the total population of the Isknj. On the othor ho.nc.., with very f0'\-1 oxceptions, the small towns1 ::eJ.2.tive supnly of cmigr.-�nts constitutod a smallor porcontage thccn the proportíon tha.t th0ir r :.spcctivo po·-,ul2.tiori was of tho total population of the Isl.8.nél.

In torrn3 of goo5ré�ph:7.cal 1"82":Lons, tho ro:rth Contre.l Coast, which inclucl.es the Hetropoli ta....-1 2.j�ea, wo.s the only 0�10 whos:: i-clc.t:'. V�) co:,tri-• bution of enügr¿:_nt::;, 54.4 pcrcont, wns highcr thc.n tho propo1,tion of its population to tho tot2 . .L Island population, 32. 5 pcrc<:m In t,h.:i othor :-'.'eGions, the relative contribution of emi6:c,:.;xts w:.1.s J.e::::s than their r3spective p···o;Jortion of totD.l population. Tho Wc3ti::nn Intor:i.or rogion was the loast import.1nt supplh)r of emigrnnts, ?. 7 purcent of tho total, ílhGJ'.l its proportíon of total populatlon mor-;) than triplicatos that fi61n·e, 9.1 percont.

The main purpose o.f the trip w2..s to get a job: half of the OT!ligra.nts were going to s,.:iek omp].oyment and an a.d.c.itional 10 po::.0ccnt had a job already offored to them. Othcr purposes wore: to join tho fwJ.il¡, ?0.4

p-:ircent; to study, 8.5 percentj on vacc:•.tions, 7.6 perconti and on business, 1.8 percent. Children under 15 years of age co�prised 6.9 percont of thc porsons who left. This age group constitutod 40.6 pcrcont of tho Island's total population in 1940. The :rnajority, 68.1 porcont, of the popuL,tion who left were yotu1g aclults, their ages rnnging from 15 to 34 years. This age group was only 35.L� percent of the total population of Puerto .11foo in 1940. Persons 35 years and ov3r made up the remaining ;,5 percent of the percon:.i who loft, which is about thc samc proportion tfuis group had of the tote.l populntion in 1940, 23.8 porcont. A little ov0r half, 53.9 perc�nt., of the em:i.grants were male. Malos comprised 50.2 pcrcent of the Isl�nd's total popul�tion in 1940, Ther0 were no significant diffe:cencos c:i.s to the &.ge distribution among outgoing males and fem.:iles.

Only 41.6 perccnt of the oute-oing popuL.1.tion was whitc. According to 1940 Census figu::..n;�I? ,Puerto Rico I s whi te popul.::i.tion uas 76. 5 percent of the total popula.tion.W Diffo:i.'..:-ncos us to :tc;o •·-1:I.stribution runong out�oing white and colorad pooplo w,)rc n-11ligiblo.

An indic,1-tion of the poor financL.l con-li t:lon of the amigrants was th0 sma.11 c .0h thoy carried whon lcaving the IsLnd. Fearly two thirds of' thc:m took sr3ek less than ��40 ui t� employment carriod thor:. AJ..rclost l3sLJ than )40 thr00 fot1.1"'t'.1s of those who left to and only 10 porccnt carriod �:aoo and ovcr.

Eearly two thirds of c.11 enir-;ro.nts six yoars old ar..'J. over had attendod olemenk,ry school, nnd 71 percont of thom had attenckd at least the f:i.fth grade. About 22.3 percent attcndd. lü:::;h schoo.l r.:1.d 5.9 porcon-!:. had a c.)1loee educa.tion. Only 6. 2 porccnt of einigr;_�n t,, 6 Jreo.rs or O'é-.Jl' ·lid not. ho.ve any schoolir.g. This figuro is not oxa:·-�l;¡r •]•JL]Yll'2.bLJ wi t,;_1 bi:111 is an indic2.t'Jr '.:'lf ·•ho pe:rcentagc of iJ.liter,:cy of tho e'.1Í&;.l.�ants.2Í-I Bascd on tho 11:=:1 _ 19,+U r.ons1_.s A.n.:i._l_fa)o.t_.L_ ri.aT,a e.nd 011 o. spociaJ ;;,tu.1y of Ismél.cl B.o.:'.•�ignoz Bou,

.:,m _�. _en Puor��- .R.is: _ o _ 1'., i t iA osti.;·.at,Jd that a½out 3� p.Jrc mt of tho popuJ.o.tion of Fuorto Rico 6 yuars and ovor is illEcr .. : .. te. Thu3 tho ei. igrant.s I ilJ.itoracy Wél.S notice;:.bJ.y bcl0w tho a.vc:i.·o.:;e for tho Islan,4..

Accord:i..ng to 1940 Consus figur0s, cr:::.fts-.10n a;,1d kir,:�rod workors constiti.1ted. 5.4 !?Orcent of all er.1ployed pcrsons in Puerto Rico, yet this group o: sldllcc1 lr.bor-ers compriscd 16. O porcont of porsons 1JÍ th gaír-ful occup2.t.1..ons wl10 lnft the Islan(. This &i tl'.a t::.on was similar in the group of doriestic sJrvice wor!rnrs. i-Jhile in 191,.0 they we:..0e i:mly 7.7 percent of ali er2ployod porsons, they co:--?r�.sed lG.9 porcent of porsons uith gainful occupl.'Lions who lo:ft ::.he Isl2,n :1. On tho o:-her h2.nd, unskilled labo:00rs, .¡ho vomprised 39.9 porcont of al�. Gr::i.plo;y-orl porsons ii1 Puerto Rico in 19 !�O only consti tutod 14. 3 percont of persons ri th ga.i:1i'ul occup8.tions '\ÚO loft the IslJ.nc-:. Th0s0 facts inrlic.:-.to tho.t ski::.led labor0rs 10ft tlw Island in a higher proportion thn.n tho percentago th0y conprised ot cmployad p0rsons in t.ho Islc.7.ncl in l 9L,0, while in the case of unskillcd L:l.bo:.�ors it was JY'-'ctly the opposite.

41

Non-labor0r groµps, like profcssional and semi-prof0ssional workors, farmJrs, managers, and clerical, sales 2.nd ldni..lrod \!ork)rs, comprisod 28.1 percent of persons with ea·inful occupations who left tho Island which was closo to tho percontaze, 25.2 pcrcent, they rru:i.r1e- up of total pcrso:ns employod in 1940 in Puorto Rico. Persons not gainfully cmpJ.oycd com,risod 34 percent of all persons who left thu Is1and, consisting ;�w.inly of ho· ,, .scwives, 17.0 porcent, and stl�v.ents, l? • 9 percont. Less than 10 percei1t of thc persons who loft Puerto Rico had a job waiting for th:im upon arrival. Of this lir.1ited num·-cr of pcrsons, domostic service workers rankcd fir::it, m.aking up 24.5 p�rcc:mt of thG grot:p. Operativos llk'l.do up ;-2.4 p3rcont, crafts;1cn, 20.2 percont, nnd unskiJ.lcd labor-• crs, 16.0 percont of the _ total. Almost all of th0 eLÚGrcints, 9G.3 porcont, went to the Unitcd Statcs, 91.3 percen,t of them h.:i.ving lfow York City as final destination. Only 6.5 porccnt went to oth:-;r Stat.Js, :ma.inly FlorBa, ?.3 porcont; California.,, 0.9 percent c1nd Illinois, 0.8 percent. Th� µumber of Puerto rtican students going to thc continont is shown as 82 for tho month. Thcy ar0 part of a str0am which has boen mounting in the past two clccades. The Institute of Intornational EduqD,tion raports thc numboT over tho past ;;:-3 yoars as incr0c.1.sing as follows:i5.J 1923-24 - 181 1926-'27 - 261 1930-31 - 246 19.34-35 - 1G5 1936-�7 - 318 1939-1;0 - 507 19/¡.2-./;.3 - 574 19/41;-45 - 593 1945-46 - 866

Puertq_ !ticans Residin_g on .i_he _Gontine.E.t few York Ci ty larg rnt cit;v. 11 Thc o.s oftcm 'ooen rofei·reJ i-,o as 11P 1erto Rico' s socond fostering slums of ::Cast Hc_rlcm .,nd tho I3rooklyn Nrwy Ynrd area hav0 recently nl8.--:1o the toadlines. Incre.:1.sed mie;r�·tion plus post-war socfo.I 1isorg,::.nizo_tion have exaccrbc.ted ovorcrowding, 10.cl� of sanitction, ina. .,ecuate cduc¿;,tion. a.11d recreation, jL1venilo dl}linquoncy, prostitution and crine. The mid0 _le-class noighborhood of \Jashington Heights ::.s coldom montionod. The Puorto 11.ic?.ns there h:i.ve "mude good 11• Thoy havo p"rfectcd their �nglish, hnve stendy jobs or businesses and f .ir or gooc incomos. They havo rnade u �ore or loss satisfactory adjustmcmt to s. now culturo. Social workers report that genera.lly thoy anct others who have 11esco.pcd11 fro,n poverty aro not int0rost0d in the plicht of their fello'.TS, Little support for welfarc a.ctivitics nmong tho slum dwollcrs eones from them. The si tuo.tion hc.s heen doscribod 2.s follows: 11llu:Li1y Puerto Rico.ns in New York refuse to identify themselves with the Harlom group in any wny. Thc whoth0r he be fro:il Puerto ·1foo, Colombi u1Jpor-clas a, ar r;..ny s Latín-Americ of the Lntinan, Americc.n countries,. r0f 0rs 1 worldn3 poople '.1122/ to the Ho.rler:1 s9ttlement as one of as Josefino. f ollows on de Romim, a Sl.'.coessful ry�r;to thc si tv_ ..,_ tion last . ra;:,r • ..LJ/ R:!.cé..m journalist r0ported

42

York 11At the "Goment ?ow York Is PuorJ00 Rj_cam: ::--.re prospering. Mo.ny havo moved to l:ett3r neigh!�orhoods. Somo have bouc;ht in tho Bronx o.nd in suburhm sections. Non who considered thcmselvos lucky to ha.ve any sort of job nou há.VG their own b·L'.Sinessos. Their children e.re ent,:!ring the professions, marrying into familios outside thGir own group, and are teginning to take an o.cti ve part in tho socfr.l, economic, ¿rnd welfare lir o of the cityo Though t11e ol·i_or gen..1ration still clings to thcir own customs, their chil 1ren �u .. ::; growing up 2-s co11tinentc1.l Amoricans. 11 As one rrew Ycrk err.ployor s2.i:1, 1 Puerto ilic;:1.ns are good peoplo. · Thcy just i.1ce.1od 2. chémce. Bnt whqt �ill hap�:ien when the 1n2.npowor s __ ortc.gc :'Ls ovar, I clan I t lmow. • R.eports in I,.ic.:r, 194 7, fro'll the Jopo.rtme:nt of Public Welf are of Few City incl.;_co.ted th.::..t unomploym0nt \T2.S rising rapidly c'.lllong the m1skillod. Tho c2..se:s ha:r..dlecl rose 54 perco:1t from _l\.pril 191+6 to April 1947.2fl/ Tho sub-mc.r1;;inr..l unskillod worl:er is tho first to be hit when u.'1emplo�11D.ent beg7_ns to riso. Tho :?u�rto :.ticc1.r.. ir. 1:1ore often thc.n not a m,"Jm1:ior of thD.t group e Dr º Paqui ta fo.:.i z studicd e.. sample of 3, 0�4 Puerto �ican mi-;r.:cnts in 191;60 Sho found r4 7 unskillod, 846 semi-skilled, and only 333 skilled workers,3.21 H0r o.nal:-sis of the odl.1.cationi:l needs of mig:�.:,nts to thc continont shotür! 1--,0 rer�uirod reo..c1i:1g for anyono -lcaling with this r,roblem.