(a) Size of mills.-The Paterson study covered 154 mills that were actually weaving cloth, with a total of 3,646 looms, of which 3,485 were active at the time the canvass was made (February-March 1935). There were 2,079 workers in these mills. The sample covered was thus approximately one-fourth of the entire broad goods weaving industry in the city; the investigators marked off the areas to be covered, and visited every mill in those areas.

Of the 154 firms canvassed, 104 were found to be commission weavers (table 4). Some of the others were stock-carrying mills themselves, but let out part of their work to commission weaving mills. Most of the commission weaving mills were very small, and might more properly be called shops than mills; 43 percent of the commission weaving shops had 10 looms or fewer; 77 percent had 20 looms or fewer. Only one commission weaver, a manufacturer of rayon novelties, had more than 60 looms. The stock-carrying mills averaged much larger; only 46 percent had 20 looms or fewer, and 12 percent of that group had more than 60 looms.

The converters covered by the other section of our investigation reported that they were giving out weaving on a commission basis to 147 Paterson firms, having a total of 5,245 looms. Ninty-nine of these Paterson firms had 36 or fewer looms each.

(b) The family shop.-An outstanding characteristic of commission weaving as it has developed in Paterson is the prevalence of the "family shop." This term is applied to establishments in which one or more of the workers, in addition to the owner, are related to the owner, or where several workers are in partnership. The essential element is that some of the workers are not "employees", and receive a share of the net proceeds of the shop instead of any stipulated rate of wages. Many variants of this type of shop exist, from that in which only family labor is found to the shop where in addition to family members there are several workers employed on a regular wage basis. In one case a loom fixer having a regular job during the day, had a four-loom shop which his wife worked in and managed during the day; when his 8-hour regular shift was over, he worked another 8 hours in his own shop. In one case (firm 83) two daughters worked as weavers for 8 hours in a 14-loom shop run by their father, then spent 4, 5, or 6 hours of the evening as pickers, quill winders, and bookkeepers. Shop 146 contained 8 looms and was operated by a father and daughter. When the investigator called the father was out and the daughter was running all 8 looms. A man operating a 6-loom shop may have his wife come in for a few hours a day to wind quills, or have his daughter come in after school to help around the shop. Fifty-four percent of the commission weaving mills covered in the Paterson survey were completely family shops, 14 percent were partly family shops, and 31 percent had no family labor (table 5). Even in the latter group, however, where no family labor is reported, the owners of shops of 20 or fewer looms usually work as weavers or loom fixers in addition to their work of managing the shop. Among the stock-carrying mills, family shops were much less common; only 30 percent were completely manned by the family, 10 percent had some family labor, and 60 percent had none.

TABLE 4.-Distribution of commission weaving and other shops in Paterson by size 1

1 Taken from a survey of Paterson shops during 1 week in February or March 1935.

TABLE 5.-Number of weavers and other workers employed in family shops and other shops in Paterson 1

Some idea of the family relationships in these shops can be obtained from the fact that in 91 shops with family labor, 24 workers stood in the relation of wife to the owner, 26 in the relation of son, 23 of daughter, 6 of father, 17 of brother, 4 of mother, 2 of cousin, 2 of sister-in-law, and 1 each of uncle, niece, grandmother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and daughter-in-law, respectively. Relationship of the remainder of the family workers could not be ascertained.

c. Mortality of firms.-These small shops do not remain in business for a long time. Changes in ownership and failures are frequent. Of 150 shops canvassed for which information was available, 43 had been in business for less than a year, and in practically all of these cases this had been their first business venture. As a general rule, the owners of these shops were unemployed weavers, who could find no other field of employment, and preferred to open their own shop to going on relief.

Before beginning this study, there had been secured from all available sources, lists of Paterson mills. The lists were combined and used as a basis for the canvass. Of the 150 shops canvassed for which information could be secured, 38 did not appear on any of the lists secured by the Board's staff and 31 of the names appearing on the lists could not be found at the address given. In view of the fact that these lists were secured from the Silk Textile Code, from the Paterson Silk Manufacturers Association, and from silk directories, it is very significant that the composite list was only 60 percent accurate.

New York converters reported the names of 147 Paterson establishments working for them on the commission weaving basis. Of this 147, 34–21.6 percent-could not be found on any of the lists available to the Board.

The rapidity of change of ownership and the mortality of these shops is so high as to make it difficult to keep an accurate list of firms with the available code machinery. In addition the problem is made more difficult because many of the smaller shops have neither the records nor the facilities for answering governmental questionnaries mailed them. Others, suspicious about all investigations, are reluctant to report, and seek to conceal their existence.

d. Condition of the mill buildings.-The Paterson silk mills are concentrated in definite areas. One hundred and fifty of the firms canvassed, where concentration was perhaps somewhat greater than in the city as a whole, were in 16 buildings, in 3 distinct areas, each covering the space of only a city block. None of the 16 buildings covered in the survey is in any sense a modern factory building, and a cursory examination of other buildings not covered in the survey showed that this was in general true of other silk mills in Paterson.

Originally built for larger mills, the buildings do not have the proper exits, staircases, etc., which should exist in a structure occupied by many small tenants. For example, 6 buildings, in one area, which formerly housed only 6 establishments, now have 70 tenants, 61 of which are manufacturers of silk. Repartitioning of these buildings to provide for the smaller establishments has resulted in inadequate natural lighting, in difficulty of access to stairways, and in crowding of looms. In these old buildings now used almost entirely for weaving, and crowded with looms, the floor sway and vibration is terrific. In some shops access to the regular stairway is cut off by the partitioning, and outside fire escapes are the only means of access. Though ostensibly all of the buildings are equipped with fire escapes, many shops have no access to them except through adjoining shops. Where partitions exist the only excess is through wooden doors which in many cases are locked during working hours.

Many of the floors, ceilings, walls, and stairs are badly in need of repair. The stairs are dirty and littered with garbage; often the stairways are wooden, without any encasement. The small tenants feel no responsibility for keeping the shops in order and the owners apparently are content to do only that which they are compelled to do to pass State building inspection requirements.

In certain instances there were as many as 12 shops on 1 floor, some partitioned off by boards and chicken wire netting, and some with no partitioning at all. It was almost physically impossible in some cases to find any one firm without calling on four or five others on the same floor. It was sometimes impossible to go from one floor to another without going outside the building on an open fire escape.

e. Condition of the shops. The internal condition of these shops is characterized by similarly low standards. With very few exceptions, the shops are disorderly, littered, and extremely crowded. Of the 150 shops, only 13, in the opinion of the investigators, were clean and orderly. The others were dirty, littered with waste material, boxes and cartons, silk sacks, unused weights and warp beams, lying on the floor. Sanitary conditions were extremely bad. Since, as has been noted, the buildings were not originally equipped for so many small tenants, the toilets and wash stands originally in the building were cut off from many of the shops by partitioning. For minimum compliance with factory laws, a men's and women's toilet had been built in on each floor. In many instances, there are only these two toilets for an entire floor. With few exceptions they had been built in a minimum of space by blocking off a portion of the shop in a wooden frame and little attention has been given to cleanliness or sanitation. In none of the 150 shops visited were the buildings equipped with ventilating systems. Although all of the buildings had enough windows, they could not be opened because the constant humidity required in silk weaving makes natural ventilation difficult. As a result, the shops were intolerably hot and stuffy. Although it is recognized that control of humidity is an ever present problem in silk manufacture, still the old and run-down condition of most of the buildings in Paterson unduly increases the discomfort to workers.

None of the shops had a rest room of any kind and very few had even so much as a bench where a worker might rest. None of the shops had a washroom and only 13 washstands were found in the 150 shops.

The lighting of the shops was extremely bad. Only two had anything approaching good natural light. The artificial lighting was deficient, just barely complying with the New Jersey factory laws. In no instance was an indirect lighting system found, nor was a general lighting system used to supplement hanging bulbs. Characteristically, one bulb of between 50 and 60 watts was used on each side of a loom. In many cases the bulbs were old and faulty and gave a minimum of light. Hanging over the loom in this way, without a shade, a small spot only was brightly illuminated; most of the remaining working space was comparatively dark.

The shops were extremely crowded and the machinery badly spaced. In most cases a minimum of space was rented and in general the total floor space was barely enough to house the machinery. Coupled with bad arrangement of the shops and the cluttered up condition of most of them, there is inadequate working space for the weavers. In some cases as little as 6 inches separated the backs of looms and as little as 1 foot the fronts. Rarely, making allowances for weights which protruded to regulate the warp let-off and cloth take-up, was there adequate working space. Many of the shops had very narrow truckers' aisles and in some cases, aisles were nonexistent.

Every attribute of the internal conditions of these shops accentuated the floor sway and vibration. In all except 5 of the 150 shops the looms were driven by

belts from overhead shafts. In many cases the ceilings were low and the belts scarcely more than head high. Most of the looms were antiquated and appeared to be in need of repair. Often these looms, not tightly secured, slid, shook, and moved about on the wooden floors. When the looms were running the entire floor space to which they were attached shook visibly. The constant pounding caused many of the walls as well as the floors to vibrate, and in some instances the floors definitely sagged with the weight of the machinery.

The condition may best be illustrated by description of some typical shops. These shops were located in one area. As a background there is this to consider: Six buildings, each four stories high, were in one block. Several of the buildings were connected by later built annexes. Seventy tenants, sixty-one of which operated silk mills, were housed in this honeycomb.

On the fourth floor of one of these buildings there are seven shops (shops 18-24). The space is divided into two sections by partitions of half wood and half wire netting. Five shops operating a total of 26 looms occupy one of the sections, with a total floor space of 3,500 square feet. This section is very crowded; the aisles are littered with boxes, weights, and warp beams. The looms are spaced so close together as barely to allow the operator to stand inside and work. In no case is there more than 2 feet between breast beams. Take-up weights extend into this space. The looms are belt-driven from overhead shafts and none of the exposed machinery is guarded. The floor is in bad condition, many loose boards making walking hazardous. The floor sways and the walls vibrate perceptibly. Exit to the fire escape is blocked and there is only one outlet to a narrow stairway. There are but two toilets for the joint use of the five shops. As in most cases, they have been built in at a much later date than the buildings in a minimum of space and are dark, dirty, and poorly ventilated. There is no rest room or wash room. There are no chairs or seats of any kind available for any worker. Drinking water was not provided. The entire floor space has but 14 windows. The lighting is bad; artificial lighting is obtained by the usual 50-watt bulb handing over each side of the loom. All working conditions in this loft were below proper standards.

These are not exceptional situations; rather in the shops canvassed are they the rule. Except in a very few instances where conditions were somewhat better, description of any of the shops would present the same picture.

(f) Hours worked. Although the Paterson silk industry is one of small shops, during the months of February and March while approximately 60 percent of the looms in the broad goods industry were running,1 few looms among those studied in Paterson were idle, and those were in the larger shops. Only 10 firms were not running all their looms; 7 of these had 30 or more looms, the rest were smaller. Although many of the smaller firms kept no record of hours worked, they did not, in fact, run one shift of 40 hours, but, instead of employing additional workers, worked the same shift of workers 50, 60, and 70 hours. Such excessive hours can easily be worked in a situation where the members of a family are the only workers, where no labor organization exists, and where the workers, being also owners, are more interested in the total plant production than in the rate paid or hours worked.

Seven family shops with 52 looms reported 13 workers employed for 60 hours; in other words, in seven cases the firms made no attempt to conceal the fact that they were working long hours in violation of the code. In many instances, the investigators called on firms at 6 o'clock in the evening to find them still running, although, upon answers to the questions asked of them, they reported working only one shift of 40 hours. In one case (firm 56) a man running an 8-loom shop with his wife boasted that he worked as long as he pleased. Much of the information concerning hours was obtained because the individual interviewed wished to impress the investigators with the difficulty of earning a living in the silk industry. The complaint, "I work 16 hours a day and can't make a living" was frequently heard.

Figures on actual hours worked for the month of February were obtained indirectly from another source. One group of firms paid rent, including power and light for 8 hours a day and 1 cent an hour per loom for every hour of overtime. The firms reported the rent paid for floor space and 8 hours, and the total rent paid for the month. Knowing the number of looms in operation, the number of hours' overtime was computed. From these calculations, it was found that a number of firms were working as much as 60 or 70 hours a month overtime, even in excess of two shifts of 40 hours each per week.

National Federation of Textiles, A Timely Summary of Operations in Rayon and Silk Weaving Mills, Four Weeks' Periods Ended Feb. 23, 1935, and Mar. 23, 1935.

g. Ease of entering silk business.-It is not difficult to enter the silk business in Paterson. Rents are cheap and floor space is readily obtained. Often, power and light are secured as part of the rental contract. The fact that no leases are required encourages the small firm with little capital to manufacture silk. Secondhand looms in various stages of wear can be obtained with a relatively small down payment. By operating on commission for another mill or for a converter no investment in raw material need be made.

1. Availability of floor space and rental terms.-Only a handful of the Paterson manufacturers own their buildings. A study of the Paterson city tax records indicated that only 15 silk mills in that city owned the building in which they operated. Not only did they not own their buildings, but practically all of them operated on a month-to-month tenancy. Of the 150 shops first canvassed, only 16, or 11 percent of the shops, had leases. Only 4 of the leases ran as long as 5 years; 12 were for 3 years or less.

The mill building owners, with no other tenants in sight, offer the small silk manufacturer a further incentive in the form of low rents. Table 6 indicates the cheapness of rents. Since most of the space is rented on terms which include light and power for one shift of 40 hours, estimates of power had to be made in some cases to make the figures comparable. In other instances, rentals were paid jointly by three or four shops and their respective shares had to be prorated. The average monthly rent with power and light for 40 hours for shops of 4 looms was approximately $20; for shops of 8 looms, $30; for shops of 12 looms, $45; for shops of 16 looms, $60; and for shops of 20 looms, $85. (See table 6.) Average rentals including power for one shift 1

TABLE 6.

1

Despite the low rentals, oftentimes tenants are far in arrears. One shop of 20 looms (firm 8) owed as much as $680 back rent, although its monthly rental was only $110. Another shop of 24 looms owed $565, another shop of 26 looms, $620 on a monthly rent of $104, a fourth shop of 20 looms, $300 on a rent of $56. This information was obtained from the records of a landlord of one of the buildings occupied solely by silk mills. Had such information been available for all of the shops visited these examples could doubtless be multiplied many times. With no other tenants available, a landlord prefers even a tenant who is in arrears with his rent, to having the floor vacant.

2. Price and supply of second-hand looms.—With factory space easily obtainable at low rentals, a worker can open a family shop with little investment. The only equipment needed is second-hand looms which can be purchased very cheaply. There is always an ample supply of such looms on the market. Among the mills covered, practically no new looms have been bought during the past 3 years. The canvass indicated that most of the looms had been purchased through second-hand machinery exchanges.

Data on purchases of looms were obtained directly from the firms canvassed and from the Passaic County chattel mortgage and conditional sale records. The data obtained directly from the firms was spotty and of little value. Many of the firms had forgotten from whom the looms were purchased, or what price had been paid. Although there was some indication that looms bought directly from mill owners in distress were purchased more cheaply than from machinery exchanges, little such information was available. One of the mill owners complaining about the threat that the family shop offered to the legitimate firm in Paterson, admitted that he had sold 10 looms to a weaver at $20 each to start a family shop.