WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION 409

One of the writers of this report recently saw two pitiful looking little Mexican
girls gathering what appeared to be garbage from a garbage can at the rear of
= Dallas wholesale grocer’s establishment and bad a photographer who accompanied
 him make a snapshot and motion picture of them in that act. He had
reports that such practice was quite usual among those unfortunate peonle in
their extreme poverty and unemployment.
The same gentleman saw an aged and apparently decrepit and needy Mexican
woman doing the same thing in a back street in Austin, Tex. and had her unconsciously
 photographed in that posture and action.
Reports of the same revolting practice by the same unhappy people come from
Denver, Colo.
“During every winter there is great economic stress among Mexicans on
account of oversupply of labor and extremely low wages. The living conditions
are a disgrace to our American civilization.”—Harry A. Skinner, county superintendent
 of attendance, El Centro. Calif.
IIL. InrFLux oF MaxicaN PEoN PopuraTioN PropvucinG Bap INDUSTRIAL,
Socian, AND Racian PROBLEMS .
MEXICAN POPULATION IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS

An overwhelming majority of the reports advise that Mexicans and whites
attend mixed schools. Of 1,305 reports on this subject from several hundreds
of communities in 19 States, 1,157 say that in those communities the Mexicans
and whites attend the same schools, while 148 reports state that in the communities
 from which they come the children of the two races do not attend the same
schools. As to whether this misture of the children of Mexicans and whites in
the schools is satisfactory, there were 1,088 answers. Of these 1,088 reports
from States extending from the Mexican border to Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, and
Pennsylvania, near the Canadian line, 546 reports advise that such mixed school
attendance is not satisfactory to white people. This is quite a school problem
to be added to all of the already existing troublesome, kindered problems.
Many miscellaneous statements in these reports make inevitable the conclusion
 that, in school attendance and in their capacity and willingness to be
taught the things American schools should teach them, the children of this class
of Mexicans fall far below the average American children.
ANOTHER RACE PROBLEM

Reports were sought as to the existence of situations giving indications of a
race question. The answers in reports on this question give plain evidence that
those reporting understood the inquiries to call for reports on such racial uncongeniality
 or antagonism as threaten outbreaks of racial hostility. Some of these
Tast were from the same communities, but, in the main, they came from communities
 scattered throughout many counties in a dozen States, more or less.
The story of the human race is filled with accounts of strife and suffering which
inevitably result from the comingling of peoples in the midst of racial antipathies.
The 267 reports of definite indications of a race question between Mexicans
and whites do not cover the whole story of racial antipathy as told by this
survey. The 148 reports of separate schools for the two races add to it, while
the majority reporting that school attendance of the two races mixed is unsatisfactory
 to whites, gives the race problem involved a still more disturbing aspect.
The following quotations from reports on school and race problems caused
by the presence of this migrant Mexican population are fairly illustrative of the
trend of the overwhelming majority of these reports:

REPORTS ON SCHOOL AND RACE PROBLEMS CREATED BY THE MEXICAN POPULATION
“Fi Paso school enrollment last year, Mexicans 10,229, white American 5,878,
negroes 240.”—Fred De Armond, sales manager, laundry company, El Paso, Tex.
“Tt is going to bring serious trouble if these Mexicans are not stopped fram
coming here.’ —Geo. F. Conklin, Houston, Tex,
“Some of our Mexican children look decidedly negroid, but we can not prove
it and so can not send them to the colored schools where they probably belong.
Very dirty. Many families live in one house. They wear dirty clothes and the
ghilasen certainly need washing.”’—Cora Campbell, publie-sehool teacher, Houson.
 Tex.