Ethnicity

Title: Cost of Hiring Translators
Type: Document
Date: November 11, 1910
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This is a document that was filed in an effort to get repayment for miners who had to hire translators.
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Activities:

1. The money for the interpreters was taken from the wages of the workers at the rates listed on the chart. How could a $5 reduction in wages affect a worker?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Since many workers got less than $3 a day for their work in the mines, losing $5 a month could make a big impact on a workers income and buying power.
2. What does the investigator suggest when he writes that the money was deducted "ostensibly to pay interpreters"?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: His use of the word "ostensibly" suggests that the investigator wasn't convinced that all of the money was really being used for interpreters, and it was possible that workers were overcharged for the use of interpreters and the mining company made money on the arrangement.
3. Why would an interpreter be necessary for the mine workers?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: When workers were unable to speak English, it was necessary to provide training and information in a language they could understand. Because mining is a dangerous occupation, providing information and instructions the miner could understand was very important.
4. Some of the workers listed on this chart were charged for interpreters more than once. Why would this be?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: It is possible that they were charged for using interpreters by the month, or that there were special situations in which an interpreter was needed more frequently.