The union Democrat., 1869-01-30
NUMBER 34.
The Value Of Emigration

1t is now known that since the year lTQO,
the European countries have furnished the
United States with over 6. 500 600 Of their peo-
pie. whc, with their descendants now. 1t ia
believed. number over 20, ,o0o eco. This isar
Important, as we'll as startling fact. and brings
us at once to an appreciation ot the numerl-
cal power, aud also Of the Immense wealth we
have derived from this innax of foreign ele-
ment. As those twenty millions are to the
whole population. so are the ratio of the benz
etiss of their coming compared with the gem
eral aggregate ef International wealesAS . sss
From lS2o to 1880 2t4, t90 persons Of alien
birth landed on our shores. From 1880 IN
lS40. $50. 600; from 1910 to 1850. | SIS, 500;
from 1850 to 1860, 2,707 ,624. Such strides
of Increase each decade are truly marvellous.
and cannot be compared with ether countries,
because America is the only nation which az
tracts emigration.
About twenty-five years ago, Bi9cktcool
was highly elated with the fact that between
1901 and 1921 the population of England,
Scotland and Wales had increased one mil-
lion, by unemployed Irish seeking work away
from home. Indeed, he was so exultaut over
the event that he fairly challenged any one
and ever one to show q ''similar instance of
so great inundation Of inhabitants breaking
into any country, barharons or civilized"
lie affirmed that not even the Goths and Van
dals had attained to such Il mark when they
overwhelmed the Roman Empire. He would
have been amazed, perhaps, could he have
foreseen that, within a few years then to come.
over four and one quarter millions of people
would take up their effects and journey, not
one hundred miles merely, but three thousand
and more, over the briney deep, to found
home in the new Western Republic.
rl,,kl l. A. \ r.
this decade. and what will it do in the future?
The annual average at present is not a whit
less than 800, 900 persons. That is a temper
ate estimate. Mr.. Banks puts it at $4,000.
BY actual investigation it has been ascertain
ed that the emigrant brings between $50 and
500 with him for every man, woman and
child. The latter sum is nearer correct. We
have, then, 10000, 900 of specie, mostly ad-
ded to the national money resources, and 49,
600, 900 brought in by the emigration for JAN
uary l. 1861, to the close of 1861 or over
60.000, 900 at the minimum rate of $50 per
capita. But we must look further than the
money value Of the emigrant, and consider
his productive capacity. The emigrants is
certainly equal to the Southern negro in this
respect and the average production of the
latter, even under the incubus of slavery was
set down at $500 per head per annum. At
this rate our annual emigration woull add
$50. .000, 900 year to the cash value Of tho
country. Assuming that from 1865 20 1870
the annual average emigration would only
reach 250, 900 persons we have as the result
one billion added to the national cash value
for the current decade. The emigrant, though,
has actually double the negro capacity, which
makes the annual increased cash value from
that source 00,000,0 900. and two bilious for
the ten years, from 1860 to 1870. These fig
ures will give some idea of the benefits we de-
rive from foreign emigration. Exporter.