New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-02-27
OUR u06IGRAT1oN BUREAU.

I The Immigration Bureau OF Loulslant
has, from its foundation, been public
| disappointment. The State bestowed
handsome outfit, say thirty thousand dol
lars. upon the enterprise. and the com
mutation Of two dollars per Immigrant
! should apparently have been sufficient te
secure the successful operation Of the sys
! tenn. We knew very well the president o.
| the commissioners. Dr. Noyes. and know
! that q more energetic and enthusiastic
! officer could not have been found. During
! his administration every effort was made
! to invite immigration. He not only visited
Europe himself. but there was SUISSE
quently special agen: sent who spent a
summer there with the usual success OF
such missions. We can see that similar
mission last year has ;ne: sim:la. disap-
pointment.
We are no more surprised a: this result
than we have been with those of their
predecessors. There are impediments in
the way which the commissioners do not
appear TO have perceived, and which we
will subsequently explain. The expert.
ment Of attracting immigration into this
port seems like to come to a stop since
the present commissioners have expended
the balance Of s7114 %, and there appears
to have been collected but $1,000 for com.
mutation o. head money from the immi-
grant passen gers OK from the vessels that
brought the1a over.
The presiden. makes an unnecessary
apology for his failure to attract immi-
grants 20 Louisiana. The visible reluc.
lance on the part Of the peasantry Of
Europe 70 emigrate 20 the Mississippi delta
is no new difficulty. and has been encoun-
tered by his predecessors. /: may be
added that there seems the same reluc.
lance to emigrate TO any part Of The
Southern States. The great Northwest
has the climate and staples Of Northern
Europe. The languages Of Northern
Europe are spoken there. and cheap lands
lying in large and contiguous blocks may
be found in that region. Hence. while New
York imported nearly 100000 foreigners
last year. New Orleans has received but
about G00G. There must be q cause for
this discrimination against any South.
ern port. and the gentlemen who
have for some years past thought it
only necessary TO send some one TO Ger
many who could speak German 70 dislodge
, large emigrant population should in.
Iuire it out. The board should no: feel
mortified or discouraged because they
nave failed to surpass their predecessors
n results. They should remember that |
,ur compe titors Of the Northwest also
peak German; that they have distributed
printed information" OF their own. and |
hat their emissarieS are as apt to be be- !
ieved as QUE own.
The commissioners SEEM inclined 20
bate their expectation Of. foreign immi.
,ration and turn their agencies to more
domestic field. Their repor. says: ''There
S an easier and less expensive mode Of
ecurins an increase Of cur rural popuia.
ion.'
This looks 70 the attraction Of people
rom the Northwestern States. and also.
in still larger measure, to those South
RI States where. for several years past. a
trong desire for immigration has been
onstantly ma nifesting itself" 4 decided
reference is avowed for the settlers from
ur sister States. ''who speak our Ian.
uage. are in accord with our political
nd social institutions, understand our
ystem Of agriculture. and to whom our
Innate is not foreign. The people who.
decade ago. suffered the thraldom Of in
oluntary seyvitude." are commended as
aving ALREADY proved the most reliable
Hers Of the soil in our Southern States"
The inference from the report on this 3:
oint is that it has little TO expect from :
uropean immigration. and that it should
avoto its attention to the migration of (,
eoplc from other States to this The &
nth is. that the Emigration Bureau OF
ouisiana has never comprehended the /
ue use and advantage of this port. The I
W itself requires amendment to enable |
e board to do SO. The object of the law S
'to attract immigration and capital to I
,uisiana-" This should be so amended c
the bureau should SO conduct its action q
to encourage the importation of persons /
10 may wish to '.settIe" somewhere else a
an in Louisiana. a
This is the principle upon which the !
w York Emigration Board has acted.
arcely one in ten Of the immigrants inn !
rted through New York remains in tina: 4
Y. 1t is a way station to the West: but c
cir passage. moving by steamer and rail.
cir communication or head money. and /
their future products and consumption !
lounds to the benefit Of New York. The :,
yigation Of New York receives not less
III sl2.000.OO0 per annuni, and the
lroads owned chiefly in New York not
s than half as much more. while the
. bureau itself derives an income OF not -
5 than 100000 from the same source. g,
ding to this estimate the sum probably =
ent by these immigrants in transit. and :
" York. and the foreign shipping trad
!: to her port, derives from this source .
{ mucl. less than s20.0O0.0OO. And +
but one in ten OF these immigrants ,
ettle" in New York.
lur board OF Immigration should iooi;