Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-03-01
Innnalgratlon.

Imn,IgratIOn.
Every one knows that the rapid growth Of
our country during the present century is
largely due to the immense influx of immi-
grants who have come from almost every
quarter of the globe to find here either liberty
Of thought and action, or opportunities for
profitable labor, which were not so readily to
be had in their own countries. The influence
which these millions of newcomers have had
upon our political and social life is incalcula-
BILE. Whether as a whole, il has been bene-
fetal or disastrous, we are not now prepared
to say. The question is one still in dispute
To those who consider wealth, and the many
comforts obtanable by it, as a gain both to
the nation and the individual, the advent of
these, for the most part, hard working men
and women, has been n national blessing.
BY those who sigh for the simplicity, COM
parative poverty and honesty of fifty years
ago. the entrance into our midst of this vast
multitude Of persons has always been looked
upon dstrustfully. These are two widely
separated standpoints, and the question at
issue will inevitably be determined by the
predispostion of the thinker. There has been
a credtable effort made to assimilste these
foreign particles into the American system
and, judging by the past, and by partial trials
made in the country districts, the attempt
would have been highly successful il the total
amount had been smaller, or if the immi-
grants on arriving had difused themselves
over the country As it is, it must be admit
ted that the plan has failed in a number of
notable instances In New York city there
is a great German district as national in most
respects as II it were translated section of
the city of Berlin. We have here an Irish
element which finds it hard to forget its old
traditions. In some cities the Italians form
distinct class by themselves, and we all know
that San Francisco has its peculiar and dis
tinct Chinese quarter. Now, If there were
fewer of them, these men who cling so fondly
to pre-American thoughts and habits would,
by degrees become absorbed, and be made a
part of the national type. If new accessions
were not constantly being made, those now
here would lose the interest which binds them
together, and in one or two generations, at
least, the present anomalous condition of af-
fairs would cease.
No doubt this last means of correction is
one which almost every one would willingly
consent to. No one, even the latest conner,
likes to be considered an alien, and it is the
force of circumstances and their personal sur
roundings that keep our newly-made citizens
| German, Irish or Italian. 1t is, therefore,
not altogether disheartening to notice the de-
cline in immigration that has taken place
within the past few years. New York is the
great port of entrance, and it is there that the
most reliable reports can be obtained. From
statements recently made, it seems that, for
| eight years prior to 1874, the number of alien
immigrants arriving at that port was annually
about 250,OO In 1874 the number fell to
| 40, ,OOO in 1875 to 1000; in 1876, II 900;
and, in 1877, 900. There are quite num-
! Der of merely temporary reasons that can be
| given for this marked decline. Since the
| panic of 1873 there has been an absence of
| Inducements for those IN IN fhig ntv-xy
who could, in any way, keep body and soul
! together on the other side of the ocean.
! Then, too, an impression has gone abroad
| that our forms and methods of government
! are by no means as good as they might be-
| and the ardent enthusiast no longer burns to
| plant his foot on the soil of free America
| These are reasons which might be urged to
explain a temporary check in the tide; but
there are other impediments, which, to our
mind, are of more lasting character. In
our own country, as most of us painfully real
ize, the time in which great opportunities
occur has passed There is not now a CON-
Portable living for every one, with surprising
chances for the enterprising; on the contrary,
we have. as in the older countries, very rich
and n very poor class, and the gulf separating
them is each year growing wider and more
impossible. There is every day the possibil-
ity of poor man becoming wealthy; but the
| may Dt SilAl VI tilt Vi hIlldll means
and industrious habits in Germany and Eng
land. The difference between our present
and past condition may be understood by the
statement that the rich men of the present
generation are, with few exceptions, the sons
of poor men. Is any one so sanguine as to
believe that a similar statement can be made
fifty years henceS No, the foreigner who
hereafter comes to this country expecting to
gain a competency by picking up stray dol
lars in our streets will be disappointed. The
freshness and vigor of our youth have depart
ed. and to enter even into the commonest
venture one must have capital, for patient
hearts and strong arms may be had for a pit
tance. The immigrant who goes to the West
will find much of the fine farming land pre-
empted. and, even in the wilds of Texas and
Colorado, he must have a snug sum of money
in order to start as a grazier or sheep raiser
In the Fast every place is filled that offers q
chance to rise in the world, and for each
opening there are scores of claimants Clear,
~, there is little reason now or in the future,
without the future upsets all reasonable cal
culations. why man who can earn a tolerablC
livelihood in Europe should seek to better
himself by coming to this country. But there
is vet another barrier TO this current, which
has been established, not in this country. but
on the other side of the Atlantic Men il
Germany and in Ireland-for from these two
countries most of our immigration has come
have not now the excuse for leaving home
that they once had. Government exactioni
on the poor have been lightened; the right'
of the laboring classes are respected; the sys
TEN of land tenure is in every respect supe
rior TO what it once was; while the remova
of so many has, in part, relieved those who
remained behind from the burden of over
population. If compulsory military servic,
were done away with in Germany the mum
ber of families who would leave that country
for this would be inconsiderable These, a
We have said, are permanent checks on tn,
great migratory food with which this countrl
has. for long series of years, been deluged
Its subsistence is to us a desirable change, fo
we can now hope to healthily digest what w