Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-06-27
The European Influx.

prosperity after tile past few years Of
depression, is the marked impetus late
" given to European emigration, which
has latterly been at comparatively low
ebb. The influx from Germany, Ire.
land and England, the three principal
sources of accession to our population,
has largely increased during the first
three months of the present year, and
from all appearances we are destined to
receive stream of emigration from
these countries nearly, If not quite
equal in volume to previous incursions
history of emigration to this country
since the movement assumed dimen
sious emitting it to the notice of the
statistician and the political economist,
is au extremely interesting and valuable
study, and it is fortunate for the scien.
fist of future generations that tables
showing with great exactness the num-
bers, nationality and destination of these
accessions to our population have since
the year 1920 been carefully preserved.
We can fancy what inestimable value
would be attached to similar records
could such be unearthed respecting the
successive settlements of Saxons, Danes,
Jutes, Normans and Flemings into
England, as the basis for tracing the
origin of her once mixed, but now ho-
mogeneous people. Though no rec
ords of the arrival of aliens before 1920
we're kept, it is estimated that during
the interval between the organization
of the government and that year, the
emigrant element must have numbered
ibout 100000. The first noticeable
movement in the direction of trausat.
lantic emigration on the modern scale
was in 1917, when 20, 240 passengers
were landed at our ports. The attention
of Congress was called to the matter
and an Act passed regulating passenger
ships, under which record of the
numbers and nationality of emigrants
was kept. A recent article in the New
York Herald gives number of the sta.
tistics of this remarkable human cur.
rent, showing its principal sources and
most notable fluctuations. For some
years after 1920. the annual emigration
was under ten thousand. 1t steadily
rose, however, into the twenties, and in
1882 suddenly jumped to 60, 4S2, owing
to the prevalence of cholera in Europe.
In 1888 it fell to 3S, oil, rising again the
few following years, and reaching 104,.
500 in 1912. The commercial panic
caused u falling off for the next two
years. In 1847 it reached 234, 1868, the
stimulating cause being the disturbed
condition of European politics. The
Irish famine OF 1880 sent the fam.
ished people of that unfortunate COUP
try here by the hundred thousand, 297,-
O24 and 369, $50 respectively being the
total emigration record Of these memo.
rable years, 81 and 55 per cent. being
Irish. The same element supplied Sc
per cent. of the total of 379, 466 for the
year 1861. A great rush from Germany
came in 1854, the Teutonic settlers form
ing Sc per cent. of the total emigration
OF APT 1873. when the human wave hav.
NJ reached its high-water mark began
y ebb. The numbers decreased until
the war of the Rebellion, falling below
hundred thousand in 1861 and 1862
In 1865 the movements assumed some.
thing of its former dimensions, reach
ing the total OF 249,061. 1t continued
steadily to increase until 1928. when
1t eliminated in an influx of 449, 483
and 457 ,OO4 for these respective years.
Then we had another sharp and sudden
decline, the exodus in 1877 umbering
but l49,O2O, hard times being doubtless
the cause, and at present. as We previ
ously noted, there are strong symptoms
of continuous increase.
The bulk of the emigration has come
from Germany and Ireland, the table
OF origins since 1S47 showing that these
two countries have supplied about four.
ffths of the whole. Very nearly 3S per
cent. is German, and upwards OF So Der
cent. Irish. OF the remainder, nearly
la per cent. comes from England, Q per
cent. each from Scotland and Sweden,
and not quite the same proportion from
France. 1t is noteworthy, however,
that future emigration is likely to be OF
more general character, as the "other
foreign" element, that is, not German
or Irish, in the tables for the last three
years, has been upwards OF 80 per cent.
About 70 per cent. of the emigration
lands at Castle Garden, New York. The
destination OF the emigrants of 1878. as
recorded there, is full Of significance in
connection with the political outlook.
While 81 per cent. remained in New
York city and State, and the Western
States, exclusive of Utah and the Pa
eitic Coast, absorbed 33 per cent, the
South received hardly over 2 per cent.
That this is in accordance with the gen
eral course OF emigration is shown by
the last federal census. The proportion
4 foreign to native-born recorded for
'he whole country is l444 per cent. !;
and while Nevada has AZ per cent, Cal.
liornia AZ per cent, New York and
Rhode Island 26 per cent. each, and
the Western States somewhat larger
share of the foreign population, the
ratio in most Southern communities is
less than 2 per cent. That these fair
and fertile regions should be Stunned
ny foreigners seeking to better their
condition by hard work, is the strongest
commentary on the effect abroad of the
EVIL reputation for violence and brutal
lty earned by the South.
r, The grand total of emigration to the
United States, to the close of 1877, in
Guiding the estimate for the early years
when when no statistics were preserved, is
o,ooo,793. which it need hardly be said