Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-08-31
A Case OF Assisted Immigration.

a few years ago some thousands of
brown-coated, obtrusive, quarrelsome
little natives of the British Isles were
assisted to cross the Atlantic. and
given free quarters in many of our
American cities. They were low-bred,
dirty. ill-tempered little varlets. ALWAYS
ready to eat or to fight. Greedy, jeal-
Gus, restless, they were ready to die of
over-feeding rather than see grain of
food, no matter how coarse or filthy.
consumed by any other winged thing.
For this reason. 1t was supposed that
the English sparrow might be utilized
to do the dirty work which our daintier
ard more aristocratic native songsters
stabbornly refused to perform. First
among the useful things expected Of. this
reckless foreign pauper immigrant was
that he would clean the woods and
fields, the trees and streets of certain
pestiferOus insects that made war upon
the foliage, and converted our parks
into leafleSs haunts for the caterpillar.
Ii was also expected that these mvriads
of restless little gluttons would soon
render STRENGTHENING boards unneces-
sary, and by performing the scavenger's
work of our municipalities gratis, allow
those having charge of such public work
To abandon even that show of activity
which they had hitherto scrupulouslv
maintained in order to excuse the rob-
berry they perpetrated.
For a time these assisted immi-
grants. true to their greedy instincts,
not only performed the work for which
they were imported. but also made war
on the aristocratic natives, whom they
quickly supplanted. Robins and spar
rows and the shy fly-catchers, with
their sweet notes. fled array from the
towns, abandoned their chosen compan-
ion. man, and hid in the darkest woods
and gloom;est dells. away from their
pugnacious, pcrsevering and illimitably
tecund prosecutors. All the native
bir,ls abandoned Their accustomed
hauntS. Our native sparrows deserted
the hedges and hid in the wildwood.
The robins note is no longer heard in
the park. Even the martins are har-
ried out of their boxes, and the envious
little invader rearS his numerous broods
in their deserted homes. The streets
swarm with them. Every coign of
vantage in wall and cornice is alive
with them. The ivy upon the wall, the
eave-spOuts and window-caps are
squatted on by the myriad predators.
In the gutter, under the horses feet
everywhere that no other bird ever
dreamed of being-there the sparrow is
sure to lie found. Chattering, spntter-
ing. eating, fighting, he seems made for
the city's slums -feathered incarnation
Of its worst elements. They have
taken the land, and most vociferously
set up their claims to be seen and heard
at all times and on all occasions. With
the true spirit of the " assisted immi-
grant, they conceive that the land
belongs TO them, and has been created
solely for their use and occupation.
This feeling, no doubt, has induced
them to forego one of the chief duties
expected Of them. By unanimous and
apparently concerted action they have
''strucb" on caterpillars. They pro-
pose no longer to do the dirty work
which the native American warbler
seOrns to touch. They know their
rights. The country owes them a liy-
ing, and a living they mean to have. but
they draw the line at caterpillars. So
the cobweb festoons hang upon the
trees, the caterpillars invade the boxes
where they dwell: even the Young spar
rows fall victims TO the creeping foe.
but the '' assisted immigrant I" is unre-
ienting. He is as good as any one.
and will do nobody's dirty work, if ali
ne younglings in his nest die of webs
and hairs.
There was one American bird. how
ever, that held its ground despite the
sparrow. The wren was IS pugnacious