The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-03-24
SOCIOLOGICAL.
DISCUSSION OF TIMELY TOPICS-TMNIGRA-
TTON

O1A1iSI IllOll. 1IlG llISU - II16 IbSjlCSS-
ness of some minds. Inasmuch as ma
ture demands that the masses of
humanity be kept in constant motion,
and never allows them to fall into a
state Of torpidity, she infuses individ-
uals, and generally the most vigorous
and active specimens of the genus, with
an adventurous spirit over which they
have no control. Offer t) them what
ever inducements you please-wealth,
honor, a pleasant hOme-they will not
yield to them, but rather struggle
against the hardship which the build
ing up Of a new dOmicile in a foreign
land implies. 1t is exactly this hard
ship which attracts them; they dislike
nothing more than the mOnOtOny Of a
well-regulated life, and consider them
selves well repaid for their troubles by
the charms which ever changing enter
prises offer them. A second cause for
emigration is the attraction which an
other country holds out to the conner.
1t is the outcome of the law of demand
CbIIu uppIN. w 1lCl1 IIIllIIdl ShlIl OllNl
labor are needed somewhere, they will
fetch a higher price in that market than
elsewhere. AS every man wishes to
sell his abilities at the highest price,
he will naturally seek a place where he
can get it, and the market where he
will meet with least competitor. The
third cause for emigration is the lack
of safety, or the lack of means of sus-
tenance experienced at home. Over
population, famine, religious or social
intolerance, and unwiSC legislation
force people to leave their native land,
even against their will, and without
much choice of where to go. Like a
swarm of lOcusts, they will be driven
by the wind, and carried along without
choice as to direction. These three
classes of emigrants naturally turn into
three classes of immigrants, the mo-
ment they set foot upon new country.
Let rs see what profit or danger they
will bring to their new surroundings.
The first, the ventursOme class. NAV
bring harm to the individual natives,
among whom they settle, but they will
always turn out a blesSin to the land
and the nation at large. The native
population, having grown torpid and
sluggish in course Of several genera
tons, may, for a while, suffer from the
competition which the more active life
of the newcomer forces upon them;
they may find it unpleasant to compete
with the energetic stranger who has q
quick eye to observe everything, and
is at once ready to try and experiment
they may justly complain in many
leases that the immigrant impOverishes
them, and takes the bread out of their
mouths; they may wonder how it hap
pens that the one who came to their
shore or into their city or village naked,
hungry, and penniless has grown rich
in so short a time, and their jealousy
may attribute his prosperity to dishOn-
est transactions; but the national pros
perity is always increased through such
invaders. The ones who seek a better
market for their talent and working
ability than they can find at home are
not dangerous to the communities
among whom they settle, although
their arrival may tend to lower the rate
of wages, and thus bring apparent
hardship upon those who have been
wont to consider their position a sine
cure. The "scab,' who stands ready
to take UP the work which the striker
has dropped, because he would earn at
the lower rate of wages which he eX-
| poets to receive more than he ever re-
ceived before, has not only a right to
do so, but, though an inconvenience to
the striker, he is a blessing to the land.
Why? Not because a lower rate of
wages cheapens the article produced,
but because he brings talent, knOwl-
edge, and energy with him, and thus
helps to produce more commodities
than were heretofore turned out. 1t is
a mistake to prohibit or discourage the
immigration of this class of labOrers,
especially into a land the resources of
which have not by far been yet ex-
hausted, but are awaiting the brain
and the hand to change them into COM
mOdities. While momentarily their
influx may lower the price of labor,
in a short time things will adjust them
selves, and a greater prosperity of the
land will be the natural outcome. The
third class, however, is not only bur
densome, but likely to become danger
GUS. People who are driven from their
homes, either On account of over-popu-
lation, famine, religious and social in
tolerance or nnMiSn LEGISLATION bring