Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-01
The LABOR PROBLEM
The Pressing Need of Raising the
Standard Of Citizenship.
A FLOOD OF DEGRADED IMMIGRANTS
The Responsibility Of Those Who
Import Cheap Labor.
SOME REMEDIES PROPOSED

Written Exclusively for The Evening Star
For several years the constantly recurring
industrial upheavals have been bringing
prominently to the attention of the public
the necessity for a new standard Of citizen
| ship for those who desire to avail them
| selves Of the advantages of residence in the
United States in preference to their native
| land. The boosted uberality of the United
States government in Offering this coun-
| try as asylum for the oppressed
| of all the world has become synony-
nous with an offer of harbor for the crimi-
nal and other undesirable classes Of Europe.
| So long as there was a great prepond erance
| Of American and Americanized English
| speaking people to assimilate those who
| landed on our shores there was little danger
| from immigration. and the early Scotch,
English, Irish. German and Norwegian
emigrants were of a class who added to the
| real wealth of the nation by coming among
u.s. Most Of them were healthy and strong
(the first requisite to desirability in a new
country, and were sufficiently ambitious
and thrifty to render them very welcome as
assistants to the sturdy pioneers who were
constantly pushing the star of empire west
ward toward the Pacific ocean. In those
days the emigrant was willing to become an
American citizen as soon as the laws would
permit him to do so. and very readily adapt
ed himself to the customs and usages of the
land of his adoption. In coming here he
babe adieu to the fatherland, and. while he
longed for time to dwell upon the beauties
and pleasures of his birthplace, yet he was
ever willing to concede the right Of eminent
superiority to the land of civil and religious
liberty. Such emigrants made good citizens
nd atrint hos
learned by experience both in halls of legis-
lation and on many a field of battle. But
how different the situation is today.
Citizenship Too Cheap.
The time has come in our national de-
velopment when there is not enough en-
ployment in this country for the people
who are here, and the wisest heads and
truest hearts of the nation should at once
devise ways and means for the correct ton
of what has come to be a great evil and
injustice to the people of the United States.
Laws have been enacted In the past de-
signed to meet these conditions, but have
been proved by experience totally made
quate to effect a remedy. Statesmen can
be induced 10 enact legislation prohibiting
the admission of Chinese. but they are
dumb when asked to legislate for the tenn
porary suspension of immigration of all
KINDS The great difficulty is and has been,
been altogether too cheap, and those who
have been coming here for the past twelve
or hfteen years have not priced IL. Hence
we find the Italians. Hungarians. Poles and
Slavonians budding themselves together
like so many cattle in Claunish settlements
speaking their own tongue. perpetuating
their native customs, and in many ways
bringing into this country a state of CIV
llization much lower than the lowest of
that already here and generally introduce
Ing social system SO demoraliZing and de-
srauihS as TO cause us to seriously con-
slider whether the strong arms of the law
shouId not be invoked to suppress 1t.
Effect of Low Class Labor.
Within five miles of the city hall of
Detroit. Mich, it was discovered a few
years ago that Hungarian men and
women were working side by side on the
brick yards. making brick, and living amid
social surroundings such would put to
shame respectable Berkshire hogs. One
shanry or five rooms was found to contain
an average of three families to each room
all eating from one common kettle of food
placed on the center of the rude table, and
sleeping In one common bed This was
discovered by the Michigan bureau of sta
tisttcs. And, what was worse, those people
were establishing wages and modes of life
Tor others. for competing employers Were
compelled to reduce the price of labor to
their level or close down. 1t is not neces-
sary to say that they did OF suspend opera
tons. 1t was too easy to procure some of
the same class of labor. They were being
landed at New York harbor every day
From Michigan We will pass along to the
coke regions of the keystone state where a
few years ago, strike in the coke indus
try developed the fact that foreigners were
working for less sum of money per day
than IS paid by the average state for the
board of prisoners at its penitentiaries.
These. too, were Huns, Poles and Italians,
and their standard of life was even worse
than that Of the Michigan colony. With
such conditions confronting US, is 1t strange
that people organize themselves into
cieties for the purpose of securing better
immigration laws? For one thing is GER
tain: If we would not see the standard Of
life which has made this country superior
to others brought down to that Of the Hun
garians or Poles we must see to 1t that
every one of those who bring such a stand
ard with them to the United.States Is COM
PEELED to lay it aside and adopt our higher
civilization. There Is no middle ground. II
there is to be leveling process in the
United States the writer of this article be-
lcngs to the class which believes in leveling
up, and not down.
Some Proposed Remedies.
But what Of the employers obligation to
society? Must he go free after bringing in
to the United States an army of vicious and
undesirable people, an army which has been
constantly increasing until 1t now overruns
the state where first introduced, and had
supplanted American labor in a dozen
others?
Let us look briefly, at some of the meas
ures proposed as a remedy for the evil I'M
der conSidera ton. One of them is that a
head tax be collected at the port of de-
barkation. Pray tell how this would affoet
the result? 1t would defray the expenses Of
booking and looking out for the immigrants
and would provide fat situations and fees
for the faithful But ii would not serve
a wholesome check on immigration. The
very man whom 1t would be desirable to
keep out would be the fellow able to pay his
fees and secure entry. And no matter how
high the tax was placed, it would not pre-
vent the vicious and criminal classes from
coming And, too. If the fee was large, 1t
would be an incentive to smuggling across
the border and Uncle Sam has not enough
soldiers in the whole of the standing army
to guard one-half Of the northern border.
not to mention the thousands Of miles of
coastline on the east, south and west. No
head tax will ever correct the evils Of i'm
migration.
Guarding immigration.
Another plan proposes that all steerage
passages shall be prohibited, thus compel
ling the emigrant to take at least q second
cabin accommodation. The effect Of this
would be to allow only those to come who
might be able to pay this advanced price.
But this like the other is drawing the line