Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1896-06-09
SENATOR NELSON ON IMMI-
=. ~ ~=.~ GRAFTON. 3 +. :, rs. 3.

america irrespective OF political
utilization Or nationality is under
great obligation to Senator Knute
Nelson of Minnesota for the mas
terly and eloquent speech which
he delivered lately in the Senate
on the subject of immigration.
Senator Nelson is not only a pro
found student of the political his
tory of the past, but as his speech
shows thoroughly versed in the
ethnic philosophy Of the races Of
modern civilization. Men with
more egotism than ordinary COM
mon sense, not to mention broad
and liberal learning, have forsome
time in and out of congress been
bowling about the evil of foreign
immigration. They have pointed
out the dangers of the ignorant
foreign voter at the polls, and so
forth. While they were careful
not to mention the fact that it was
the fine nativeborn political
gentleman that was driving these
ignorant voters to the polls like
sheep to the SHAMELESS. Senator
Nelson looks beyond these super
fetal and unavoidable accidents
of foreign immigration to a land
where universal suffrage pre-
walls and goes into the question Of
ethnic evolution. He, of course,
favors reasonable restrictions on
immigration that shall exclude
paupers, unsound = in body and
mind, criminals and illiterates be-
yond a certain age as a matter of
self-protection. But, with this
necessary restriction, he conclu-
sively demonstrates the import
ance of foreign immigration in
the evolution of this nation. For
a century past, not to mention the
heroic pilgrim fathers, the flower,
the real live energy, the very ele-
ment of push and progress of
Europe has flowed to this coun-
try in a steady stream and helped
to make this country what it is.
Senator Nelson says:
The rapid settlement and
development of our country and
it's marvellous increase in wealth
and in population is in large
measure due to our extraordin
airy immigration The immi.
grants have settled mainly in the
Northern States. In 1860, the
year before the great rebellion,
our foreign born population
amounted to 4,138, 697, and out of
this number 1885, we're set
tied in the States that were not
in rebellion. Allowing the same
proportion of natives of foreign
parentage to the foreign born as
is given by the census Of 1890. in
the Northern States, 1851, 297
| natives with both parents of for.
eign birth, and 1,417 1858 natives
| with one parent of foreign birth
or a total of 8,624,308 of foreign
birth and of direct foreign par
entage. And this total was Al
per cent of the entire population
of the loyal States.
The entire i'm migration to this
| country from 1898 till July list
! 1861, was 1888, 508,and nearly al:
of it had settled in the loya
States. These immigrants and
their children had, during this
period, by their labor and in
dustry produced and created q
large portion Of the wealth in
these States. While no stats
tics can be found on this point
yet I have no doubt that on the
eve of the great rebellion the
proportion of the substantial
wealth of the North produced by
the immigrants and their descen.
dants was equal to the proportion
of their mum Der then living. And
it was this volume of wealth and
mum bers resulting from our
foreign immigration that give
the North it's great preponder-
ance and made it more than a
match for the South in men and
in resources, and enabled 1T tc
preserve and perpetuate the in.
tegrity Of the Uuion. Had there
been no more immigration to the
North than there was to the South
since1793 the two sectio rs would
have been nearer On q parity with
each other and the struggle
would have been more prolon cid
and more doubtful. And had
the wealth and numbers of the
immigrants and their children
been a part Of the South instead
of the North the days OF a united
country might have been mum.
bered. 49,.
1T was not so much the immi.
ocr.lnts who fnnuht in orr no lie