Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-24
F UTURR AMERICANS
BLEND OF TILE BLOOD OF THE
PEOPLE OF ALL EUROPE.
Character of Immigration-The Baltic,
Alpine and Mediterranean Races
Effect on the Nation.

Gustave Michaud In the Century Magazine.
According to the results of the twelfth
census, over one-half of our white popula-
| ton consists Of those immigrants who land
| ed on our shores after the year 1885 and of
| their descendants. The native stock-that
Is. the descendants of those immigrants
| who settled in the United States before
lsSo-was still majority in 1890. 1t Is
now gradually becoming a small minority,
not only as consequence of the fact that
| every week brings thousands Of new COM
| ers from Europe but also as a result Of
its decreasing natality, the recent immi-
| grants being. on the contrary, prolific.
| What the new corners are Is thereby, in a
large measure. what the nation win be.
For the sake of accuracy, race, not ma
| uonanty or language, will be considered
here. The language and nationality of an
immigrant tells us mostly Of the habits
| acquired by him during his life through
| the institutions and agencies which sur
rounded him, and 1t Is a biological axiom
that acquired characteristics, whether
| physical or mental, are not transm1ssible
| to offspring.
Modern ethnography recognizes In the
Caucasian or white race at least three main
subraces: The Baltic race Called Teutonic
| by Prof. Ripley of Harvard University in
MS beautiful work on the races of Europe)
| the Alpine race and the Mediterranean or
| Ligurian race.
The Baltic Race
The Baltic race is found in its purest
| state In the Scandinavian peninsula and in
| Scotland. 1t fills the British Isles and the
northern plain of Germany. More or less
mixed with the other two European races,
| 1t occupies many regions Of France, CEN
trail Europe and Russia. 1t is probably the
! result of the natural selection practiced by
y1,N1 oI0
| ed to the primitive Mediterranean race, and
! who had gradually moved northward. Many
| Of their mental as well as their physical
| characteristics find an explanation in that
| hypothesis; those individuals who, through
| lack OF ingenuity, foresight or activity,
| were unable to meet the requirements of a
severe winter persisted. generation after
| generation; their posterity was constantly
| decreased, and the posterity of the active
energetic and thoughtful was thereby rela-
| lively increased.
| This race s, like the Mediterranean, doll
| chocephalic: that is. its Representatives
possess long and narrow skull They are
| tall, have blue eyes. light hair and a mar
| row nose. They are content with a plain,
uniform food. Mentally they enterpris-
| ing and persevering. and cheerfully dedicate
| most of their time and thought to work.
| They are literally gifted with those moral
| instincts which are highly favorable to the
| creation and growth of communities, al
| though not always so favorable to the in
| divldual who possesses them; they are al
| truistic, fearless. honest and sincere. They
! love order and cleanliness, and attach con-
| siderable Importance to the dress and
| ternai appearance Of individuals. They in
stinctively despise men who differ much
| from Them This feeling has prevented
| their mixing on a large scale with human
| races other than the white one
The Alpine Stock.
Gathered about the mountain ranges of
| central and southern Europe, the Alpine
| race has received its name from ire ha hjtat
| When, as happens in Russia, 1t is much
! diluted by intermarriage with other races,
| ii may be found in plains. Wherever purer
1t prefers barren mountains to fertile plains.
| A stream of the Alpine race starts from
Asia Minor and spreads over Europe. fol-
| lowing mountain ranges. This fact. to-
| gether with the existence of the Alpine
| type in a high degree Of purity on the
| platea us of western Asia, has led many
| ethnologfsts to admit the Asiatic origin OF
| this race.
Its head form Is the opposite of that of
| the Baltic and the Mediterranean race.
The skull is broad and short; the race is
brachycephalic. AS result the breadth
OF the Uranium gives a globular head and
| round face. The eyes are gray and the
hair is chestnut. The chin is full. The
Alpine race Is sometimes of a rather small
| stature, as in Brittany, and sometimes tall
| as In western Switzerland. These people
| are nearly always stocky. An unusual
| number of representatives of the race
| generally from southern German stock are
| found among the motormen of electric cars
| In our American cities.
| The Alpine show great reverence for
| wealth. But the most distinctive mental
| trait of that people is its Indifference in all
| matters pertaining to personal appearance
dress and house furnishing.
| Mediterranean Race.
The Mediterranean is the most emotional
| Of the three European races. 1t lacks the
| persevering energy of the Baltic They are
| instinctivey courteous in address Polite
| ness and fine manners in France reach
| their maximum in the southern region occu-
| pied by the Mediterranean race; they are
| at minimum in the three Alpine centers
| Of Brittany, Savoy and Auvergne the
| Bretons being considered as sullen, the
| Savoyards as uncouth, and the Auyergnats
as rough beyond description.
The Mediterranean people love art The
! history of painting, sculpture music lit
| erature is mainly Mediterranean history
| France owes her present hegemony In art
| to the Mediterranean race. If literature
| a universal language Italian literature
would now occupy In the world a place SIM
| fIar to that coupled by Italian music, and
| the literary world might hail In the Span
| ish woman Emilia Pardo Bazan one Of the
greatest novelists of our age
| From 1885 to 1890 the Baltic element had
| an overwhelming numerical preponderance
| Of immigrants to the United States.
But during the last years Of the decade
$4,000 the nature Of our immigrants un-
| derwent a change. immigration from CEN
| trail Europe and Italy increased suddenly.
| In the year 1887 it doubled its volume.
| Every wear of the decade 1S90-l9OO saw a