The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-06
THE ALIEN STREAM.
Argument That the Distribution OF lmmi'
grants Should Ne Regulated by Law.


To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: Since
the organization Of the United States
something like 100000 immigrants have
come to our shores to establish homes In
the American republic. 1t ls officially
estimated that our present foreign born
population exceeds 100000. and that
more than 2oO0O.oOO. or nearly one-third
OF the whole population, are OF foreign
parentage.
No official record OF arrivals was kept
prior to 1920, During that year inmi-
grants numbered 1885. The total popu-
lation at that time was Q ass ,45S, little less
than the present population OF New Eng
land and New York State. The immi-
grafton OF the last fiscal year shows as
| s57, 04e. Assuming our present population
to be s0,oOo,oo0, it appears that whereas
our total population Is about s.s times
greater than It was eighty years ago, the
number Of immigrants Is multiplied by 100
when 1920 Is compared with 1908. Whereas
the arrivals in 1920 were az to 1,15S OF resi-
dent population. In 1908 they are az to
eS. This argues the well1ustained popu-
larity Of the United States a. q land OF OPP
portunity for the homeseeker. 1t is esti-
mated that Of the 1900 900 emigrants who
have left Europe during the last thirty
years about two-thirds have come to the
United States.
In earlier years the major portion OF our
immigrants came from England, Ireland.
Germany, and from Norway and Sweden.
These people. by reason Of racial corre-
spondence, were assimilated, politically
and socially, with little or no difficulty.
They are widely scattered throughout the
country. and they and their descendants
have become genuinely Americani1ed. At
the time Of the arrival Of those who came
fifteen or twenty years ago it made COM
paratively little difference to what part OF
the country they went. There was room
for all and they were everywhere needed.
The huge tide Of immigration which set
In about the year 1880 was ooincident with
the real beginning Of that vast expansion
Of our economic interests which has marked
the last quarter Of a century. The Western
plains were open for conversion into fields
Of corn and wheat. Thousands OF miles
of railway were being constructed, and vast
industrial enterprises were being estab-
lished all over the land. The 6,O00,0 900 i'm
migrants who arrived from 1880 to 1890
not only derived the benefit OF this increase
of our national wealth, but also did much
to make that increase possible. Their
hands we're needed in the process, and IS
per cent. of them were Of class and type
which made them valuable In the work.
But now conditions appear to-day. Our
industrial expansion Is still going on, but
its pace is less rapid than 1t has been, and
opportunities for settlement and even for
employment are less abundant than they
| were even ten years ago. The natural
increase OF an enormous population fur
nishes fairly efficient supply Of both set
tiers and laborers. Yet we still have ample
room for many millions more, provided
they be Of the proper kind and will go to
the proper places. The problem In our
immigration is not its oyersupply, but Its
Is raised by the class which 10 now coming
In such great numbers.
A great change has taken place In the
class and character of our immigrant peo-
pie. In the decade Of lS8l-lS90 the ar
rivals from England. Ireland. Scotland.
Germany, Norway and Sweden-the Celte
and the Saxons-numbered 3,4s4.17l; and
and Austria Hungary-the Slavs and the
Latins-numbered only 976.5sO. This gave
marked preponderance to the first OF these
groups In the decade Of 1s91-l9O0 the
same groups showed ,815, 7ls OF the former
and 1877 ,5s7 Of the latter, thus giving q
small majority of the Slav and the Latin.
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1908,
England, Ireland, Germany, Norway and
Sweden gave us only IL, Os4 Of their people,
while Italy, Russia and Austria Hungary
sent us 572, 1925, thus reversing the racial
preponderance.
The alarm felt by many and expressed
by some over this inpouring OF aliens Ia
l,l,l xy, taI- Qa
question of their number is concerned. We
have acres enough and air and water enough
for them all. But a real difficulty OF no
small Importance is presented IN the ten
dency of those who are now coming to herd
together in distinct communities in our
larger cities. Under such conditions, they
maintain their own language and to large
extent their foreign customs. Little or
no opportunity is presented for their proper
assimilation and Americanization. Those
processes, desirable II not distinctly neces-
sary, are endlessly retarded If not definitely
prohibited by that racial segregation which
is now. 40 marked. II those who come
the country, it is quite open to question
whether we want them at all.
But the solution Of the difficulty does not
seem to lie so clearly along the line OF their
exclusion as in the direction Of their proper
distribution 1t Is neither well for them
nor safe for us that there be established
In our cities those foreign communities
which number their thousands and even
their hundreds of thousands. In the main
they confine their energies to certain lines
of industry. 1t is in no way unreasonable
TO imagine a time OF dulness or even OF
stagnation in those lines. Few of these
many thousands have any resources, and
few are able to earn more than enough for
their daily needs. A few weeks of lost in-
come would mean dire hunger and dis
tress, with even riot and pillage ready
possibilities In that direction. rather than
in that Of tine matter of the volume Of i'm
migration, lies the danger.
Meanwhile, from many sections there
come reports of scarcity Of labor for pro-
cesses already established. Texas could
grow more cotton II there were more field
hands The entire South is in need Of set
Element by small farmers. The West needs
hands. To supply these needs from the
incoming tide is question Of endless COM
plexity but 1t is a question which is coming
wear by year to command attention. Re-
lief Of congested areas In large cities and
the relief of hampered Industries in the
country through some process OF distribu-
ton which would accomplish both ends IL
one of the serious problems of the day, and
20 defer it's solution is only to increase Its
difficulty and completely
It is quite within our power and our
right to prohibit immigration from other
lands as we do from China. II il equally
within our power to lay down conditions,
az we now do to a limited extent, under
which immigrants shall be permitted to
enter the country. 1t would seem equally
possible and equally right, both In their
interest and our own, to make the entrance
distribution to those points where they
a 80 ponind and their exclusion from those