Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-08-15
BRIGHT SIDE OF IMMIGRATION
Many Foreigners Bring with Them
Habits of Industry Which Serve
Them in Good Stead

There is no doubt a great deal of
crime introduced into this country
through practically unrestricted immi-
grafton, but the evil is not so. great.
we believe, as some alarmists main
tain. The anarchists are, of course,
the most dangerous people who come
here from abroad, and they ought to
be excluded, if possible, from the
country Still, it is difficult to reach
them. They do not fight in the open,
for they plot in secret for the destruc-
ton of human life and property, and
they are the avowed enemies of all
rightly organized society, says the
Boston Budget.
There is, however, a brighter side
to immigration. Many people come
here miserably poor, without educa-
ton, but with desire to get ahead
with the native wit with which they
are gifted. They have learned to work
hard through struggling for mere
existence in their own country, and
they bring here habits of industry
which serve them in good stead They
are willing to adopt any means of live
lihcod, no matter how lowly, and they
not infrequently attain through rigid
economy financial position that they
could never have attained at home:
Indeed, they often leave natives far
behind in the struggle for monetary
success, because they do not indulge
in the extravaganza in living which
has become SO marked in many Amer
leans, no matter what their social po-
sitions may be.
The thrifty foreigner climbs slowly
but surely. and we are often surprised
at the advance he has made in a few
years. This is particularly noticeable
in the Russian and Polish Jews who
come to the United States There are
thriftless and disorderly ones among
them, as there are among the other
foreign immigrants, but the majority
are sober and laborious, and their
children, educated in our public
schools, make astonishing progress in
a short time, and show remarkable in
telligence in mastering their studies
Master Albert Shapiro, who recited
the Declaration of independence at
Faneuil hall on the Fourth of July,
is the son of father who came from
Poland few years ago, poor, I'M
learned and unknown; but his son, I'M
der our free institutions, has deve1-
oped into an admirable specimen of
the young American that our free in
stitutiOn creates. 1t has been custom
airy to read the declaration On occa-
sions like that mentioned, but Master
Shapiro acclaimed it from memory
with business of emphasis and an
evident understanding of it's meaning
that won general applause.
The children of Immigrants usually
appreciate the advantages they have
enjoyed, and are ambitious to be con-
sidered reputable citizens of the re-
public. Of course, there are some
black sheep who make up the hoodlum
element among them, but these are
to be found in every community, large
or small, and the toughs of the north
are no worse than the lawless men of
the south who have had generations
in the country. They have in the past
helped in settling this vast country,
which now stretches from ocean to
ocean, but if fewer of them would live
In the cities there would be less sick
ness and fewer disorders. People
crowded into narrow districts are apt
to quarrel, but if they are scattered
over large areas they are not so often
tempted to indulge in the dissipation
which leads to crime