The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-10
WHY DON'T IMMIGRANTS SEEK
THE EARMSf

L EhhmSf
During the last fiscal year almost a
million of immigrants arrived in this
country. The fact that very few of
| them sought enjoyment on the farms
| is shown by the fact that in all parts
of the country farm labor is scarce.
Indeed. the labor problem is becoming
a serious one with farmers. During
the wheat. harvest the present year it
was thought that a considerable por-
ton of the wheat crop Of the West
would be lost because of the inability
| of the farmers to get sufficient help to
harvest It. Extraordinary efforts were
made to get assistance. Even college
boys Of the East volunteered to go
West and work in the wheat fields.
As far as we know, however, none of
the newly arrived immigrants sought
employment in that direction.
A statement appeared in a Pennsyl-
vania paper a few days ago that in
Monroe county, Pennsylvania, there
had been a falling off in the number
of marriages for the year, in COM
parison with the number for the pre-
vious year, because so many of the
farmers daughters had to go into the
fields to assist in making and har-
vesting the crops. Work in the fields
kept them away from the young men,
and consequently there was less court
ing. This is certainly an unfortunate
state of affairs for Monroe county, and
for every other county in the country
where a lack of farm labor is a check
on matrimony.
Here in the South there Is constant
complaint that labor in sufficient
quantity cannot be obtained on the
farms. Particularly is the scarcity of
labor felt in the cotton picking season.
1t has been stated many times, and
it is probably a fact, that during the
last few years the cotton crop has been
limited by the scarcity of labor. If
that be true the outlook for meeting
the demand for larger crop isn't very
promising, even If the price of cotton
should remain high.
The question is, why is it that all of
the immigrants go to the towns and
cities? Is there no work they can do
except that which is needed at the
coal and other mines or in the fac
tories? We know, of course, that a
small percentage of the immigrants
seek the West and take up land. In
time they have valuable farms But
the great majority remain laborers
and seem to prefer only such labor as
permits them to live in towns and
cities.
Is it a fact that none of the immi-
grants come from farming districts in
Europe? Certainly a percentage of
them must have been farm laborers in
the land OF their nativity. Was life
so hard on the farms there that they
avoid the farms? There must be some
explanation of their avoidance of farm
labor on reaching our shores.
Perhaps there is no effort made to
Impress upon them on their arrival at
our ports that the farms offer them
better opportunities for earning a COM
Portable living and of finally getting
ahead in the world than the mines or
the factories. If the government would
interest itself in disseminating infor-
nation among them on their arrival
as to the advantages for earning
comfortable living and the opportuni-
ties for acquiring land and homes
which await those who seek employ
ment on the farms. it would be do
ing the immigrants a service and also
the farmers.