The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-05-25
MIR. AIKEN'S SPEECH,
SUPPORTING HIS BILL PROVIDING FOR AN I'M
MIGRATION BUREAU.

DINA MT. Sim mSO0 /, dutuOIlLihS tue
mmlssioner-General of Immigration
to establish an information bureau on
Ellis Island for the better enlighten'
ment of immigrants and for their bet
ter distribution throuhgout this land.
7 fear, Mr.. Chairman, that we do not
fully realize the tremendous influence
that immigration has had and is des'
tined to have upon the internal deVel'
opment of this country.
We are q nation born, as it were, OF
the peoples of the earth. Already
more than one third of our population
are of foreign parentage, and this num-
ber is annually augmented by over
threeuuarters of million immigrants.
That the future of this country will be
wrought largely by foreign hands is
beyond question. What is the work
of development which this country y
unfolds before the industrious immi-
grant, and what are the opportunities
offered him here? These are the
questions now agitating the coun-
try and which we as Representatives
are called on to aid in solving. Some
rambling poet thus apostrophizd this
country:
American! halfbrother of the
world!
With something good and bad Of
every land,
So wide and varied are our indus
tries, so cosmopolitan are our people,
that we can scarcely escape the appli-
cation of these lines. We may add,
however, that with an area measured
only by an entire zone, with climate
conditions unapproximated in any
country on the globe, with physical
conditions as varied as the thoughts OF
the widest dreamer, we have, by the
skillful and energetic use of those
natural advantages, become not only
q brother but an elder brother, feeding
and clothing the nations of the earth,
We lead the world in the production
of cotton, corn, and wheat, and 1t is to
this fact that we owe the distinction OF
being the wealthiest of nations.
With what zeal, then, should we
guard the agricultural interests OF
those sections which pour into Golfers
annually millions of newly created
wealth.
In passing let US look briefly at the
industrial status of those sections. In
the Middle West, and some Northern
States where corn is the product, we
find dense white population, COM
posed largely of desirable European
Immigrants and their descendants.
and as natural consequence we find
farm lands in the highest state OF
cultivation and selling at what to III
ofthe South seem to be fabulous prices.
Agricultural conditions there are all
that could be desired.
In the West and Northwest, the
great wheat-growing section of this
country, we have witnessed industrial
evolutions which are simply startling.
Modern appliances for planting and
harvesting, and the railroads,
those great arteries of commerce which
have done so much for our internal
Improvement, have en- bled a some
what scattered immigrant population
to take first place in the worlds sup.
ply of cereals.
Now, let Us turn to the South and
view the conditions there, for it is Of
this section mainly that desire to
speak. ,o
1t is said that in the South alone
may be found the pure blood of the
settlers of this country. This is very
pretty thought, but scarcely COM
pensates for retarded industrial deVel'
opment.
Though we have about 100000 600
invested in textile industries in the
South, to say nothing of the millions
investe, in other manufacturing enter
prises,' We are nevertheless essentially
an az cultural people.
The ,1octrine of political economy is:
"rha,communities manufacture only
when the population has become too
dense to profit by tilling the soil"
Measured by this standard we are not
naturally a manufacturing people, and
are such only because of our proximity
to the raw material and of our un-
equaled natural advantages. While
we welcome capital into our midst, and
feel that ere long conditions will
warrant fuller development of man
ufacturing interests, the sudden and
enormous growth of the industry has
brought US face to face with grave
problem.
Since the days of slavery our lands
have been but poorly titled. No
thought of their preservation is ever
entertained, the doctrine being to
wear out the old and cut down down
the new" A German family Is often
supported on the products grown on
2 acres of land, while 80 to 40 acres
constitute a one-horse farm in the
South. This prodigality and wasting
of lands, than which none better may
be had in the world, is due to the
scarcity of labor; and yet from ranks
already thin have been drawn annually
thousands of mill operatives.
We are practically without competi-
ton in the production of cotton. Our
crop Just marketed amounted to over
half billion dollars. Think what
this means to the South. Think what
it means to the United States. Can we
afford to allow this industry to declinei
And yet, I tell you that it is declining
Every year witnesses a great influx tc
our cotton mills of the intelligent far.
ming population, which at best was
inadequate for the proper cultivation
Cf our soil. Under the new conditions
cities and towns are springing uI
everywhere. Demand for farm pro
ducts of every kind is growing, while
the capacity for production. owing tt
the scarcity Of labor, is declining fear
fully.
But some, from the past, would cal
up the skeleton of overproduction
Mr.. Chairman, in few years the
South, under the most favorable con
ditions, can not supply the world
demand for cotton. Have we not seer
the worlds demand raised from 10000
200 to 100000 bales within the pas
five years? What. at this rate of in
oraase will he the demand sav twenty