Evening star., 1905-11-04
MIGRATION TO AMERICA.
As It is Viewed by a London Daily
Newspaper.

From the London Mall.
The human Niagara flowing from all
lands into the United States is If mere
volume be considered, the most remark
able phenomenon of the sort known to
history In 1904 s12,S7O immigrants land
ed on the shores of the states, an average
of nearly 10000 every week, or more
than 2.000-the population of a decent
sized town-every day. But this flood of
immigration is of a very mixed and
doubtful quality. 1t is made up largely
of the cheap races of Europe; nearly one
fourth could neither read nor write; the
vast majority of them had only few
coins in their pockets. The bulk of these
immigrants poured into the great cities
and settled down there as sort of hu-
man sediment, under conditions which re-
call the Ghetto of ancient Rome. They
contest the jails and the insane asylums
OF the United States, they form sepa-
rate colonies within the boundary of the
states, with social and political ideals of
their own, and refuse to melt into the
general population. In his last report the
commissioner of immigration laments al
most tearfully over "the failure of the
government to provide for the distribu-
tion of aliens throughout the United
States and he charges foreign powers
with spending large sums of money and
employing many agents in the business
Of keeping their subjects together
separate colonies on American soil and
preventing tHelH IHeltlHB IHlO Tie COHl-
mon citizenship of the United States The
unstable, element in the politics of the
United States Is simply the dyspepsia
caused by the presence of SO much undi-
gested, not to say undigestible, material
in its population.
The immigration into Canada as far as
volume is concerned, is only a ripple COM
pared with that flowing into the United
States; but it is a ripple which may well
become tide. Canada is being advertised
as though 1t were patent medicine Its
agencies are scattered all over Europe;
they invade the United States itself, and
last year persuaded no fewer than $4,000
settlers to give up the exhausted farm
lands of New England and of some of the
western states and betake themselves to
Manitoba.
Canad does not spoon-feed her immi-
grants. She does not buy them. The aver
age cost to the do-'inion is a little over IL
per head for each settler and this Is mainly
expended in advertising. But if money is
not wasted on the immigrants. nothing else
is denied to them The government clothes
itself, to an almost amusing degree, with
all the functions of a Providence for the
great host OF intending settlers crowd ng
into It's ports. A great steamboat with
1000 immigrants on board moors. for ex-
ample, alongside the port at Quebec. The
immigrants are marched in procession
down a long passage, and betwixt narrow
ratings they are checked, classed. and med
ically examined almost without being con-
scious of the process. Long trains with
open doors are waiting along the PLATFORM
and in period of time incredibly brief. the
immigrants, in family groups. are packed
into the train and move OF
When the destination is at last reached
there are government agents, with maps of
the district and vehicles in which to drive
the intending settler round to make his
choice. At q cost OF time and money In
eredibiy small the immigrant is then
planted ON his homestead block. or his
quarter section Of purchased land and finds
himself practicing the rudiments OF farm
while the government continues to
watch over him, supply him with pa aternal
advice and encouragement, and, II neces-
sary. seed corn-everything. indeed. except
cash