Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-16
Immigration Fl GOD
Expected to Reach the Million
Mark This Year.
CHARACTER OF ALIENS
sHIPLoADs OF MEN AND WOMEN
FROM ITALY, AUSTRIA, RUSSIA.
Last oficial Monthly Count Shows
Large Increase Over the Same
Month Of the Record Year.

| Month Of the Record Year.
Copyright. 1905. by John Elfreth watkins)
| Written for The Evening Star.
/ Our immigration food will reach the long
looked for 100000 mark in the present
| year.
| The official count, at our gateways, for
| the past six months, totals an increase of
| about a third over the same period in 1903,
when S57 1000 aliens were cast upon our
shores by the greatest immigration tidal
wave of our entire history. The last off,
| cial monthly count shows an increase OF
| AZ per cent over the same month of the rec
| ord year.
A quarter century ago the Irish Ger
mans and Scandinavians formed the over
whelming majority of our immigrants, but
today the Mediterranean, oriental and
Slavic races are very largely predominant,
and the center of our immigration sources
| has moved westward across the old world
map, from Paris to Constantinople since
| 1882
Three Great Sources.
Italy, our most generous source of alien
supply. has unloaded upon us in the past
three years enough of her people to fill a
city OF the size of st. Louis, the fourth larg-
est In the United States, and with enough
left over to settle East St. Louis. in ILL.,
| nois. In other words, in this short period
| the Italian immigration to our shores has
| been 602,3OO. enough to fill half the city
of Philadelphia
Austro-Hungary in the same three years
has given us enough people to fill Boston,
and Russia hon
to diplace all of the people in Cleveland
These three countries alone have in 1902
1903 and 1904 deluged us with about enough
OF their people to set up a second Phila-
delphia within our boundaries
Our total immigration in the past two
years has been sufficient to create CITY
OF the population of Chicago, while that
oI the SIX years just passed is sufficient to
populate second Greater New York and
set up alongside another Denver. In other
words, 1t has amounted to about 100000.
since lo2O, when we commenced counting
our migrants, 21,905.4S4 have come in. or
ehese Great Britain and Ireland have sent
ABOUT third and Germany a fourth. The
Most important eghty-fve-y year totals stand
mus Great Britain and Ireland, 7149. 300:
Germany . Jag, SIS; Italy, 1,77s,77s; scandi-
haVla, 164oO91; Russia, 1857 1872 The
united Kingdoms immigration to ms
has been steadily dwindling since 1888: Ger
many,s more or less since 1882, and Scandi
navla since the same year, when that of
Italy, Austria and Russia-all three-com-
menced to swell perceptively
SO much for the quantity, but how about
the quality? "N0N'
Are we becoming the catch basin for the
scum OF the OLD world some SocioIogists
are telling of?
Less Desirable Italians Coming.
First, let us look at the source of our
fol tor, ivy, IT.
in numbers. Italy, including Sicily and
Sardinia, gave us 1913, 296 immigrants last
year. 1t encourages emigration and derives
a benefit from the movement. Over four
ffths of last years crop of Italians came
from that part of the boot to the south of
Rome and from the islands named The
north OF Italy and not the south, we are
told, Is the breeding place of the Italian
anarchist, which is comforting fact under
the circumstances. But while the fewer
northern Italian immigrants are more like
the Swiss French or Germans in their
economic get up'-being chiefly artisans
BARRIERS restauranteurs, fruit vendors &C..
with only ID per cent of illiteracy these
southern fellows pouring in upon us are
mostly OF the unskilled labor class, about
half of them being able to read or write.
1t has been argued for the Italians as a
race, however, that their long struggle for
United Italy" should fit them well for
good citizenship under our flag But thew
come here with the idea that they are colo
nists of Italy and subject to her jurisdic-
ton. Although left still in the lead Italy's
immigration to shores fell off more
than $1,000 last year.
Hebrew Tidal Wave.
The second greatest race tidal wave heat
ing in upon us now is that of the Hebrews
They are arriving at the rate of 100000 a
year, more than enough to create Mem
pills. a Los Angeles an Omaha Those
pouring in now belong mostly to that
branch of the family which has lived for
centuries in Russia, Austria and Roumania
Although a Hebrew element has existed in
our population from the beginning, this
particular branch has only been coming to
us for the past two decades. Unlike many
other peoples, they come here to stay.
Former Commissioner of immigration Nc
Sweeny, In a recent address before the
National Geographical Society, paid this
tribute to these latter-day Hebrew immi-
grants: They come in response to no de-
mand for that which they can bring and
ment to enter the general industrial field.
They bring with them. however, intellects
which are the products Of thousands of
years of mental training and sharpened by
exercise among hostile surroundings A
Jew has his face turned toward the future
and by virtue of the tremendous power of
his religion, has been able to impress him
self a living force in every country in
"
land ten years before they came here the
same Industrial problems of crowding in
certain trades and working in sweatshops
were manifested. but there, as here, they
have by organization been able to practi-
cally free themselves. In New York today
in the sweating trades alone, the Jew has
been pushed upward by the Italians. The
Jews have gone from one country to
another: have been oppressed and have alb
sorbed the best traits of all with whom
they have come in contact. During the
past few years, in New York the end of
each school term shows that the Jewish
children have attained more honors than
all the others put together"
Third in strength, racially speaking. come
the Germans, the greatest numbers from
Germany direct, many from Austria and
fewer thousands from Russia. Only four
out of each hundred are unable to read and
write. They arriving about 75, 600
strong each year. enough to found Troy,
N Y. or Trenton, N. j.. or a Whining
ton, Del.
Illiterate Poles.
Next In line are nearly $4,000 Poles, con-
trfhuted nearly equally by Russia and Ans.