The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1905-01-12
Some Phases of
the immigration
Problem.
Paper Read Before the Chautauquu, Cie,e.

Paper Read Before the ChdntduQud CSrcte.
A GOOD paper touching on this
~ subject was fead some few
weeks ago. There is, however,
much room for discussion and
one or two papers can not do it justice.
The past few months have brought
forth many views on the problem and
it has been widely agitated. This is
partly due to the fact that of late peo-
pie have been reading statistics to
greater extent than ever before. In
the preceding year over one million
immigrants were passed into this
country by our inspectors. These may
be separated into two classes, namely:
the desirable and undesirable. The
former is composed of those who will
make good citizens and will be found
to contain large element of Norwe-
gians, Swedes, Germans, Irish and a
few English. Statistics invariably
class these people as thrifty and who
quickly adopt themselves to our modes
of living These are the people we
want and you will find but few who
turn out to be criminals, or in other
ways, undesirable. 80
For ten years lived in South Dakota
in a county which had been settled
principally by Norwegians, Germans
and Irish, and found them to be a
Woodworking, home-loving and gener-
ally thrifty class of people. When
they went there they had practically
nothing but the land which they
farmed. Today they are the owners of
!, fine farms, substantial, well built
, houses and large barns well filed with
stock. In fact it is one of the banner
counties Of the State Minnesota, a
, state second to none, is thickly settled
t by this same element.
) The undesirable class is made up of
/. Italians, Russians and Hungarians
| principally, with some other nationsli-
j, ties from Southern Europe. Right
: here let me say that not all of
? these people are undesirable, but
f a large number of them are, and why
Not that they may be a little
: darker skinned than others or because
s they can't read nor write the English
f language, but because they are gener'
J. ally ignorant--not being able to read
II nor write their own language, and they
IS are often filthy, both in habits anC
Q appearance. These people do not come
1 here because they are oppressed, but
5. for the simple reason that they have
l. had to be suppressed in their OWL
,r countries. In other words many o.
It them are criminals and they have beer
urged either by their government O
1t the agents of the large transportation
g companies to come to this country. l
I'd they have children they are indifferen
as to whether or not they get an edu
cation.
Reference was made to the DhoukC
bors as desirable class of immigrant
III at a recent meeting of this circle
to Some time after the Canadian govern
ut ment had given these people their lant
H. seed-grain, farming implements an
C. financial aid in oIAer TO build thei
va houses, the Minister of the Intel
an ior sent his inspectors into their co
of onies to investigate and report o
oi- their progress. The report of one {
lis these officers is interesting and worth
as of notice. He HS sht back man
nd photographs of these people, take
an while they were plowing, seeding, or pc
of forming other labor. One photograp
on in particular shows one of these imm
res grants at work blowing. He had fl
as his team eight strong women hitche
nd to the plow and ives forcing them
to do the work of the horses. The 60
be ernment reports show that they ha1
ab-i been Obliged to extend financial aid
"a. these people evesy year since 18s
,he when the colony - founded. II
ia constant watch Of fashe officials is i
,ur quired in order to prevent the
to from starting on pilgrimage or som
tsn ~ thing equally absprd, yet they we
ttlh; given land that is equal in prodnctiy
J. ness to any On the continent. The