New-York tribune., 1905-11-09
SOUTHERN IMMIGRATION.

A peculiar interest will be attached to the
Southern Immig grafton Conference, which is to be
held at Chattanooga to-day and tomorrow, be-
cause of its relationship to a possible change,
of profound significance in the social and indus
trial constitution of the Southern States Those
states have received few white immigrants since
the early days of the Republic, and they contain
at this time very much smaller proportion of
naturalzed citizens than any other part Of the
Union. In the two Carolinas the foreign born
population is so small as scarcely to be indicated
in summary of the census, while In Virginia,
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas it is
little more than microscopic; and the number of
native white persons born of foreign parents is
also very small. In Kentucky, Tennessee and
Florida the proportion of aliens is only a little
larger and in Louisiana it is very small COM
pared with most of the states. In every one of
the states mentioned the percentage of foreign
born residents is decidedly smaller than in any
of those not mentioned.
This state of affairs has long been a source of
pride to the South. Before the Civil War it was
u common boast that the South had kept pure
the British stock which founded the Republic.
while the North had admitted large admXture
of alien blood-of lesser breeds without the
Law The observation was, of course, correct,
though whether it was properly matter of pride
to the South and a reproach to the North may
be open to dispute. The serious evils Of inds-
criminate immigration in these latter years are
indiSputable; but it may reasonably be argued
that, at least until recently, the North was in
dustrially and even socially the gamer from i'm
migration, and the South was the loser in not re-
ceiving any. OF course, the reason why tide
of immigration did not long ago pour into the
South is entirely obvious. But that reason
passed away generation ago To-day the South
is almost as accessible and propitious for immi-
grants as is the North.
Already there have arisen various projects
for inviting, encouraging and facilitating such an
influx, and it is to be expected that this weeks
conference at Chattanooga will further consider
the question in a practical spirit. From several
points of view it may seem desirable to promote
immigration to the South For thing, if the
present great influx of immigrants to America
is to be maintained, it will be better for the
whole country to have it generally distributed
than to have 1t settle in great masses In few
states. For another thing the population Of the
Southern States is comparatively sparse, by the
side of the Eastern and Central States, and there
is thus more room for new settlers In the third
place doubt not some Southerners will be
inclined TO welcome European immigration be-
cause it will increase the proportion of white
population and thus reduce the negroes to nvl-
merical minority, to a smaller minority, and
keep them there. We have 10 doubt, too, that
some will strive to exclude immigration and thus
TO maintain the oldtime purity Of the British
American stock The latter course, however
will doubtless prove impracticable and it would
seem wiser to recognize that fact at once and to
devise plans for selecting distributing and utiiz~
ing to the best possible purpose the alien settlers
who are bound to enter the Southern States and
to avoid the evils which a too iDdiscrminate and
unregulated immigration has inflicted upon some
parts of the North.