The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-04
specIal correspondenee ManufaotuFeFa

CRSCidA (OEA ACSPS-ANS%%~~
 columbia. s. e. Nov 2s.-comnis- missioner E. J. Watson of the south Carolina Immigration Department talked freely and frankly with me to- day about the practical work ne IS ao- ing for immigration, and said, in doing go, that he was glad Of the opportunity offered by The Manufacturers Record to give to the people of the South a fuller understanding of the extremely practical economic questions involved. It is his earnest desire also to let the people of the United States understand how deeply the movement recently in- augurated affects the welfare of the entire country. He said:
 q have long been a close student of the economic conditions of the country particularly as relating to the South, and her industrial, agricultural and commercial development, When the department of the State Government, of which I am the head, was establish ed primarily through the efforts of Governor Heyward, our greatest need was people. studied closely the iTn- migration problem in all it's phases. l quickly saw that the right place for Ellis Island was on the other side of the Atlantic; that this country was simply giving care to the admission of people to American shores, turning them loose with no regard to their future to become the prey of labor sharks, and started on the path to un- desirable citizenship immediately upon admission. saw that the place for restrictive and selecttye work was at the port of departure rather than the port of entry. saw that the system prevailing was causing congested condition in the great ports and cen ters of population that were develop ing a strong restrictive sentiment, and that under the system prevailing there was no hope Of bringing desirable inl- migration to the South. Then came the recommendation of Commissioner General Sargent and later the message of the President on the same line. Seeing in the provision of the law al- lowing States to operate abroad the possibility of setting on foot work that would at one and the same time pro- vide restrictive and selective measures, secure a better class of immigration, give to the South the class of labor she was demanding to the betterment of the negro labor, and bring about the very kind of distribution that the whole country was demanding with the promise of relieving the congestion at the centers of population and sending the aliens arriving into the territory where they could be readily absorbed ana aSSlullldkEU WAtM0lk uASH4RtAAEE but on the contrary, bettering exist ing conditions, I resolved to make the attempt. I could not afford to have the attempt untimely.
 Laying the foundations gradually by opening offices in Europe, run by men of whose appointment and of the object of whose ap- pointment the State Department of the United States was notified, the oJnrrscaJ ,14nF1a,f 1nyoc ouaffad IT was necessary, to take moment when international and national trade-bith industrial and commercial--condition offered a chance to establish transat- lantic service into the south Atlantic States with a reasonable assurance of success. Patience was required, but last August, after diligent inquiries, 1t became evident that the hour had come. and went to Europe. The re- ception accorded my suggestions prov cd that the selection of th time was happy one. It is needless to discuss the result how success came with each step This is being freely discussed by the press of the country from Maine to Florida. The reception in the South by recent action of Southern bodies, and the activity in this line by the Governor of my own state, who was the first to suggest the establishment of a full department of State gov srnment charged with this work"
 DO you see any permanent results ahead?"
 Most assuredly. We have been try ing to build for the future. It has not been a matter of the bringing of a few selected immigrants into the south. We have given greatest attention to the building up of commerce with for eign countries, the direct hauling of