The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-15
FOREIGNERS FOR THE SOUTH.
What the South May Expect From
Abroad rs Relief From Labor Prob
lem. i,

i~mmigrarJn from abroad as a source
or relief from its labor problem vas
suggested In the landing n day last
week Of more than a thousand Poles,
Russian Jews. Germans, Bohemians
and ether Europeans at Galveston.
most OF them destined for Texas points
knd described as a Neatly, strong
looking lot OF men, women and chill
dren, ready and willing TO hustle for
an honest living. They came BY one
Llyd Steamship Co, and the expert
ment Of establishing a line direct from
Bremen TO Galveston has been so sue
cessful that Mr.. Friedrich % Pills,
a director of the company, who has
been studying conditions I'm the South.
announces that on his return 10 Ger
may he will recommend the estab-
lishment- of another line TO New
Orleans, which he regards as the gate
way 10 the great agricultural States of
Louisiana, Mississippi. Alabama Il
Georgia. In an interview with the
New York Herald Mr.. Won Pills says
that European immigrants are begin
ming to learn that there is something
more in American than New York, and
he suggests that Southern States in
need Of good farmers, Of whom lun-
dreds Of thousands will arrive in THIS
country within he next few years, CO.
operate fifth his company in bringing
the South 10 their attention. He eX-
presses the belief that while Italy Will
continue 10 send immigrants here and
Russia will contiue to pour Jews into
the cities, the next food Of immigrants
will come from the German distric's
of Southern Russia, Roumania, Blu
garia and Hungary. ande that ther
will be a type of the men that the
South needs He says:
The people who are now turning
their eyes to America are agriculturists
and | fully expect TO see a great exodus
of them TO pou shores. some will go
10 South Ameica, but the great mass
will strike out for America, n their
destination will not be h centers OF
population. They will want to cling 10
their occupation-that of filling the
soil. The German residents of the
countries / have named are powerful
men, OF exemplary habits, and their
idea Of success in life is TO have homes
Of their own and to rear healthy fam
lilies.
These people would be a boon TO the
South. They are accustomed TO tenn
erature and soil much the same, and
would bring about An almost magical
Development of the great area which
now lacks proper cultivation. They
are natural farmers and hard work
ers. They will start a new race
in the South-will be the real pioneers.
Twenty years from now, / confidently
predict, America will be glad she left
her doors open and pointed the way 10
the land of cotton fields.
There need be no fear in America
that Europe is unloading upon her un-
desirable population. 1t is quite true
that many Of the immigrants, notably
from Italy, are NJ the best sor. Of
citizens, but those who come from
central Europe are the kind of people
that Europe does not wish TO lose.
Many of those who come from Italy
spend part of the year here and re-
turn to their homes with their Aneri-
can earnings. This is a custom which
should be discouraged. But in the case
OF the people from Hungary, Bohemia,
Roumania. Bulgaria and other parts
of Europe, they emigrate for good. They
oCNCA OH llco dUIOdIu anu SIdTI DIt
with the determination to link their
fortunes with those Of America and TO
e for their relatives as soOn as
they can scrape together sufficient
money"
Texas can tell the rest OF the South
what the German Is in agriculture
a a century or more ago many Ger
mans settled in that State, and, like
their fellows in other parts of the
country, have become substantial ele-
ments and through Americans. If the
later corners approach them in quail
ties OF industry and thrift, the South
cannot hesitate for a moment TO en-
courage hundreds of thousands of them
to people that section and turn hun
dreds Of thousands of acres Of fertile
land. now lying idle or to be brought
into n market as numbering opera
lions advance, into productive farms
Half a million progressive white farm
ers brought into the South would do
much towards solving the negro prob
lem there as far as it effects agricul-
ture. They would either compel the
negro to move on or to adjust himself
TO a condition which must be his for
man centuries, IL he Is to be of per-
manent value to himself or to the
country.
But the needs of hundreds of thou
sands OF workers il felt in other lines
than agriculture. Only the other day
Mr.. c. II. Ackert, fourth vice-president
OF the Southern Railway, was quoted
by the Nashville Amedican tothe effect
that railroad labor is scarcer now than
it has been for many years, and that
before he summer is over the demand
Will be the greatest ever known in the
country. He said:
Not only the Southern, but evedy
other railroad in the country needs
labor, and ! take 1t that the demand
this summer will be phenomenal.
Heretofore the South has had as much
labor as it could use. except at short
intervals during the cotton season, but
this year labor will be short all the