New-York tribune., 1906-11-28

THE TRAIL or TEE IAiNIGRAMsTI Ls5 sTrs,Ist,ons BY ms-
vs7o y75 Fleming 4. Reven Company
po7IsH JEW. His Social and Economic @
TEE gg.,rs PT Beatrice c. Baskerville. With Map.
we ID :. ssa TIE Macmillan Company
.so- ete;neres book must be regarded as
. me most valuable treattses that have yet
o'e ,r-,.-sa on the immigration problem IN the
- states Coming TO this country orisi-
- os an immigrant himself. the author has
-. many trips between the United States
"a r-r-oue for the purpose Of studying condi-
a. 6rst hand. travelling almost invariably
A.. xtee-sse. interesting himself in the lives
,,-rrnes Of his fellow voyasers, starting
=, chem from their native villages. following
IN their new homes or in search Of work,
a rssping track OF the careers OF a num-
:, selected families and individuals. There
-efreshing absence Of any attempt to dog
,..,e DR.. Steiner is content for the most
- RI report conditions as he sees and feels
-, leaving the reader To make his own de-
s.,.,ons. He carries no brief for the inni-
--,-+ sr large or for any particular nationality,
.s,re4 Il IS clear that he believes that those
.-ao lonl below the surface viii find much that
-,.sss for good citizenship even in those races
--,,se invasion is regarded with the least favor
rhas solution Of the problem for good or i'll
.-,sa-s 10 him 70 lie with the American people
themselves The author notes how quick the
,sxeomers are. IN most instances, TO adapt
..u-,selves 10 conditions as they find them here
r. syarple citing the swedes as among the
l,,,c.st Of the immigrant population. he shows
.fs. while in jamestown, y. Y where there is
is-ge colony Of them, they have made splen-
"A citizens in Minneapolis they have not, as
,sss risen above the low political level
which prevailed there before their arrival. Into
n. question Of how far the infusion Of foreign
slood into cur great cities IS complicating the
--oblen ana making Increasingly difficult the
-rrk Of assimilation. he does not go: but. TAX
M into consideration the readiness Of the for
s-er 10 be led politically during the period
n his initiation into citizenship. the obvious
inference is thar on these congested centres Of
regulation IS LAID only greater responsibility
fyr preserving IN its purity the true spirit of
American institutions
With Professor Steiner, familiarity with the
steerage Of the great ocean liners has bred a
contenlpt for II that extends 10 those who are
rssponsihe for the overcrowdirg and the Ill
trsatmen that are still the portion OF the i'm
migrant, despite much advertised reforms"
The author does not hesitate TO state that The
stesrage Is responsible for not q little imported
anarchy. and the sooner II is abolished the bet
Ter. The more humanely the immigrant is
treated at Ellis Island the more humanelv he
viii deal with Us when he becomes the master
Of our national destiny" Referring to the Jew.
the author regards him as somewhere between
shakespeare's Shvlock and George Eliot's Daniel
Deronda HIS neighbors are quickly con-
scious Of his faults, because he is not yet
schooed in the art Of suppressing them, and
his virtues ara CH-en unrecognized because they
shine brightest II the inner circle from which
he neighbor IS usually excluded by mutual con-
sent" Professor Steiner believes, however that
there has been g Widespread intellectual awaken
ing among the Jews in America, and that the
second generation Is rapidly breaking away
from the cla1nlsh aloofness Of the Ghetto. He
quotes one Of them as saying: They have room
10 think, though they have but little leisure"
Commissioner Watchorn, the man at the
gate" comes il for appreciative approval for his
administration Of his difficult Office IF here
and there his Judgment is questioned" writes
The author, 'It simply proves that ne IS as hu-
nan as his critics" While in some cases the
lSE is rigid as 70 who are and who are not
eligible for admission 70 the United States. In
others much IS left 70 the comr1issioner's dis
cretion. Few VIII cavil at his decision in an
instance that came under DR.. steiner's notice:
The nexr case is that OF an Englishnaan fifty
toE Years Of age, 70 whom the court OF inquiry
- Unused '-lil-lssion- What did you do in