The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-04-25
MAKING EFFORTS ID
 ATTRACT GERMANS s, Hechinger Talks About the
 Immigration Question RIGHT AND WRONG WAY Mir. Heehinger Points Out Mistakes That Have Been Made In Handling
 the Immigration Problem.
 How to Proceed.
RIGHT AND WRONG WAY

S. Heehinger of the Birmingham Courier is aiding E. Lesser in the prepara- ton of literature to be sent to the Father land in the name of the Alabama German American Immigration society. Mr. Hechlnger is native of Germany, but has been in the United States twelve years studying conditions here and the methods best calculated to induce immi- grants to settle in this section.
 There are people in every community who, by their selishness and narrow mlndedness, block and interrupt the march of progress" said MT. Heehlnger. Such persons cannot entirely stop the wheels of progress. but their existence nevertheless is a hindrance rather than a help to the prosperity of their own home
 The South.
 No part of the United States today offers as many and varied opportunities to the immigrant as the south and no more attractive section of the south can be found than the state of Alabama.
 "Thousands of acres of fertile land in Alabama awaits the thrifty, practical farmer and gardener, to be worked by him into valuable farms. orchards ana pastures, which will reap for him a com fortable income, and in many places very much more. Thousands of workngmen can find good and profitable employment here in Birmingham, from the common laborer up to the highly skilled mechanic.
 Why, then, is immigration so slow coming to this part of the country, and especially to the Birmingham district?
 Cause of Failure.
 One of the various causes of this fail ure to attract tho much needed immi- grafton of farmers and laborers to the south is to be found in the action of d few interruptions contractors and real estate dealers, as they now and then come to light through the press. A planter or contractor will go to New York and hire number of men to go to work for him.
 Tn the majority of such cases the men are brought south by false statements and promises, which are not intended to be kept to these immigrants. The planter very often in such cases attempts to put these newly arrived people on a level with the eolored farm hands, expecting them to work for him under just the same conditions as tho latter, while the contractor invariably breaks half of the promises he made and charges any outlay of money he incurred with three times the amount. The consequence of all this is immediate trouble, and the immigrants return north or cast aud give the south black eye In other instances real estate dealers have sold poor lands for an inn mense price on yearly payments 10 an immigrant He comes down with his family and finds himself in the midst of colored people without any chance of social company for miles around. The land is not what it was represented, prob ably worthless altogether. The inevitable consequence, they go back and tell a miserable tale about the south.
 Calculated to Prevent.
 Now. of course, all this prevents a healthy flow of immigration to the south rather than aids 1t. Immigration cannot be gotten by contract labor through one or the other individual planter or con tractor or industrial employer now and then. It takes concerted action and ef- fort Nor do we want laborers or field hands to come here by contract. What the south needs is practical, industrious farmers and gardeners, working their own lands, coming here with their families to stay If we get them to come we will families are numerous enough to spare from one to three of their members 10 go to work somewhere.
 Other Causes.
 There are other causes. of course which retard immigration to the south One of them is the continuous slanderous attacks and false reports published by the eastern and northern press, which can be counteracted by vigorous advertising oi the south. This advertising can be done in many ways. showing the world the true conditions of this section of the coun. try, with all it's magnificent opportunities for the farmer, the laborer the mechanic and the capitalist. and a willingness of those who already share in the prosperity of the south to make now and then a small sacrifice, financial or otherwise, for the progress of their native or adopted home-a spirit which, I am sorry to say, is vet too often lacking"