The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-06-20
Coming by the Thousands.

4
The annual spring alarm regard
ling the immigrant has been sounded
Figures that are almost past under
standing are again before us. Rec
ords are again being broken, and the
average American stands bewildered
and asks where it will stop, and
what will be the result?
From Saturday night, when the
Offices on Ellis Island closed, to
Monday morning, when they opened
$4,000 immigrants reached the port
of New York-a record broken fol
the period. Close upon their heels
came other thousands, and still
other thousands are upon the water
The government has provided facili-
ties for handling 5000 immigrants a
day at Ellis Island, but the facilities
are inadequate Thousands and
Thousands of immigrants pile up be-
fore the ones ahead of them can be
cared for. Additional clerks and of
fcers are employed, every available
| foot of space is utilized and still
there is the lack of capacity for TAX
ling care of the hordes that TEEN in
to the port.
One may read all he wants to
labout Niagara Falls and become
lposted upon the amount of water
| that flows over the precipice, and try
10 appreciate its vastness Jut he
never fully realizes the quantity un-
| til he stands upon the brink and
watches it. The first question any
one asks upon beholding Niagara is,
I'Where does all of the water come
from?" Nearly every one who stands
| there expects to see the great lakes
drained dry before night. He cannot
lrealize that such a quantity of water
can pour over the falls hour after
hour, day after day, without draining
the lakes to their very bottoms.
Ellis Island reminds one of Mag
ara. To stand there and watch the
constant stream of humanity pour in
1T, this country one Delives that be-
ore the weeks end Europe must be
Trained dry of people, or at least his
country must become so full that it
/ will Oyer-run its banks
1t is the most impressive sight in
this country-that Ellis Island. To
see the thousands who trail through
the gate in steady procession Is
awe-inspiring 1t is no wonder that
the alarm is sounded.
Take those twelve thousand immi-
grants thar were at the island last
Monday morning. A city larger than
Middleton, or Piqua or Xenia created
| from Saturday until Mondav. And be-
| fore the names of the residents could
be recorded another city half as large
sprung up. And on the h els of that
another the next day, and another
the next An endless army march
ling through the iron jaws of the
Igates, and vanishing, as a stream
vanishes in the gulf. Humanity
Everywhere. Faces, faces, faces! A
Thousand, ten thousand, million
new ones every twelve months.
Mouths to be filled, backs to be COW
cred. Swarms, droves, myriads, it
seems, all going one way, all looking
to the West, few returning. Is it any
wonder that person stands at Ellis
Island and feels depressed, or alarm
led?
And yet the thing happened last
year and the year before and the
year before that, and we are still
alive. We are still clamoring for
more men in the shops and factories.
The farmers are not able to secure
help The railroads are suffering on
account of scarcity of labor. There
are not men enough to hew the stone
and carry the water. There are no.
women enough to do the cooking and
the scrubbing and the securing From
every section of the United States
comes the cry, "Send us labor"
What a mighty country this is
what circus tent that can seat the
million that buys tickets every year.
and advertises for more! What an
era of productiveness that can sus-
tain SO many peoplel What will be
the result If the harvest fail? But
that is like standing at the foot of a
monument and wondering what
would happen If the thing should
topple over.