New-York tribune., 1907-12-15
NEW PHASES OF AN OLD PhOBLEM.

NEW PHASES OF AN OLD
History has been made to a great extent by
the movements of great bodies or people from
one place to another, for purposes Oh setllehleht
or conquest, but no phase OF the question: ..
ebb and flow of population has ever been more
interesting than that which is presenter 10
thoughtful students OF the movement at the
nresent time For years the people OF the
ITnited States have watched with wonder the
fg1,res showing the increase in immigration ana
tho more timid have been filled with grave MIS-
giyings as to the results Of this great wave OIL
human beings. which apparently rose hlsher anu
higher every year. Now, for the hfst tlihe' we
have an opportunity to study the problem from
q different point of view.
Rut for the sudden check upon cur business
few weeks ago it is quite probable that no at
tcntion would have been paid to the large put
nrocticaIlv unnoticed movement Of foreigners
from this country back to those landS from
which they came The people Of America nave
noted that q million aliens were landed Oh our
cboras avory twelve months and assumed that
tbic meant an addition of that number OF lndl-
viduals TO our population. This seems 10 De
worry far from the truth. In fact, from the DeSt
sor1rces available. it appears that the movement
from our shores this year VIII mount up 'o 'ne
enormous total of between four and hFe huiiureo
thousand, and while this Is eXceptlohai 'iete
can he little doubt that the real increase Ill 'he
nonuIation of the United States through iihiili-
grafton has been some hundreds or tnouSahus
loss every year than would appear on the sur
face TO be the case.
In ,imos mast we have been told that foreign
countries Iamented the departure from tiiei
shores Of so many of the best workmeh ehtaii-
inc - oraat economic loss to these countries. Yet
tho unnsraIIaIed movement of men thrown OUT
Of ep,nJovn,ent in this country to the home lanu
seems to have created a problem taf greater
than that which resulted when the movement
was to and not from the United States. he-
norts from Italy especially indicate lhat 'no
task of finding employment or otherwise pro-
vidinp for one or two hundred thousand let"i
ing emSrants is & gigantic one ana the loc',i
authorities are alarmed NJ the possible eIcct II
NAV have upon conditions there Austria nun
..,rv TOO has noted the swing of the pendulum
and there has been remarkable rise III 'ne
vaIue Of realty throughout the empire as Il re-
cult of tho demand hy natives returning TO thelr
old bon,as This rise in value, of course, mas
not heen 10 the advantage Of the poor man. anu
with the labor market glutted by men returning
from, America the situation is so serious as 10
cause grave concern to the government
In +bis country the great employers OF for
eirn labor have begun to do httle thlhhins
along different line. That the foreign "orh-
men have not given the 1uli worth vi 'n' 49,
Maid them Is not intimaed. but II is SAID thaI
tho indenen6cnt coke operators In PlttsburS ana
conueiIsville have arrived at the apparently
-oradnxical decision that it Is possible TO de-
craasa the cost of producing coke by increasing
tho nav of the workrren. That Is. they figure
.ho+ hr emDloyiny none but American born or
Doturalized citizens, and paying them hiehe.
wages they may, because or the superiorlis VI
the Americans. decrease the cost of production
The difference between the value OF the
American and that OF the Latin TO the COM
munity IS brought out In an interesting man
nor II is shown that where an American anu
. foreigner are employed together, each rece!V-
inc &c, a month. said TO be the average wages
noid +o +be eighty thousand mon In the employ
of tho fndanendents and the Steel Corporation
tho FOREIGNER nuts back into circulation about
coo month living in squaor and sending tl@
greater part of his earnings out or the country
while tbe American workman returns to the
community every dollar he draws not heceSSd
riIy by squandering it, but by maintaining
HIGHER standard of living, deposits in local ballkS
and investment in homes or other property
Whether any permanent change VIII ne
brought about by an apparent change IN the
Wow Of so large employers Of foreign labor as
those mentioned and by an awakening interest
| In all nhases of the immigration problem as
nresented TO us under the peculiar conditions
brought about during the last few weeks re-
mains tn be seen but the situation is nm inter
acting one from whatever angle Ii Is looked
unon and # is not impossible that It's bearing
on the future will be of decidedly markeu