Washington State journal. [volume] (Ritzville, Wash.) 1907-1911, 1907-12-26
INFLUX TO
AMERICA
IMMIGRATION GREATER
IN 1907 THAN EVER.
FRANK p. SARGENT HAS MADE
PUBLIC HIS ANNUAL
REPORT.


year ended June 30, 1907, was vastly
greater than in any previous year of
the history of the United States, &C.
cording to the annual report of Frank
p. Sargent, commissioner general OF
immigration and naturalization, which
has been made public. OF this great
food of immigration Commissioner
Sargent says:
"An army of 1,2S5,349 souls, drawn
hither by the free institutions and the
marvellous prosperity Of our country
the chance here afforded every honest
toiler to gain livelihood by the sweat
of his brow or the exercise Of his in
telligence-surpasses in numbers the
record of all preceding years"
Tho immigration for 1907 exceeded
that for 1906 by 1864, and that for
1905 by 258,S50, or an increase over
1906 of more than II per cent, and
over 1905 of more than 25 per cent.
During the fiscal year 1906, 12,432
aliens were rejected at our ports, dur
ing the past year 1864, an increase Of
632; hence the total number of those
who have sought admission in 1907,
viz, 1,29S,513, exceeds the number who
applied in 1906, viz, 1,113,167, by 1885,
346."
Commissioner Sargent says it is Of
particular significance that many i'm
migrants landed at ports in the south
during the past year, and he refers es-
pecially to party of 47S Belgians, ex-
cellent types Of immigrants, received
at Charleston, S. c., having been in
duced to go there by the state author
tiles. The increase of immigration to
the south, the commissioner says. is
directly connected with the growing
desire of the southern states to draw
within their boundaries a number of
the better class of immigrants, 1t be-
ing considered by practically all of the
leading men of the section that the
future development and welfare of the
south depends upon its ability to re-
ceive and absorb a reliable laboring
and farming element. Striking in
creases are also shown at New Orleans
and Galveston.
creases and II decreases. The tide of
immigration from some of the coun.
tries is indicated by the following fig
ures:
Austria-Hungary, 33s.452, increase,
1894; Bulgaria, Servia and Montene-
gro, 1889, increase, 6693; France.
9731, increase, 345; German empire,
37,807, increase, 243; Greece, $3.50, in
crease. 1901: Italy. including Sicily
and Sardinia. 2S5,731. increase, 1851;
Russian empire and Finland. 258,94a.
increase. 43.27S; Turkey, 20.767, in
crease. 11.257; England. 56,637, in
crease, 7146: Ireland, 1880, decrease,
465; Scotland, 1910; increase, 1874;
China, 961. increase, 1888; Japan, 3d.
226, increase, 1891; British North
America, 1899, increase. 1856;
West Indies. 1859. increase, 1898.
Interest naturally attaches to the
propOrtionately large immigration
from Japan. While the exclusion laws
have rendered practically null the i'm
migration from China, the immigra-
ton from Japan, while relatively not
great, has trebled in the past year.
This increase Is significant, too, be-
cause 1t mes in the face of the regu-
lations adopted by the American gov
eminent with the consent of Japan,
which was hoped would curtail the i'm
migration of Japanese to this country
very materially.
Commissioner Sargent presents ex-
cerpts from official reports made to his
bureau by inspectors sent to Mexico
and Canada to study the situation with
special reference to the coming Of
Japanese to America through those
countries. The reports show that thou
sands of Japanese landed in Mexico
during the past year and ultimately
gained admission, surreptitiously, into
this country. Once in the United States
it was impossible to locate them, ex-
cept in the rarest instances. While
the regulations concerning Japanese
immigration have tended to reduce the
number of regularly admitted immi-
grants, hundreds of Japanese are still
coming into the country by stealth.