Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-08-07
"VITAL PHASES OF THE
IMMIGRATION PROBLEM"
Being Plain Exposition of Plain Facts, Giving the
People a Clear Understanding OF the
Necessities of the Hour.

| Following Is the address delivered
at Union by E. ]. Watson, commits
sioner Of immigration, commerce and
agriculture Of South Carolina:
You wish to hear from me in re-
gard to immigration. l am heartily
sick and tired of the word and the
Subject. There has been such a dense
cloud Of ignorance of this vital sub
ject such a volume of misrepresen-
tation created by misguided politi-
clans who see in the subject Of south
ern immigration great bugbears-
not 'niggers in the woodpile,' oh; no,
they haven't seen that, or II they
have, it hasn't suited their purpose
TO warn you Of the dangers from the
lack Of a sufficient white population
land the excess Of the black popula-
Ition-that the masses Of the people
of South Carolina have actually come
to believe that men who are patriot
ically striving, without regard to pol
itics, to develop the state to its full
est, are injuring the future Of the
commonwealth. God forbid that /,
Isvho have devoted the best days Of
| my life to the welfare of my mother
State would ever do aught that would
tarnish her proud escutcheon or add
anything that would tend to lower her
proud citizenship, But for the real
ization of the fact that you have been
L s~of. la ,tci,, 60, cd
and that you have had no opportu-
nifty to study a subject that has stag
gered many that have studied it, I
would not take up your time today.
| ! shall try to be concise and plain,
and in what I shall say I shall not
presume to cast reflections upon any
person or persons, for in this part of
the world good men, from lack Of
Information, have accepted, without
question or research, views that have
been insdiously set before them. /
have talked plain beyond the borders
of the state in beating down and
mailing the ISLANDERS that have been
Systematically spread against the
good name Of this state and her peo-
Pile, and I feel that If could do this
I am entitled to speak plainly TO my
own people"
Accepts Position With Reluctance.
Mr.. Watson said that 1t was just
little over four years ago that the leg
islature in it's wisdom established the
de partment of agriculture and COM
merce, and deeming immigration
proper subject for the department to
handle, made that the third branch
Of the work with which the commits
sioner should be charged. He did not
seek the office, and it was with reluc-
tance that he accepted 1t with the i'm
migration feature attached. At the
moment the cry for labor was rising
from every fence corner, and manu-
featuring plants had spindles stand
ing idle He knew 1t was a case Of
damned If you do and damned If
don't" but he resolved to do what
substantial basis of work for prac-
tically unknown country at the ear
lest possible moment. No man, he
said, ever more carefully investigated
the sources Of supply for farm and
other white labor, and from the first
he was convinced that 1t would be
practical impossibility to introduce
into South Carolina plain wages labor
for any purpose for a good time to
come. and that then 1t must come of
its own voltion and In the wake OF
the purchasing settler. He said that
he had found the hOrdes Of undesir-
ables pouring into the centres OF pop
ulatiOn through the great eastern
ports, with no attempt at selection,
and he was prompted that very year
| In the national convention In New
York to sound the note Of warning
that started the substantial agitation
which finally resulted in putting fur
ther restrictions in the federal laws
by the last congress when those laws
were remodeled, and in the appoint
ment of a commission Of which the
| ldIHeUltu l4dliHlCl, VI hiit .N~N~'
member, designed to make recon-
mendations to congress looking to
| further restrictions being enacted,
knowing full well. he asserted, that
the greater the restrictions would be
the better the class Of white foreigners
the southern states would ultimately
receive. He had been the first and
only man before or since to put into
actual practice the policy Of selecting
and examining the alien at the port
of departure at his own home where
his record could be examined. you
hear man after man telling you OF the
kind of immigrant he wants brought
| to the south, of the restrictions ne
wants. Examine all of them and ex-
anime your departments course and
utterances, and you will find not one
of them goes so far in the direction
of restriction as your department has
done. Perhaps you have forgotten
the utterances in Columbia last WIN
ter of Mr.. Patten, the secretary OF
the American immigration Restriction
league, in regard to your depart
ment." In fighting for the good name
of the state in other sections OF this
country and abroad. the state depart
ment had encountered, but had over
come, almost unsurmountable diff
culties.
Want Farming People From the
| Northwest.
Everybody concurs in the announce
ment that we want here farming peo-
pie from the northwest. God knows
want them" he exclaimed, above
all others, if for no other reason than
that they become voters earlier than
the Englishman or the Scotchman.
But can we get them? The railways
have tried for years. Your depart
ment has Systematically worked In
that territory from it's foundation.
Canada. just a step away from these
men, has been offering them free
tracts Of as fine land as the continent
holds, paying their transportation IN
many instances. and occasionally CIV
ING anoueh money almost with which