New-York tribune., 1908-05-21
Of Interest "
TO Uome,1.
MISS BERNARDY'S WORK.
Smith College Professor to Study
Conditions of Immi grants.

smith College professor. Miss Amy BernaroS,
who has taken much interest In the conoltion "
immigrants in the United States, particularly .io
Italians has recently been appointed speoiA.
commissioner to investigate the conditions OIL
Italian women and children in the Unlteo STATES
The appointment comes from the ltaiiah soNe
ment's board of emigration. and Miss Bernaroy ~
district comprises the North Atlantic states She
will renort to the board some time in July. one
of the problems which will engage her attentioh
will be that of distribution
.1n sDte of all the talk about the desfrability OF
d,str,hution and the repeated assurances that
in,mirrattou in other parts of the country is de-
sired the immigrant remains IN the North esPe-
cially the Northeast" Miss Bernardy said In an
interview with a Tribune reporter VI couis7
the reasons obvious The demand TOT iaoor
in the great Northern cities is constant kno"l-
edge of the language Is not needed. owing TO the
great amount Of unslilied labor required and to
the masses Of already accimated Immigrants
who serve as middlemen and interpreters; ano
above all, the rate cf wages is higher thah eiSe-
where.
, The South needs labor and the colored people
cannot supply 1t in the quality and quantity re-
ouired to obtain the development OF that sec
ton Yet several hundred thousand Immigrants
are stagnating in the North Atlantic DIVISION Oh
the country either steadily in the cities. or tenn
porarly in the mills. mines camps. etc, OF the
North Atlantic seaboard. One situation can re-
lieve the other, If properly handled
The first thing to do is to convince the imni-
grant that he can do better for himself in an
other place than that in which he herds. but the
scheme of exporting bodily few hundred immi-
grants to a certain district by paying their ex-
penses there Is at best a risky one. unless good
care is taken to make them feel happy and at
home they arrive
The best advertisement by far OF new conditions
offered to the migrator lies not in the widely her
aided word of steamship, railroad or press agent
but in the confidential letter of one immigrant to
his fellows across the water. He may not know
a thing about the why's and wherefores of conges-
ton and distribution, but he surely knows whether
he Is well treated not, and knows how to inn
press others with that fact. When he becomes
prosperous the mere atmosphere of his prosperity
will act with magnetic force on his less fortunate
fellows If there is room for them in his location
The distribution of the immigrant will follow the
distribution of work; the permanent settlement OF
the immigrant be achieved only where personal
safety and home are guaranteed him And that
question of personal fety is vexed one
There has recently been great deal Of indg-
nation evfnced in South against official warn
ing of the Austrian government to its subjects not
to emigrate there. The cause of the warning Is TO
be traced undoubtedly 10 the reports Of the i'm
migrants themselves. who in number of cases
felt that they had not been fairly treated. and
naturally wrote TO their friends relatives and other
prospective emigrants. thus ultimately calling the
attention OF their government to the situation.
Sometimes, true enough, the question Is OF alleged
peonage rather than the real thing But the allie
alton reminds one rather forCibly of the little
hovs who threw stones at frogs for fun while the
frogs died The effects upon the immigrant are
astonishingly like the real thing. Wifuly or inno-
Gently transportation and other companies. in their
anxiety TO do business. have msled the set
tiers a to the conditions they had right to ex-
meet in their homes
There should be central bureau, where en-
nIover could file an application for the desired
quantity and quality OF labor. a bureau which
ought TO be able to command within short time
the confidence OF employer and Immigrant at the
same time This bureau would perhaps have TO be