Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1908-06-02
To Get
Europeans
COMMISSIONER WHEELER TALKS
OF NEW PLAN TO DIS
TRIBUTE THEM

IF the present plans of the immi- |
grafton authorities for the better Sc
lection and distribution of European
immigrants are carried out Califor-
mia will profit more than any other
State"
Thus spoke w. X. Wheeler, newly
appointed Assistant Secretary OF
Commerce and Labor and member of
the immigration Commission, on his
return to his home city May %.
Wheeler will not assume the duties
of his new position until he returns
to Washington in June, and at pres
ent he is here in connection with the
formal establishment of the Offices of
| the Pacific subdivision of the 1mmi-
grafton Commission. of which body
he has been member since its ere
alton by Congress last year.
| Wheeler is chairman of the Pacific
division of the Commission and the
other two members are Senator Hen
ry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts and
Professor ]. w. jerks of Cornell.
Mitchell to Conduct Work
At the request of Commissioner
Wheeler the regents Of the Univer-
sity of California have granted a
years leave of absence to Professor
Wesley Clair Mitchell, who will have
charge of the field work of the Com
mission in the district under the SUI
pervision of the Pacific subdivision.
This territory includes the Rocky
mountain as well as the Pacific slope
States. Professor Wheeler and his
assistants will make an exhaustive
and systematic study of the condi-
tions surrounding present immigrants
on this Coast with the object of as
pertaining what nationalities are
best suited to this section. An eff.
fort will also be made to find out
what immigrants are most desired
by the natives of this district.
Distribution Problem
In connection with this phase oil
the work Commissioner Wheeler
said: 1.-THE question of distribution /.
'the gravest problem confronting thu
immigration officials at the present
time. The new bureau created t.
attend to this question promises to d.
great things under the able leader
ship of T. V. Powderly, and the i'm
migration commission vii! make us
of all its powers to assist in thi
work OF prime Importance. The pro-
lem of selection is not SO difficult. 70
1t Is beyond dispute that the Unite
y States has the unqualified right {
= exclude whomsoever 1t pleases fror
its shores. But after an immigran
has once landed there is no law tina
can compel him to go to any certai
place. The result is the dangerou
condition of congestion which no,
prevails on the Atlantic coast. VIII!
when was in Europe last year
met returned immigrants who ha
been In the United States for eigh
years and In conversing with thei
| had to use an interpreter. Thes
men had been in the coal mines an
steel mills, and when they, wer
thrown out of employment the gret
opportunities of the West remained
closed book to them. Yet they al
all trained for agriculture from DO,
hood"
Needed in California
Wheeler does not believe that a
educational qualification will raj.
the moral tone of the southern L,
ropean immigration. On this poil
he said
The members of the Malta an
other criminals come from the Italia
towns. where they have been taugl
to read and write, while the INN
grant from the rural districts whe
the common schools have only r
Gently made any progress are Il
bone and sinew of the country.
I California is the ideal place 4
j these sturdy Italian agriculturaIist
Last year we got 20 per cent. of Il
II. immigration from northern Ital
70. and In the list of States receivi,