The Washington herald., 1909-04-11

NV hWA n III ~ 4l--AILrAA AllANAFNA -
being manifested in the remarkable flow Of
'abor into the United States through Ellis
sland. Last week no less than 20 o.GS3 peo-
,'lc passed through that gateway. On
friday alone the arriving steamships
brought s,a2. This weeks record may
1ot equal that OF last. but the eXpecta-
on is that it viii closely approach the
-o.oco mark
The contrast OF the Ellis Island reports
ince the year opened with the showing at
lis time last year is startling. Since
January l immigrant arrivals at New
York have exceeded departures by 1O060o;
st year in the same time departures ex-
eeded arrivals by 10000. While this turn
u the tide has for its basic reason the
hanged conditions in the industry Of the
country now as compared with a year
go. people who have closely watched the
Improvement IN business during the past
welvemonth have professed themselves
ltirely at a loss 10 explain the huge pro-
'ortions taken by the immigrant move
Gent since the opening OF the present
ear. especially as 1t is a recognized fact
hat industrial activity is now much less
an * then was. November and Decem-
sr witnessed a rapid Improvement In
.usiness. in the after-election boom"
ut immigration was then very light. av-
raging at New York 5000 10 10.O00 week
=. Now the average is 2o000 weekly.
It's Sources known.
The sources OF this immigrant tide are
nary. issued recently. showed that OF
200 aliens entering the country through
"a ports last month, 2, 900 were from Aus
-ia-Hungary. 1880 from Italy. $500 from
':Ussia. 2.SoO from the United Kingdom
ISL from Germany. and the greater part
.f the balance from the other countries
Europe - France. Denmark. Greece,
sweden. Spain. Portugal. and the others.
The destination of all these people is a
lystery. There are no official cOmpila-
Ons to show, and steamship officials ap-
year 20 be more or less in the dark Gus
.av H Schwab. head OF the New York
'fiices OF the North German Lloyd Line,
processes entire ignorance OF the matter
o far as regards arrivals aboard incOm-
nC German vessels. lie said:
1t really is a mystery 10 me where
aey are ali going I have always con-
ended that immigration and emigration
we're the best barometers Of the state or
1CUstrial conditions in the country, but.
= viewO the almost daily reports OF wage
eductions and closing down of manufac-
uring plants. an inrush OF working peo-
ne such as is now in progress is rather a
PARADOX. Il should mean that business in
3 he country is rapidly improving. but this
cannot mean.
Germans and others from Northern
Europe. who usually turn toward Penn
sylvania steel towns and coal mines, are
rot eoing there now: they are not want
rd- They may possibly be bound West. to
the farm country. but here. again. they
are not in demand. as il is AT harvest
lime that they are mostly needed there.
Must BE Widely Scattered.
'Onhand, I should say that they are
catering about through the country. 60
ING back TO the homes they left fifteen or
Eighteen months ago. when the general
hut-6own Of business threw them out of
work.
1T may indicate. however, that business
IS on the whole. in no such depressed
state as some people think. Just where
mere is Improvement. however. especially
in such manner as 10 absorb the thou
sands that are pouring into the country,
don't understand. You must take into
consideration that when the panic was al
rs height these people poured out. 90 900
10 10000 week. and that they continued
10 leave. although IN not such great vol
inc. right through the summer OF 1908
Business al the present time IS better
han IL then was. and with the outlook
brighter II Is found here and there that
here is scarcity Of labor Letters have
crossed the Atlantic telling Of this. and
perhaps there have gone also promises OF
work This. ] frankly confess. IS the
lnly way I can account for the present
But as concerns the food OF arrivals
rom the Mediterranean ports. there Is.
according 10 Cesare Cont. head OF the
Lloyd SahaudO Line Of steamships. a very
,lear reason. Nor Is Il the earthquake
Since that event. three months ago, the
immigrant movement from Italian ports
las constantly grown. and the accepted
theory has been that the cause was the
tremendous displacement OF labor brought
ibout through the paralysis Of business
n and about Messina. Mr.. Cont agreed
hat this was partly responsible for the
itriklngly large totals of immigrants be-
ng reported by the italian steamship
ines, but only partly. This was his ex-
)lanation:
From statistics which I have at hand
'nly twenty-five OF the Italian arrivals are
rom South Italy and Sicily This Is more
han usual and # compares with only l5
o 20 per cent from all OF North Italy.
r-f f1 L.
month ago. and compared with Central
italy, especially the region about Naples.
he contrast is in the opposite direction.
From Naples more than half the entire
number came.
Thinks II No Mystery.
rs there A mystery about their destina-
ion2 I think not There may be con-
eining the arrivals aboard the German
'essels, but not concerning those from the
To ind the reason one
'eeds simply 10 take into consideration
bc different kinds OF labor performed by
he German and Italian laborers. There
g no work FOR the former, you say. be-
ause industrial conditions are such that
ne steel mills and coal mines and manu-
acturing companies are laying or their
elp. But not so with the Italian laborer. |
BY April ] frost will be out of the /
round. and there wiz be a keen demand
for the Italian with his pick /
nd shovel He will be needed to build
ew roads ana streets. TO lay new sewers, |
o repair the roadbed Of railroads which /
ave since the panic been allowed to de- 4
reciate. to build new trolley lines, and 1
o help in d thousand kinds Of smaller un-
eriakings. Many viii find their way to 4
'exas and the Middle West to help plant I
be vegetable gardens there: stiII others !
re destined for the California orange 4
Toves-
No. there IS no mystery about the pres
nj movement. The Italians who remain
d in the country twelve months after the /
anic OF October, 1907. were not sufficient /