El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-13
''Riches" Attract AIiens
Immigrants send S3O,OOO,OOO Annu-
ally to Their Families
in Europe.
> By Frederic j. HasNI"


ASHINGTON, D. c., Dec Is
M one need look no further than
w the statistics of the ebb and
flow Of the immigrant tide to discover
that the real basis of American immi-
grafton is mere economic than ideal
istic. At all times in our history i'm
migrants have come to America seek
ing an asylum from persecution of one
kind or anOther-pOlitical or religious
But the vast majority have come be-
cause they thought America offered
better opportunities to get on in the
world.
It always has required some period
Of unusual economic distress or of re-
lgious persecution to start an impOr-
tant movement of immigrants to the
United States. 1t was the Irish potato
famine that caused Irish immigration
to double in a single year and to be
multiplied five times In as many years.
In the middle fOrues conditions i'm Ger
many began to swell the Immigrant
tide, and in eight years the number of
our German immigrants increased
seven-fold.
Russia Prohibits Exodus.
All European countries except RUS
STA and Turkey recognize the right of
their people to come to America. Under
the laws of Russia, citizens are forbid
den to leave the country for a perma-
nent residence elsewhere, but the fact
that upward Of 5000 600 of them have
come to America in 40 years demon
strates that even a despOtic nation can
not stay the irresistible wanderlust of
humanity when economic necessity
forces it to move on. Turkey has the
same sort OF law, but il also is more
honOred in its breach than in its keep
ing.
The present day immigration en-
braces a comparatively small proportion
of Inhabitants Of the larger cities. Only
the Russian Jews form an exception to
this rule, but that arises from the fact
that they are compelled to live in the
cities. The immigrant usually comes,
not because he is unable to make a liv-
ing at hOme-fOr the possession of
enough money to get here argues his
ability to live at hOme-but in the hope
Of making a better living than is pos
sible at home. He is simply a man with
labor to sell and he sees q much higher
price for it in America
Letters Tell of Riches.
The direct cause Of our immigration
today is the letter writer and the re-
turning immigrant. It is from them
that the European peasant hears Of this
great land of high wages across the
seas. Their messages tell of prosper
1ty, of earning as much l. day, often
as the peasant earns in a week. There
is scarcely a village in all southern and
eastern Europe which has not contrib
uted its share to the immigrant tide,
and, in fact, scarcely a man or woman
Gle or a cousin over here in America
or who has been here. Thirty million
dollars a year is sent back in American
money orders as mute but 1ndiSputable
witness of financial success in America
The whole neighbOrhOOd hears about il
when a money order arrives For in
stance, when the italian saves SlO0 2nd
sends il hOme-thats 500 lire in Italy,
and 500 lire buys home.
These letters tell little Of the hard
ships and the privations endured to
make saving possible.
OFTEN lily Treated.
At best it is hard to give up the life
of the little village with its adjacent
poppy fields. its friendships and all
that, but when the immigrant arrives
and gets to work finding himself only
a DagO' or only a Hunkey' in the eyes
of the native American, fit only to be
cursed and cuffed about, handled in the
mines and the other places which use
unskilled labor as we might hand e
cattle, it's a situation that the people
back home need not be told about. The
immigrant viii bear il all because he
must denying himself every cOmfC.e
TO hasten the days when he need bear
it no longer. It IS a terrible price he
pays, but he pays il with a cheerfulness
that is pleasant to behold when once
you have looked through his rough and
forbidding exterior into his heart.
When he is killed in the course OF
his wOrk-and he has a monopoly on
the dangerous and eXtra-hazardOus
trades-the verdict Of the corOncr's
jury may not be in so many words that
it was only a wop," but it might as
well be-for that is nearly always the
effect of it. Perhaps $4,000 such YER
diets are rendered annually in the
United States, but they are tough, they
don't mind such things" says many a
mine foreman.
Profitable For Steamships.
Next to the advice of relatives and
friends who already have emigrated,
the propaganda conducted by the steam
ship lines is the most important imme-
diate cause Of emigration from Europe
to America. The immigrant passenger
is profitable to carry. Ten steera sc
passengers can be carried for what it
costs to transport one first class pas
senger. and the net profit is many
times greater So, in spite of the fact
that the promotion Of immigration is
made unlawful here and Of emigration
unlawful abroad. what cannot be done
openly is done through local and sub
agents.
But let hard times come here. Then
IT is different. Everybody is admOn-
ished to stay at home and wait until it
blows over, and the immigration fig
ures show that the advice is needed.
I'M mi era ffOu Races