El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-10

allens-aliens in speech, aliens in Gus
/ toms, aliens in ideals, though kindred
~ uSsi[S LOT opLoL unity 70 DStteI SleIt
| SOnultlons. -klndred IN craving Tor IreS-
dom, and kindred in the possession of
the spirit of ambitiOn-swarm to our
Guided into proper channels. sur
rounded by proper influences, this alien
horde may be transformed into good
American citizens and made to consts-
tute great political and economic as
set to the nation Fused into our ma
| uonal life IN the melting pot of Amerl-
canization, and in the process of leav-
ing behind the drOSS of old world ways.
! II may become part and parcel of our
/ pody polite devoted to American ira
! dluons espousing our ideals. and filled
( with our own best aspirations.
Now Prefer to COIOnize.
On the other hand left to form It
] self into colonies which come into con-
| tact only with the worst element of
/ the better influences Of our national
/ life, never learning our language,
/ never adopting our customs, never
! sensing our ideals, and never catching
I the spirit of our civilization, it might
| become a permanent source OF danger
! 10 our pOllucaI well being and a men
| ace to the very life OF the nation. The
character of our immigration has
| changed. Formerly it came from mort h
| western Europe, and readily fused it
/ self into our national life: today il
/ comes largely from southern and east
preferrlng to COLOMBO rather than 20
/ be assimilated
I now 10 overcome TINS IeQQencY To-
I ward permanent separation is the great
/ problem of American immigration. II
| IS largely this phase of the question
winch occupied the attention OF ne
| United States immigration commission
during its four years of investigation
/ It Will probably constitute the subject
/ of important legislation during the
/ Wilson administration.
Backward in Citizenship.
AmericanizatiOn is not taking place
as rapidly as was hoped so far as the
immigrant from southern and eastern
Europe is concerned. Uncle sam long
ago said that the alien might become
citizen in five years, and the immi-
grant from northwestern Europe usu-
ally goes after his citizenship papers
as soon as the time limit has expired.
But not so with the immigrant from
southern and eastern Europe. Precious
little he cares about naturalization
laws To begin with. he Goes not come
TO America to stay. He wants to make
money and then go back home to live
IN comparative affluence. And two
fifths OF those who come do 90 back
! nome. They barely exist while here
money enough to make them Morgans
and ROckefellers in their native vii
lagos But of those who stay, a sur
prisingly large number. care nothing
for citizenship. Statistics show that
fully third of those who have been
here the necessary five years fail to
take out citizenship papers.
Factor in Industrial Life.
But, although the immigrant consti-
tuteS the great American problem ne
IS also great American asset The
inquiries Of the immigration commits
sion show what a tremendous factor
he is and has been in our Industrial
life. In the iron and steel industries
he and his children contribute seven
tenths of labor. In the slaughtering
and meat packing industry they give
three-fourths of the labor required.
They do 40 percent OF the work in the
bituminOus coal mines, and nearly
three-fifths of that Of the glass fac
tories. Seven eighths of the labor in
wooden and WOrsted manufacturing IS
contributed by the immi grant and his
children, and they produce nearly four
Ii1ths OF our SILK goods, nearly nine
tenths Of the cotton goods and nearly
nineteen tWentieths of the mems and
WOmen's clothing of the country They
make more than half Of Americas
shoes, nearly fOur-fifths of its furni-
ture. Half of the labor in making our
collars. suffs and shirts is contributed
by them, and ftve-siXths Of the work
IN the leather industry IS placed to
their credit. They make half Of our
gloves, refine nearly n1ne-tenthS OF our
oil. and nearly nineteen Wenueths OF
our sugar. Also they manufacture
nearly half our our tobacco and cigars.
Balkan War May Stop influx.
There is room for considerable specu-
latiOn as to what the effect of the war
key viii be on the immigration of the
immediate future. During the last de-
CduS we IeceifSu nearly 9VV'vVV lHIu.i-
$4,000 coming from Greece alone. VIII
the defamation of the population
through the present war and the eX-
pansiOn of the territory of the several
countries through the conquest of the
allies result in a shifting of the tide
of immigration from southern Europe
to this new field2 One may discover
in the Immigration figures for the
years following the conclusion of the
several European wars of the last half
century a falling off of immi grafton
in. general and of that from affected
territory in particular.
It was not until after 1910 that our
migration gave even a hint Of as
Stunning its present proportions. In that
year it was still below the 100000
mark But by 1850. beckoned hither
by the great expansion Of the opening
middle west, its numbers were swelled
to 1853 600 in single year. Then came
the panic of 1857 and an era OF depres-
ures fall from $4,000 in 1854 to 11S.0O0
in 1853. 1t began to recover in 1850.
but in the two years that followed II
1eH TO q point as low as that OF the
early '40s. Then it began to recover
again, and by the end of the war
reached 100000 annually. By 1872 it
passed the 100000 mark again. but the
hard times of the middle '70s forced
the figures down from $4,000 in 1873
had reached its high mark again, and
then set new record IN 1SS2. with
7SS,000. Then it. fell off to $4,000 in
1856, rising again to $4,000 IN 1872,
and once more falling to 229.OOO IN
1898 Then it rose again by leaps and
mark in 1905. The panic of 1907 forced
it down a half million, but in 1910 it
recovered. one-half of this loss, In 1911
1t slipped back another quarter Of
million, standing then at $4,000.
Better Economic Condition.
All of this proves that the real i'm
Belling motive of the immigrant who
comes to America is to better his eco
nOmic condition
We know from our own experience
how much bigger a salary of 500
month looks to the man in the rural
districts than to his brother who gets
it in the city. To the former it may
appear to be all that a man could reas-
onably desire: to the latter it does not
begin to get him the ehings he got
before he came to the city. When the
people of southern and eastern Europe
hear of wages Of $3.50 a day it sounds
great. We are told that in the Balkan
states so percent of the people suffer
from want of food in winter. Some see
here a permanent home, but more see
an opportunity to gather together
enough money to 20 back and live in
comparative affluence in the land OF
their birth.