The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-11-22
POWER OF ASSIMILATION.

1t is being said by some students of
immigration and of economies in the
East that the United States is being
congested by its foreign population,
that the country is not able any longer
to sssImlate the swarming scores of
millions that come TO our shores. The
following is as good an exposition of
that view Of the case, expressed in
brief form, rs VIC have seen:
II used To- be said that the power of the
United states To assinilato foreign i'm
migrants was. like our coal and tim
Der, ineNhaustibe This was In the good
old days when our immigrants were
Irish, Germans and Scandinavians. Now
that they come from less tractabic popu-
lationS We hear from all sides That our
power 10 aSSimilatc them is ovcctaXc ed
They do not become AmericaniZcd but
dwell In isolated groups retaining their
foreign language, feeling, and national
ideals Thus while we maintain the
Monroe doctrine outwardy il is being
undermined by domestic conditions. What
shall VIC do about it?
But We do not believe that there is
any occasion for alarm; for the people
of the United States are better able
now TO assimilate large masses Of for
eign populations than ever before. The
reason is plain. We already have well
assimilated American citizens from al
tho great peoples of the world, and
these help to assimilate the newcomers.
The races Of northern Europe arc
lovers Of liberty, and they arc ac-
quaiuicd in large degree with seIf-gov-
ernmeut. Il needs very little TO assiml-
late them TO american institutions
and American ways.
Tho inhabitants of southern Europe
have not enjoyed the advantages of In
diyidual liberty so largely as enjoyed
by the peoples Of northern Europe; but
they are quick learners. IL takes
them but little while 10 under
staud Just what liberty in America
means, as a rule. 1t is true that there
are black k-banders and fcudists who
bring TO this country their personal
grievances and anjmosltic5, lust as IN
former times there used TO be riots
sometimes at ST. Patrick s day paradcs
and at Orangcmen's parades IN some
of the cities III America, These, how
ever, arc things of the past. But the
Black Hand is not cXtirpatcd, and the
feudists are not suppressed; but they
are being handled better every day,
and they arc being handled by the
help of the liberty-loyiug men of
Italv. who understand fully that
that sort OF thing has no place IN
the United States. The American
school, the teaching of English, the
natural inquiry that the foreigner
will make as TO what he may and
he may not do, all Of which can
now be answered by his own country
mon from their larger knowledge Of
| American life. must necessarily tend
! 10 a quicker assimilation than ever be
| fore of the new foreign clements;
/ and we arc not in the least atraid bu'
that the United States will bc able to
assimilatc TO its profit the adventurous
ciuigrauts who leave their old homes
for the purpose OF making bones IN the
new world.
But there is one class OF incomcrs
that do not want 10 be asSinllAted
and that America viii never assimi'
late; that il. those who come merely
TO earn or in some way make money
so that they can 90 back TO their own
homes and live ia better comfort
than they have over done before
Such as these are no advantage TO thC
country. The wcli-dieposed cmigran'
who comes here for the purpose o'
making the United states his home
and the home Of his family, T. wei
come from any Of the great races oi
Europe: but the mere casual laborcr i
not welcome. aud our immigration law!
oughi to be changed SO as to Keep on
the labor Adventures, just as the law!