Evening star., 1915-10-03

verse peoples Into Ine
American melting pot is forcibly
brought out by recent figures Of the
Immigration bureau OF the Department
Of Labor. The data show that In
spite Of the general feeling OF nerv-
BUSINESS that preceded the declaration
Of war at the beginning Of August
1914, the immigration for July Of that
year was over 10000. The figures for
August fell to nearly half that num-
Der, and. with few minor nuctua-
tions. there has been an actual de.
crease for practically every month
. since and still more noticeable reduc-
, tfons when seasonable influences are
taken into account by a comparison of
the monthly immigration during the
war with that for the corresponding
period a year earlier.
Even with the arrival Of the ami
versary of hostilities there was nc
let-up In the downward trend Of i'm
migration: for figures compiled for the
first part of August show the same
tendencies that had been marked
throughout the year. Thus. while inn
migration at eastern ports for the
first five days of August in 1914 was
So per cent less than in 1913. for the
corresponding period this year there
was further decrease of nearly 81
per cent.
Contrary to the belief of some per-
sons there has not been a sufficient in
crease in the outward flow of aliens
answering the call of patriotism to set
the balance of human trade in an out
ward direction. The figures for emf
/ grafton. too. have decreased. but not
For each of the two fiscal years
ending June 30 Immediately preceding
the war immigration to America to-
tailed about 1.2o0. 900 persons and emf
of approximately 100000. For the
first fiscal year Of the war. however.
ended June 30 last. the immigration
fourth as much as for the two pre-
ceding years; and the emigration was
100000. two-thirds as much as for
merly. There was. therefore, gain
Of only about 10000 for the year.
1Sa The ratio between inflow and outflow
the two preceding years four aliens
came in for each one that departed
this ratio dropped during the war year
to little more than one and one-half
to one
The bureau Of immigration has found
surprising variation in the falling off
of immigration from the different
countries: The greatest decrease was
: y.
countries the inflow Of aliens fell for
the fiscal year 1915 to about one-fif-
teenth the immigration from them in
1914. The decreases for the other coun-
to one-tenth the former figures; Tur-
key, one-eighth; Germany, one-fifth
Belgium, one-third, and Great Britain
and France, one-half
The immigration decreases were also
marked for the countries near the field
o
drawn into the fighting. Although italy
did not enter the war until near the
close Of the fiscal year, the immigration
from there fell to one-sixth that for
1914, and at the same time the return
of Italians to their native land, as
compared with the similar movement
in 1914, doubled. The immigration re-
ductions for 1915 for the other neutral
to about one-eighth. Greece. Spain and
Switzerland to about one-third. and
Denmark, Holland and Sweden to about
one-half. There was only slight de-
crease from Norway.
The outflow Of aliens exceeded the in
flow to only three European countries.
The excess was great in the case of
Italy. and relatively slight in the cases
of the Balkan countries and Spain.
Even the countries far removed from
the war zone sent fewer people to the
United States. This was true of all
. countries in Africa and in Central and
South America. Only two countries of
the world showed an increase in the
number Of aliens sent to our shores,
and these increases were unimportant.
China supplied 1850 immigrants in
stead of 2,500 and we received from the
Pacific islands 1T instead of 110 aliens.
Drainage of farm lands is not merely
a matter of drying up soggy soils, and
irrigation does not end
Drainage and with the placing of
4 water on dry land, 1t
AAAA6o'AoA' has been found by the
governments soil and crop experts.
The two activities go hand in hand, es-
pecially in the west. where alkali soils
are common and where beneficial re-
suits of irrigation depend largely on
washing" the soil free of this trouble
some element.
Unfortunately alkali is injurious not
only to crops. but under certain cir
cumstances to concrete structures: and
because several millions of dollars are
spent annually in the west in drainage
of irrigated lands the bureau of stand
ards of the Commerce Department has
found IT worth while to undertake
comprehensive field Investigations into
the Durability of tile of various ce
ment mixtures in alkali soils. CO.
operating with the bureau in the work
are the United States reclamation
service the drainage division of the
Department of Agriculture and the As
sociat'on of American Portland Cement
Manufacturers. The Investigations are
Of all the more economic importance
to the .irrirator since clay. the original
tile material, is not found in alkali
areas. while ingredients for cement
are.
The Investigations began in 1914 with
the manufactur of 5000 cement tile
for the government by commercial
plant and the installation of the under
ground drains in several of the most
concentrated alkali soils available In
the west. as we'll as in several nom
alkali drainage projects. The latter
'contrals' for the purpose Of checking
UP observations.
The tile were of cement and sand
mixtures, varying from the lean pro-
portions of one part cement and four
parts sand to one part cement and
one and one-half parts sand. It is
planned to have the tests extend over
a period of years. but each year several
tile OF each kind from each Lexperi-
mental installation will be examined.
The bureau has just dug up the first
of the tile under Investigation, and,
while not in position to reach final
conclusion. has advanced the opinion.
because of the way in which some of
the leaner tile have been attacked and
weakened. that in the more concen-
trated alkal' soils it will not be found
desirable to use weaker mixtures than
one part cement to three of sand. The