Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1920-12-03

NA today is Ellis. island. Aliens from
I Europe are pouring into the country
| at the rate of 100000 year, and the
M problem Of assimilation has become
NlI more pressing than ever before The
tide of immigration is rapidly mount
NV WI ing to pre-war levels, and for months
Ellis island, the great gateway, has
N been choked. Ships have been forced
to tie up for days before discharging
their steerage passengers and on the island 1t Is
not unusual for as many as 5000 Immigrants 10
be detained for the night in sleeping quarters de-
signed for the accommodation of half as many.
Floors, benches and chairs are filed with the
overflow from the dormitories and hundreds
sleep on their feet.
The melting pot is boiling over. and the con-
vestion will increase with each passing month.
Steamship men say their accommodations are
booked for full year ahead. Poles and Italians
especially are coming In swarms and 1t is certain
that as soon as the way Is clear for them, Ger
mans win enter America in vast numbers.
That the problem of assimilation may be
little less difficult to solve despite Its magnitude,
Is Indicated by the fact that many Of the
younger generation are now on the manifests of
the incoming vessels. writes John Walker Harring-
ton In the New York Herald The death Of so
many fathers In the war has caused hundreds
of thousands Of families on the other side to try
n hazard Of new fortunes In the Land of Promise.
Many widows, some Of them with two or three
children. are reaching the country by means of
money sent to them by friends and relatives.
To the children the New World comes with
rush Of experiences. To them. until they are
passed upon, It seems Of green sward and of
blue sea, Of changing skies and Of passing ships.
Under other regimes the detained immigrants
were kept penned like dumb driven cattle, and to
them the United States meant for many hours
wire cages and dark walls. 1t IS all different
now for the present commissioner Of immgra-
tion. Frederick A. Wallis, has set new precedent
by using the acres of unused grass plots on Ellis
island ms n recreation place for the immigrants.
The children are In their element there. The
place rings with happy laughter and echoes the
fall of romping feet. Alert, healthy and strong
are these Americans to be, and some Of them, too,
are more than aliens.
Young Are in Majority.
'Je suis American" said Petit Jean, the other
day.
He had come with his brother, maker of bead
bags, to see what the new country had in store.
At six he has the vision of his adopted land. His
father, a cavalryman, killed in the war and
as his mother had other ties except those on the
western shore of the Atlantic they had come hith-
er to bring up Jean as citizen of this republic
At an impressionable age, the children, who are
temporarily detained on the island, our largest
entrepot for the new citizenry, are learning
through concerts and addresses, and through
music, many valuable lessons Of life. A very
large number Of them are at school age or LITTLE
less, and they are coming here at time wher
they are best fitted to absorb the traditions ant
the history of the country to which fate has
brought them.
The disruption of families caused by deaths II
the war abroad has at the same time brought t
this country immigrants who are mainly younge
than the average as far as may be observed of
hand. A detailed study Of statistics along thi
line has not been made but the general impres
sion is given after seeing shipload after ship
load Of the future Americans, that there is pre-
ponderance not only Of young women, especial
of young mothers, in the newly arrived of tn
gentler sex, but that the men who are landin
here In quest Of fortune are more youthful an
more alert in appearance than the immigrants Q
previous years. Rarely one sees the bent and do
crepit who have come over with sons and daugf
ters to begin their lives anew in the change
world.
More Permanent Class Arrives
The presence Of so many families althoug
often bereft Of fathers, indicates a more permi
nent class than usual. There are not so man
unattached male immigrants-Italians. Austrian
and the like-who In former years sought Il
United States only to avail themselves of hie
wages and to return with their savings to the
original environment Up to the first Of Ju
there had arrived at American ports 247,625 me
and boys, and 1S2376 women and children, whit
Is somewhat in excess on the feminine side
January the two genders were about equal
divided and in the succeeding months the NAL
gradually increased in numbers.
OF this grand total, 430l001, It is noted tn
173133 are set down as having no occupation, ii
classification including women and children. T.
hopes of those who are looking for cooks al
parior maids and experts in all lines of domes