Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-08-30
EW YORK CITY, Aug. 25.-The wide I
spread prevalence of unemployment in

~ spread prevalence of unemployment In
this country is proving check to
the incoming tide Of aliens. The green God
dess of Liberty continues to beckon with her
torch, although the emo More Help Wanted"
sign occurs with dismal frequency through
out the land. Every liner brings in it's hun
dreds Of immigrants who have fled the in
dustrial depression of their respective coun-
tries only to encounter a similar, if less des-
perate, depression here.
While most of them are destined to join
friends relatives, the great majority have
no definite assurances that they will be able
to obtain work. The absence of any such
prospect, however, does &ot seem to bother
them. They are more than willing to take
their chances with the 100000 Americans
now out of jobs Their immigration, they
feel, is by no means a case Of jumping from
the frying pan into the fire.
Talk with some of these self-confident
aliens at Ellis island and you will better un-
derstand the spirit of grim hopefulness which
inspires them. A good many are of much
higher type than that which demanded en-
trance to this country before the war. A
surprising number of Norwegians have been
coming in, for instance, as we'll as Films,
Danes and Dutch farmers, but. of course,
they do not begin to match numbers with
the Italians, Russians and Czecho-Slovaks
All of the immigrants manifest great eager
ness to obtain work, but they are particular
as to the kind. Scarcely any will consider
going on farms They want to stay in the
big cities and go into the factories and shops.
Wandering about Ellis island, the reporter
observed a group of tall, husky Norwegians
who were headed for the lumber camps of
the northwest, several Germans who had
been promised work in bakeries and delica-
lessen shops in New York, a silent, patient
group of Dutch peasants who were going to
be taken care of by the Dutch immigration
headquarters, and a few zecho-Slovaks who
were destined for shop work in Chicago. AS
far as could be- ascertained, the great mass of
others had nothing further in view than a
welcome from friends and relatives
Some Typical Cases
One of the Czecho-Slovaks said that his
brother had found factory job for him in
Chicago. He spoke enthusiastically in giant
Slavic syllables, which an interpreter neatly
converted into plain English. In the old
country, the explained, he had made
only 40 cents day, but that had been on a
farm. He laughed scornfully when it was
suggested that he might find farming more
congenial than factory work in this country.
No; the new immigrants know what they
want in the way of work, and, as a matter
of fact, they stand fairly good chance of
getting it. They have all the advantages
on their side when it comes to competing
with American-born Workmen. The immi-
grant may not be able to speak English and
he may not be acquainted with American
customs, but these things are scarcely neces-
sary. Upon arriving in this country, he is
met by friends or relatives who speak his
own language and who Immediately escort
him to colony which speaks it also. He
can read the signs on its stores and he can
read its newspaper. There he finds people
from his own province, perhaps his own lit
tie town-people even who know his family.
They cluster around him and pay him ex-
travagant compliments while he gives them
the latest news from home. There is (alas,
Mr.. Volstead) wine, as rule, and food Of
the peculiar, native kind to which he has
been accustomed.
Somewhere in the district, moreover, there
is almost always a relative who stands in
with one of it's prominent men-a man who
controls many jobs and knows the location
of many others. This important parsonage
is frequently an American-born member of
the race who, resisting assimilation, has re-
NAMED in his native colony because it yield
ed him abundant profits If the immigrant
fails to obtain employment through him,
there is always the foreign employment
agency to which he may apply.
Thus 1t may be seen that the plight Of the
newly-arrived immigrant is by no means as
narrowing as some are wont to depict it.
Compare it, indeed, with the lot of the aver
age unemployed American workman, who,
lacking this racial clannishness, is an iso-
lated unit in the community, and it's supe-
rior advantages will be apparent.
In the past, perhaps, before large foreign
colonies were built up in all our big cities,
the immigrants struggle was unduly ardu-
Gus, but since the war, conditions have i'm