The call of the North. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1923-1924, 1923-11-07

numbering predomipate, there the
hordes Of unskilled labor have over
whelming been assembled, n the last
two decades II has reached the PRO-
portions Of a delugs,
Do our oyerlords Of industry realize
what they are doSag to America ?
Have they stopped to measure the ma
tional consequences of this cheap for
eigp labor idea? Is it the part Of pa
triotism to import inferior mental and
moral elements in such numbers as to
lower our standards even below the
danger point? Is profit more impor-
tant than the sum total Of American
Citizenship?
I leave it to them, and to you. to
make a satisfactory answer.
Immigration and Agriculture
Now, let US 60 d step further-a
related step. Consider the condition
of agriculture in this country. Farm
ing, more vital than any or all other
industries, more wholesome and es-
sential to good citizenship, is prac-
tieaIy prostrate. You know the
causes of this calamity. I shall not
describe them, nor detain you with a
recital Of the evil consequences.
The point is that both immigration
from abroad and migration from
within are intensifying this problem.
Instead Of agricultural develop
ment, there is an alarming movement,
increasing by leaps and bounds, to-
wards city congestion. Our popula-
ton is already more than half urban.
Forty per cent is was in 1900; 45.9
per cent in 1910; 51.4 per cent in 1920;
that is the record which cries out
warming and demands constructive
attention. -..- -. ...-. ...
In this farm field exists the only
legitimate and justifable excuses for
cheap labor, yet that class is NOV
ing irresistably cityward to swell the
slums and multiply immortality. For
example, Throughout the South the
colored race, in numbers far beyond
the statistical showing, is migrating
to the North-not to it's rural dis
tricts, but to. its Industrial centers.
The colored problem is fast becoming
Northern problem, and vastly more
difficult than it ever was in the South
because in this new form it is dis
tinctly intensified in municipal areas.
Am I unduly fearful with respect
to all this? You cannot read history
without the discovery that every ma
tional calamity outside natures cata-
clysms has been born and bred in city
environment. The influences that
foster degeneracy and crime do not
develop in the open spaces. "Where
wealth accumulates and men decay"
was not written Of the plains and
prairies, nor of woodland and noun
tain; but there is not in this genera
ton, there never has been, nor ever
will be, great city without its TEN:
derloin, its tenements, it's sweatshops,
its houses of designation, its over
strained charities, it's night courts, its
East Side and, now, it's negro quar-
tiers.
The city and its environs-that is
the destination of an overwhelming
majority Of our modern immigrants
New York is not comparable to other
alien congestions-we, would none OF
Us want to live in America if it were
l--but the condition of the metropolis
in only slightly less degree is coun-
try-wide. In that city there are
Natives whites numbering. 1,172,952
Whites Of the old immigra-
ton stock .............. 1,566,55s
New immigrants (mostly
from Southern Europe).. 2,477,77s
Without being unkind or unjust, we
can say that there are in New York
City about two and one-tenth times
as many unassimilable foreigners al
native Americans, while the bette,
and inferior aliens added togethe,
reach a total almost three and one.
half times that rof the native Ameri
can stock. D..
In 1920, Of the 13,71O,000 foreign
born whites in the United States
10, 355, 900 were in cities and towns
and making a closer inspection, We
find that six and a half millions Of
these were in cities of 100000 ant
over. s..
i Of our native stock, three-fifths j.
on the farms and in rural villages
with the balance Of the farming pop
ulation almost entirely composed O
4 the older immigration. It is pre-
dominently the new and more inferio'
4 influx that il congesting and corrupt
ling our municipalities. Practical.
none Of it has sought its own and tn,
national welfare by turning to agri
lcultural life. g.
Il The Inherent Capacity for
Il .Americanism
Thus far I have suggested to you
i mind the three cardinal tests o
lAmericanism as applies to individual
j Intelligence, health and wholesom
. homes and also immigration aspect
Z of the basic labor and agriculture
] problems. There come, now the cru
cial national life standards, for whic
!. a few phases will suffice.
j I submit that amy immigrant, to b
!. desirable and an asset to Americs
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