Volume Vi Part 17 (2/2)
Ours is a huge, half-developed country, and the development of our resources, particularly the coal and iron industries, the cotton; rice, cane, and tobacco industries, and the railways demands thousands of helpers.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Several hundred people on a s.h.i.+p.]
Emigrants bound for America.
The steams.h.i.+p companies which have found an extremely profitable business in the transportation of immigrants have used various means to increase the numbers. Agents are said to be in all European countries soliciting trade. a.s.sociations for the a.s.sistance of poor emigrants have been formed in various European cities--this is especially true among the Jews who, by means of societies such as the ”Hebrew Shelter” of London, have aided thousands of Roumanian and Russian Jews on their way to America.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Entrance to Emigrant Station or ”model town” in Hamburg.
Built for emigrants waiting to sail.
Although most of the European countries have placed restrictions upon emigration, these restrictions unfortunately do not r.e.t.a.r.d the emigration of the undesirable cla.s.ses. As a result America was called upon early to legislate on this problem. The first act was in 1819 and was aimed to regulate the transportation of immigrants. The laws of 1875, 1882, 1891, 1893, and 1903 dealt with the cla.s.s of immigrants to be admitted. The acts did not accomplish the end for which they were framed, and the question was taken up again by Congress which, after a lengthy discussion, pa.s.sed the act of 1907. No great change in policy was effected by this law which, for the most part, only revised the wording of the old laws and modified the methods of regulation. The head tax of two dollars, hitherto levied on each alien, was doubled but was made inapplicable to immigrants from our insular possessions or to aliens who had resided for a year either in the British possessions in North America, or in Cuba or Mexico. All aliens suffering from tuberculosis or loathsome diseases or those who were ”mentally or physically defective, such mental or physical defect being of a nature which may affect the ability ... to earn a living,” were excluded.
Children under sixteen unaccompanied by a parent were excluded.
Steams.h.i.+p companies were placed under additional restrictions to insure against their violation of the act. Should an immigrant within a period of three years be found to have entered the country contrary to the terms of the act, he was to be deported and the transportation company responsible for his coming would be held liable for the expense of his deportation.
The effect of the new law can be seen in the immigration statistics--the number of immigrants for the year 1908 is but little more than half as great as the number for 1907. The chief decrease was in the stream from southern Europe. This decrease cannot be attributed entirely to the act of 1907, but must be accounted for in part by the panic of 1907.
Observations extending over a long period of years have disclosed the fact that the ebb and flow of the tide of immigration is closely attached to the periods of economic prosperity and depression.
When the races of northern Europe contributed the greater part of our immigrants there was a general feeling that this was a decided advantage to us. The people were readily a.s.similated into our population and were in general intelligent, industrious citizens who soon acquired a patriotic love for America and its inst.i.tutions. The serious problems came with the increased number of southern Europeans.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
One of several churches built for emigrants of various faiths in the station or ”model town” of the Hamburg-American Company, for use while waiting to sail.
For years Italians emigrated to South America, particularly to Brazil and the Argentine Republic, where the climate, race customs, and language were more to their liking than in the north. A diminution of prosperity there has turned part of the tide northward. About eighty per cent of our Italians come from southern Italy, a fact explained by the difference between the industrial conditions in the northern and southern parts of the peninsula. In the south agriculture is the only industry, and it frequently suffers from climatic conditions, the resulting losses bearing heavily upon the population. Conditions are aggravated by an unequal division of taxes between the north and the south. Often the only alternative to starvation is emigration. During the past decade 2,000,000 Italians have come to us and, according to estimates, about two-thirds of them have settled in the cities of the Northern States, a condition detrimental to the foreign and our social organization alike. These Italians, peasants and experts in fruit culture by training, become day laborers, thus losing their greatest productive power. The Italian who keeps away from the city finds his lot more agreeable. Wherever they have settled as farmers they have been uniformly successful. The person who knows only the Italian of the tenements has little sympathy for him, in spite of the fact that many of this race have proved themselves to be quiet, sober, and useful citizens.
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Exterior view of main building.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Restaurant. Immigrants dining-room and detention quarters.
Detained immigrants are fed here at the expense of the steams.h.i.+p companies.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Here all immigrants must present themselves upon arrival for their first inspection under the law--sometimes as many as 5,000 a day.
U. S. IMMIGRANT STATION, ELLIS ISLAND, N. Y.
The Slavic immigration since 1880 has been mainly from the more primitive districts out of touch with the civilization of western Europe. These people have come, not as settlers, but as laborers in the mines, factories, and foundries, planning to remain here for a time, earn as much as possible, and return to their native land.
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