Aliens or Americans? Part 8

That is not by any means an unusual testimony. Another fact worthy of note is that many of those who have worked most closely among the immigrants do not favor the reading test. Mr. Brandenburg, for example, suggests that the illiterates often prove less opinionated and more easily a.s.similable than others of the same race who can read and write, and says that so far as his experience goes the great proportion of the rascals and undesirables can read and write; that if he had his choice between admitting to this country a wealthy educated Roman n.o.bleman or an illiterate Neapolitan or Sicilian laborer, he would take the laborer every time, for his brain and brawn and heart make the better foundation on which to build the inst.i.tutions of our Republic. Miss Kate Claghorn and other experienced workers agree in this view, and think it would be a positive misfortune to make ability to read the deciding test. Nor would these experts favor the money test. They believe the inspectors should have more leeway, as judges of human nature, and would rather rely on their judgment as to the character of the applicant than upon any arbitrary tests. So this is an open question for discussion, with good arguments on both sides.

[Sidenote: Three Further Propositions]

There are three propositions further. The first is a measure introduced into the House by the late Congressman Adams of Pennsylvania. This would restrict by law the total number of immigrants from any given country in any one year to 80,000. This would decrease the south of Europe quota, and might increase that from northern Europe. It would at any rate tend to stop the million a year rate.

[Sidenote: Itinerant Boards]

The second measure is proposed by Mr. Brandenburg, who feels sure it would prove the desired remedy. His opinion carries a good deal of weight. His proposal is to "select emigrants before itinerant boards of two, three, or more native-born Americans who speak fluently and understand thoroughly the language and dialects of the people who come before them--these boards to be on a civil service basis," and to sit at stated times in the central cities of the countries whence aliens come.[38] This he believes to be "a correct solution of the gigantic problem." It would keep expense down, avoid opportunities for wholesale corruption of American officials by the transportation interests and the immigrants themselves, and enable the examiners to deny pa.s.sage to persons desirous of going to districts already over-populated with aliens.

[Sidenote: Inspection Abroad]

The third measure is in line with the second, but instead of establis.h.i.+ng itinerant boards of examiners, it proposes to select fifteen or twenty ports abroad which shall be made exclusive points for the embarkation of emigrants bound for the United States. Mr. Ogg states the plan as follows:

[Sidenote: List of Cities]

"Perhaps an adequate list would be Hamburg, Bremen, Stettin, Rotterdam, Antwerp, London, Southampton, Liverpool, Havre, St. Nazaire, Ma.r.s.eilles, Fiume, Trieste, Naples, Genoa, and Odessa. At each of these ports should be located an immigrant station, similar, in a general way, to the immigrant stations at our larger Atlantic ports to-day, and it should be made the duty of the resident commissioners, with their staffs of inspectors and medical attaches, to examine carefully and minutely every man, woman, and child of alien nationality who applies for pa.s.sage to the United States. Successful applicants should be given a certificate which alone would enable them to land at the port of destination; those unsuccessful should be made to understand then and there that, in their present state at least, there is no chance for them to carry out their intention of migration, and that the best thing for them to do is to return to their homes."[39]

[Sidenote: Do the Sifting in Europe]

This radical plan proposes to transfer Ellis Island, in effect, to a score of points in Europe, and do the sifting before the starting. That would be sensible. Then only the desirable portion would get here. While the idea is radical, it is the outgrowth of years of experience and reflection, and Mr. Ogg says, immigration officials are generally agreed upon its wisdom and practicability. This system, thoroughly carried out, would not only stop all immigration that is illegal, but as much as possible of that which, though not illegal, is questionable and undesirable. More tests applied at this end of the route will be only partially effective, since experience proves that the present tests are evaded. The means of reform, upon which all other immigration reforms must wait, lies in this s.h.i.+fting of the main work of supervision and inspection to Europe. The foreign governments would welcome the plan, or at least accept it if proposed by this country.

[Sidenote: What this would Accomplish.]

This system would serve to prevent the tragedies of the excluded; would go far toward stopping the pernicious activity of the steams.h.i.+p companies and their enticing emissaries; would facilitate the detection and punishment of those breakers and evaders of the law who are now immune; and it would make possible a quite different and more searching examination of intending immigrants than is possible when the ma.s.s of them is poured out at Ellis Island, as through the small end of a funnel. Back to the sources is humane and wise. The expense involved could easily be met by an increased head tax; and if not, this is a case where expense in money is not to be counted in comparison with the country's welfare.

[Sidenote: International Regulation]

These are interesting propositions. Mr. Whelpley agrees with Mr.

Brandenburg as to the necessity of dealing with the migrant before he reaches port, either of embarkation or disembarkation. He says our laws and restrictions are severe, and thoroughly and intelligently enforced, but fall short of their purpose for the simple reason that there is little or no control over the source of supply. "It is an effort to beat back the tide after it has rolled upon the sh.o.r.e, and in the vast mult.i.tude of arrivals many gain entrance legally whom the country would be better off without."[40] His plan is to have an international regulation of migration, so that each government will do its part to check the present conditions and regulate the matter at its starting point.

[Sidenote: A Higher Standard]

This subject of legislation is confessedly delicate and difficult. The diversity of opinion is confusing. Yet we cannot escape the conviction that the present immigration is altogether too vast for the good of the country. Suspension is not to be seriously considered, but surely it could do no harm to make the laws more stringent, to insist upon a higher physical standard, to debar degenerates, and to stop at any cost the solicitation and "a.s.sisted" immigration abuses which have caused so much suffering to the deceived and excluded victims of greed.

_III. The Problem of Distribution_

[Sidenote: The Crucial Point]

No phase of the immigration question is receiving more attention at present than that of distribution. There is a common opinion that if the proper distribution could be made, the chief evils of the tremendous influx would disappear. We are told that it is the congestion of aliens in already crowded centers of population that creates the menace to civilization; that there is land enough to be cultivated; and that vast enterprises are under way calling for the unskilled labor that is coming in. But the puzzling problem is how to get the immigrants where they are wanted and needed, and can be of value. On this point, Mr. Max Mitch.e.l.l, Superintendent of the Federation of Jewish Charities, says:

[Sidenote: An Expert Opinion]

"The problem is that of overcrowding. We must not close our ports to the people of the Old World who seek a haven and a home in the land of liberty and plenty, but we must see to it that when they arrive here they are directed out of the city and into the country places where ordinary human industry is rewarded abundantly. The inclination of the immigrants themselves to stick so closely to the great centers of population must be overcome. If the great crowds of foreigners that inundate these sh.o.r.es every year could be distributed in a sensible and logical way over all the vast uncultivated territory in which this nation is so rich, we should never hear any complaint of too much immigration. No better farmers can be found anywhere than among the foreign peoples who seek America."

[Sidenote: Legislation Required]

Very likely, but the trouble is, they do not want to farm and they are free to prefer the squalor of the slums to the green of the fields. Nor is there much hope that this singular but strong inclination can be overcome save by government regulation, which shall settle the matter of location for those who have no specific destination or occupation. It is probable that on this point some reasonable legislation could be secured; especially if the various distribution societies and railroad companies should fail in their efforts to induce the aliens to go where they are needed. Commissioner-General Sargent has dealt plainly with this matter in his Reports for the last three years, and rightly estimates its importance. He says:[41]

[Sidenote: Distribution of Prime Importance]

"In my judgment the smallest part of the duty to be discharged in successfully handling aliens, with a view to the protection of the people and the inst.i.tutions of this country, is that part now provided for by law. Its importance, though undeniable, is relatively of secondary moment. It cannot compare in practical value with, nor can it take the place of, measures to secure the distribution of the many thousands who come in ignorance of the industrial needs and opportunities of this country, and colonize alien communities in our great cities."

[Sidenote: Information Agencies Proposed]

Suitable legislation is strongly urged to establish agencies through which, either with or without the cooperation of the states, aliens shall be made acquainted with the resources of the country at large, and the industrial needs of the various sections, in both skilled and unskilled labor, the cost of living, the wages paid, the price and capabilities of the land, the character of the climates, the duration of the seasons--in short, all that information furnished by some of the great railway lines through whose efforts the territory tributary thereto has been transformed from a wilderness within a few years to the abiding place of a happy and prosperous population.

[Sidenote: A Growing Evil]

"Again the importance of undertaking to distribute aliens now congregating in our large cities to those parts of the United States where they can secure employment without displacing others by working for a less wage, and where the conditions of existence do not tend to the fostering of disease, depravity, and resistance to the social and political security of the country, is urged. The Bureau is convinced that no feature of the immigration question so insistently demands public attention and effective action. The evil to be removed is one that is steadily and rapidly on the increase, and its removal will strike at the roots of fraudulent elections, poverty, disease, and crime in our large cities, and on the other hand largely supply that increasing demand for labor to develop the natural resources of our country. Too much encouragement cannot be given to the reported efforts of certain railway companies to divert a portion of the tide of immigration to the Southern states. It is impossible, in the opinion of the Bureau, to overestimate the importance of this subject as bearing upon the effect of immigration on the future welfare of this country."[42]

[Sidenote: Chart of Distribution]

What are the facts concerning the present location and distribution of immigrants? The answer involves a most interesting study. Taking the immigration of 1905, the chart[43] on the next page ill.u.s.trates the distribution by states.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PROPORTION OF IMMIGRATION AND NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS GOING TO EACH STATE DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1905

BY PERMISSION OF THE BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION]

[Sidenote: Where the Ma.s.ses Stay]

The enormous proportion going to New York, Pennsylvania, and the North Atlantic section shows prominently. They got ninety per cent. of the whole, while the South received but four per cent. of the total, and only one per cent. of that went to the South Central States. The Great West had only four per cent. as against five the year preceding; showing conclusively how few of the million went where it would have been far better for the entire million to have gone. It is safe to say that there was little or no legitimate demand in New York, Pennsylvania, or New England for any of them. At the same time, there is some encouragement in the fact that the distribution of the past fourteen years shows that smaller proportions are now remaining in the states in which are located the princ.i.p.al ports of entry. For example, the percentage of New York State has steadily decreased from forty-two per cent. in 1892 to thirty per cent. in 1905. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio have gained proportionately.

[Sidenote: Diagrams to be Studied]

A series of diagrams which show the distribution of the foreign-born living in the United States in 1900, was prepared by Mr. F. W. Hewes, for the _World's Work_, and published in October, 1903. By the courtesy of Doubleday, Page and Company, publishers, they are reproduced. Each dot in them represents a thousand persons. They show at a glance where the immigrants were in 1900, and the totals by race or nationality. By adding to these totals the remarkable figures of the last five years, one can appreciate the great increase in the Italian and Slavic totals, and an idea of the present situation may be obtained, for as to locality the percentages have not materially changed.

[Sidenote: Protective Societies]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Born in Sweden, Norway, Denmark--Resident in the United States 1900

Reproduced by special permission from "The World's Work" Copyright, 1903.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Born in Canada, England, Scotland, Wales--Resident in the United States 1900

Reproduced by special permission from "The World's Work." Copyright, 1903.]

The further point to be considered as to distribution is the effort now being made to accomplish desired results. In lieu of legislation or government provision, these are (1) Societies organized by individuals, and (2) Railway companies. The Bureau of Information[44]

proposed by the bill now in Congress would, if established, closely cooperate with the state agencies and all other bodies promoting distribution.

[Sidenote: Italian Society]

One of the most active and efficient of these organizations, which will serve as an ill.u.s.tration, is the Society for Italian Immigrants, with headquarters in New York, near the Battery. The Society thus states its purpose and methods:

"About 200,000 Italian immigrants are now landing at this port during every twelve months. These immigrants are almost entirely poor peasants who cannot speak our language. In order that these people may get a fair start in this new and, to them, strange country, and that they may become familiar as soon as possible with our laws, habits, and customs, help and instruction of various kinds must be given them. To furnish these either freely or at the lowest possible cost, is the object of The Society for Italian Immigrants.

[Sidenote: A Real Service]