remark about the weather to one passenger, and the gentleman addressed
recoiled as if I had struck him with a sledge hammer. I learned
afterwards that he occupied a thousand dollar suite of rooms and that
his name was Kalbsfoos or something like it. In choosing his seat at the
table, I heard him remark to the head steward that he did not want to
sit “near Jews,” nor any “second class looking crowd”; but that was a
difficult task to accomplish.
More than a third of the passengers were Jews, and more than two-thirds
were people whose names and bearing betrayed the fact that they were
either the children of immigrants, or immigrants themselves, who too
were returning to the Old World because they had succeeded. In the Vs.
Mr. Vanderbilt’s name headed the list, but the name closest to his was
Vogelstein; while between such American or English names as Wallace and
Wallingford, were a dozen Woolfs and Wumelbachers, Weises and Wiesels. I
need not tell you of the multitude of the Rosenbergs and Rosenthals
there were in our cabin. Mr. Funkelstein and Mr. Jaborsky were my
room-mates. First cabin after all is only steerage twice removed, and
beneath its tinsel and varnish, it is the same piece of world as that
below me; which you pity, and which you dread.
The staple conversation to-day is the size of the pool--which has
reached the thousand dollar mark, and the fact that a certain actor lost
fifteen thousand dollars at poker the night before. In the second cabin
the pool was smaller, the limit in poker ten cents; while in the
steerage they lived, unconscious of the fact that pools and poker are
necessary accompaniments of an ocean voyage.
It is a stratified society in which I find myself up here, and the lines
are marked--dollar marked. The stewards instinctively know the size of
our bank accounts by our wardrobes. Around the captain’s table are
gathered the stars in the financial firmament; those whom nobody knows,
who travel without retinue are at the remote edges of the dining room,
far away from the lime light.
In the steerage, everybody “gets his grub” in the same way, in the same
tin pans--“first come first served”; and all of us are kicked in the
same unceremonious way by the ship’s crew.
The first cabin and the society it represents are not all finished
products. There are many of those who eat, even at the captain’s table,
who are still in blessed ignorance of the fact, that knives were not
made for the eating of blueberry pie; and who also do not know what use
to make of the tiny bowls of water in which rose leaves float, when they
are placed before them.
Then there are the maidens who walk about with mannish tread, talking
loudly and violently through their noses; who assault the piano
furiously with the notes of rag-time marches; and who waft upon the air
perfumes which offend one’s olfactory nerves.
Yet beside them, and in strong contrast to them are those superb men and
women, the flower of American civilization, whose like has never been
created anywhere else in the world.
No, what I have learned in the first cabin has not changed my vision in
the least; for the world it represents is not closed to me; and I
reckoned with it in my story. You know enough about me to realize that I
harbour no class or race prejudices, and that I try to “play fair.”
The people of the steerage are in a large measure what I told you they
are--primitive, uncultured, untutored people; with all their virtues and
vices in the making. They are the best material with which to build a
nation materially; they are good stock to be used in replenishing
physical depletion; and capable of taking on the highest intellectual
and spiritual culture. They are a serious problem in every respect;
whether you shut the gates of Ellis Island to-day or to-morrow, those
that are here are an equally serious problem.
One thing the journey in the first cabin has done for me; it has made me
grateful for my journeys in the steerage; grateful that I could stand
among those tangling threads out of which our national life is being
woven, and see the woof and the warp, and know that the woof is good. I
am conscious of the fact that it will take strong sound warp to hold it
together, to fill out our pattern and complete our plan. Oh, my dear
lady! What a great country in the making this is! And how close you and
I are to the making!
Here are we, living at a time in which the greatest phenomenon of
history is taking place. Future generations will wonder at the process
and will say: “A new gigantic race was being born between the Atlantic
and the Pacific; a race born to build or to destroy, to cry to the
world, ‘Ground Arms,’ or cast it into the hell of war; a race in which
are welded all kindreds of the people of the earth, or a race which will
destroy itself by mutual hate.”
My lady, you and I are here to work at a task which will outstrip all
the wonders of the world, and we cannot do it in our own strength; we
need to call to each other, as we bend to our task, the greeting which
the Slovaks sent after you when you left the ship:
“Z’Boghem, Z’Boghem,”
“The Lord be with thee.”
APPENDIX
IMMIGRATION STATISTICS
The author has refrained from using statistics in his book, not because
he has any objection to figures; but because the statistics of
immigration (even those prepared by the United States Government) are
misleading.
Professor Walter F. Willcox, Chairman of the Committee on Basal
Statistics, appointed by the National Civic Federation, calls attention
to this fact in his report, and gives the following reasons for their
unreliability.
The meaning of any statistics depends largely upon the meaning of
the unit in which the statistics are expressed. It is a common but
fallacious assumption that a word used as the name of a statistical
unit has precisely the same meaning that it has when used in
popular speech. In the present case the word “immigrant” has had
and to some degree still has different meanings, which may be
called respectively the popular or theoretical meaning and the
administrative or statistical meaning, and these two should be
carefully distinguished.
In the popular or theoretical sense an immigrant is a person of
foreign birth who is crossing the country’s boundary and entering
the United States with intent to remain and become an addition to
the population of the country. In this sense of the word an alien
arrival is an immigrant whether he comes by water or by land, in
the steerage or in the cabin, from contiguous or non-contiguous
territory, and whether he pays or does not pay the head tax. The
essential element is an addition to the population of the country
as a result of travel and the word thus covers all additions to the
population otherwise than by birth. A person cannot be an immigrant
to the United States more than once any more than a person can be
born more than once. It is a characteristic of this meaning that it
does not alter.
The word immigrant in its administrative or statistical sense is
not defined in the Reports of the Commissioner-General of
Immigration, but from that source and from the instructions and
other circulars issued by the Bureau the following statements
regarding its meaning have been drawn:
1. The administrative or statistical meaning of immigrant is not
fixed by statute law but is determined by the definitions or
explanations of the Bureau of Immigration and those are dependent
upon and vary with the law and administrative decisions.
2. In the latest circular of the Bureau immigrants are defined as
“arriving aliens whose last permanent residence was in a country
other than the United States who intend to reside in the United
States.” This definition seems to agree closely with the popular or
theoretical one.
3. But the foregoing definition is modified by a subsequent
paragraph of the same circular which excludes from the immigrant
class “citizens of British North America and Mexico coming direct
therefrom by sea or rail.” So the official definition is
substantially this: An alien neither a resident of the United
States nor a citizen of British North America, Cuba or Mexico, who
arrives in the United States intending to reside there.
4. The only important difference between these two definitions is
that the statistical definition excludes, as the popular definition
does not, citizens of British North America, Cuba and Mexico. As
the natives of Canada and Mexico living in the United States in
1900 were 14.2 per cent. of the natives of all other foreign
countries, it seems likely that the figures of immigration for the
year 1905-06 should be increased about 14.2 per cent. in order to
get an approximate estimate of the total immigration into the
country during the year just ended.
5. Perhaps the most important difference between the popular or
theoretical and the statistical definition of immigrant is that the
former is unchanging and the latter has been modified several times
by changes of law or by modifications of administrative
interpretation.
6. Until January 1, 1906, an alien arrival was counted as an
immigrant each time he entered the country, but since that date an
alien who has acquired a residence in the United States and is
returning from a visit abroad is not classed as an immigrant. This
administrative change has brought the statistical and the popular
meanings of immigrant into closer agreement, but in so doing has
reduced the apparent number of immigrants more than ten per cent.
and has made it difficult to compare the earlier and the later
statistics.
7. Until January 1, 1903, an alien arriving in the first or second
cabin was not classed as an immigrant, but rather under the head of
other alien passengers. This change likewise brought the two
meanings of immigrant into closer agreement, but also made it
difficult to compare the figures before and after that date. By a
mere change of administrative definition the reported number of
immigrants was increased nearly twelve per cent.
8. Until the same date an alien arrival in transit to some other
country was deemed an immigrant, but since that date such persons
have been classed as non-immigrant aliens. This change also makes
the figures before 1903 not strictly comparable with later ones.
About three per cent. of those who were formerly classed as aliens
have been excluded since 1903. The alteration has brought the two
definitions closer together, but in so doing has entailed
administrative difficulties which lead the bureau to favour a
return to the former system or at least to favour collecting the
head tax from such aliens in transit.
9. An immigrant in the statistical sense is a person liable for and
paying the head tax. But to this there are two slight exceptions.
Deserting alien seamen not apprehended are liable for the head tax
which is paid by the company from which they desert, but such cases
are not included in the statistics. Citizens of British North
America, Cuba and Mexico coming from other ports than those of
their own country are reported as immigrants, but do not pay the
head tax. Obviously both are minor exceptions hardly affecting the
rule. In the popular or theoretical meaning of immigrant this head
tax is not an element.
10. Probably other changes of definition have occurred of recent
years. No attempt has been made to exhaust the list. The general
tendency of the changes has clearly been towards a closer agreement
of the popular and the statistical meanings. But they have probably
tended to make the increase of immigration indicated by the figures
greater than the actual increase, and to that degree to make the
figures misleading. If the Government Bureau of Immigration and
Naturalization could make a carefully studied estimate of the
extent to which such changes in the official reports really modify
the apparent meaning of the published figures, it would render a
valuable service.
11. A committee like the present can hardly make such an estimate
or go further than to point out that for the reasons indicated the
official statistics of immigration are likely to be seriously
misinterpreted and are constantly misinterpreted by the public.
The official statistics of immigration being subject to all the
qualifications indicated and reflecting so imperfectly the amount
of immigration as ordinarily or popularly conceived the question at
once arises, Can any substitute or any alternative be proposed?
What the public is mainly interested in, I think, and what it
commonly but erroneously believes is indicated by the official
figures of immigration, is the net addition to the population year
by year as a result of the currents of travel between the United
States and other countries.
Alternative figures for the last eight years, a period which
closely coincides with the last great wave of immigration now at or
near its crest, may be had by comparing the total arrivals and
departures in the effort to get the net gain. The results appear in
the following table:
_Per Cent.
That Net
Total Total Arrivals Increase
Passengers Passengers Total Minus Makes of
Fiscal Year Arrivals Departed Immigration Departure Immigration_
1898 ... 343,963 225,411 229,299 118,552 51.8
1899 ... 429,796 256,008 311,715 173,788 55.8
1900 ... 594,478 293,404 448,572 301,074 67.0
1901 ... 675,025 306,724 487,918 368,304 75.5
1902 ... 820,893 326,760 648,743 494,133 76.3
1903 ... 1,025,834 375,261 857,046 650,573 75.9
1904 ... 988,688 508,204 812,870 480,484 59.3
1905 ... 1,234,615 536,151 1,026,499 698,464 68.1
--------- --------- --------- ----
1898-1905 4,822,662 3,285,372 68.1
The figures indicate that the net increase of population by
immigration during the last eight years has been slightly more than
two-thirds of the reported immigration. But these figures of net
increase should be increased by an estimate of the arrivals by land
from Canada and Mexico. As the Canadians and Mexicans by birth
residing in the United States in 1900 were 14.2 per cent. of all
residents born in other foreign countries, this would indicate an
influx of 466,000 Canadians and Mexicans, a figure probably in
excess of the truth since the currents have probably been setting
Canadaward of recent years. I estimate, therefore, that the net
increase from immigration 1898-1905 has been about 3,750,000
instead of 4,820,000 as might be inferred from the reports of the
bureau of immigration. The actual increase would then be about
seventy-eight per cent. of the apparent increase.
Printed in the United States of America
INDEX
“Americana,” by Dr. Lamprecht, quoted, 321
Americanizing the stranger, 291
Americans, poor example set by, 119
Americans or foreigners, in the slums, 316
Amish, the, 96
Anti-Semitic riots, 53
Ashkenazim, the, 146
Assimilation, miracle of, 291
Atheism of Hungarians, 249
Austro-Hungarian Jews, 148
Bialistok, Jews from, 61, 325
Bohemian movement, beginning of, 23
Bohemian immigrant, distribution of, 225;
characteristics of, 227;
irreligion of, 228;
socialism of, 234;
both best and worst, 235
Bohemian school teachers from Cleveland, 355
Bulgarians, the, 26, 180
Castle Garden days, 78
Catholic, _see_ also Roman Catholic
Catholic Church, foreign priests a hindrance to, 323;
and the Bohemians, 229;
and the Italian, 278
Catholic Hungarians, 247
Centre of Mill Horror, 222
Christian Church and Jews, 164
Church, political power of, 322
Citizenship papers for ten dollars, 331
Commissioner Watchorn, Ellis Island, 81
Commissioner Williams, Ellis Island, 81
Competition the life of prejudice, 309.
Count Aponyi, Hungary, quoted, 318
Crainers, the, 212
Criminal element among immigrants, 75
Criminals, Italian, 255, 273
Croatians, the, 26, 180, 212
Czechs, the, 180
Dalmatians, the, 26, 181
Degeneration due to influx of foreigner, not evident, 304
Deported from Ellis Island, 65, 66, 68, 72, 82, 92
Detention room, in the, 68
Diocletian, palace of, a Slavic town, 18
Economic problem of new American, 309
Economic value of immigrant, 318
Educational Alliance, the, 161, 163
Ellis Island ahead, 48;
examination at, 65;
conditions at, 79;
new conditions at, 86
Emigrant, passports for, 31;
treatment of, at port of embarkation, 32;
medical examination of, 35;
examination of, at home, 75
Endeavour Societies, Jewish, 151
Ethical Culture Society, the, 152
Excluding the weak and helpless, 72
Families divided, by inspectors, 65
Finns, the, 27
Free thinkers, 106
First Cabin vs. Steerage, 14
Gentlemen in homespun vs. beasts in broadcloth, 46
George, Joseph J., Worcester, Mass., and Syrian children, 83
Geringer, Mr., editor _Svornost_, 228, 229
Ghetto, the Russian, 136;
of New York, 154;
vs. the West Side, 305;
vs. upper Broadway, 306
German aristocracy, the real, 98
German Evangelical Church, 108
German immigrants, the first, 94;
characteristics of, 97;
socialism of, 98;
intellectual life of, 100;
social life of, 101;
political influence of, 103;
influence of Church upon, 105;
materialism of, 107;
influence of, on religious life, 108
German Jews, 148
German Methodists, 108
Great Russian, the, 181
Greek Catholic Church, the, 204
Greek Catholic immigrants, 322
Greek Church and the Slav, 204
Greek immigrant, the, 282;
characteristics of, 285, 288;
and the Church, 287
Greek Orthodox immigrants, 322
Greek play at Hull House, 291
Hall, Prescott F., quoted, 296
Hamburg, treatment of emigrant, 34
Hartford, Conn., Italian district, 266;
gathering of Jews in, 298
Hearst influence in the Ghetto, 168
Hertzl, Theodore, 298
Hester Street vs. the West Side, 305
Hoar, Geo. F., Senator, quoted, 82
Hoboken saloon-keeper, the, 348
Hungarian, _see_ also Magyar
Hungarian Catholic, the, 247
Hungarian Greek Catholic, 247
Hungarian gypsies, 244
Hungarian immigrant, characteristics of, 250;
socialism of, 244;
hostility to religion, 249
Hungarian Jews in second cabin, 351
Hungarian Protestant, the, 248
“Hunkies,” 198;
looking for work, 213;
in steel mills in Penn., 220;
with the Illinois Steel Co., 222
Huss, John, succeeded by George Washington, 234
Illyrian, the, 180
Imagination and reality, 74
Immigrant of to-day, characteristics of, 29;
expectations of, 62;
treatment of, at Ellis Island, 79;
types of, 91;
not content with old conditions, 311;
problem of, not an economic one, 314;
economic value of, 318;
economic effect on his own country, 318;
religious ideas of, 322;
amenable to religious influence, 326;
in politics, 330;
patriotism of, 332
Immigrant societies, 64
Immigration, quality of, improving, 91;
where the danger lies, 92
Immigration laws, effect on steam ship companies, 35;
amendment to, procured by Senator Hoar, 85;
as to public charge, 92
Immigration Congress, N. Y., 315
Infidelity of Bohemians, 228
Ingersoll, Robert, influence of, 228, 230
Inspectors at Ellis Island, 80
Italian movement, beginning of 19
Italian, the, at home, 28, 252;
characteristics of, 253;
affected by other races, 253;
lawlessness of, 255;
criminals, 255;
distrust of the Church, 258, 260
Italian immigrant, the, 262;
characteristics of, 262;
distribution of, 264, 269;
in business, 268;
competitor of the Jew, 271;
and the school, 276;
and the Church, 277
Italians returning in the second cabin, 354
Jamestown, N. Y., Swedish colony of, 117, 122
Jewish movement, beginning of, 21
Jewish world, the real, 133
Jews the, in the old world, 126;
homelessness of, 126;
distribution of, 127;
characteristics of, 127;
in Russia, 134;
socialism of, 140;
250th anniversary of landing in America, 143;
charter granted to, in 1655, 144;
four groups of, 147;
spiritual movements among, 151;
and the Christian churches, 164, 329;
missions in the Ghetto, 166;
in politics, 167;
second generation of, 171;
mutual distrust of, 172;
racial fealty of, 303;
relation to Christianity, 329
Judaism, crisis of, in America, 302.
Kishineff, Jews from, 61, 325
Labour market, changes in, 310
Labour unions or manufacturers’ associations, 310
Lady of the First Cabin, The, 9, 359
Lamprecht, Prof. K., quoted, 101, 321
Lindsburgh, Kansas, model Swedish town, 122
Lithuanians, the, 27
Little Hungary, 238, 305;
as a political school, 352
Little Russian, the, 182
Lodge, Henry Cabot, Senator, 83
Lombroso, Dr., on criminology, 256
Lutheran church, influence of, 105
Lutheran church and the Swedes, 118
Magyar, _see_ also Hungarian
Magyar, the, 27;
Jews, 149;
in Austro-Hungary, 241;
in Little Hungary, 242;
political tendencies of, 244;
not Slavs, 241
Man at the Gate, the, 78
Marxian Socialism, 98, 234
Massarik, Professor, quoted, 230
Materialism of Germans, 107;
of Bohemians, 230
Mennonites, the, 94
Milwaukee, the most German city, 100
Minneapolis, 115, 122
Minnesota, Swedes unpopular in, 117
Money sent home by immigrant, an economic gain, 320
Montefiore, Sir Moses, 131
Montenegrins, the, 26, 180
Moravians, the, 96
National Immigrant Societies, 64
Neglect, effect of, 124
Nelson, Knute, 117
New Britain, Conn., Polish town, 212
New Greece, Chicago, 288
New Prague, typical Bohemian town, 231
New Ulm, a city without a church, 98
Odessa, Jews from, 61
Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 96
Paupers and criminals, a million a year? 72
Pole, the, vs. the Slovak, 210
Polish movement, beginning of, 24
Polish town, New Britain, Conn., 211
Political immigrants, 97
Political tutelage of immigrants, 330
Pope Pius X, 259
President Roosevelt and Ellis Island, 81
Prohibitionists, the first, 96
Protecting American labour, 309
Protestant influence on Bohemians, 231;
Hungarians, 248;
Church and the Italians, 281
Public charge, a, 68
Rabbinism, power of, 146
Rabbis of the Ghetto, 162
Race movement of Eastern Europe, 16
Races, difficulty of distinguishing between, 294
Racial characteristics, changes in, 294
Racial fealty of Jews, 303
Religions, national, 322
Religious atmosphere of America, 321
Religious ideas of immigrants, 322
Republicans, Democrats and “Inepenny,” 345
Restriction Immigration League, 296
Returned immigrant, influence at home, 339
Roman displaced by Slav, 18
Roman Catholic, _see_ also Catholic
Roman Catholic Church, influence on Germans, 105;
and the Slav, 204
Roman Catholic immigrants, 322
Roosevelt, President, and Ellis Island, 81;
letter to, of Senator Hoar, 84
Russian Jews, 150;
characteristics of, 173
Russian refugees, 57
Saloon-keepers in second cabin, 349
Scandinavian immigrant, the, 112;
characteristics of, 113;
distribution of, 114;
second generation of, 113;
considered unreliable, 117;
town of Lindsburgh, Kansas, 122
Schurz, Carl, 97
Schwenkfelders, the, 96
Secret societies of Italy, 256
Sephardic Congregations, 145
Servant girl, as she returns, 337
Servians, the, 26, 180, 212
Shylock vs. Daniel Deronda, 130
Silverman, Dr. Joseph, 143
Slav at home, the, 20;
distribution of, 179;
characteristics of, 180, 183;
blood revenge still practiced, 185;
treatment of women, 187;
love of music, 189;
religious feeling of, 195
Slavic immigrant, the, 198;
the Slovak, 198;
the Pole, 198, 210;
the Bohemian, 225
Slavic literature, 194
Slovak movement, the, 25
Slovak, the, 180, 191, 200;
in politics, 206;
entertainments, 207;
as a type, 301
Slovenes, the, 26, 181
Slums in the, Americans or foreigners, 316
Socialism of Germans, 98;
of Jews, 140;
of Bohemians, 234;
of Italians, 257
Social nose or social heart, 12
Social Democracy, and the Magyars, 243
Social Democrats in the Ghetto, 167
Social Labour Jews, 169
South Chicago, steel mills of, 222
Spanish Jews, 147
Steamship companies, responsibility of, 76
Steerage, the, from the quarter-deck, 10;
conditions in, 35;
vs. second cabin, 36;
should be abolished, 37;
accommodations, English best, 38;
vs. the slum, 41;
songs, 42;
comradeship of, 43, 50;
amusements of, 51;
question of, 53;
shadows of the past, 53;
polyglot sermon in, 62;
and anarchy, 77;
fellowship of, on return voyage, 334;
self-assertive on return, 335
“Stomach Jews” vs. “Soul Jews,” 328
Stratified society in first cabin, 362
Strikes by foreigners, 311
_Svornost_, Bohemian infidel paper, 228, 232
Swedes, _see_ Scandinavians
Syrian children, story of, 82
Syrians, the, 28
Tragedy of the deported, 65, 66, 68-72, 82, 92
Tucker, President, quoted, 326
Tunkers, the, 96
Turner Societies, 106, 230
University Settlement, the, 164
Vanderbilt vs. Vogelstein, 361
Watchorn, Robert, Commissioner, Ellis Island, 81;
secures reforms, 86
Wends, the, 180