THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM
In new countries population may increase by immigration as well as by
the surplus of births over deaths. Immigration is, therefore, a
secondary means of increasing the population of a country, and in new
countries is often of great importance.
Immigration, or the migration of a people into a country, along with its
correlative emigration, or the migration of a people out of a country,
constitutes a most important social phenomenon. All peoples seem more or
less migratory in their habits. Man has been a wanderer upon the face of
the earth since the earliest times. According to modern anthropology the
human species probably evolved in a relatively narrow area and peopled
the earth by successive migrations to distant lands. In all ages,
therefore, we find more or less migratory movements of populations. But
the movements in modern times, particularly in the nineteenth century,
probably exceed, in the number of individuals concerned, any other
migratory movements of which we have knowledge in history. Ancient
migrations were, moreover, somewhat different from modern immigration
and emigration. Ancient migrations were largely those of peoples or
tribes, while in modern times migration is more of an individual matter.
The Huns, for example, came into Europe as a nation, but the immigration
into the United States at the present time is wholly an individual
movement. The causes of migration are more or less universal, but
corresponding to the difference in ancient and modern migrations we find
the causes varying somewhat in ancient and modern times. The causes of
ancient migrations and the primary causes of all migrations seem to be:
(1) lack of food; (2) lack of territory for an expanding population; (3)
war. In modern times we find other causes operating, like, (4) the labor
market; men now migrate chiefly to get better economic opportunities;
(5) government; in modern times the oppression of unjust governments has
often caused extensive migration; (6) religion; religious persecution
and intolerance have in modern times been important among the causes of
migration.
History of Immigration into the United States.--The great economic
opportunities offered by the settlement of the vast territory of the
United States, together with a combination of causes in Europe, partly
political, partly religious, and partly economic, have caused, during
the last century, a flood of immigrants from practically all European
countries, to invade the United States, greater in number of individuals
than any recorded migration in history. Between 1820, the first year for
which we have immigration statistics, and 1907, 25,318,000 immigrants
sought homes, temporarily or permanently, in this country,--more than
one half of them coming since 1880. Before 1820 it is improbable that
immigration into the United States assumed any large proportions. Even
up to 1840 the number of immigrants was comparatively insignificant.
Thus in 1839 the number was only 68,000, and not until 1842 did the
number of immigrants first cross the 100,000 mark. Owing to the potato
famine in Ireland in the forties, however, and to the unsuccessful
revolution in Germany in 1848, the number of immigrants from Europe
began greatly to increase. From 1851 to 1860 inclusive no less than
2,598,000 immigrants sought homes in this country. The number fell off
greatly during the Civil War, and did not reach the same proportions
again until the eighties, when from 1881 to 1890 the volume of
immigration rose to 5,246,000. The number of immigrants again declined
during the nineties, owing largely to the financial depression in the
United States, to 3,800,000; but during the decade, 1901-1910, it
surpassed all former records, and amounted to nearly 9,000,000.
It is curious to note how the maximum periods of immigration have
hitherto been about ten or twenty years apart. Thus the first noteworthy
maximum of 427,000, in 1854, was not surpassed again until 1873, when
another maximum of 459,000 was recorded; in 1882 another maximum was
reached of 788,000, and in 1903 another maximum of 857,000. After 1903,
however, immigration went on increasing until 1907. These fluctuations
in immigration correspond to the economic prosperity of the country,
and, as Professor Commons has shown, are almost identical with the
fluctuations in foreign imports. This shows very conclusively the
prevailing economic character of modern migration.
During 1905, 1906, and 1907, indeed, the United States received more
immigrants than its total population at the time of the Declaration of
Independence. In 1905 the number was 1,027,000; in 1906, 1,100,000; in
1907, 1,285,000. It seems probable, however, that about twenty-five per
cent will have to be deducted from these immigration statistics in
prosperous years to allow for emigrants returning to their home
countries. In a year of economic depression like 1908 when only 782,000
immigrants entered the country, the number of emigrants returning was
over one half of the total number who entered.
Previous to 1890, nearly all of the immigrants who came to us came from
the countries of Northern Europe. It has been claimed that as high as
ninety per cent came from Teutonic and Celtic countries, and were,
accordingly, almost of the same blood as the early settlers; but since
1890 the character of our immigration has changed so that since that
time nearly seventy per cent have come from non-Teutonic countries, such
as Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Greece. The period of maximum
immigration for the Irish to this country was the forties and fifties;
the period of maximum immigration for the Germans was the fifties and
eighties; and for the English, the seventies and eighties. But the
period of maximum immigration for the Italians can scarcely as yet be
reckoned by decades at all. The Italians first began coming in numbers
exceeding 100,000 only in 1900, but in 1906, 273,000 of our immigrants
were Italians, and in 1907, 285,000. This latter number is larger than
any single European nationality ever sent to us in a single year, unless
we except the 338,000 people of various nationalities sent to us by
Austria-Hungary in the same year. The immigration from Austria-Hungary,
also, to the United States did not exceed 100,000 until the year 1900,
but by 1905 it had reached 275,000, and, as has been said, in 1907
reached 338,000. The immigration from Russia, consisting largely of
Russian Jews and Poles began to be considerable, if we include Poland in
Russia, by 1892, when it reached 122,000. In 1903, after falling off, it
reached 136,000; in 1906, 215,000; and in 1907, 258,000.
_Present Sources of our Immigration_. These statistics have been
cited to show the change in the sources from which we are receiving
immigrants. This can be brought out still more clearly by contrasting a
typical year previous to 1890 with one of the latest years. The year
1882 was the year, previous to 1890, of maximum immigration into this
country. During that year we received 788,000 immigrants. Nearly all, as
the table which we are about to give will show, came from countries of
Northern Europe. In order to contrast the sources of our immigration a
quarter of a century ago with the present sources, we will compare the
year 1882 with the year 1907, which thus far has been the year of
maximum immigration into the United States,--the total number of
immigrants for 1907 being 1,285,000:
IMMIGRATION, 1882.
Per cent.
Great Britain and Ireland ................. 179,423 22.8
Germany ................................... 250,630 31.7
Scandinavia ............................... 105,326 13.3
Netherlands, France, Switzerland, etc. .... 27,795 3.5
Total Western Europe ...................... 71.3
Italy ..................................... 32,159 4.1
Austria-Hungary ........................... 29,150 3.7
Russia, etc. .............................. 22,010 2.7
Total Southern and Eastern Europe ......... 10.5
All other countries ....................... 18.2
[Footnote: 1. Of the immigration from
"other countries" 98,295 was from British
North America, or 12.4 per cent of the
total. This,added to the 71.3 per cent from
Western Europe, makes a total of 83.7 of
the immigrants in 1882 of West European
stock.]
100.0
IMMIGRATION, 1907.
Per cent.
Great Britain and Ireland ................. 113,567 8.8
Scandinavia ............................... 49,965 3.9
Germany ................................... 37,807 2.9
Netherlands, France, Switzerland, etc. .... 26,512 2.1
Total Western Europe ...................... 17.7
Austria-Hungary ........................... 338,452 26.3
Italy ..................................... 285,731 22.2
Russia .................................... 258,943 20.1
Greece, Servia, Roumania, etc. ............ 88,482 6.9
Total Southern and Eastern Europe ......... 75.5
All other countries ....................... 6.8
100.0
It will be noted that while in 1882, 71.3 per cent of our immigrants
came from the countries of Western Europe, only 10.5 per cent came from
the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe. In 1907 the situation was
very nearly reversed. In 1907 Great Britain and Ireland, and
Scandinavia, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and
Switzerland--the countries which had furnished 71.3 per cent of our
immigrants in 1882--furnished only 17.7 per cent, while Austria-Hungary,
Italy, Russia, Greece, Servia, Roumania, and Turkey in Europe--the
countries which had furnished but 10.5 per cent in 1882--furnished 75.5
per cent. This matter of changed sources from which we receive our
immigrants evidently is one of first importance in any consideration of
the present immigration problem of the United States.
_The Distribution of Immigrants._ If immigrants would distribute
themselves evenly over the United States, the immigration problem would
be quite different from what it is. Instead of this, there is a massing
of immigrants in some states and communities, and very little evidence
to show that these immigrants ever distribute themselves normally over
the whole country. In 1906, for example, the Commissioner of Immigration
reported that 68.3 per cent of the 1,100,000 immigrants who came that
year went to the North Atlantic states; 22.1 per cent to the North
Central states; 4.4 per cent to the Western states; and 4.2 per cent to
the Southern states. If these figures are at all trustworthy, they
indicate a congestion of our recent immigrants in the North Atlantic
states and in certain states of the Central West. So far as the census
is concerned, it tends to confirm these statistics of the Commissioner
of Immigration. Our last census returns, being for 1900, can show
little, of course, of the distribution of the great number of recent
immigrants that have come from Southern and Eastern Europe. Still the
1900 census contains some interesting facts regarding the distribution
of foreign born, or immigrants, that have been received previous to
1900. According to the census of 1900 the number of foreign born in the
United States was 10,460,000, or 13.7 per cent of the total population.
But these foreign born were confined almost entirely to the Northern
states, that is, the North Atlantic states and North Central states. In
1900 the Southern states (South Atlantic and South Central) contained
but 4.6 per cent of the total foreign born of the country. The reason
why so few of our immigrants have thus far settled in the South is
perhaps chiefly because of the competition which the cheap negro labor
of the South would offer to them, and also because the South is still
largely agricultural, offering few opportunities for the industrial
employments, into which a majority of our immigrants go. In the North
Atlantic states in 1900 nearly one fourth of the population was foreign
born, and 20.7 per cent in the Western states. The following statistics
will show the percentage of foreign born in typical states: North
Dakota, 35.4 per cent; Rhode Island, 31.4 per cent; Massachusetts, 30
per cent; Minnesota, 28.9 per cent; New York, 26 per cent; Wisconsin,
24.9 per cent; California, 24.7 per cent; Montana, 27.6 per cent;
Indiana, 8.5 per cent; Maryland, 7.9 per cent; Missouri, 7 per cent;
North Carolina, 0.2 per cent; and Mississippi, 0.5 per cent. The
influence of the foreign born in a community, however, is better shown,
perhaps, if we consider the number of those of foreign parentage, that
is, the foreign born and their children, than if we consider the number
of foreign born alone. In a large number of states more than one half of
the population is of foreign parentage. Thus North Dakota had in 1900,
77.5 per cent of its population of foreign parentage; Minnesota, 74.9
per cent; Wisconsin, 71.2 per cent; Rhode Island, 64.2 per cent;
Massachusetts, 62.3 per cent; South Dakota, 61.1 per cent; Utah, 61.2
per cent; New York, 59.4 per cent. Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois,
Michigan, Montana, Nevada, and California all also had more than one
half of their population of foreign parentage in 1900. For the United
States as a whole the number of foreign parentage in 1900 amounted to
34.3 per cent, or 26,000,000 out of a total population of 76,000,000.
Many of our large cities also have a high percentage of foreign born and
of foreign parentage in their population. The percentage of foreign born
in some of our largest cities in 1900 was as follows:
Per cent.
New York........................................... 37
Chicago............................................ 34.6
Philadelphia....................................... 22.8
Saint Louis........................................ 19.4
Boston............................................. 35.1
Baltimore.......................................... 13.5
San Francisco...................................... 34.1
Cleveland.......................................... 32.6
These same cities had the following percentage of foreign parentage in
their population:
Per cent.
New York........................................... 76.9
Chicago............................................ 77.4
Philadelphia....................................... 54.9
St. Louis.......................................... 61.0
Boston............................................. 72.2
Baltimore.......................................... 38.2
San Francisco...................................... 75.2
Cleveland.......................................... 75.6
These figures show the tendency of our immigrants to mass together in
certain states and also in our great cities; so that it has come about
that it is said that New York is the largest German city in the world
except Berlin; the largest Italian city except Rome; the largest Polish
city except Warsaw, and by far the largest Jewish city in the world.
Only one nationality distributes itself relatively evenly over the
country, and that is the British. All other nationalities have certain
favorite sections in which they settle. Thus, the Irish settle mainly in
the North Atlantic states; the Germans have two favorite settlements in
the United States, one of them consisting of New York and Pennsylvania,
and the other of Wisconsin and Illinois, though Michigan, Iowa, and
Missouri also contain a large number of Germans. The Scandinavians
locate chiefly in the Northwest, especially in Minnesota, North and
South Dakota; and the large number of foreign parentage in those states
is due to Scandinavian immigration. All these nationalities, however,
readily assimilate with our population, as they have very largely the
same social and political standards and ideals. But this is not true
regarding some of the more recent immigrants from Southern and Eastern
Europe, whose massing in large communities of their own must be regarded
as a more serious matter. The census does not help us to find out how
far these recent immigrants have massed in certain localities, but the
Commissioner of Immigration has kept statistics of the destination of
these recent immigrants, and they show the following results: In 1907,
of the 294,000 Italian speaking immigrants who came to us in that year,
120,000 settled in the state of New York; 53,000 in Pennsylvania; 19,000
in Massachusetts; and 17,000 in New Jersey. Three fourths of the Italian
immigrants, in other words, apparently go to these four states. Of the
138,000 Poles who came in 1907, 33,000 were bound to Pennsylvania,
31,000 to New York, 12,000 to New Jersey, and 17,000 to Illinois. These
four states seem to constitute the favorite places of settlement for the
Slavs. Of the 149,000 Russian and Polish Hebrews who came in 1907,
93,000 settled in New York state, 15,000 in Pennsylvania, and 9000 in
Massachusetts, these three states being the favorite places of
settlement for recent Jewish immigrants.
It seems clear from these figures that the congestion of recent
immigrants is serious, and it is a question whether with such congestion
it will be possible to assimilate these recent comers, so unlike
ourselves in social traditions and ideals, to the American type. It is
claimed by some that there is no serious congestion of immigrants in
this country, and that the immigrants distribute themselves through the
operation of normal economic influences in the places where they are
most needed, and that we need not, therefore, be concerned about the
congestion of foreign born in certain communities. This view, however,
that economic laws or forces will sufficiently attend to this matter of
the distribution of our immigrants, is not borne out by the facts of
ordinary observation and experience.
_The Distribution of Immigrants in Industry_. It is probably safe
to say that four fifths of our recent immigrants belong to the unskilled
class of laborers, though the percentage of unskilled fluctuates greatly
from year to year and from nationality to nationality. Out of the total
of 1,285,000 immigrants in 1907 only 12,600 were recorded by the
Commissioner of Immigration as belonging to the professional classes;
190,000, or about 15 per cent, were skilled laborers, including all who
had any trade; while 760,000 were unskilled laborers, including farm and
day laborers, 304,000 being persons of no occupation, including women
and children. When we consider the matter by races, the contrast is even
more striking. Of the 242,000 South Italian immigrants in 1907 only 701
were professional men; 26,000, or 11 per cent, were skilled laborers;
while the number of unskilled amounted to 161,000, or 66 per cent. Of
the 138,000 Poles who came in 1907, only 273 were professional men;
8000, or 6 per cent, were skilled laborers; and 107,000, or 77 per cent,
were unskilled. In the case of the Hebrews, however, there is a much
higher percentage of skilled laborers and professional men. It is
claimed by those who favor the policy of unrestricted immigration that
what this country needs at present is a large supply of unskilled
laborers, and so the fact that the mass of immigrants belong to the
unskilled class of laborers, it is said, is no objection to them.
Again, the census of 1900 shows a very uneven distribution of the
foreign born among the different classes of occupations. Thus, while the
foreign born constituted about one seventh of the population, over one
third of those engaged in manufacturing were foreign born; one half of
those engaged in mining were foreign born; one fourth of those engaged
in transportation were foreign born; one fourth of those engaged in
domestic service were also foreign born, while only one eighth of those
engaged in agriculture were foreign born. This shows that the tendency
of the foreign born is to mass in such industries as mining,
manufacturing, and transportation. It is undoubtedly in these industries
that there is the greatest demand for cheap labor, and the presence of a
large number of unskilled foreign laborers has made it possible for the
American capitalists to develop these industries under such conditions
probably faster than they would otherwise have been developed. At the
same time, however, all of this has been a hardship to the native-born
American laborer, and the tendency has been to eliminate the native born
from these occupations to which the immigrants have flocked.
Some Other Social Effects of Immigration.--(1) The influence on the
proportion of the sexes of immigration into this country has without
doubt been considerable. In 1907, out of a total of 1,285,349
immigrants, 929,976 were males and 355,373 were females. For a long
period of years about two thirds of all the immigrants into the United
States have been males. This has considerably affected the proportion of
the sexes in the United States, making the males about 1,000,000 in
excess in our population. The influence of such a discrepancy in the
proportion of the sexes is difficult to state, but it is obvious, from
all that has previously been said about the importance of the numerical
equality of the sexes in society, that the influence must be a
considerable one, and that not for good.
(2) The following table shows how far the increase of population in the
United States in the decennial periods since 1800 has been due to
immigration and to reproduction. Until 1840 the increase by immigration
was so small as to be hardly noticeable, and therefore no account of it
is taken.
Total Increase By Immigration By Birth
Year Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.
1800 35.70
1810 36.38
1820 34.07
1830 33.55
1840 32.67 4.66 28.01
1850 35.87 10.04 25.83
1860 35.58 11.12 24.46
1870 22.63 7.25 15.38
1880 30.08 7.29 22.79
1890 24.86 10.40 15.40
1900 20.73 5.86 14.87
This table shows that it is not certain that immigration has increased
the total population of the United States, as a decrease of the natural
birth rate seems to have accompanied increasing immigration. For this
reason Professor Francis A. Walker held that it was doubtful that
immigration had added anything to the population of the United States.
At any rate, the population of the country was increasing just as
rapidly before the large volume of immigration was received as it
increased at any later time. Again, the Southern states, which have
received practically no immigrants since the Civil War, have increased
their population as rapidly as the Northern states, that is, the
increase of population among the Southern whites has been equal to that
of the Northern assisted by immigration. These two facts suggest that
the immigrants have simply displaced an equal number of native born who
would have been furnished by birth rate if the immigrants had never
come.
(3) Immigration has very largely aided in maintaining a considerable
amount of illiteracy in the United States in spite of the effects of the
propaganda for popular education which has been carried on now for the
last fifty years or more. In 1900 there were still 6,246,000 illiterates
above the age of ten years in the United States, which was 10.7 per cent
of the population above that age. Of these, about 3,200,000 were whites,
and of this number, again, 1,293,000 were foreign born. Nearly all of
the native white illiterates in the United States are found in the
Southern states, the white illiteracy in the Northern states being
practically confined to the foreign born. Thus, in the state of New York
5.5 per cent are illiterate, but of the native whites only 1.2 per cent
are illiterate, while 14 per cent of the foreign population can neither
read nor write. Again, in Massachusetts 5 per cent of the population are
illiterate, but of the native whites only 0.8 per cent are illiterate,
while 14.6 per cent of the foreign born are illiterate. Statistics of
illiteracy for our cities show the same results. Thus, in the city of
New York 6.8 per cent of the population are illiterate, but only 0.4 per
cent of the native whites are illiterate, while 13.9 per cent of the
foreign born are illiterate. Boston has 5.1 per cent of its total
population illiterate, but only 0.2 per cent of its native white
population are illiterate, while 11.3 per cent of its foreign-born
population are illiterate. Of the total immigration in 1907, 30 per cent
were illiterate. The number of illiterates from different countries
varies greatly. In 1907, 53 per cent of the immigrants from Southern
Italy were illiterate. In the same year 40 per cent of the Poles were
illiterate, 25 per cent of the Slovaks from Austria, 56 per cent of the
Ruthenians from Austria, 29 per cent of the Russian Jews, and 54 per
cent of the Syrians. The bulk of our immigration is now made up of these
people from Southern and Eastern Europe, among whom the illiteracy is
high. It is interesting to contrast the condition of these people with
the immigrants from Northern and Western Europe, whence our immigration
was mainly received a few years ago. The percentage of illiteracy among
the immigrants from Western Europe is very low. Thus, in 1907 among the
French it was only 4 per cent; among the Germans, 4 per cent; Irish, 3
per cent; English, 2 per cent; and Scandinavians, less than 1 per cent.
Connected more or less with this fact of illiteracy is the number in our
population who cannot speak English. In 1900 the number of persons in
the United States above the age of ten years who could not speak English
was reported by the census to be 1,463,000, but it is probable, owing to
the recent large immigration, that the number is at least twice that at
the present time.
(4) Crime and Poverty. It is said that crime is apt to accompany
migration. However, down to 1904 our immigrants have not shown any
exaggerated tendency to crime. The special prison census of 1904 showed
that 23.7 per cent of the male white prisoners were foreign born, while
23 per cent of the general male white population above the age of
fifteen years were foreign born. This shows a tendency to crime among
the foreign born not greatly out of proportion to their numbers in the
population. The same census, however, showed that 29.8 per cent of all
white male prisoners committed during 1904 were born of foreign parents,
while this element constituted only 18.8 per cent of the general white
male population. Thus, among the children of the foreign born there
appears to be an exaggerated tendency to crime, while not among the
foreign born themselves. The probable explanation of this is that the
children of the foreign born are often reared in our large cities, and
particularly in the slum districts of those cities. Thus the high
criminality of the children of the foreign born is perhaps largely a
product of urban life, but it may be suggested also that the children of
the foreign born lack adequate parental control in their new American
environment. Certain elements among our immigrants, however, seem
strongly predisposed to crime. This is especially true of the Southern
Italian. For example, the census of 1904 showed that 6.1 per cent of the
foreign-born prisoners committed during 1904 were Italian, while
Italians constituted but 4.7 per cent of the total foreign-born
population. Moreover, if we consider simply serious offenses, the
evidence of the criminality of the Italian immigrant is even still more
striking, for 14.4 per cent of the foreign-born major offenders
committed during 1904 were Italians, while, as was just said, Italians
constituted only 4.7 per cent of the total foreign-born population.
In the matter of poverty and dependence the foreign born make a more
unfavorable showing. In the special census report on paupers for 1904
the proportion of foreign born among almshouse paupers was about twice
as great as among the native born. Again, in a special investigation
conducted by the Commissioner of Immigration in the year 1907-1908, out
of 288,395 inmates of charitable institutions there were 60,025 who were
foreign born, or about 21 per cent, and out of 172,185 inmates of insane
hospitals, 50,734, or about 29 per cent, were foreign born. Inasmuch as
the foreign born probably did not constitute in 1907-1908 more than 15
or 16 per cent of the total population of both sexes, it is seen that
the foreign born contribute out of their proportion both to inmates of
charitable institutions and to the number of the insane. The experience
of Charity Organization Societies in our large cities, especially New
York, confirms these findings. It is not surprising, indeed, that many
of our immigrants should soon need assistance after landing in this
country, inasmuch as a very large proportion of them come to the United
States bringing little or no money with them. Thus, for a number of
years the amount of money brought by immigrants from Russia has varied
from nine to fifteen dollars per head. On account of the difficulties of
economic adjustment in a new country it is not surprising, then, that
many of the immigrants become more or less dependent, some temporarily
and some permanently.
Immigration into Other Countries.--It has been suggested that with the
opening up of other new countries the immigration problem of the United
States would solve itself, and that so many emigrants from Europe will
soon be going to South America, South Africa, and Australia that this
country will be in no danger of receiving more than its share. Down to
recent years, however, there have been little or no signs of such a
diversion of the stream of immigration from Europe into those countries.
The principal countries which receive immigrants other than the United
States are Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and Australia. While Brazil has
received between 1855 and 1904 a total of 2,096,000 immigrants, the
present number of immigrants into Brazil seems to be comparatively
small, for in 1904 it was only 12,400. Argentina, next to the United
States, receives the most considerable immigration from Europe. From
1857 to 1906 Argentina received 3,639,000 immigrants. In 1906 the number
was 252,000, of whom 127,000 were Italian, 17,000 Russian Hebrews, and
the remainder from various European nationalities. The foreign
immigration into other South American countries is comparatively
insignificant. In 1906 Australia received 148,000 immigrants, most of
whom were British, but the emigration from Australia almost equaled the
immigration into Australia in that year. Again, in 1906 the Dominion of
Canada received 189,000 immigrants, chiefly from Great Britain and the
United States. An unknown number, however, of Canadians migrated across
the border into the United States,--no record being kept of Canadian
immigration into the United States since 1885, except of those who come
by way of seaports. Thus it is certain that the United States receives
more immigration at the present time than all the other countries of the
world combined, and, as we have said, there is as yet little or no
evidence that the stream of European emigration will be diverted for
some years to come to these other countries. The problem of immigration
in the United States is not, therefore, a problem of the past, but is
still a problem of the future. Therefore, the question of reasonable
restrictions upon immigration into this country and of the improvement
of the immigrants that we admit is still a pressing problem of the day.
Proposed Immigration Restrictions.--There are no good moral or political
grounds to exclude all immigrants from this country. The question is not
one of the prohibition of immigration, but one of reasonable
restrictions upon immigration, or, as Professor Commons has said, of the
_improvement_ of immigration.
There can be no question as to the moral right of the United States to
restrict immigration. If it is our duty to develop our institutions and
our national life in such a way that they will make the largest possible
contribution to the good of humanity, then it is manifestly our duty to
exclude from membership in American society elements which might prevent
our institutions from reaching their highest and best development. All
restrictions to immigration, it must be admitted, must be based, not
upon national selfishness, but upon the principle of the good of
humanity; and there can be no doubt that the good of humanity demands
that every nation protect its people and its institutions from elements
which may seriously threaten their stability and survival. The arguments
in favor of further restrictions upon the immigration into this country
may be summed up along four lines:
(1) _The Industrial Argument_. Many of the immigrants work for low
wages, and, as we have already seen, offer such competition that the
native born, in certain lines of industry, are almost entirely
eliminated. This has been, no doubt, a hardship to the native-born
American workingman. While we have been zealous to protect the American
workingman from the unfair competition of European labor by high
protective tariffs, yet inconsistently we have permitted great numbers
of European laborers to compete with the American workingman upon his
own soil. On the other hand, this large supply of cheap labor, as we
have already seen, has enabled American capitalists to develop American
industries very rapidly, to dominate in many cases the markets of the
world, and to add greatly to the wealth of the country. It has been
chiefly the large employers of labor in the United States, together with
the steamship companies, who have opposed any considerable restrictions
upon immigration, and thus far their power with Congress has
successfully prevented the passing of stringent immigration laws. On the
whole, it is probably true that if industrial arguments alone are to be
taken into consideration upon the immigration problem, the weight of the
argument would be on the side of unrestricted immigration. But
industrial arguments are not the only ones to be taken into
consideration in considering the immigration problem, and this has been
hitherto one of the great mistakes of many in discussing the problem.
(2) _The Social Argument._ Many of our recent immigrants are at
least very difficult of social assimilation. They are clannish, tend to
form colonies of their own race in which their language, customs, and
ideals are preserved. This is especially true of the illiterate
immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. As we have already seen,
the rate of illiteracy among certain of our recent immigrants is so high
that they can scarcely be expected to participate in our social life.
Just the social effect of such colonies of different peoples and
nationalities upon our own social life and institutions cannot well be
foreseen, but it can scarcely be a good effect. The public school, it is
true, does much to assimilate to American ideals and standards the
children of even the most unassimilable immigrants. The public school is
not as yet, however, a perfect agency of socialization, and even when
attended by the children of these immigrants they fail to receive from
it, in many cases, the higher elements of our culture and still continue
to remain essentially foreign in their thought and actions.
(3) _The Political Argument._ Many of these immigrants are,
therefore, incapable of understanding and appreciating our free
institutions. They are not fit to vote intelligently, but are
nevertheless quickly naturalized and form a very large per cent of our
voting population, especially in our large cities. As a rule, they do
not sell their votes, but their votes are often under the control of a
few leaders, and thus they are able to hold, oftentimes, the balance of
power between parties and factions. It is questionable whether free
institutions can work successfully under such conditions.
(4) _The Racial or Biological Argument._ Undoubtedly the strongest
arguments in favor of further restriction upon immigration into the
United States are of a biological nature. The peoples that are coming to
us at present belong to a different race from ours. They belong to the
Slavic and Mediterranean subraces of the white race. Now, the Slavic and
Mediterranean races have never shown the capacity for self-government
and free institutions which the peoples of Northern and Western Europe
have shown. It is doubtful if they have the same capacity for
self-government. Moreover, the whole history of the social life and
social ideals of these people shows them to have been in their past
development very different from ourselves. Of course, if heredity counts
for nothing it will only be a few generations before the descendants of
these people will be as good Americans as any. But this is the question,
Does heredity count for nothing? or does blood tell? Are habits of
acting and, therefore, social and institutional life, dependent, more or
less, on the biological heredity of peoples, or are they entirely
independent of such biological influence? There is much diversity of
opinion upon this question, but perhaps the most trustworthy opinion
inclines to the view that racial heredity, even between subraces of the
white race, is a factor of great moment and must be taken into account.
It is scarcely probable that a people of so different racial heredity
from ourselves as the Southern Italians, for example, will develop our
institutions and social life exactly as those of the same blood as
ourselves. It is impossible to think that the Latin temperament would
express itself socially in the same ways as the Teutonic temperament.
Certainly the coming to us of the vast numbers of peoples from Southern
and Eastern Europe is destined to change our physical type, and it seems
also probable that if permitted to go on it will change our mental and
social type also. Whether this is desirable or not must be left for each
individual to decide for himself.
Another phase of this biological argument is the necessity of selection,
if we are to avoid introducing into our national blood the degenerate
strains of the oppressed peoples of Southern and Eastern Europe. If
selection counts in the life of a people, as practically all biologists
agree, then the American people certainly have a great opportunity to
exercise selection on a large scale to determine who shall be the
parents of the future Americans. While it is undesirable, perhaps, to
discriminate among immigrants on the ground of race, it would certainly
be desirable to select from all peoples those elements that we could
most advantageously incorporate into our own life. The biological
argument alone, therefore, seems to necessitate the admission of the
importance of rigid selection in the matter of whom we shall admit into
this country. At present, however, almost nothing is being accomplished
in the way of insuring such a selection of the most fit. All that is
attempted at the present time is to eliminate the very least fit, and
the elimination amounts to only about one per cent of all who come to
us.
Our present immigration laws debar a number of classes, chiefly,
however, persons suffering from loathsome or dangerous diseases, persons
who are paupers or likely to become public charges, and contract
laborers, besides Chinese laborers. Practically all who are debarred at
the present time come under these heads. Other classes who are debarred,
however, are idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, insane, criminals, assisted
immigrants, polygamists, anarchists, prostitutes, and procurers. Only an
insignificant number, however, of immigrants are debarred upon these
latter grounds. In 1907, with a total immigration of 1,285,000, only
13,064 were debarred as coming under these excluded classes, or a trifle
over one per cent. For a number of years, indeed, since we have had any
restriction laws at all, the number debarred has been a trifle over one
per cent. Of course, this constitutes no adequate selection of
immigrants which would satisfy biological or even high social
requirements. It would seem, therefore, that our immigration laws, from
a biological and sociological standpoint, are extremely deficient and
that some means of more adequate selection among immigrants should
speedily be found.
It has been suggested that a better selection of immigrants may be
secured by imposing an illiteracy test upon all male immigrants between
the ages of sixteen and fifty years coming to us, excluding those male
immigrants between these ages who cannot read or write in some language.
It is not proposed that this test should take the place of the present
restrictions, but should be in addition to the present restrictions. It
is argued by those who favor this test: (1) that it would exclude those
elements that we desire to exclude, namely, the illiterates from
Southern and Eastern Europe; (2) that it is easy to apply this test; (3)
that immigrants would know before leaving European ports whether they
would be admitted or not; (4) that such a test would have a favorable
educational and, therefore, social effect upon the countries from which
we now draw our largest proportion of illiterate immigrants.
It would seem, however, that the more important tests should be certain
tests as to biological, social, and economic fitness. It would be no
hardship upon any one for this country to require that all immigrants
come up to a certain biological standard and that this standard should
be a very strict one, say, the same as that required for admission to
the United States army; and that furthermore they should possess enough
money to insure the probability of their economic adjustment in this
country. Such tests, moreover, might be enforced by our government
practically without cost, as the burden of making such tests could be
placed entirely upon the steamship companies that bring immigrants to
the United States. It has been shown that a heavy fine of from one
hundred to five hundred dollars for every person that is brought to the
United States that does not conform to the requirements of our
immigration laws is sufficient to make the steamship companies exercise
a very stringent selection upon all whom they bring to us as immigrants.
Finally, something may probably be done to secure a better distribution
of our immigrants through the coöperation of the federal government with
state immigration societies, and with various private employment and
philanthropic agencies. In any case the requirement that the immigrant
shall possess beyond his ticket a certain amount of money, say $25.00,
would help to secure a wider distribution of our immigrants.
Asiatic Immigration.--What has been said regarding there being no good
social or political argument for the prohibition of immigrants does not
apply to Asiatic immigration. Here the importance of the racial factor
becomes so pronounced that it may well be doubted if a policy of
exclusion toward Asiatic immigration would not be the wisest in the long
run for the people of this country.
It is true that but few Asiatic immigrants have as yet come to this
country, but there are grave reasons for believing that if the policy of
exclusion had not been adopted a quarter of a century ago, Asiatic
immigration would now constitute a very considerable proportion of our
total immigration. It is chiefly the Chinese who are the main element in
Asiatic immigration, and between 1851 and 1900 the Chinese sent us a
total of only 310,000 immigrants; but in 1882, the year before the first
Chinese Exclusion Law was put into effect, 39,000 Chinese immigrants
entered the United States, and if their rate of increase had been kept
up the Chinese would now be sending us from 100,000 to 300,000
immigrants annually. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, reenacted and
strengthened again in 1892 and in 1902, excluded all Chinese laborers
from the United States. Consequently in 1890 the census showed only a
total of 107,000 Chinese in this country, and in 1900 only 93,283,
exclusive of Hawaii. In Hawaii, however, there were 25,767 Chinese in
1900, most of whom were residents of the islands previous to the
annexation. The Chinese in continental United States were, moreover,
massed in 1900 chiefly in the Pacific Coast states, there being 67,729
Chinese in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states, of which number
45,753 were in California alone.
In judging this question of Asiatic immigration we should accept to a
certain extent the opinion of the people of the Pacific Coast regarding
the problems which these Asiatic immigrants create. At any rate, the
opinion of any group of people who are closest to a social problem
should not be disregarded, as there are probabilities of error on the
part of the distant observer of conditions as well as on the part of
those who stand very close to a social problem. Just as we should accept
the opinion of the Southern people in regard to the negro problem as
worth something, so we should accept the judgment of the people of our
Western states in regard to the Chinese and Japanese also as worth
something. Now, as regards the Chinese, the people of the Pacific Coast
say they would rather have the negro among them than the Chinese. They
have numerous objections to the Chinese, similar to the various lines of
argument which have already been given in favor of the restriction of
immigration. They say, namely, (1) that the Chinese work for wages below
the minimum necessary to maintain life for the white man, and so reduce
the standard of living and crowd out the white working-man. There can
scarcely be any question that the white laboring man is not able to
compete economically with the Chinese laborer.
(2) Again, they claim that the Chinese make no contribution to the
welfare of the country; that they come here to remain several years, to
attain a competence, and then return to China.
(3) It is claimed that the Chinese are grossly immoral, that they are
addicted to the opium habit and other vices, and that so few women come
among the Chinese immigrants that Chinese men menace the virtue of white
women.
(4) The Chinese do not readily assimilate. They keep their language,
religion, and customs. They live largely by themselves, and are even
more completely isolated from American social life than the negro. In
comparison with them, indeed, one is struck with the fact that the negro
has our customs, our religion, our language, and, in so far as he has
been able to attain them, our moral standards, but this is not the case
with the Chinese. It is, moreover, impossible for the Chinese to assume
the white man's standards without losing his own social position among
members of his own race.
(5) The last and strongest argument in favor of the general exclusion of
Chinese laborers from this country, however, is the racial argument. The
Chinese are just as different in race from us as the negro, and if
racial heredity counts for anything it is fatuous to hope to assimilate
them to the social type of the whites. Moreover, if we should open our
doors to the mass of Chinese laborers China would be able to swamp us
with Chinese immigrants. With its hundreds of millions of population
China could spare to us several hundred thousand immigrants each year
without feeling the loss. If we wish to keep the western third of our
country, therefore, a white man's country it would be well not to open
the doors to Chinese immigrants. It is certain that if we open our doors
to the mass of Chinese immigrants we shall have another racial problem
in the West such as we now have in the South with the negro. Those who
claim upon the basis of sentiment or humanity that we should open our
doors and attempt to civilize and christianize the flood of Chinese who
would come to us, probably do not appreciate fully the social status of
the Chinese or the social status of the American people. The truth is we
are not yet ourselves enough civilized to undertake the work of
civilizing and christianizing a very considerable number of people alien
to ourselves in race, religion and social ideals. Again, those who
advocate the free admission of the Chinese probably do not appreciate
the importance of the element of racial heredity in social problems. The
negro problem should have taught us by this time that this factor of
racial heredity is not to be discounted altogether.
All that has been said regarding Chinese immigration applies to Asiatic
immigration in general. It is not surprising, therefore, that since the
Japanese laborers have begun to come to us in large numbers the people
of the Pacific Coast should demand the exclusion of the Japanese
immigrants. While Japan has not the immense population of China and
while the Japanese are perhaps a more adaptable people than the Chinese,
still it would seem that in the main the people of the Pacific Coast are
justified in their fears of the results of a large Japanese immigration.
For the peace of both countries and of the world, therefore, it is to be
hoped that the flow of Japanese laborers into the Western states will be
checked without any disruption of the friendship of the United States
and Japan. The same thing can be said regarding the Hindoo immigrants
who are just beginning to come to us. It would appear that the wisest
policy, therefore, regarding, all Asiatic immigration is the exclusion
of Asiatic laborers, and as these would constitute over nine tenths of
all Asiatic immigrants who might come to us, this would assure a
practical solution of the problem.
SELECT REFERENCES
_For brief reading:_
COMMONS, _Races and Immigrants in America_.
HALL, _Immigration and Its Effect upon the United States_.
MAYO-SMITH, _Emigration and Immigration_.
_For more extended reading:_
GROSE, _The Incoming Millions_.
STEINER, _On the Trail of the Immigrant_.
WHELPLEY, _The Problem of the Immigrant_.
Reports of the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration.
_On Chinese Immigration:_
COOLIDGE, _Chinese Immigration_.