THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 4, 1010. V
:ni Is Jot Encouraging Immigration
livoml by Charl H. Carey Before the Oregon PeTelopmcnt
League,
it Is contrary to th present policy
k" too United Stales to encourage forv
i tii immigration. This in also the at
t tude of Canada and Australia, white
F- ma of the South American rations,
as Brazil, Peru and Argentina Republic
encourage and assist Immigrants.
In tha earlier days of the United
states, when the bacfc country was un
developed and there seemed to be un
limited areas of free and fertile land,
it was to the Interest of the states to
do everything, possible to got settlers
and to develop the wilderness for the
uses of civilization. But as early as
1S37. protest against the influx of
paupers and criminals from abroad be
pan to be heard. It was then found
that in the almshouses In ths north
Atlantic states more than half of the
inmates were foreign born, and that
many were recent arrivals. , Congress
called for an injuiry. .and the, state
aapartment had the American consuls in
the various European ports from which
the main streams of immigration ema
nated make reports on the subject
These reports showed that in . some
places there was practiced by ; the au
thorities a plan of paying the passage
pioney of paupers, to, get rid of them as
publlo charges. . Many such . persons
were shipped, 1 per head beifrig the
fare usually charged by the vessels em
ployed In the emigrant service. These
persons arrived at Boston, New York,
Baltimore. Philadelphia and other ports
in the United States, destitute of maney
and in many cases sick, infirm . or
crippled. ,
,Hed of Bestrictiona.
By 1882. it" became evident that re
strictions would be required. In that
year the; first congressional act really
regulating immigration was adopted., It
provided for, a 1 fee, or head tax, of 60
cents . each, which was to be used, to ;
relieve, distress and" to defray, expenses
of inspection. Since that time several
amendments and additional enactments
liave been passed, , taking firmer hold of
the whole subject. The head tax has
been increased from time to time, until
now it is $&. Immigrants are now care
fully .examined, and diseased and. de
fective persons are returned at' the ex
panse of the transportation .companies ,
that bring them., Criminals and other
uodasirablss are excluded. ., Persons who
cannot show that. they have sufficient
pecuniary resources-, of their own, .or
whose support is not . guaranteed by
others, are not allowed to enter lest
they become public charges. The stat
utes regulating the admission and the
deportation of - foreigners; have been
made more and . mere .stringent and ef
fective, and j a bill, will be before oon
jgress this winter prepared under the
direction- -of .tha commissioner, general
of Immigration, which will aim to tight
en the grip of the government! and to
make It much more difficult for immi
grants to enter, and to exclude all who
have not the prescribed -qualifications.
It is a curious "fact, that in none of
this legislation is any distinction made
or sought between the class of persons
who are land seekers, farmers, settlers
or workers in country vocations and
the other class who may be expected
inevitabl y to gravitate to ' our already
overgrown cities and there add, to the
misery and the poverty of the inhabi
tants of these great centers of popula
tion. . Whether such ; a distinction is
practicable, I am not prepared to af
firm, but that the former class of
aliens are not undesirable in the far
western states will readily be conceded.
Whera Majority Settle.
Now, if the three quarters of a mil
lion of immigrants that -came to the
United States In the year preceding
June 30, 1909. one-half of the number
indicated on landing that they Intend
ed to make, their plaoe of residence
Pennsylvania or New York. s Seventy
per cent of the whole three-quarters of
a million settled In six eastern states.
Only J144 out of 782,870 designated
Oregon as their objective place of loca
tion. '''"''' '-''-"'."'".' " '' '4
i It was because of the Increasing con
gestion of these people on the Atlantic
seaboard that congress undertook in
1907 to provide means of relief, and for
that purpose established a "Division of
Information- in the department of com
merce and labor, under the Immediate
control Of the bureau of immigration
and naturalisation. ; t a
As the law now stands it would be
possible-for Oregon, If it were .desir
able, to arrange - to secure for itaelf
some portion of these foreigners. In
accordance with - the provisions of the
act the division of Information has been
organised and In exlster.ee since July
1,' 1907. - r,y- :-.' ' -
During the year ending June 30, 1909,
the division of Information aided In the
distribution of 6008 persona, principal
ly in finding employment for those seek
ing work, and, of the number, 266S wertf
distributed to agricultural communities
where they secured permanent employ
ment on farms. But of the 6000 per
sens located,; only , 68 were classed as
woodsmen. and . only 31 ; as settlers.
Only one person, a Swiss, . was sent to
Oregon; he was classed as a farm labor
er, and not a settler was sent here. ;
'y Trbaa Population Grow.
This- result ;'ls .disappointing. The
urban population of the United States
grows rapidly," and apparently" this is
at the expense of ; the country. - The
1910 census will show that sucn agri
cultural states as Iowa, for example,
have actually lost In population during
the past ten years, The ' poverty and
misery in the great cities like New York
and Chicago is appalling, but the great
evils that Brow out ef the creation in
such cities of foreign colonies, in- which
races and ' nationalities preserve to all
intents and purposes the. language, cus
toms, habits of thought and the tradi
tions of their native countries, are year
ly becoming more portentious. , 1
Now, the question arises, does Oregon
want any of these immigrants, and If so,
what is the best way to take advantage
of the previsions of this new law?
4 I think, that' all win agree tliat it
would be poor policy for the state to
draw Itself, certain, classes Of these
persons, such as the very indigent, the
unskilled, and those Beeklng employment
of a character not to be had in Oregon,
Besides these and , other undesirable
clauses . that :J might be mentioned, . I
should say ; that , some 1 nationalities
would presumptively' afford better ma
terial for ; what . our ' state needs than
others, and that men, of . some nationali
ties would, generally' speaking, be posi
tively . oDjecuonaDie. j- ,
t'VWlwt'.Xa .. Heeded' Sere.
The towns In Oregon grow faster than
the country develops. What la here
wanted Is ! a- thrifty and' lawabidlng
people, Industrious, self respecting and
earnest; people who by birth and as
sociation and education, are fitted to un
derstand and appreciate our political
Institutions; persons . who have - some
skill as ' farmers, gardeners, dairymen,
woodmen, stockmen, ? or fruitgrowers,
and who have been accustomed to cli
mate and soil conditions not very dif
ferent from 'what they would find In
Oregon. It would be a great mistake to
advertise - the advantages , of V Oregon
among people that could not affiliate
with our clttxens and soon adapt them
selves to' our ways.';v.:jVi
Now, a large part of the immigration
of late years has originated in southern
and eastern Europe. In 1909, countries
of that section furnished about 7 per
cent of the total immigration, as fol
lows: . ' " " "" Y" ''
Thai 15 41 nr tmr ti nir nrnit '
Austria-Hungary, 270,191, or about 23
per cent
Greece, 14,111, or nearly 2 per cent
Turkey, and vicinity,' 11,669, or about
ltt per cent ;
- Russia. 120,460, or about 16 per cent
' It is estimated that In 10 years 8,250,
000 aliens have come into our country,
and that of that number about two
thirds, or approximately 6,500,000 have
come from Russia, Austria-Hungary and
Italy, and they are now coming at the
rate of nearly 500,000. a year,
' "Who Should Be Invited.
Here then is some 67 per cent of the
immigrants of last year, or 507,000 per
sons, that to state, the case in genet-al
terms, would not answer our require
ments. .Among the - remainder a-very
large proportion are Impecunious, and
while it , is no . crime to be . poor, and
many a man who has succeeded in free
America landed with a pittance in his
pocket it is nevertheless ' a condition
that controls us, that any ,' Immigrant
that should be invited to come to Ore
gon should have money to travel' here
with after he disembarks from the
steamer. ' Indeed, what Is required is not
only men, but men who can afford to
settle upon the land. They should be
able to buy or rent a place, and to es
tablish themselves In their new quarters..--"
vr -v v '
; A glance' at the statistics again' will
convince that by eliminating .the less
desirable from consideration, we have
now narrowed down the available for
eigners for Oregon i settler to small
figure. - In 1909 there Were 79,122 such
aliens who brought over with them up
wards of $50 each; this was' out of a
total of 761,786 persons-somewhst over
10 per cent Of these, ever 14,000 were
English,' and over 11,000 German. W
have no means of knowing, of course,
exactly 'how much money any of these
brought; . but it may be assumed that
several thousand of these persons, com
paratively prosperous, from the north
of Eorerfl, would have been able to have
locaiea in trjBn naa itiojr own bo in
clined, 1 -
' Obstacles to Coming.
It is perhaps needless ' to point out
that ignorance of our language, lack of
transportation money, the desire to lo
cate near friends who have gone, before,
the difficulty of learning of Oregon's
atrractive conditions, all operate to keep
'the alien - arrivals from reaching our
state. Of the 782,870 persona admitted
in 1909, 585,970 landed at New York!
Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia re
ceived alf of the remainder, and an
other ; 100,000, were admitted in all the
other ports, Including Canada and the
Paclflo coast ports, aa well as less Im
portant places on the Atlantic seaboard.
It would appear certain, therefore,
that as nearly all arrive in the United
States at places far distant from Ore
gon, this state need not fear that any
encouragement '. to ; settlers ft may be
disposed' to offer will set in motion an
avalanche of foreigners to overcrowd
our state. - "
- On the contrary, the practical diffi
culty is to get these settlers.
I would recommend to the Oregon
Development league that it cooperate,
by the. appointment, of a committee for
that purpose, with the legislative as
sembly of ; Oregon , to devise .methods
to take the benefit of this statute. Un
der the direction; of the State, and with
the assistance of the fbrious local
clubs affiliated with the organization,
suitable data can be gathered and pre
pared for printing, and an illustrated
descriptive pamphlet may be printed
in such languages as are spoken by im
migrants rfrom certain preferred ; boc
tlons of Europe. ' JTha cost of these
pamphlets will-' be small and can be
provided for by 'state appropriation or
otherwise; or. if it seems brut, the di
vision of Information of the Unijted
States government may print these pam
phlets, as it is authorized to do under
the existing law. . ..
State Agexi Advisable.
It may be advisable also, if the ex
pense seems Justified, to have a state
immigration agent regularly ; appointed
and stationed at Ellis Island. What
ever is done in thla direction should be
under, proper safeguards to ensure
against, drawing to the state undesir
able classes of aliens, and It should. In
my judgment be plainly stated that
the inducements that Oregon offers are
not easy to be availed of by persons
who have not sufficient funds at their
disposal to begin life .here under hope
ful conditions. ,
In connection with' what I have al
ready said 1 also call attention to the
fact .that while by the laws of trie
United States transportation companies
and private persons and companies are
expressly prohibited from encouraging
or inducing immigration by solicitation
or advertisement an exception is made
in. favor of states.-; v " - ''' --- ' '-.
The state of OregorC therefore, may
lf.lt so desires, advertise its resources
and advantages , for settlement directly
in foreign countries. ; . This method has
some attractive features, since the bet
ter class of foreigners who have means
to invest in farms In Oregon' can thus
be more certainly reached and Interested
before ' they have settled upon their
Plans. . ' :,'Vii: ' :t '.' "'.'''-X s
. The suggestions I have made are not
in.tho interest 'of any company, or cf
any person, or of any locality I am
speaking as a loyal and 'patriotic cltl
zen of Oregon, who is Impressed in
travelling over the state with the fact
that its most important - requirement,
outside of railways and other highways,
Is ahriving and industrious rural popu
lation. Let the country develop and the
towns will prosper. But by stiniulating
the urban population without opening up
and putting to use the vast stretches
of arable land that now lay idle. Is not
advisable. . V
Tha people of some sections of Europe
make excellent citizens and soon be
come good Americans. These, very fre
quently, have been trained in the meth
ods of Intensive farming.- Snchwill
make a small tract support a family, in
comfort' enabling us .to divide up our
large farms and get better results from
the soil. Such people would do well in
the Willamette valley or In irrigated
sections. '.. ' - -
As a rule, , I would advise locating
families where they will have others
using their language in the same neigh
borhood, and I think care should be
taken to help them for a time in learn
ing the customs and methods of farm
ing that pre vaU. here.
All this can best be managed and put
in successful practice by a state immi
gration commission, and ? I -have no
doubt that the legislative assembly
upon proper presentation of these con
siderations would.' provide , for the ap
pointment of such a body.;! would ex
pect it to consist of men who would
serve their state Without 'salary, and
the total expense ; incurred would be
but a trifle. Several vt the states have
such commfpfMonH, and if Oregon would
take advantage" of the federal statutes
I have called to your attention, I recom
mend that, the league set the matter In
motion. . .
The government of the Australian
state Of Victoria- lias spent 833,500,000
on works to supply water for Irriga
tion, stock and domestic purposes un
der the direction of a former professor
of the University' of California. ;
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