Speech #510212555

During this century and until very recent years these same nations. with the addition of Ireland and the Scandinavian countries. have continued to furnish the chief component parts of the i mmigrat ion which has helped to populate so rapidly the territory of the United Slate". Amonganllthese people. with few exceptions. community of raor language. or both. has facil itated the work of assimilation. In the last tenycars. however. as appears from the figures just given. new and wholly different elemaents have been introduced into our immigration. andwhat is more important Mtillthe rate of immigration of these new elements has risen with much greater rapidity than that of those which previously had furnished the hulk of the population of theocountry. The mass of imniigration. absolutlyspcaking. continues. of course. to come from the United Kingdom and from Germany. but relatively the immigration from these two sources is declining rapidly in comparison with the immigration from Italy and from the Slavic countries of Russia. Poland. Hungary.* and Bohemia. the last of whichappears under the headofAustria. Of the generally good character of the immigration frorathe United Kingdom. Germany. and the Scandinavian countries it is hardly necessary to speak . hut I will cluoe a single sentence from the State Department renort already referred to in regard to the immigration from the United Kingdomn and Germany : " Tiue diagrams show the remarkable predominance of the United Kingdom and Germany in supplying the United States with skilled labor. and also the fact that the Germans represent those industries that depend upon hand labor or the requirements of everyday life. while the Engish supply the mechanical element. WVhile Germany sends blacksmiths. butchers. coopers. saddlers. shoemaker . and tailors. the United Kingdom suopliesminers. engineers. iron and teel workers. meehanies and artisans. weavers andspinners. This distinction Is cearly marked and Is certainly important." Nowas to the immigration from the other countries. which has been inereaslag so much faster than that to whiehwe have been accustomed and which we know from experience to ha in the mainvaluable. Consul General Jdfssen says In his report (1t885) in regard to the Austrian immigration : "The young men who want to escape military service. the ultrasocialist. the nnar..hiut. the men who have lost all social and business fooling here. the bankrupt. embezzler. and swindler. stop not to obtain permission of the government. and naturally the authorities have no sort of record hero either as to the numbcr or the place of destination of this class of emigrants. * =The governnicnt would. as a matter of course. prohibit. if it could do so. the emigration of all young men subject to military duty. but it is quite natural that it feels no re~gret to get rid of the ultrasocialists and anarchists and thatit is quitewilling the bankrupt and swindler should depart for foreign countries and that the. paupers hould find support away from home." He aloe speaks as follows In regard to the Bohemian emigration. which forms a large part of that which is classed under the head of Austria: "The labor and agricultural classes of Bohemia probably supply the greatest number of emigrants to the United States. and among the Bohemian industrial laborers some of the most violent ultrandeialists are to be found. The great majorily of these Bohemian laborers. both of the industrial and agricultural class. are illiterate and ignorant in the extreme. They stand in great awe of the police authorities at home." In regard to Hungarian emigration. Mfr. Sterne. consul at Buda Pesth. speaks (1s 8) as follows: "I am of the opinion that with the present condition of the labor market in thu United States there is no room there at present for this class of people. ivyen believe that under more favorable conditions in the United States these Slofvaces are not a desirable acquisition for us to make. since they appear to have so many items in common with the Chinese.