Speech #550049157

No one can view this great invasion of illiteracy without grave concern. We should address to ourselves the question: What will be its effect if it continues to flow with increasing ratio? The countries which supply the greater number of illiterates furnished less than 1 per cent of the immigration in 1869. 8.5 per cent in 1880. and 51.7 per cent in 1897. The undesirable were deterred less by panic than the desirable immigrants. Mr. Bryce. with rare felicity. observes the evil which has given rise to the pending bill: The most conspicuous evidence of American prosperitySays hehas been hitherto seen in the high standard of living to which the native working classes of the North have risen. in the abundance of their food and the quality of their clothing. in the neatness and comforts of their homes. in the decent orderliness of their lives. and the fondness for reading of their women. Lhe settlers of the last half century. though at first far behind the native Americans in all these respects. have tended to rise to their level. and except in a few of the larger cities. have. after fifteen or twenty years.practically adopted American standards of comfort. But with the last decade new swarms of European immigrants have invaded America. drawn from their homes in the eastern part of central Europe by the constant cheapeniug of ocean transit and by that more thorough drainage. so to speak. of the Inland regions of Europe which is due to the extension of railways. These immigrants. largely of the Slavonierace. come from a lowerstrata of civilization than the German immigrants of the past. and. since they speak foreign tongues. are less amenable to American influences. * * * There seems to be a danger that if they continue to come in large numbers they may retain their own low standard of decency and comfort and menace the continuance among the working class generally of that far higher standard which has hitherto prevailed in all but a few spots in this country. Already the United States. which twenty years ago rejoiced in immigration. begins to regard it with disquiet. A study of the last census leads to the conclusion that our foreign population contributes a large number to our almshouses. penitentiaries. insane asylums. and reformatories which would be excluded under the provisions of the pending bill. Therewere in thealmshouses.in1890.73.045paupers. of whom27.648wereforeignborn and 36.656 were native whites.