Speech #590092336

They - came with the purpose of finding and making a permanent home t for themselves and their children. They readily adjusted themselves to our habits and customs. threw off and dismissed for0 ever all thought of their old allegiance. came under our flag. e fell in love with our institutions. mingled and intermarries with our people. and were rapidly assimilated and Americanized. In 1869. of- the entire immigration to this country only ninee tenths of 1 per cent came from southern and eastern Europe. In the year 1880 only 8.5 per cent of the entire immigration to thiscountry came from southern and eastern Europe. The few who came during tais period from southern and east- ern Europe were representatives of the best element of their t nationalities. They came as bona fide citizens. with the pure pose of becoming permanent citizens of the Republic. and soon p- became Americanized in habits and customs. thought. and aspirations. I Mr. President. this situation has changed. and the change has - brought us face to face with a danger which we can not afford longer to ignore. and which calls for prompt and efficient attention on the part of Congress. Let us compare the present immigration situation with that which I have just discussed. In 1901 only 22.5 per cent and in 1900 only 25.3 per cent of all the immigrants landed upon our shores came from northern or western Europe. while in 1901 68.6 per cent and in 1900 66.7 per cent of this immigration came from eastern and southern Europe. I have not been able to get the exact figures for the last four years. but the proportion of immigrants representing the hardy races of northern and western Europe has been gradually decreasing. while the proportion of immigrants representing the eastern and southern races of Europe has been rapidly increasing. The broad fact. then. is that about twothirds of all the immigration to this country today and during recent years has come from southern and eastern Europe. made up largely of Greeks. Poles. Hungarians.