Speech #620312865

Germany. Great Britain. and Ireland. The height of the wave of that immigration was reached in 18S2. Since that time the proportion coming from those countries has decreased. and the number coming from southern and southeastern Europe has been constantly increasing. That is owing to the fact that since 1870. when the great manufacturing. mining. and smelting industries of our country had become firmly established and were rapidly expanding. and a great demand for common and unskilled labor had been created. and immigrants from southern Europe have come to engage in those particular lines of industry. and the stream of such immigration has increased year by year to a most remarkable degree. In order to plant that fact a little more firmly in the RECORD. I want to say that prior to 1882. what is termed the "old immigration." made up of the races I have indicated. constituted 87 per cent of all that came. Only 13 per cent of that huiigration came from other sections of Europe. Since that time. in a period of 25 -ears prior to 1907. the " old immigration " from northwestern Europe decreased from 87 per cent to 20 per cent of the whole. while the immigration from southern Europe increased from 13 per cent to 80 per cent of the whole. So. that at the present time substantially SO per cent of our immigration is from southern and eastern Europe rather than from northwestern Europe. Inthis connection it should be understood to what sections of our country these immigrants have gone. what they have engaged in. and how far they have been assimilated. I fid that pitor to 1880. that being the census year. almost 56 -per cent of the old class settled in the Central and North :Central States. -where -the homestead act was under operation :and where now in many -of the States .they and their descendants. :as has lbeen well stated here today. constitute a majority. perhaps. of the agricultural classes. During those years only 31 per cent. subStantially onethird of it. came into the Atlantic division of States. showing that a large majority of the immigration entered into the development of the great Wcst--the construction of .railroads. the opening up of farms. and the establishment of the mining and smelting industries. But between 1880 and 1900. instead of 56 per cent going into the Central States. only 29.3 per cent went there. and 61.9 came .into the Atlantic division of States. :where the manufacturing interests were more largely developed.