Mr. Chairman. while the gentleman from Texas was on the floor the gentleman from Illinois wanted to know why. If the State of Texas was opposed to immigration. Galveston had sought to have established at its port an Immigration station. I venture to predict that if the people of Texas offer inducements to immigrants. they will have the experience of South Carolina. In 1904 there were but 5.500 foreignborn persons in the State of South Carolina. Some gentleman. prompted. doubtless. by the best of motives. conceived the idea of establishing an immigration bureau. Thirty thousand dollars was spent In an effort to induce settlers from abroad to come to South Carolina to secure employment in the cotton mills and on the farms of that State. and in 1906 the Wittekind sailed into Charleston Harbor with about 450 steerage passengers. They were a carefully selected class of immigrants. I do not believe that today one of those 450 is in the State of South Carolina. and certainly I know that the immigration bureau is not there. It would be difficult to find the man who first- suggested its organization. Our experience with that carefully selected cargo resulted in the legislature at its next session abolishing the immigration bureau and going even to the other extreme and prohibiting any State official attempting. directly or indirectly. to induce immigrants to come into the State of South Carolina.
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immigrants immigration steerage Immigration