Speech #680052885

I have been greatly Interested in the reports and recent utterances of our Secretary of Labor. the Hon. James J. Davis. whose every word has the ring of a true American. though he came to our shores as an Immigrant boy. The Secretary in his very thorough annual report informs us that since 1820 there have come to the United States approximately 35.000.000 foreigners. about onethird. or 12.000.000. of whom have come since 1900. From this report we further find thatThe number of immigrants migrating to the United States did not reach 100.000 in any one year until 1842. when 104.565 were admitted. of whom 99.666 were from northern and western Europe. This number included 73.347 from the United Kingdom. constituting 70.1 per cent of the total of Immigration for that year. The next year the number dropped to 52.496. Then it Increased year by year to 427.833 in 1S54. This wave of Immigration brought 272.740 from the Unted Kingdom in 1851 and 215.009 from Germany in 1854. In 1851. 368.565. or 97.2 per cent of all the 379.466 imamigrants arriving. came from northern or western Europe. and of these r45.222 were from the United Kingdom and Germany. Il 1854. out of 427.833 Immigrants. 402.554 or 94.2 per cent. were from northern and wetern Europe. Imtigration for 1855 was less than half of that of 1854. being only 200.877. From 1855 to 1864 the amount of immigration was small. getting down to 91.918 in 1861. of which the number 43.472. or 47.3 per cent. came from the United Kingdom and 31.661. or 34.4 per cent. caine front Germany. At tle close of the Civil War there was another wave of alie.ns which began to roll in. reaching its crest in 1873. with 459.803 inmigrants arriving. 166.844. or 36.3 per cent. cane from the United Kingdom and 149.671. or 32.6 per cent. from Germany and 374.898. or 81.6 per cent. from iorthern and western Europe as a whole. In 187S this wave again receded to only 138.469. This second wave. however. brought in an element up to that time of no numerical importancethe immigration from southern and eastern Europe. Indeed. ii was not until 1871 that all the southern and eastern European countries together furnished as many as 10.000 immigrants in one year. In 1874 this new class of immigrants numbered 24.584. The inext wave of immigration started in 1880 and reachedl a height of 788.992 in 1882. with 563.213 coming from northern and western Europe and 84.973 coming from southern and eastern Europe.. In 1886 immigration dropped to 334.203. In the next sevem years. from 1887 to 1893. imatigration varied from a little above to a little below 500.000 each year. Moreover. changes were taking place in the class of immigrants coming. Ili 1888 out of 546.889 immigrants 300.792. or 51.9 per cent. were from northern and western Europe and 270. 084. or 46.6 per cent. front southern and eastern Europe. From 1894 to 1901 immigration was under 500.000 a year. but the year 1896 is important. however. in the history of immigration. because in that year. for the first time. southern and eastern Europe furnished more immigrants than northern and western Europe. 195.(.84 coming from the southern and eastern and only 137.522 front northern and western sections of that continent. In the year 1901. out of 478.918 immigrants. the northeri and western European supplied 115.728. or 23.7 per cent of time total. anti the southern aid eastern European 359.297. or 73.6 per cent of the total. Each year from 1896 on. southern and eastern Europe has sest more aliens to us than northern and western Europe. save In 1919. when fewer than 25.000 people came from all Europe. and in .1923. when the 3 per cent law was in effect. In 1902 Immigration went above the 500.000 mark. and in 1907 it reached the highest point in any year. 1.285.549 entering the United States. of which number 979.661. or 76.2 per cent. were from southern and eastern Europe and 227.959. or only 17.7 per cent. from northeen and western Europe. In the years 1905. 1906. 1907. 1910. 1913. and 1914 Immigration was above 1.000.000. and did not drop below 750.000 in any intervening year. The year 1014 saw another highwater mark of Immigration. when the number admitted was 1.218.480. of which 915.007. or 75.1 per cent. were from southern and eastern Europe and only 165.100. or 13.6 per cent. from northern and western Europe. Tie World War reduced immigration from Europe to small numiber.i. The year 1917. however. brought lit 105.399 immigrants from British North America and 42.380 from Mexico. Central and South America. and the West Indies. the high wages and ample supply of work being an attractive stimulant during that period. The year 1920 started a new tide of immigration from Europe. The total immigration that year reached 430.001. with 162.595. or 37.7 per cent. from southern and eastern Europe and 88.773. or 20.7 per cent. from northern and western Europe. with countries of North and South America furnishing nearly all the remainder. The next year. the year 1921. brought 805.228 Immigrants. Including 520.654. or 64.7 per cent. from southern and eastern Europe and 148.445. or 17.8 per cent. from northern and western Europe. America. with her more than 5.000.000 of unemployed in 1921. could not stand this oncoming flood of immigrants. which could only swell the number of unemployed. so the 2 per cent law was passed. going Into effect oil This law. still In effect. applies mainly to Europe. but also covers Africa and northern and western Asia. The oriental countriesChina. Japan." India. Java. and others of southeastern Asiaremained restricted. as they were under previous laws and treaties. Moreover. no numerical limitation was placed on immigration from our sister countries In America. so that foreigners in those countries can be admitted to the United States regardless of the quota. provided they can show they have been residents of one of those American Continent countries for the period of five years previous to application for entry to the United States. Under this new act immigration in 1922 numbered 309..556. with 158.341. or 44.8 per cent. from southern and eastern Europe and 79.842 fron northern and western Europe. The fiscal year 1923 brought in a total of 522.919 immigrants. with 156.879. or 30 per cent. from northern and western Europe and 153.224. or 29 per cent. from southern and eastern Europe. 117.011. or 22.4 per cent. from British America and 82.961. or 15 per cent. from southern American countries. Mexico. Central and South America. and the West Indies. It is almost beyond belief and. I am quite sure. contrary to the general impression throughout the country that more than a half million aliens came through our gates last year seeking shelter in our land and protection under our flag. As a prominent writer in the Saturday Evening Post said some time ago in referring to this vast army of immigrantsIf one years immigrants under existing Immigration laws were to be lined up hi the same way that an Army division lines up on Fifth Avenue. and hustled into the United States in a solid phalanx. they wond be equivalent to more than 27 army divisions and would occupy over 94 hours. or four days and nights. in passing a given point. If a solld army of immigraitis were to be seen marching into this country without i halt for four days and nights. every newspaper in the country would carry the story in the righthand column of its front page. and a cry of protest against the invasion would rise from every corner of tile ]and. It has been urged by those who favor less restriction that this is the great "melting pot" into whichi has been poured for n1 hundred yeats the people of many races and from which has sprung the hardy. redblooded. libertyloving American of whom we love to boast. But those who take this view forget that there is little or no similarity between the clearthinking. selfgoverning stocks that sired the American people and this stream of Irresponsible and broken wreckage that is pouring into the lifeblood of America the social and political diseases of the Old World.