Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1896 — ALIENS AS PAUPERS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A LIENS AS PAUPERS.

UNWORTHY IMMIGRANTS TO BE BARRED OUT. *M. Arc to Preserve OnV InstitnMmi end Maintain the American Standard of, Wtcei, This Must Be Bane—Foreigners and Crime. A Nation of Immicranta Washlncton ccrrespondence:

THE regtriaritm -as immigration is- a very grave matter that concerns the y Vttitod States sad in Congress at the. ' present time severe IWi al hills are pending Hi upon the question of immigration. S|a Perhaps one of the best posted men in Washington on the subject is Senator t _ Ijodge. chairman of the Immigrntion Committee. T|| Jfl and he has introi ji • dtired a bill in the 1 Senate-, the main

feature of which is an educational teat for immigrants. * The question of regulating and restricting immigration, said Mr. Ix>dge ina went expression on the subject. in one of the gravest which non - confront the country. YVt* are certainly in no present danger of being overcrowded by desirable immigrants, hut we are at this moment overcrowded with undesirable immigrants, and this latter condition is steadily growing worse. The immigration of people of those races which contribute! to the settlement and development of the United States is declining in comparison frith that of the races far removed in thought and speech and blood from the men who have made this country what it Is. Moreover, all immigration from every quarter is showing n tendency toward deterioration, which is by no means grailaal. The last census bulletin shows that

the foreign born citizens, or those of foreign parentage, furnish more penitentiary convicts than are supplied by the entire native born population, which, of qourse, greatly outnumbers the population of foreign birth. In the immigration of late 'years we note also the appearance of secret Societies dangerous to taw and order and hostile to every theory of America n institutions. According to statistics in 1880 the foreign born element constituted one-sev-enth of this country's population and onethird of its paupers. The census of 1800. showed that peopleiif foreign birth made tip 30 per cent of the total white population. ' This oue-third of the population furnished of the criminals; twothirds of the inmates of reformatories and two-thirds of the paupers in almsnouses. Later statistics show that in every 100 foreigners over 10 years of age who came to the I'nifcd States between March and November, 1802, the illiterates were divided as follows: Italy, 00; Poland, 50; Hungary, 28; Russia, proper, 20'; England. 10; Ireland, 8: Wales, 6; Germany, -2; Scandinavian countries and Denmark, less than 1. Of the 440,703 foreigners who came to this country in the year ended June 30, 1803, 57,807 over 10 years of age could not read, 50,5,82 could not write, and 01.038 mild do neither. Senator Lodge pointed to these figures to show that if an educational test had been applied during that year, the large number of the least desirable foreigners would have been from the country. The more any thoughtful man examines the statistics relating ta this question. lie continued, the more he must be . alarmed ;tt shows. The,disease, In my opinion, cannot be treated by gentle palliatives. It will require sharp remedies, and the longer a cure is postponed the more heroic the remedies yrill have to be. 1 believe we need intelligent and discriminating restriction. We must sift the chaff from the wheat. Immigrants should know how to read and write their own language before they are allowed to enter the I'nited State*. This is a fair te.st, based upon intelligence and not upon money. Going back rapidly over the history of Immigration. Senator Lodge said that before IS2O no record was kept, but that probably 250.14*0 immigrants came to the United States between the close of the revolution and that time. From 1820 to 1890, inclusive, the number of immigrants reached 16.497.06*6. The majority of these came from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The quality of immigrants was high until the last few years. In the fiscal year ended June 3ft. 1800. 455,302 immigrants camp to thp United Btates; in the next fiscal year. 500,319: In the next. 5703103, and in the fiscal year ended in 1803 the number was 440.703. There was a decrease in ..io latter year because quarantine regulations during jthe Winter of 1803-04 practically stopped Immigration. The majority of undesirable immigrants were divided for the four years in nationalities as follows: Austria-Hungary. 50,199 In 1890. 71,042 in 1801, 70.037 in '1892, 57,420 in 1893: Russia and Roland. 40,071 in 1890, 74.923 in 1891. 122,047 in 1892. 58,084 in 1893; Italy. 52,003 in 1800. 76,055 in 1891, .01,031 in 1892, 72,145 in 1893. We have now before us race problems which are sufficient to tax to the utmost ♦he fortunate conditions with which natara has hlesspd us and the highest wis, !4om of which dtir pnhUc men a re capable.* Jl do not, for one, desire to see these race problems multiplied or complicated. Ido not want to see the quality of American eitlspnabip decline beneath the effects of •a unrestricted immigration and 1 am

utterly opposed to a system which is continuously dragging down the wages of American labor by the introduction or the importation of the cheapest, lowest and most ignorant labor of other countries. A short time ago a committee examined six ship loads of immigrants from Bremen. Antwerp. Amsterdam, Southampton am! Liverpool and of 1.000 who were over 10 years of age ftitl were illiterate. What becomes of such illiterates is answered by Carroll D. Wright, who says that 77 , per cent.of the imputation of the slums of Baltimore. SH) per cent of the slum imputation of Chicago. 93 per cent of the slum population of New York and s’i per cent of the slum population of Philadelphia are persons of foreign birth or parentage. At present there are three methods proposed to restrict immigration. One is to increase the cost of immigrating by imposing a. tax of from $25 to SSO on each iurmigrant. Another is by consular inspec--theu nlo-oad. liv which only such immigrants as our consuls would approve of ccjttld enter the country. The educational test of Senator Lodge will probably, however, be adopted. They Talk Very Fast. January has been a busy month for the Congressmen who wish to make it appear that they are dojpg their share’of the talking in Congress aiid are anxious t.o have rheir constituents aware of the fact. The circulation of the Congressional Record has jargcly increased from the above cause and thousands of voters have been [ placed on the free H'st. This publication is supposed to contain a faithful representation of all that transpires on the floors of Senate and House, and yet it is a fact that there is not a greater fake in the world than this document which is printed under Government auspices.—- Vo tors who do—not kno w tho means taken by their representatives to get their speeches published have, no idea when they read the columns of printed matter so well punctured with “loud applause” that not more than 200 words of the speech was delivered in the hearing of other members. The way the game is worked is as follows: A member wishes to seen ye some space in the Congressional Record. lie linds an opportunity in a big dboate on some important question which is set for some particular day. Going to the lender of hU sjde of the House ho begs for ten or even three minutes, which is granted, recognized by the spellker, the member proceeds with his speech. Perhaps he may utter COO Words when the gavel falls and his time is up. Under the rules, he is allowed to “revise his remarks" and furnish the same to the Record. When the speech is published it contains several thousand words and the voters take it for granted that the speech was realty made. During a jeeceht debate over the Pingley tariff bill. Mr. Crisp gave three minutes of his time to Howard of Alabama ami when the Congressional Record produced the latter’s speech it was of suflicient length to consume thirty minutes in reading. The next day Mr. Pingley gave a half minute of his time‘to a member from New England and the record showed that 3,000 words had been delivered in the thirty seconds, notwithstanding the necessary interruptions" for “loud applause.”

SENATOR LODGE.