DISTRUST OF THE IMMIGRANT. 231 



the numerous magazine and newspaper articles on immigration. Time 

 and again we read protests against the 'horde of illiterates/ or the 

 'scum of Europe/ or the 'pauper invasion' which is 'swarming into 

 our country.' The articles are usually the feverish output of some 

 enthusiastic patriot who has not come in close contact with the immi- 

 grant for any extended length of time, and whose remarks are mis- 

 leading, though eloquent and readable. 



That the writers are as inaccurate as they are intemperate may 

 be seen from a consideration of one of the most frequent errors into 

 which they fall, confusion of race with nativity. For example, ob- 

 serve how they use the term 'Eussian.' We receive a great many 

 immigrants, good and bad, from Russia, but very few Eussians. So- 

 called Eussian immigration is composed (exclusive of real Eussians, 

 who form so small a part that they can scarcely be considered a factor) 

 of five distinct races: Hebrews, Poles, Germans, Lithuanians and 

 Finns. The same is true in almost as great a degree of 'Huns.' The 

 immigrants from Austria-Hungary are commonly called Huns; but, 

 while the race line can not be so unerringly drawn as in the case of 

 Eussia, the term does not apply racially to the majority of the immi- 

 grants. The bulk of the immigration from Austria-Hungary is made 

 up of Hebrews, Slovaks, Poles, Croatians, Magyars (the real Huns) 

 and Germans. This confusion of race and nativity is due to the fact 

 that the statisticians of the past took no cognizance of race, but 

 recorded simply the nativity of the immigrant. Writers in using 

 these statistics jumped at the conclusion that all immigrants born in 

 Eussia were Eussians, and all born in Hungary were Huns. For 

 the past few years, however, immigrants passing through the Barge 

 Office, or Ellis Island, have been classified according to race as well 

 as nativity. The statistics thus compiled have a scientific value. 



If we examine the cause of an American citizen's distrust of the 

 immigrant we find that it varies according to the citizen's point of 

 view. The mechanic fears cheap competition, resulting in low wages; 

 the stirpiculturist, noting the poor physique and low mental caliber 

 of some of the immigrants, fears race degeneration; the reformer, or 

 political purist, increase of crime or pauperism and the influence of 

 a mass of ignorant voters controlled by unscrupulous political bosses; 

 and the law-abiding citizen fears from the immigrant, not only the 

 germ of bodily disease, but the germ of anarchy and also favorable 

 media for its growth. 



The great majority of male immigrants are not mechanics, but 

 unskilled laborers. If they possess the qualifications that the early 

 immigrants established as the prime requisites of a desirable immigrant 

 rugged physique and willingness to work and if there is a demand 



