RACE MOVEMENTS 269 



thing as a pure-blooded German or Frenchman. "Norman and. Saxon 

 and Dane are we " of England. Likewise are we Briton and Welsh and 

 Cornish; also Scotchmen, Highland and Lowland, Manxmen, Ulster- 

 men and Irishmen. 



That the crossing of the closely allied European races in America 

 has, of itself, brought no disaster to our republic is a matter of visible 

 observation. That wide crosses necessarily work always for evil is not 

 proved. Apparently the mulatto in America, as a whole, is superior to 

 the pure African negro. And the ultimate fate of the negro race in 

 America is apparently to become mulatto, even though the introduc- 

 tion of white blood is relatively much less frequent now than in the 

 days of slavery. But, in all these matters, we are much in need of 

 scientific, that is, exact and systematized information. 



However, it can be clearly seen that the introduction of black blood 

 has not been a gain to the republic. And we may also admit that much 

 of our later immigration from Europe and Asia has lowered our own 

 average. The original impulse to America was that of escape from 

 paternalism and oppression, two words for the same thing. America 

 was a haven of refuge from senseless tyranny. Immigration thus 

 brought to the new world a wealth of initiative and adaptability, such 

 as no nation ever inherited before. But in later days tins current has 

 changed. Wider opportunity has opened before the common man in the 

 more progressive nations, and the incentive of freedom has been less 

 acute. Moreover, while still " America means opportunity," this is not 

 always to be had for the asking. 



The demands of manufacturers, the operations of steamship com- 

 panies and the possibilities of earning money without economic freedom, 

 and later, the ruinous cost of war are drawing another type of immi- 

 grant from other parts of the world. Among the immigrants of 

 to-day there are some with magnificent personal possibilities, men of the 

 stuff that makes republics. But most of them are not such, and, while 

 their presence adds to our material wealth, they constitute, as a whole, a 

 burden on our democracy. Only a man who can take care of himself 

 and have something left over for the common welfare is a good citizen. 

 It is hard to maintain the principle of equality before the law among 

 people who have never felt and never demanded such equality. 



The claim is sometimes made on an assumed basis of science, that all 

 races of men are biologically equal, and that the differences of capacity 

 which appear are due to opportunity and to education. But opportunity 

 has come to no race as a gift. By effort it has created its own environ- 

 ment. Powerful strains make their own opportunity. The progress of 

 each race has depended on its own inherent qualities. There has been 

 no other leverage. Physical surroundings have played only a minor 

 part. To say that one race as a whole is inferior to another is only to 



