70 



The Journal of Heredity 



our new Immigration Act, the war has 

 suppHed them. This law is our only 

 breakwater against the advancing tide 

 of immigration which, unless all signs 

 fail, is likely to be both increased in 

 quantity and lowered in quality. The 

 new law has not yet stood the test of 

 a large immigration. Everything should 

 be done to secure its efifective adminis- 

 tration. Its rigid enforcement would 

 unquestionably result in an improve- 

 ment in the mental and physical quali- 

 ties of our immigrants even if it wa'^ 

 not designed to, and cannot, greatly 

 reduce their numbers. 



The almost certain prospect of a 

 greatly increased immigration closely 

 following the ending of the war, the 

 manifest injustice of exposing our re- 

 turning soldiers and sailors to compe- 

 tition with the low-priced labor of 

 Europe and of Western Asia, and the 

 conviction that our present immigration 

 law is qualitatively selective rather than 

 numerically restrictive have naturally 

 resulted in a widespread demand foi 

 immediate further legislation. The Im- 

 migration Committee of the House or 

 Representatives has reported a bill 

 (H. R. 15302. Union Calendar No. 359; 

 Report No. 1015) suspending immi- 



gration for four years with many ex- 

 ceptions in the cases of certain profes- 

 sional classes ; the near relations of 

 aliens now in or citizens of the United 

 States ; aliens from Canada, Newfound- 

 land, Cuba and Mexico ; aliens who are 

 refugees because of various kinds of 

 persecution, and of aliens - admitted 

 temporarily under regulations to be pre- 

 scribed by the Commissioner General 

 of Immigration with the approval of the 

 Secretary of Labor. - - - 



The general economic aspect of the 

 immigration problem does not concern 

 the Committee on Immigration of the 

 American Genetic Association. This 

 committee therefore does not feel called 

 upon to express any opinion as to the 

 merits, or otherwise, of the pending 

 bill. It is, however, convinced that a 

 reduction in the numbers of our immi- 

 grants does simplify and render more 

 effective the task of inspection, and 

 therefore leads to the administration 

 of fewer mentally and physically de- 

 fective aliens. From that point of view, 

 therefore, a considerable restriction, or 

 a temporary suspension, of alien immi- 

 gration would have highly desirable 

 eugenic results. 



Push the Button and Find a Pig 



A Litchfield (Conn.) county agent 

 originated an interesting plan for an 

 agricultural survey. If you want to 

 locate a supply of seed corn or oats, a 

 grain binder, a pure-bred bull, or some 

 young pigs in any community in five 

 counties in this State, all you have to do 

 is to walk into the office of the state 

 librarian at Hartford, Conn., run a 

 series of cards through an electric sort- 

 ing machine, and, presto ! you have the 

 information. It may sound a little like 

 the story of Aladdin's lamp, but it is 

 only big business applied to farm affairs 

 under war stress. The Council of De- 

 fense took up this plan and offered to 

 back the farm bureaus to the limit in 

 every county in the State. Five of the 

 eight counties began surveys early in 

 March, 1918. Forty questions, under 



the headings of area, crops harvested 

 in 1917, crops planned to be harvested 

 in 1918, live stock on hand, machinery 

 on hand, and employes were included 

 in the survey, and a corps of volunteer 

 farmer census enumerators got busy. 

 When the survey was completed the 

 farm bureaus had a stack of cards con- 

 taining minute information as to the 

 resources and needs of every farm. An 

 electric sorting machine was installed 

 in the state library, and any fact dis- 

 closed by the survey can be made avail- 

 able by throwing on an electric switch. 

 The survey has been invaluable in help- 

 ing Connecticut to mobilize her agri- 

 cultural forces for war needs. — Weekly 

 Nezvs Letter, U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 

 ture. 



