public merely as an immigrant of the United 

 States. Eliciting information on his native 

 state is a matter of curiosity rather than of 

 revelant bearing, and not a great deal of atten- 

 tion has been given to ascertaining what states 

 are the principal contributors to Canada's popu- 

 lation, nor is it realized what interest such a 

 survey holds or what an economic value it might 

 contain. Such a contemplation is replete with 

 food for speculation and deduction and abound- 

 ing in matter which may be in the nature of a 

 surprise to those not closely acquainted with 

 immigration matters. 



Michigan sent most Emigrants 



How many people, for instance, even after 

 lengthy cogitation, could determine what state 

 of the Union sent most emigrants to Canada in 

 the year 1920? The only rough points which 

 would appear to aid in a basis of estimation are 

 proximity to the border and the primary and 

 preponderate importance of agriculture as a 

 pursuit. Yet bearing these points in mind, how 

 many would say Michigan ? For, in the year 

 1920, this state led in the quota of the United 

 States human contribution to Canada with a 

 total of 7,583 persons. 



This conclusion perhaps follows more or less 

 along the lines of logical reasoning, but not a man 

 in a thousand would give the second place in the 

 list to the state of New York. It is a popular 

 creed that a New Yorker is always a New Yorker, 

 that the huge metropolis attracts but never dis- 

 charges, the whirling existence and bright lights 

 creating a microcosm which suffices to the 

 exclusion of the rest of the globe. Yet this city 

 and the territory of the state throbbing round it 

 was second in contributing citizens to Canada, 

 donating a total of 4,068. 



Residents of the Pacific coast State of 

 Washington are proud of their climate and the 

 wonderful producing quality of their soil, yet last 

 year 4,055 of them found something of greater 

 interest in Canada and crossed the border to 

 make new homes. 



Every other farmer one encounters in the 

 Canadian west seems to have come from a farm 

 in Minnesota or the Dakotas, and most people 

 would have guessed Minnesota as possibly 

 holding a higher place than fourth in the list, 

 with 3,092 persons. However, it is safe to say 

 that practically every one of them was an 

 experienced farmer when he came and by this 

 time has added still more experience along the 

 same line. 



Massachusetts in Fifth Place 



One would scarcely be inclined to place 

 Massachusetts high among the contributors of 

 emigrants, yet the state which has produced so 

 many eminent literary men achieved fifth place, 

 with 3,820 persons contributed. One naturally 

 wonders what trades or professions they followed. 



Northern Montana and Southern Alberta, 

 up to a time not very long ago, constituted one 

 extensive unbroken sweep of range land, and the 

 horses and cattle from each country crossed and 

 recrossed continually without much bothering 

 whose nation's grass they were pasturing on. 

 To some degree the same indefiniteness of 

 boundary exists between the two countries 

 to-day when the range is largely parcelled into 

 farms, and it is but natural that there should be 

 a considerable flow from the older state to the 

 newer province. Montana in 1920 gave 2,780 

 new citizens to Canada, the majority without 

 doubt being ranchers and farmers. 



The trek from North Dakota which brought 

 2,390 persons to the Canadian west in 1920 is 

 explained on the same reasoning as the trend 

 from Montana and Minnesota, whilst the some- 

 what more remote agricultural area of Illinois, 

 with whose farmers Canada has steadily and 

 consistently been favored, made a slightly lower 

 presentation of 2,203 new citizens. 



Maine, which as a result of the Ashburton 

 Treaty juts into Canada to such an extent that 

 travellers on Canadian railroads to the Atlantic 

 seaboard pass over a large portion of its area, 

 might, from the constant mingling of the two 

 peoples, be expected to consign permanently to 

 the Dominion a larger share than the 1,351 

 which came in 1920, giving the state the ninth 

 place among contributors. 



Ohio and Iowa 



Ohio and Iowa farmers are to be found in 

 some numbers throughout the Canadian western 

 provinces where many have attained a height of 

 prosperity farming on their new holdings, and 

 in 1920 these two states were represented by 

 additional contributions of 1,229 and 1,189 

 respectively. Close behind Iowa was the mining 

 state of Pennsylvania with 1,183 workers lost to 

 Canada's gain. 



It would appear to be a general rule, though 

 with several exceptions, that emigration dwindles 

 in numbers with distance from the international 

 border. Idaho, which is next in order, gave 1,055 

 new citizens to Canada, to be closely followed by 

 New Hampshire with 1 ,029. The only remaining 

 state contributing above the 1,000 mark is 

 Wisconsin, which, from its proximity to the line 

 and its agricultural fame, we should have 

 expected to see with a larger quota than 1,026. 



The border line between Washington and 

 Oregon accounts for a vast difference between 

 the former's generous contribution and the 

 latter's 926. One is generally left with the 

 impression that none would willingly leave the 

 balm and sunshine of California, yet, in 1920, 

 924 did so to come to Canada. 



The little state of Rhode Island sent no less 

 than 691 of its inhabitants to the Dominion; 

 agriculturally famed Nebraska donated little less 

 with 625; and practically the same number, 612, 



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