86 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



tute the majority of our immigrants. Owing to improved con- 

 ditions at home, in Germany and Ireland, as well as the Scan- 

 dinavian countries, immigrations from those localities have 

 practically ceased, when viewed alongside the figures of immi- 

 gration from other places. For example, the immigration into 

 the United States for the preceding year was about 1,014,500, 

 while only 86,130 English, 81,714 Germans, 50,488 Irish, 56,910 

 Scandinavians, and 33,105 Scotch, making a total of 303,350 

 in all, came in. Thus, less than one-third of the total immi- 

 gration is composed of the races constituting the earlier im- 

 migration. This, in the opinion of those who have carefully 

 studied the subject, is not likely to change ; except that the pro- 

 portion of the older form of immigration may sink to one- 

 fourth of the total, or perhaps lower. 



This immigration of races with whom we, considered as a 

 people at large, are not acquainted, whose language, history 

 and customs we know but in the slightest, is the problem which 

 we have to face earnestly and seriously. Often one talks of 

 the "ignorant" immigrant and despises him accordingly ; but 

 it is really we who are ignorant, for we do not know them and 

 in most cases do not care to do so. As to mere illiteracy, less 

 than 20 per cent (183,000) do not know how to read and 

 write, out of those landed within the past year. But business 

 men and oftentimes statisticians have come to look upon the 

 immigrant as the barometer of prosperity or panic. As soon 

 as the immigrants depart from America in great numbers, re- 

 turning to their native land, depression in business, failures, 

 strikes, etc., are foretold. Surely if the immigrant knows so 

 keenly the conditions of labor and trade, he cannot be called 

 ignorant, at least not in the contemptuous sense of the word. 



But the point which interests us much is the fact that a 

 very large amount of this immigration is Catholic, perhaps the 

 majority of it. The statistics kept by the United States Immi- 

 gration Bureau do not show the faith professed by newcomers, 

 although the questions asked are so searching as to show age, 

 sex, literacy, amount of money, friends and relatives, trade 

 and occupation, disease and the like. 



The ascertainment of a few additional facts relative to their 

 professed faith would not impose any hardships upon the im- 

 migration officials, and might provide useful statistics. Never- 

 theless, we know, although not accurately, that a very large 



