78 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



friends or relatives in certain localities. Industrious land agents 

 were always portraying the splendid advantages of the sections 

 in which they were interested. The building of the railways 

 facilitated immigration both by providing better markets and 

 also by familiarizing laborers with the conditions in the unset- 

 tled sections. Sometimes events which ought to be condemned 

 had fortunate results. During the canal mania Illinois became 

 virtually bankrupt. As a result it paid its Irish laborers with 

 so-called canal scrip. The only thing for which this was ac- 

 ceptable was land. Consequently a number of the Irish invested 

 in land and became permanent settlers. 



The presence of the Negro in the South caused the foreigners 

 to avoid that section. It is only in recent years that the in- 

 creasing demand for labor in order that the South may develop 

 its resources has met with any distinct response. Of those that 

 are testing the possible opportunities there the Swedes, Germans, 

 and Irish are foremost. The exhaustion of the public demesne 

 forces the immigrants into such new channels. Thus the neg- 

 lected and abandoned lands of the Middle Atlantic and New Eng- 

 land states are now being put into cultivation. Among those 

 who utilize this opportunity the Irish, Swedes, Finns, Norwe- 

 gians, Dutch, Germans and Poles are the leaders. 



The success of these settlers has depended largely on the type 

 of settlement formed. The joint stock company proved a failure 

 in promoting settling. Money-making and colonization would 

 not go together. Communistic enterprises also proved ephem- 

 eral. More promising were the religious, philanthropic, and 

 national enterprises, especially when they were provided with 

 ample funds. In the case of the Irish, the Catholic church tried 

 to promote colonization. A priest was the first sent so as to 

 secure effective religious services. The Germans tried to direct 

 their emigrants to definite sections so that they might be Ger- 

 manized. In case the expectation that the United States would 

 break up had been realized those settlements would then have 

 become independent states. The chief of these attempts cen- 

 tered in Wisconsin and Texas. All of these attempts failed, 

 principally on account of mismanagement. Nor was it advis- 

 able in the earliest period for an immigrant to start out alone. 

 Great suffering frequently resulted. The best plan was for the 



