THE IMMIGRANT 81 



have been forced to participate. The Germans, as a matter of 

 fact, looked on politics as a burdensome duty. Many thought 

 abstinence from American politics creditable on account of the 

 questionable character of the methods employed. The one ex- 

 ception is the Norwegian. He is a natural politician. He in- 

 sists on his right to be recognized, and where due recognition is 

 not voluntarily given he organizes to secure it. The most cred- 

 itable feature of the engagement in politics of any of these for- 

 eigners is that they have generally worked for cleaner politics. 

 Although with the exception of the Irish they are generally Re- 

 publicans, they are by no means bound to the party. Exercis- 

 ing their right of independent thinking they make their vote 

 depend on the issues. 



The final criterion of the desirability of the immigrant is his 

 character. The earlier immigrants were noted for their indus- 

 try, economy, and frugality. Upon their arrival in this country 

 they frequently developed an initiative and self-reliance which 

 had previously been entirely unsuspected. Even the Irish, al- 

 though those of them who sought the cities have been denounced 

 severely, have proven very desirable on the farm. Further- 

 more ethnically nearly all of the earlier immigrants belonged 

 to the same Teutonic stock as the natives. The wearing off of the 

 clannishness of the foreigner and the appreciation by the Amer- 

 ican of his sterling qualities was followed by rapid assimila- 

 tion. 



During the greater part of the nineteenth century inadequate 

 transportation facilities prevented a considerable number of im- 

 migrants from southern and eastern Europe from entering the 

 United States. Towards the close of the century, these facilities 

 were improved so as to equal those from northwestern Europe. 

 As a result, a vast number of immigrants from the former sec- 

 tions began to arrive. Simultaneously immigration from north- 

 western Europe decreased both because of the severe strain of 

 the competition with the newer immigration and also because 

 the settling of the United States and the industrial improve- 

 ments of northwestern Europe had eliminated the advantages 

 of the former. The turning point in immigration was about 

 1890. Since that time the bulk of the immigrants have been 

 Jews, Italians, Portuguese, Poles, Bohemians, and Slovaks. 



