820 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



That many owners of large holdings are considering the advisability 

 of dividing their acreage into small farms is the information that 

 comes to the division, and it regards this movement as in the right 

 direction and calculated, if carried out, to result favorably to the 

 settler whether citizen or alien as well as the country at large. 



Such results as have accrued in the way of distribution are trace- 

 able to a genuine demand for laborers in the agricultural sections. 

 Employers were not only ready to co-operate with the Division 

 to the extent of submitting applications, but were willing in many 

 instances to advance transportation. The Division is satisfied that, 

 apart from ignorance of our language on the part of a large number 

 of immigrants, and the want of transportation money, the principal 

 drawback is the lack of understanding on the part of newcomers 

 regarding our agricultural resources, methods of farming, and advan- 

 tages to be derived away from the crowded cities. It was with a full 

 realization of the need for distribution that Congress created the 

 Division of Information, and its importance, now that prosperity 

 will swell the tide of immigration, is augmented. Success in large 

 measure can only come by slow growth and experience gained through 

 persistent effort. All things considered, the Division has, so far, 

 performed its work well. The good it has done outweighs the criti- 

 cisms, many of them made in ignorance of facts, and the benefits 

 conferred on employer and employee entitle it to consideration and 

 support. 



6) THE IMMIGRANT'S WELCOME' 



BY SAMUEL GOMPERS 



In the South prevalent sentiment doubts the desirableness of 

 the immigrants now arriving in America, though two or three of the 

 states have taken up with "distribution." In Louisiana, the New 

 Orleans press for the last few months has been giving much space 

 to the new immigration station, the plans for which have been 

 approved by the authorities at Washington. A Louisiana immigration 

 and development league has been proposed, but it was announced 

 by the New Orleans States that it would "probably not take shape 

 until the Hamburg-American Steamship line definitely announced 

 its purpose to come to New Orleans." To the New York Observer 



Adapted from "Schemes to Distribute Immigrants," Senate Document 

 No. 21, 63d Cong., ist sess., pp. 12-13. Reprinted from American Federalionist, 

 July, 19x1. 



