78 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



likewise, with tlie quality of our citizenship and the perpetu- 

 ation of our institutions. The character of that great stream 

 of immigration, of which I have just spoken, and its effect 

 upon the industrial and social life of the nation, are of great 

 concern alike to native born and to the immio-rant himself. 

 There has been much foolish talk, by those who appeal to 

 class prejudice, concerning the " ignorant foreigner." Very 

 little has been said, on the other hand, concerning the intel- 

 ligent, the industrious, the patriotic foreigner. Very little 

 acknowledgment has been made of the debt which this 

 country owes to the men who have come from other shores, 

 and who have brought here strength and energy and devo- 

 tion to our institutions. No one can doubt that the stream 

 of new blood which has been poured into our national life 

 has contributed in no small measure to the strength of the 

 American character. Nothing has been more wonderful in 

 the growth of nations than the way in which this alien 

 population has been absorbed and has become a part of the 

 very life of the nation. And no study of American life and 

 of American habits can be complete without reckoning with 

 the influence upon it of those who have come from Great 

 Britain, Germany, Scandinavia and all other countries of the 

 world, to share with us the problems of developing a great 

 continent. In determining this influence one must reckon 

 not only with the inflow of foreign settlers, but also with 

 the outflow. And such an examination shows that certain 

 nations of Europe send us permanent settlers, while others 

 send emigrants whose stay is but temporary, some who 

 become citizens and some who do not. This quality and 

 many others enter when one undertakes to determine the 

 efiect upon the country at large and upon its institutions by 

 the inflow of emigrants from other nations. Whatever one 

 may think of the efl'ect which this or that nationality may 

 impart, it must be evident that America has helped to solve 

 not only her own problems but the problems of European 

 nations as well. How far she may choose in the future to 

 hold open to Europe an unrestricted entrance to her domain 

 and to her citizenship is one of the problems to be seriously, 

 thought out. 



On our western coast the continent of North America 



