The Character of Our Immigration 



I have spoken to high-school gather- 

 ings and teachers, and have been utterly 

 amazed at the lack of knowledge of geog- 

 raphy, and especially of racial geog- 

 raphy, which is manifested throughout 

 the United States. 



If it is true that each incoming racial 

 element leaves its indelible imprint on 

 the character of the people of the United 

 States, and that our national character 

 has been built up from the diverse races 

 that have come here, it would seem to 

 be unquestioned that our educational 

 methods should include the study of 

 racial geography to equip students who 

 are being turned out of our colleges with 

 a knowledge of the races that are an- 

 nually coming into the American life, 

 and especially with their economic, 

 moral, and social effect on the commu- 

 nity. The National Geographic Society 

 can well initiate this work by agitating 

 for a more comprehensive and scientific 

 study of racial geography in our various 

 institutions of learning in the United 

 States. 



The Romans and the Greeks regarded 

 all strangers as barbarians. Most sav- 

 age tribes have no word to differentiate 

 between these two terms. 



This feeling, inherited through the 

 ages, is at the bottom responsible for 

 unthinking opposition to immigration, 

 and unfortunately comes often from 

 those who were themselves aliens but a 

 short time before. As the proselyte be- 

 comes the most rabid opponent of his 

 former religion, so the recently natural- 

 zed foreigner is often the loudest in his 

 demands to close the doors to others. 



Migration and the tendency of races 

 to move from one place to another have 

 been the strongest instincts in human 

 nature. The counter-instinct, equally 

 strong, of self-preservation has made the 

 opposition of the resident races always 

 to be considered. As the Greeks and 

 Romans considered a stranger a bar- 

 barian and an enemy, so did the first 

 colonial settlers of the United States re- 



gard later comers as a danger to them. 

 As early as 1765, as told by Edward 

 Bggleston, William Penn expressed him- 

 self as being apprehensive of the coming 

 of the Pennsylvania Dutch to his colony. 

 In 18 19 and 1820, although the migra- 

 tion of that period was very small, the 

 municipal authorities of New York ex- 

 pressed apprehension as to the effect on 

 the public institutions of the 10,000 or 

 12,000 immigrants, the total number of 

 the arrivals at that period. 



In 1850 the Know-nothing movement 

 was the direct result of the exodus of 

 the Irish and Germans to the United 

 States, which had begun in the 40' s. 



The discussion of the Kansas and 

 other border states land acts in the 40' s 

 and 50' s, concerning the question as to 

 whether the aliens should have the 

 privilege of occupying these lands on 

 the same terms as the natives, brought 

 forth expressions of opinion from Clay, 

 Calhoun, and Seward, which were gen- 

 erally expressions of fear as to the eco- 

 nomic effect on the United States of the 

 introduction of these aliens. 



Washington, Madison, and Jefferson, 

 in the early life of the Republic, gave 

 the question some attention, and were 

 in turn either openly opposed to or 

 doubtful as to the effect of the intro- 

 duction of alien races. 



The Civil War and the immediate 

 response of the alien residents of the 

 United States in enlisting to enter the 

 armies of the North stopped emigration 

 discussion for twenty years. 



WHAT WILL BE THE EFFECT OF OUR 

 UNCHECKED IMMIGRATION 



During all the years that immigra- 

 tion inspection has been in progress no 

 steps have been taken to scientifically 

 ascertain the real danger or value to the 

 United States of the immigrant forces 

 coming to this country. The investi- 

 gations of the Bureau of Labor have 

 shown that the economic dangers that 

 were feared in the early 50' s have not 



