126 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
l:)ecoine apprehensive and has determined 
to more strictly enforce the regulations 
for the restriction of immigration.” 
This is a country of vast territory, and 
its assimilative powers are very great, 
but there should be some limit to the in¬ 
flux of foreigners and the crowding of 
our cities with a population which 
seriously adds to the gravity of problems 
that are pressing more and more for so¬ 
lution. The stream of foreigners is not 
sufliciently distributed. Too few become 
soil tillers and producers. It can be easily 
understood wh}^ this country is so attrac¬ 
tive to the poor of overcrowded Europe, 
and quick and cheap transportation makes 
it comparatively easy for them to seek 
homes. In 1900 there were 10,460,000 
people of foreign birth in this country, 
and over 21,000,000 born of foreign 
parentage. About 35 per cent, of the 
total population is wholly or partially of 
foreign parentage. 
Of the foreign-born population, 94 per 
cent, is resident in the North, and 6 per 
cent, in the South. In 1900 the total 
foreign-born population of Allegheny, 
Pa., was, in round numbers, 30,000; in 
Atlanta, it was 2,500; in Charleston, S. 
C., it was 2,500, and 12,000 in Colum¬ 
bus, Ohio. In Louisville, it was 21,000 
and in Lowell, 40,000; in Memphis, it 
was 5,000, and in Minneapolis, 61,000. 
In Worcester, Mass., it was 37,000; in 
Rochester, N. Y., it was 40,000; in Provi¬ 
dence, R. I., it was 55,000, and 46,000, 
in St. Paul. In New York City there 
were 786,000 persons of German parent- 
age, 715,000 of Irish parentage, 245,000 
of Russian, 218,000 of Italian, 53,000 of 
Polish and 52,000 of Hungarian. A con¬ 
siderable per cent, of the total population 
is German and Irish. 
These, as a rule, make excellent citi¬ 
zens, and become thoroughly imbued with 
x\merican methods and ideals. But there 
are millions of immigrants who are not 
desirable as citizens; and even a large 
inpouring of foreigners who may make 
good citizens is not wholly unobjection¬ 
able. Through immigration and natural 
increase the country is being rapidly filled, 
and. when it becomes crowded, as it will, 
it means a change of conditions—from 
the free and easy methods of living char¬ 
acteristic of Americans, to the close econ¬ 
omy and hard life of the crowded coun¬ 
tries of the old world and labor will be 
cheaper and the cost of living greater.” 
That I am not alone in my position, 
I quote the language of that typical Amer¬ 
ican citizen, Theodore Roosevelt—that 
representative American the descendant 
of the Dutch Founders of Manhattan on 
the one side, and an equally noted South¬ 
ern family on the other; in an address to 
the representatives of Organized Ameri¬ 
can Labor, at the White House, on 
March 21, speaking of immigration, he 
said: 
“You have spoken of the im«iigration 
laws. I believe not merely that all pos¬ 
sible steps should be taken to prevent the 
importation of laborers under any form, 
but I believe further that this country 
ought to make a resolute effort from now 
on to prevent the coming to the country 
of men with a standard of living so low 
that they tend, by entering into unfair 
competition with, to reduce the standard 
of living of our own people. Not one of 
you can go further than I will go in the 
effort steadily to raise the status of the 
American Wage Worker, so long as, 
while doing it, I can retain a clear con¬ 
science and the certainty that I am doing 
what is right. I will do all in my power 
for the laboring men except to do what 
