Immigration: Face of America HTY-110

thoroughly merged into the population, and the old sources have contributed a compara- tively small part, of the recent immigrant tide. Consequently the Commission paid but little attention to the foreign-born element of the old immigrant class and directed its efforts almost entirely to an inquiry relative to the general status of the newer immigrants as resi- dents of the United States.

In pursuance of this policy the Commission began its study of the subject in the countries of Europe which are the chief sources of the new immigration, and followed the emigration movement to ports of embarkation, across the ocean in the steerage, and finally to every part of the United States and into practically every line of activity in which the new immigrants were to be found.

The general plan and scope of the Commission’s work are briefly stated in the pages following…

Conclusions

While it has been no part of the work of the Commission to enforce the provisions of the immigration laws, it has been thought best to furnish from time to time to the proper authorities such information acquired in the course of the investigation as could further good administration and the enforcement of the law. City, state, and federal officials have officially recognized such assistance in their attempts to control the so-called ‘‘white slave traffic,’’ in the proper regulation of the immigrant societies and homes, in securing evi- dence and penal certificates to accomplish the deportation of criminals, and in the admin- istration of the Chinese-exclusion act. In some instances such information has led to local reorganization of the immigrant service. While mention is made of this matter the real work of the Commission has consisted in the collection and preparation of new material, largely statistical in nature, which might form a basis on which to frame legislation. A very condensed summary of the results on some of the principal questions investigated follows.

Sources of Immigration and Character of Immigrants

From 1820 to June 30, 1910, 27,918,992 immigrants were admitted to the United States. Of this number 92.3 per cent came from European countries, which countries are the source of about 93.7 per cent of the present immigration movement. From 1820 to 1883 more than 95 per cent of the total immigration from Europe originated in the United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. In what follows the movement from these countries will be referred to as the ‘‘old immigration.’’ Following 1883 there was a rapid change in the ethnical character of European immigration, and in recent years more than 70 per cent of the movement has originated in southern and eastern Europe. The change geographically, however, has been somewhat greater than the change in the racial character of the immigration, this being due very largely to the number of Germans who have come from Austria-Hungary and Russia. The movement from southern and eastern Europe will be referred to as the ‘‘new immigration.’’ In a single generation Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia have succeeded the United Kingdom and Germany as the chief sources of immigration. In fact, each of the three countries first named furnished more immigrants to the United States in 1907 than came in the same year from the United Kingdom, Germany, Scan- dinavia, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland combined.

The old immigration movement in recent years has rapidly declined, both numerically and relatively, and under present conditions there are no indications that it will materially increase. The new immigration movement is very large, and there are few, if any, indications of its natural abatement. The new immigration, coming in such large numbers, has provoked a widespread feeling of apprehension as to its effect on the economic and social welfare of

Immigration

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EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 5/17/2015 2:55 AM via SAINT LEO UNIV AN: 280845 ; Kalaitzidis, Akis, Felsen, David, Cieslik, Thomas.; Immigration : A Documentary and Reference Guide Account: stleocol