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Show Howe, Is Bonneville Club Guest 33 3 8 Immigration Theme of His Talk Commissioner of Port of New York Discusses Problem Prob-lem cf Assimilation. WHY does the United States want immigration? Merely to supply sup-ply cheap labor or to build up American stock? This is the great question confronting confront-ing the nation today, and upon its answer an-swer depends the solution of the immigration immi-gration problem of the United States, according to Dr. Frederick C. Howe, United States commissioner of immigration immigra-tion at the port of New York, who was the principal speaker at the annual ladies' la-dies' night banquet of the Bonneville club held in the ballroom of the Hotel Utah last nipht. Dr. Howe declared that if the United States wants immigration merely to furnish fur-nish cheap labor it will get that sort of immigrants, but if it wants immigrants immi-grants to make Americans of them it must find a way to bring the immigrants immi-grants and the land together. It is the call of the land that brings the foreigner foreign-er to this country, he declared, and the solution to the immigration proDlem lies in making the land available to the immigrant, im-migrant, i Land Ownership Is Solution. "Bring the immigrant to the land: let Mother Earth assimilate him and make an American of him, " is the sug-' sug-' gestion of Dr. Howe. Jr the land is not made available for the immigrant, if he is not made an owner and tiller of the soil, then he turns to the cities anrj there arises an immigration problem, prob-lem, a labor problem and a social problem, prob-lem, he declared. The solution he offers of-fers is opening the land to the immigrant. immi-grant. Dr. Howe- chose as his subject "Standing "Stand-ing at the Gates of Ellis Island " and entertained his listeners with a most profound and interesting social, economical eco-nomical and psychological study of the immigration question. In addition to Dr. Howe, there was another guest of honor, in the person of Allen D. Albert, former president of the International Association of Rotary Clubs, who addressed ad-dressed the club members and their wives briefly along the same line as Dr. Howe. Ladies' Night at Club. Last night's banquet was one of the occasions when the wives of the club members were invited guests, and more than 400 were seated at the tables laid in the ballroom. A splendid menu was served. While it was being discussed music was rendered by a string orchestra orches-tra and vocal selections were given by the Salt Lake Opera auartette Willard Andelin and Mrs. Marjorie Dodge Warner. War-ner. President A. N. McKay introduced W. W. Ray, United States" attorney for this district, as the toastmaster of the , evening, and Mr. Ray, in happy vein. : welcomed the ladies to the banquet and. introduced the speaker of the evening, referring to the present crisis with Germany Ger-many and the great problem of immigration immi-gration that confronts the country. He declared that if this nation is not prepared pre-pared to defend itself against a foreign foe it is due to one of two reasons j either the sins of peace or to the in- j flow of the wrong sort of immigration through the gates of Ellis island. "America is everything or nothing," he declared, "and every American would rather die than be dictated to ! by some foreign prince. " Likens Himself to Porter. Dr. Howe said he had been likened by some of his friends to a modern St. Peter standing at the gates of a modern Paradise-America, opening the gates to some and closing them against others, but he declared that, in fact, he was a sort of official porter around Ellis island, opening the gates to some immigrants immi-grants and closing them to others. The speaker declared that there are throe vital questions pertaining to immigration im-migration why does the alien comet where does he come from? and where does he go? In discussing his subject, he gave answers to these questions. "Tradition has it that the first immigrants im-migrants to this country came here because be-cause of religious persecution at home,,, said the speaker. "We have sort of como to take that as the reason because our history has been written by New Englanders and they have given that idea. A handful probably came here for that reason, but the vast majority of immigrants to this country came, and still Rre coming, because of economic reasons. It was the poor and oppressed in other countries who came and are coming. Tho rich stay where they are. Many so-called criminals were dumped upon this country in the past bT 7a-rope. 7a-rope. What became of themt Mother Earth absorbed them. Land Lures, Speaker Says. "The cnuee for immigration is the lure of the land of opportunity, of wealth. It was that that brought the early immigrants, and it is that which brings the later immigrants. Where the peoplo own their land in their native country there is little emigration. That is why we find comparatively few French immigrants here. And there are not so many Irish now that the land is made more available for them in their own country. The alien comes here because of economic conditions in his native country which he does not like, and he comes hero seeking economic eco-nomic conditions to his liking. That is tho impelling spirit that brings him to our shores. And it is interesting to note that many of the immigrants are 'grub staked' on their journey from their homo land to this countrv by immigrants who have been here or a time. In fact, most of the Immigrants coming now are of this class. Tho opportunity for freedom, the chance to own a piece of land, own a homo, to send their children to school and to get back to the land is what awakens Europe first of all. Problem of Assimilation. "It is not so much what the immigrants immi-grants are when they reach this country coun-try as what they are after they have been heTO a while. That is the problem. prob-lem. Tho question has been asked if the ponth oi Europe immigrant can be as easily assimilated as can the immigrants immi-grants from north Europe. I Rm not prepared to answer that. Some who have tried the experiment say they can. if given tile proper chance and attention. atten-tion. "The fart rem flirts that the all of the lacd is the call that appeals to the DR. F R E D ER I C K C. ! HOWE, commissioner of immigration at New York, who addressed the Bonneville club last night. I i i Si' f i alien, whether from north or from south Europe, and our immigration cornea from the countries of land monopoly. monop-oly. They come hero looking for land, and it is our problem to see that they find the land.'' 1 Dr. Howe pointed out that of recent immigration SO per cent stops east of the Mississippi, and, instead of going to the land, goes into the industrial cities, which, he says, are now three-quarters three-quarters foreign stock. This, he pointed point-ed out, is causing an industrial problem, prob-lem, is responsible for the protest of organized labor against immigration. Cheap Labor or Good Stock? This raises' tho question of what immigration im-migration is for, he said, whether for cheap labor or for the making of new American stock. Dr. Howe contended that the aim of immigration was toward the latter end, but he was forced to admit ad-mit that there was too much tendency to bring it here for the former purpose. He declared that the government is not making the land properly available for the alien, not properly protecting him and nurturing him to produce the American. Amer-ican. He pointed out that educational facilities were not proper; that, instead of the night school, where the tired alien learns nothing because he is too tired to learn, he should be given the advantage and - teaching of the day school. "There are lands in this great country coun-try for millions of people, rich lands, fertile with opportunity and with wealth, and the problem is to bring the people to these lands and to make them owners and tillers of these lands. The immigration problem is to open up the earth, the land, to the people." Would Open Up Land. Dr. Howe suggested that one method of opening up the land to the immigrant and to the native is the land taxing plan in use in California, where a tax is placed upon land held by monopolistic monopolis-tic ownership to such an extent as to force it open to individual ownership and use. He also spoke approvingly of the land colony scheme in UBe in California, Cali-fornia, where the land is opened to the settler on long and easy payments and where he is protected from promotion schemes and given an opportunity to become productive and self-supporting. In relation to what trend the tide of immigration may take after the close of the world war, Dr. Howe said that millions might go back to the European countries which wero planning to break the land monopolies which drove their citizens out, and he said we may expect ex-pect no immigration from France, Germany Ger-many and likely not from England. But the flow of immigraticm he anticipated would come from Italy, Poland, Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and other south Europe countries. Cites Slump in Immigration. Dt. Howe declared that from a standpoint stand-point of immigration this country is now short 3,000,000 persons and that the shortage of that class of immigration immigra-tion making house servants was alarming. alarm-ing. He suggested that it was a problem prob-lem for serious consideration by women's wom-en's clubs, because it might have a great social effect upon this nation if ft reached a point where it would drive families from homos into apartments and to hotels and might even reach the point of affecting the birth rate by reason rea-son of the fact that wives forced to do their own work would be guided thereby there-by in the bearing of children. "The speaker declared that immigration immigra-tion had been westward from the earliest days of history, and he thought it waa the greatest epoch in history when immigration im-migration westward ended at the Pacific Pa-cific coast. Outlook Not Hopeless. Mr. Albert, following the line discussed dis-cussed by Dt. Howe, declared that the outlook was not hopeless; that the future fu-ture was not a case of America making srood, but the people of America making mak-ing good on Amoncan principles. That there is too much tendency to speak ideals with the lips and not enough to act them in deeds, he felt. He sjjoko of the remarkable devotion to American ideals and principles demonstrated by the mass meeting in the tabernacle the night before and declared that one note which might have been emphasized a little more there is the principle that men do not develop in isolation, but bv contact. The ideal of human svm-pnthy svm-pnthy is the fire in the crucible that will refine the alien into the true American, he declared. |