OCR Text |
Show ALIENS RETURN HOME. Thousands of aliens are leaving the United States for their native lands, New York customs officials placing the number of emigrants since December at 33,000. Since the signing of the armistice arm-istice Italians, Greeks, Spaniards and Portuguese have been pouring out of the country in increasing multitudes. Since the first of last November it is announced that more than 76,000 passports pass-ports have been visecd at the port of Xew York alone. Practically all these aliens have been engaged in war industry work in the United States and have earned large sums. Few of them are leaving the country with less than $1000, and many have sums ranging from $3000 to $10,-000. $10,-000. Since April 2, when all outgoing passengers wero forced to pay their income in-come taxes beforo leaving, nearly $70,-000 $70,-000 has been collected at the New York customs house. In their native lands these aliens, enriched by their labor in the United States, will be enabled to live in greater ease than they ever enjoyed en-joyed before. The tide of emigration shows no indications in-dications of diminishing. With the probability that congress will limit immigration im-migration for a given period of years, this outflow of labor promises to have an important bearing on the industrial situation. The United States may face a serious labor shortage, rather than a condition of unemployment. It is reasonably rea-sonably certain that more rigid laws bearing on immigration will be passed in the near future. It is altogether likely that the aliens who are leaving America with bulging purses will be the last of their kind. Their fellow-foreigners, fellow-foreigners, if they are fortunato enough to get. here at all, will find tho period of inflated wages to have ended with the ending of the war. |