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Show j The Flood of Immigration. THE labor organizations which are petitioning congress to apply an educational test to immigrants will be all the more urgent in their petitioning pe-titioning when they learn of the present pres-ent unexampled inflow of foreigners. Hard times at home or" the reports of easy times in -this country are precipitating, preci-pitating, the needy of Europe upon the shores of America. This is a flattering but. in some respects a dangerous tribute to the existing prosperity of the United States. Most of the men who are now arriving come because they have heard from relatives or friends who have been a little while In the country that it is easier to earn a living here than It is in the fatherland. father-land. , Many come to escape military service. serv-ice. European governments are willing, to let women and old men go. but they dislike to see the young men leave. The Italian government has sent an army officer here to investigate the immigration immigra-tion from Italy to the United States. He can find the causes at home. They are high taxes, low wages and compulsory compul-sory military service. There have arrived at the port of New York during the first four months of this year 178,604 immigrants. This is an excess of more than 30,000 over the same period in any previous year. A lariye proportion of the newcomers are from southern Italy and eastern Europe. The percentage of illiteracy is high. So is that of unskilled labor. Fifty years ago unskilled laborers, whether they were literate or illiterate, were not always given a hearty welcome. wel-come. First the native Americans and then the knownothings short-sighted and illiberal organizations took the ground that the immigrants were going to overrun and take possession of the country. The new labor, skilled or unskilled, un-skilled, were sorely needed for the de-vlopmnt de-vlopmnt of th country. Canals had to b dug and railroads bulit, mins opened, forests cut down and fields tilled. It is a question how long the United States will be able to provide employment for unskilled labor if it shall continue to pour in at the present rate. The labor leaders have their doubts. They fear that the untrained labor will begin to compete sharply with trained labor and force down its compensation. Whenever there are hard times in the United States immigration is checked. A few of the later comers may be able to return to their old homes, but the majority remain here and swell the ranks of the unemployed. No doubt if it were not for the ener- I getic opposition of the labor unions to reductions in the wage scale, even in the hardest times, the wage scale would be pulled down more than they are by the competition, when the demand de-mand for labor has fallen off, of unskilled un-skilled with skilled labor; - Last year 438.S86 immigrants landed at New York. The number this year bids fair to be over half a million. Perhaps Per-haps at this moment something can be found for all of them to do, but what will happen if the wheels of industry should revolve more slowly? |