gressively smaller with the passing of the next few decades; that at some not distant date, if the population continues to increase as in the past, diminishing per capita income and wealth will be the rule.

TABLE C.-Population of the United States by places of birth.

The foundations of this Republic were laid by northwestern Europeans. They have constituted the preponderance of our immigration taken as a whole and, up to the last part of the nineteenth century, the major portion of the yearly influx. Table C shows that 14.4 per cent of the total population in 1870 were foreign born. The majority of these were northwestern Europeans, who composed 12.5 per cent of the total population. Southern and eastern Europeans were unimportant in numbers. This relationship has not persisted with the passing decades. In 1910 the per cent of our total population which was foreign born was about the same as in 1870, but northwestern Europeans constituted only half of the foreign born. If for a few more decades the sources of immigration should remain the same as in the pre-war years, this rapid change in the proportion would continue. Table D shows that more than 2,400,000 immigrants were admitted during the two years ending June 30, 1914. Of these, 15 per cent were northwestern Europeans.

TABLE D.-Sources of immigration into the United States.

A large number of the early im

This change is significant in many ways. migrants settled upon the land and were easily assimilated. The newcomers, attracted by the high wages of our great industrial centers, settle in the city in race communities, where racial customs, language, and traditions are partly retained.

Important social consequences are often inferred from the trend of birth rates in the United States. In some of the older communities it has been found that after two or three generations in America a stock does little more than reproduce itself. Among the foreign born, birth rates are much higher.

If this divergence should persist, the texture of our population could be changed in a few generations. America now maintains the highest standard of living of any great country. Accompanying and as a part of a high standard of living is a low birth rate and a low death rate. The countries from which a large part of present immigration comes have high birth rates and high death rates.

It has been a popular belief that much emigration from Europe to America has been inspired by a desire to escape persecution, religious or political. This may have been true in the main with respect to the earliest colonists. But the economic_motive has always been an important one and is increasingly so to-day. Incomes are as yet much higher in the United States than in most parts of the rest of the world, as Table E shows. It is in those countries in which income levels are the lowest that the greatest pressure for emigration exists. There are those who would accept on idealistic grounds all immigrants whose economic conditions America promises to improve. Theoretically overcrowding should be relieved by such emigration, but generally the relief is brief. Birth rates rise, death rates fall, the gaps are filled without delay.

TABLE E.-Per capita income in various countries, July, 1919.

These and other economic and sociological considerations have influenced recent legislation. For many years treaties and gentlemen's agreements have limited immigration from oriental countries. In connection with immigration in general, Congress was long committed to the policy of restricting the inflow of aliens by a literacy tests. But the Presidents were never convinced that this was appropriate restriction. As early as 1897 President Cleveland vetoed a general immigration bill that proposed to exclude those over 16 years of age who could not read or write. Presidents Taft and Wilson both vetoed analogous bills.

As the figures in Table D indicate, the years just previous to the outbreak of the World War saw the tide of immigration at the flood. With the embroilment of Europe the flow was temporarily checked. In preparation for postwar eventualities, a selective immigration measure was passed by both Houses of Congress in February, 1917, and became a law. The literacy test imposed by this bill merely required that the immigrant be able to read 30 to 40 words in ordinary use in any language or dialect which he might choose. The opponents of this type of legislation have always maintained that the literacy test was not a good basis of restriction. They said that it might exclude some desirables while admitting many undesirables.

The large inflow of aliens in 1921 and the expectation that the future yearly inflow would be still larger brought new legislation. On May 19, 1921, a measure became law which erected a quantitative limitation. During the year ending June 30, 1922, only 3 per cent of the number of foreign-born persons of any nationality present in the United States in 1910 were to be allowed to enter. However, the law enumerates certain exceptions; the 3 per cent limitation does not apply to persons who just prior to their admission have resided for a length of time in one of the countries of the Western Hemisphere. In addition there still remain in effect the literacy, health, and character barriers of previous legislation. Oriental immigration is governed by the treaties and acts heretofore in force. By the enactment of last May the 3 per cent annual limitation is to be applied for two more years.

Table F shows the quotas eligible for admission under th's legislation. The total yearly quota of 350,000 is about a third the size of the maximum yearly inflow of pre-war years from the countries affected. Moreover, owing to the fact that northwest Europe will probably not exhaust its quota, the total yearly influx will no doubt be measurably below the allowable figure. Peoples actually gaining admittance from some parts of the world will be small in proportion to the number desiring to come.

TABLE F.-Number of immigrants admissible under the 3 per cent limitation act.

Those who stand for restriction of immigration have always to contend with two points of view which have considerable support. There are those who oppose restriction on idealistic grounds. The United States, they say, has always sheltered the unfortunate of other lands; population should be allowed to find its level without artificial interference. Then there are those who oppose restriction on economic grounds. The United States, they say, can only prosper with a cheap labor supply; when labor becomes Americanized, it loses its cheapness; the immigrant must supply the demand for cheap labor.

Because of these various attitudes of mind, sober public reflection concerning a national immigration policy is essential; thoughtful leadership is indispensable. The immigration problem is plainly only a facet of the broader problem of population, and about population as a keystone is constructed the arch of civilization. The total contributions of the United States to civilization and its ultimate significance in history may be much influenced by the outcome of the national immigration policy now in the making.

Connecticut Federation of Labor, letter from___.

366

Copeland, Hon. Royal S., quotation from an address by.
Coyne, W. J.:

540

Amendment proposed by-

547

East Hood River National Farm Loan Association, protest from_.

574

Enrollment and Americanization of aliens, suggested form of bill to pro-
vide for

568