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Commissioner of Immigration. Public opinion is all wrong, or near ly so, upon many phases of the immi gration question. With more than a million immigrants a year we cannot supply the urgent demands for labor. The army of workers adds enormously to the wealth and prosperity of the country. It is not the scum of Europe we are getting, but the pick of the most ear nest and hard-working of its popula tion. As to the morality of the immi grants of today, it seems to me that it compares favorably with that of our native born population. All this is not a matter of mere opinion or sentiment. It is borne out by the actual statistics. Mr. Reeve's figures, it seems to me, in some re spects, understate the facts. He men tions $300 a year as the earning power of these immigrants. As a matter of fact, these men will earn more, on the average, than a dollar a day. I think the figure may safely be in creased by at least 50 per cent. With in a few days Mr. Charles Lorhn, the New York state commissioner of la bor, came to me in search of men I could not supply. He estimated that New York state alone needed 100,000 men, to whom he would pay $25 a month and board on the farms alone. Now, that does not look much like overcrowding or the impossibility of assimilating we hear so much about. Of the million, or, to be exact, the
Newspaper Details
Monroe Weekly Times
Monroe, Wisconsin, US
Thu, Sep 12, 1907
Page 11
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