Practical Argumentation Part 16

b. 788,992 immigrants arrived in 1882.

c. 1,026,499 immigrants arrived in 1905. (Report of Commissioner-General of Immigration, 1905. page 42.)

2. Two-thirds of the total number of immigrants in 1902 settled in the cities. (Editorial in Outlook, Vol. LXXI, page 154.)

3. These congested districts foster unsanitary conditions, physical degeneration, and crime. (Deputy Clerk of Children's Court, New York City, North American Review, Vol. CLXXIX, page 731.)

4. Charitable organizations are unable to cope with the problems in congested districts, for

a. The number of immigrants is increasing too rapidly.

(Report of Commissioner-General of Immigration, 1905.)

C. The present immigration is politically harmful, for

1. Immigrants of the kind that are now coming in do not make good citizens, because

a. They are indifferent to civic manners, for

1'. They cannot appreciate the spirit of American government, as has previously been shown.

b. They are easily influenced in all political affairs by pecuniary persuasion, for

1'. Their sole object in this country is to acquire wealth. (Prescott F. Hall, Secretary of the Immigration Restriction League, Annals of American Academy, Vol. XXIV, page 172.)

D. The number of immigrants is too great to be a.s.similated properly, since

1. Most of the immigrants are extremely clannish, for

a. "Little Italies," "Little Hungaries," and "Ghettos,"

exist in great numbers and size throughout the United States. (Henry Rood, Forum, Vol. XIV, page 114.)

2. Most of the immigrants never try to learn the English language, for

a. They have no need for it, since

1'. They seldom come in contact with English-speaking people. (Ibid.)

3. Their tendency is not to become citizens, for

a. Thirty-one per cent. of the immigrants return home after having been here a few years. (Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, 1905.)

b. Those who remain cannot for the most part appreciate our government, for

1'. They have been continually trodden upon in their home countries.

2'. They have had no opportunity to interest themselves in government. (N. S. Shaler, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. LXXI, page 646.)

4. The argument that because we were able to a.s.similate the immigrants in the past we shall be able to do so in the future, is unsound, for

a. The character of the present immigrants has changed, as shown previously.

b. In the future we may expect a much larger immigration.

(Prescott F. Hall, Annals of American Academy, Vol.

XXIV, page 172.)

E. Immigrants lower the standards of American labor, because

1. They create harmful compet.i.tion, since

a. More immigrants are coming now than we really need, for

I'. In 1906 at least 200,000 aliens came here who were of no use whatever. (Commissioner of Immigration for New York, Popular Science Monthly, Vol. LXVI, page 175.)

b. They work for lower wages than do Americans, for

1'. They are able to live more cheaply. (Henry Rood, Ibid.)

2'. They place a lower value on their labor. (T. V.

Powderly, North American Review, Vol. CXLVII, page 165.)

2. They tend to destroy the independence of the American laborer, for

a. They work under conditions that no American laborer will tolerate, for

1'. They create degrading forms of employment. (W. H.

Wilkins, Nineteenth Century, Vol. x.x.x, page 588.)

b. Their selfish desires keep them from organizing with American laborers for protection.

II. The educational test would accomplish the further restriction of immigration in a proper manner, for

A. It would change the character of the immigrants for the better, since

1. It would keep out the unenergetic races of southern and eastern Europe, because

a. Ninety-three per cent, of illiterates come from southern and eastern Europe. (International Encyclopaedia, under Immigration.)

2. It would decrease the amount of pauperism, for

a. The southern Italians, who are the most illiterate, produce the most pauperism. (Ibid.)

3. It would raise the standard of morality, since

a. Ignorance is closely coupled with immorality, for

1'. The southern Italians have a very low standard of living in the United States. (Henry Rood, Forum, Vol. XIV, page 116.)

b. The educational test would exclude such people.