Impending Labor Problems [pp. 217-222]

220 frnpendin~ Labor Problems. [Feb
Irish, Germans, English, and Italians. The labor unions may require that
A race war will be precipitated involving foreign labor shall not be employed,
not the black and yellow varieties, but just as they now require that non-union
the Germanic, Celtic, and Latin. This men shall not be employed. Political
government will be declared not only a parties may demand that they shall not
white man's government, but an Ameri- have offices under the Government
can's government; the rights of the na- Crusades may be started against foreign
tive born will be discussed the argument ideas and customs. They may be atused in the controversy between pro tacked for allegiance to a foreign powtection and free trade will be extended er (the Pope), or for opposition t9
to the importation of people as well. the public schools. They may be de The most obvious measures to effect prived of saloon privileges. In addition
this exclusion will be to make the ad- to requiring longer residence for citizenvantages of immigration less inviting. ship, and educational tests for voting,
Hitherto we have sought immigrants, our people may exclude them from cerand held out inducements for them to tain franchises, especially till they have
come. We have sent agencies abroad attained full citizenship. Their lanto drum them up. People who had lands guage may be discriminated against,
to sell or cities to build wanted pur- their parochial schools may be placed
chasers or customers; railroads wanted under supervision. In short, there is no
settlers along their lines; mine-own- end of the annoyances to which they
ers and manufacturers wanted work- may, justly or unjustly, be put by the
men; capitalists wanted tenants; fami- native element; and all in the name of
lies wanted servants; there was in gen- the interests of our own citizens. When
eral a demand for men and the result it is to the interest of, Americans to
was a policy to induce immigration. exclude foreigners they will do so, and
To check immigration we may have will find many arguments for it based
not only to withdraw the inducements on seeming morality, as well as reason
hitherto offered, but even to place oh- The crusade will even be deemed holy,
stacles in the way. Harder conditions and declared to be in the name of our
of naturalization and fewer privileges to children and for the sake of our country
the naturalized may be favored. It may and humanity.
even be thought necessary to limit the A last means of solving the labor
number that may enter our ports. The problem is to limit the increase of our -
same policy, in short, that has been native population. The question of the
adopted against the Chinese may be surplus population has long been familiar
adopted against the Europeans. The to political economists. Men, like aniarguments are nearly the same for the mals, may breed too fast for their own
exclusion of both, except that the evil interest. A country may become too
resulting from European immigration full of inhabitants for its resources.
is much the greater. The Asiatics The lower classes, who have little exwho came to America were few, and pense, and allow their children early to
had no perceptible influence on the shift for themselves,increase faster than
country at large. It is the European others, and the crude rear faster than
influx that deranges the demand for the refined. The negroes are more prolabor and affects prices. The fact that lific than the whites, the Irish than the
they are of the same race with us does English or French, and the Poles than
not mitigate the competition that keeps the Germans. The result is that the
our laborers poor. Our equals may be lowest forms of men in civilization are
competitors as well as our inferiors. propagating for the whole species, while