ILLUSTRATIONS
| The sinew and bone of all the nations ([page 63]) | [Frontispiece] |
| Rough work and low wages for the immigrant | [64] |
| The ungroomed mother of the East Side | [72] |
| A fresh infusion of pioneer blood | [108] |
INTRODUCTION
Three main questions may be asked with reference to immigration—
First: A question of principle: Have we any right to regulate immigration?
Second: A question of fact: What is the nature of our present immigration?
Third: A question of interpretation: Is immigration good for us?
The difficulty with the first question is to get its existence recognized. In a matter that has such obvious material aspects as the immigration problem the abstract principles involved are likely to be overlooked. But as there can be no sound conclusions without a foundation in underlying principles, this discussion must begin by seeking an answer to the ethical question involved.
The second question is not easy to answer for the reason that men are always poor judges of their contemporaries, especially of those whose interests appear to clash with their own. We suffer here, too, from a bewildering multiplicity of testimony. Every sort of expert whose specialty in any way touches the immigrant has diagnosed the subject according to the formulæ of his own special science—and our doctors disagree! One is forced to give up the luxury of a second-hand opinion on this subject, and to attempt a little investigation of one’s own, checking off the dicta of the specialists as well as an amateur may.