Excerpt from Special Report on Immigration: Accompanying Information for Immigrants Relative to the Prices and Rentals of Land, the Staple Products, Facilities of Access to Market, Cost of Farm Stock, Kind of Labor in Demand in the Western and Southern States, Etc;, Etc;, To Which Are Appended Tabl
Immediately previous to and during the late war the decline was marked, descending to 123,120 in 1858, and 121,282 in 1859, and to less than 92,000 in the years 1861 and 1862. After the termination of the war, however, immigration resumed its former magnitude, reaching from 249,061 in 1865 to 395,922 in 1869. In the year 1870, just closed, the arrivals during the last two quarters of the year have been diminished by the war in Europe, the whole immigration being but 378,796. To this should be added about 10,000, the estimated number who came across the Canadian frontier, either directly from the British provinces, or through them from Europe.
During the entire period from 1820 to 1870, the increase of each year over the one immediately preceding, if uniform, would average about 13 per cent. The aggregate number of immigrants who arrived between October, 1,1819, and December 31,1870, is 7,553,865; and if the 250,000 estimated as arriving previous to the first-named date be included, the total number of aliens who have been permanently added to our population by direct immigration since the formation of the Government will reach 7,803,865.
The difficulty of determining the pecuniary or material value of the foreign population who come yearly to this country is not inconsiderable, as no data are accessible by which it can be accurately ascertained. Indeed, the very attempt to do so may appear derogatory to the dignity of human nature. To regard a man merely as an automatic machine, computing his productive power, minus his running expenses, places a low estimate on a being made in the image of his Maker, and seems an insult alike to the Creator and the created. The muscular power of the laborer may be measured, but where is the meter that can mark the activity of his brain or indicate his moral force?
In making an intelligent estimate of the addition to the material wealth of the country by immigration, several distinct conditions should be regarded. The character of the immigrants as industrious and law-abiding citizens, their nationalities, education, and previous condition, as well as their occupations and ages, are elements to be considered when determining their value.
As regards nationality, more than one-half of those who have thus far arrived in the United States are British, and come from the United Kingdom, or from the British possessions of North America. These speak our language, and a large part are acquainted with our laws and institutions, and are soon assimilated with and absorbed into our body-politic.
The German element comes next, and embraces nearly two-thirds of the remainder, being at once an industrious and an intelligent people, a large proportion settling in rural districts and developing the agricultural resources of the West and South, while the remainder, consisting largely of artisans and skilled workmen, find profitable employment in the cities and manufacturing towns.
The influx of Scandinavians, who have already made extensive settlements in the Northwestern States, constitutes a distinctive feature of the movement, and though but a few years since it received its first impetus, is already large and rapidly increasing. Industrious, economical, and temperate, their advent should be especially welcomed.
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