West Night High School - Echo Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 30 text:

It will be necessary to enforce more restrictive laws against .the influx of foreigners, in spite of our sympathies with them. We do not object to those coming over here to seek a haven or, as a result, to free themselves fromtpolitical or religious persecution; but we must ever oppose the coming of those who use our native land merely as a place t0 accue mulate a fortune at the expense of our native laborers. The Burnett Bill is expected to be in our Honorable President Wilsonls hands Within a muhth or so for his approval, and, in the eyes of many of our great Citizens, it is indeed more than a necessity that he approve it. A law such as the Dillingham-Burnett Bill would pro- mote the coming Of :1 better class of immigrants to our shores: a class which would in time make good and useful citizens. The restriction of immigration of today is a necessity, and the sooner more safe and same immigration bills are passed and put into operation the better it will be for our country.

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duced into our immigration, no such tribute can be paid; and we find that the Congressional Committee which was sent to investigate the conditions and character of the new immigrant reports as follows: llGenerlely speaking, the class of immigrantc. who are now employed in the coal regions of this country are not such, in the opinions of the committee, as would make desir- able inhabitants in the United States. They are of a lower order of intelligence; and they do not come here to settle permanently and become Citizens, but their whole purpose is to accumulate money by an unhealthy economy and return to their native land. They live here in miserable shacks and eat scant and unwholesome food, with which an Amer- ican laborer would find it difficult to sustain life. Their habits and customs, which tend to affect our social condii tions are to be deplored; they work at such low wages that an American laborer with American customs, demanding American conveniences, cannot compete with them: and also the decrease of our birth rate of pure American stock is due to the influx of foreigners. as the statistics prove. and that this is not a fanciful anxiety or theory is only too readily proved,H Anyone who is desirous of knowing in detail the de- grading effects of this constant influx of the lowest forms of laborer can find a vivid picture on its results in a Very interesting book by Mr. Riis entitled Hlluw the Other Half Lives, The story which he tells of the condition of a large mass of the laboring population in the city of New York is enough to alarm every thinking;r man; and this dreadful con- dition of things is intensified every day by the steady inHuw of immigration, which is cnnstuntly pulling dnwn the wages of the Working people of New York and affecting in :1 similar way the entire labor market of the United States. The present strikes in Colorado and those in Lawrence, Mass. last year would have been practically an impossibility if there were not men tu be gotten at lmv wages at any time desired; and, although it is maintained that the foreigners have introduced into this country the idea of trade immigra- tion and also have so organized as to raise the wage scale, yet their merit was by far outweighed by the detriment. Last year there was introduced in Congress a bill known as the DillinghamABumett immigration Bill. It proposes a literacy test of immigrants sixteen years of age and over, and denies admission to adults who can neither read nor write their, own or the. English language. This bill was recommended by the Ameri'an Federation of Labor, the Farmersl Union and many of the patriotic orders of the United States. This literacy test is not, and will not be, the only one to be put in operation against the coming of the immigrant,

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THE AIM OF THE MODERN SCHOOL. Essay by Alma Rolf. our modern school much that compelc. his attention. The modern school is attempting tn unlve modern problems in education It deals with a come munity having new standards and whose individuals have widely differing histories. The student body of our schools represents many nationalities, and the schools are endeavor ing to make loyal American citizens of these children of foreign parentage. The Standards of this heterogeneous mass of people are varied, and the demanclx' of the com- munity upon the schools must differ widely. The schools represent the ambitions and at the same time the limitations of the community, yet the trend of the common school is always in the same direction : it is endeavoring to keep pace with civilization. Many of the new developments in our present educational System are directly traceable to the fact that the children are not wisely cared for at home and, therefore, need in the school the care which the home should have given. A11 interesting instance of the truth of this is. the. already extensive movement in favor of medical inspection in our SChOOiSV 'For example, the dangers which arisei from the too frequent neglect of childrenE; eyes. investiga- tion shows that many children have failed in their work, not because they were dull, but because they could not see GEE most casual observer of the times must find in