There is a plan to restrict immigration to the United States temporarily, to give the various nationality groups in this country a chance for assimilation and adjustment. Whether a measure of this kind would really speed the process of assimilation remains an open question for the time being; there are many arguments, pro and con. But in this connection it may be of interest to review the trends of immigration and its composition during the last one hundred years. One of the latest editions of the official Commercial Reports contains an interesting compilation of valuable data on this subject.

From the year 1820 until now, altogether a little over thirty-three million people have come to the New World. More than twenty-nine and one-half million 2came from Europe, almost two million from Canada, and about three quarters of a million from Asia. The United Kingdom contributed the major portion of the number from Europe. But that does not mean that the majority of immigrants were Englishmen. Only 2,434,144 Englishmen came over during the last century to make this country their permanent residence; whereas the number of German immigrants from the Reich or from countries which later became a part of Germany, amounted to 5,494,638--far more than twice as much. This indicates that during the last one hundred years the Germans have contributed much more to the population, settlement, and development of this country than the Anglo-Saxon element, which persists in attempting to be the determining factor on all issues. Even little Ireland sent many more immigrants to the United States than the overpopulated England. Not less than 4,348,759 Irish landed on American shores during the last century. If one considers that the population of Ireland, according to the 1911 census, was only 4,390,219, the number of Irish emigrating to the United States is truly amazing. The fact that 3so many Irish people left their native land points clearly to the tyrannical British rule under which the Irish must have suffered. There was a time when more than half of all immigrants came from Ireland. That was about the middle of the last century, when Ireland was literally starving.

German immigration shows two peaks, the first one at the time of, and in the years immediately after the 1848 revolution, and the second one during the eighties at the time of the socialist persecution. But one must bear in mind that these five and one-half million German immigrants include only those who came from Germany (German Reich) proper. But people of German blood and ancestry came in considerable numbers from other countries, too, from Austria, Hungary, Russia, and some from Switzerland.

Next to Germany and Ireland, Italy contributed the largest number of immigrants. More than four million Italians have settled here during the last hundred years, 4and since 1880 they have come in steadily increasing numbers. Many of them did not stay permanently, but returned to their homeland after a temporary stay in this country, taking their earnings with them. There were more than three million newcomers from Russia, most of them having left their homeland only during the last fifty years. From Asia came 345,008 Chinese and 232,749 Japanese.

During the last twenty years 3,352,047 Italians, 1,551,315 Jews, 1,420,771 Poles, 1,092,720 Germans, 818,509 Scandinavians, 769,774 Englishmen, 658,981 Irish, 480,286 Slovaks, 461,997 Magyars, and 461,786 Croats and Slovenes obtained permission to enter this country. The Germans, according to these figures, took fourth place during this period, too, although emigration from Germany had already fallen off considerably.

A wise immigration policy will accept the lessons contained in the above figures. In view of the economic difficulties prevailing there, immigration from 5Europe will increase rather than decrease during the next few years. On the other hand there are countries to which a heavy immigration would be an advantage. Until now the United States has absorbed the greater portion of immigrants, and without design or discrimination. If immigration is to be restricted in the future, carefully planned measures will have to be adopted. There is plenty of room left in the United States for settlers, and it would be bad policy to refuse admittance to efficient, and steady working power, regardless of the race or nationality which furnished it. Such refusal would simply divert this power to some other country--it would mean our loss, and another country's gain. Besides the United States there are the South American countries, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, which would be interested in immigration from Europe. It will be extremely interesting to watch what kind of measures the governments of these countries will adopt in regards to the immigration problem.