THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1909. EMIGRATION TO AMERICA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3098, 22 January 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1909. EMIGRATION TO AMERICA.

The annual report of Mr Straus, U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Labour, contains some interesting information concerning the flow of population to America. For the past fiscal year the immigration returns, including all alien arrivals, amount to only 924,001), as compared with, 1,438,000 during the preceding twelve months. This decrease is attributed to the panic, which caused the number of departing aliens to rise from 431,000 in 1807 to 714,000 in 1008. Estimates are given, for the first time, of the net annual increase of the alien population, based upon the tables of alien departures now available. It is less 'than might have been imagined. Perhaps this explains to some extent the fact that, in spite of the sver-increasing immigration, the ratio of the foreign to the native-bom population remained at about 13 to y(3 from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of

the century. From lha executive point of view the Government has been mainly occupied during the last year in the prevention of the violation of the iaw that forbids the entry of labourers under contract—a law, it may be noticed, almost directly opposite to the one which obtains in Canada. In one respect, Mr Straus points out, the law is S stili inadequate. It allows States j and Territories to advertise for ! labour abroad, but this, according | to a recent ruling of the Attorney- j General, does not mean that they j may tempt individuals by a specific promise of employment. Pending j alteration of the lav/ in the direction j of greater clearness, Mr Straus . states that he thinks that the abovementioned ruling should be widely circulated in Europe. He also protests against the continued arrival of emigrants who are tempted to America mainly by the hope of finding an El Dorado. On the general subject of Oriental immigration, the report expressed satisfaction. Thanks to the co-operation of the Japanese Government, unlawful Japanese coolie immigration has well-nigh ended. Practically all the coolies who entered were those who had already acquired domicile or proprietary rights in the United States. The emigration of aliens. 1 Mr Straus thinks, is on the increase, owing to better facilities for travel.