Page:Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the state of New York.djvu/30

16 where government does not interfere with him, where no class privileges exist, and where, from the day of his landing, he stands on a footing of absolute equality with the natives. Thus we find that, in this respect also, moral as well as physical causes control emigration. The first are as powerful, if not more powerful than the latter. In the United States, both are at work in attracting emigrants, and hence why there is a larger European immigration to this country than to any other on the face of the globe.

The secret of the unparalleled growth, and of the daily increasing power of the United States, is that the Government, in its practical working, is confined to the narrowest limits, that it is the agent, not the master of the people, and that the latter initiate all changes in its political and social life. And similarly, it is the condition of the success of a colony or a settlement that the immigrant relies on his own strength, acts on his own responsibility, and seeks by his own efforts the prosperity which he is sure to find, if undisturbed. All mistakes which he may make, all errors of judgment which he may commit, are of no consequence, if his self-relying spirit is not interfered with. In spite of obstacles and disappointments, he will make his way, and ultimately attain his object. After abandoning the laws, the traditions, and the family ties of his old home, he does not wish to be unduly restrained in his aspirations, or owe responsibility to any one except himself. He will willingly undergo all the hardships and danger incidental to settlement in a new country, provided he finds a free government and no improper interference with his self-adopted mode of life. A colonist, in brief, must be his own master, in order fully to develop his mental and physical resources, and to become a useful agent in building up a free commonwealth.

All modern colonies which were inaugurated by governments have failed; self-government, in the broadest sense, is the power which sustains colonies and instils into them life and independ ence. In the history of colonization, the Teutonic races represent the principle of self-government, which leads to the success of the immigrant, while the Latin nations represent that of state dependence and protection, which inevitably results in failure. Look at the Spanish republics, from Mexico down to Peru; at