Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/249

 Emigration and Immigration: A Study in Social Science. By Richmond Mayo Smith. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

The question of imposing restrictions on immigration is at the present time of considerable interest to many countries of the world. It has passed from the cool and serene calm of academic discussion into the heated and stormy agitations of practical controversy; and it is, therefore, opportune that at this juncture Professor Richmond Smith should present in the volume before usa treatment of the whole subject which, although written chiefly froin an American standpoint, aims at being thorough and philosophical. The matter may be regarded from the point of vie;v of the country from which the emigrants start, or from that of the country to which the immigrants go; and the conflict of interests, which must in the nature of things arise from the relations in which the two countries find themselves placed, has only been brought into greater prominence with the progress of time. In any event such a conflict lnust exist; and the new form which emigration and ilnmigration have taken has shifted the position of the two parties, without altering the character of the relations between them. If the departure of the elnigrant is for the advantage of the country he quits, his 'arrival can scarcely be beneficial to the country to which he finds his way; and, if his arrival there is advantageous, the country froin which he has come can hardly fail to have sustained injury and loss. Mr. Slnith shows, in his sixth chapter, that there are different standards by which the economic value of an immigrant may be lleasured. The amount of money which the immigrants bring to America is, he thinks, counterbalanced by the remittances which they send back honle, taken in connection with the fact that they do not raise, but rather lower, the average wealth per head, adding to the cost of the social or,anlsatlon and not to the property, which is to bear the expense, in propol'ion. Their value as men, on the other hand, is not accurately measured by the cost of their rearing and education, which may differ from their character and capacity. Nor, again, is it correctly estimated as equal to that of a slave, who may be considered an absolute investment of capital, though both these standards are sometimes adopted. But the true measurement is, he argues, to be found in the excess of their future wages over the expenses of their rearing. And then he question arises whether the immigrants are of real use to the country to which they go, and Mr. Smith contends that this depends essentially on the classes to which they belong. It is here that the dilemma stated above is presented. In former times, when emigration was not assisted, as, Mr. Smith argues, it is now, by local authorities or charitable societies, or friends, or even the agents of steamship companies, the influences which produced it were natural; and the result ensued that some of the most energetic and thrifty, who were willing to engage in hazardous ventures, aId had saved the means to enable them to do so, left the countries of the old world, and went in search of wealth and