The negro problem is, from our present outlook, insoluble. The most laudable of present efforts, that for industrial train ing, represented by Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes and the work of Booker T. Washington, leaves the dire fact of two races side by side and yet unassimilated socially, politi cally, and, in large measure, economically—a situation that involves the undemocratic principle of caste distinctions. Segregation in a separate state, or separate states, a thorough going plan that has been proposed, is practically impossible. The disappearance of all color and race prejudice in respect to marriage, accompanied by miscegenation, or the complete merging of the negro with the white population, as has oc curred in some countries, is the ideal of some radical negro leaders, but is so repellent to the thought of white Americans that it cannot be looked upon as a solution. Yet the fact of the continual admixture of white and negro strains, occurring first mainly in the lower social strata of the two groups and through illegitimate relations, cannot be ignored. As a con sequence of this there is occurring a slow infiltration of the negro strain into the white population, by the process known among the negroes as "going over to white," which will go far toward race admixture in a thousand years, a period brief in the history of nations.
Finally, there is the conceivable, but improbable, event of the decrease and extinction of the negroes in America. Their absolute number still continues to increase, but their relative number has declined since It seems probable that if European immigration were to be stopped a very large migration of negroes from the South to the North and the West would occur to take places hitherto filled by unskilled immigrant workers. In the year 1915, following the check to immigration as a result of the European war, a very marked movement of this kind set in, and continued until about 1920. If this occurred on a large scale it might result in actually reducing the negro population in some portions of the South; and as the "rate of natural increase" of the negroes in the North is a negative quantity, it might cause the total negro population of the country to begin absolutely decreasing. The census of 1920 showed the remarkable fact that the decen nial increase of the negro population had been but 6 per cent, as compared with more than 11 per cent in the preceding dec ade (the lowest up to that time).
§ 4. Favorable economic aspects of earlier immigration. By the "immigration problem" is meant primarily and mainly See Vol. I, p. 430, figure 58, showing the fall in the decennial rate of increase of negroes compared with whites; and see comment in ac companying note.
the complex of evils, economic, political, and social, caused by the present inflow of immigrants. Regarding this we are not confined to futile expressions of regret, as in the last ease. We can by legislation limit or stop their coming, if we will. The first question to answer is, whether their coming really is an evil or, on the whole, a blessing to the country.
The historic American attitude toward immigration has been highly favorable to it. The early settlers on these coasts were led by various motives, some political, some religious, but far the largest part economic—the motive of bettering their worldly condition. Land was plentiful, and all men of any
capacity could easily become landowners. An inflow of la borers was favorable to the interests of all the influential elements of the population, especially to landowners and ac tive business men. Increase of numbers, favoring division of labor and the economies of production in manufacturing, and reducing the dangers from Indians and from foreign enemies, seemed an unmixed blessing. Many of the new comers soon became landowners and employers, and in turn favored a continuance of the movement. Thus was hastened the peopling of the wilderness. The interest of these classes harmonized to a certain point with the public interest ; but likewise it was in some respects in conflict with the abiding welfare of the whole nation. It led to the fateful introduc tion of slavery from Africa, and it encouraged much inferior immigration from Europe, the heritage of which survives in defective and vicious strains of humanity, some of them notori ous, such as those designated as the Jukes, the Kallikak family, and the tribe of Ishmael.
§ 5. Employers' gains from immigration. The immigra tion from Europe has furnished an ever-changing group of workers, moderating the rate of wages that employers other wise would have had to pay. The continual influx of cheap labor aided in imparting values to all industrial opportuni ties. A large part of these gains have been in trade, in manu factures, and in real estate as the cities have taken and re tained an ever-growing share of the immigrants. Successive waves of immigration, composed of different races, have ever been ready to fill the ranks of the unskilled workers at wages • somewhat lower than the current American rate.
The lower enterprisers' costs that resulted from immigra tion surely did not accrue to the advantage of the employers alone. Bearing in mind the fact that the employing-enter priser is a middleman,* we may see that the lower costs must, in most cases, be passed on to the consumers in the form of lower prices of products. And often the consumer, as the employer of domestic service at lower rates than otherwise would be possible, gets this advantage directly. This in creases the number of those whose self-interest, at least when narrowly judged, leads them to favor the policy of unre stricted immigration. This sentiment in favor of immigration is still potent, though perhaps less general than it once was. The continuous inflow of immigrants has in many industries come to be looked upon as an indispensable part of the labor supply. Conditions of trade, methods of manufacturing, prices, profits, and the capital value of the enterprises have become adjusted to the fact. Hence results one of those il lusions cherished by men whenever they identify their own profits with the public welfare. Without immigration, it is said, "the supply of labor would not be equal to the de mand." It would not at the wages prevailing. But supply and demand have reference to a certain price. At a higher wage the amount of labor offered and the amount demanded would come to an equality. This would temporarily curtail profits, and other prices would, after readjustment, be in a different ratio to wages.