BUBBLE, BUBBLE!

At last some of the less lovely ingredients in this melting pot of nations have made their presence felt to such an extent that the newspapers bring up the question of the immigration laws, and the carrying-out thereof. The pot itself is being looked into, and the curious are wondering how some of the things in it got there. The answer seems to be laxness due to over-hurriedness in examination, and a great deal of smuggling. It is stated that ninety-five per cent of those admitted either temporarily or under bond in the past have forfeited their bonds and stayed here. Last year, when there was an extra large flow of immigration, the medical examinations numbered approximately eight to the minute. It is small wonder that the most undesirable specimens got by. During 1922 in the neighborhood of 10,000 immigrants were smuggled in. When it is remembered that barely half of the people in the United States belong to the prevailing national stock, the situation begins to seem difficult.

A time must come when the pot shall be taken off the fire for a time, and the scum skimmed from the surface. By means of the three-percent Bill of 1921, the quantity of immigrants was limited, but the result has been to increase the number slipping in over the borders of Canada and Mexico, or slipping past the officials. It is a biological fallacy that we can assimilate indefinitely the vast numbers of immigrants of a different race which are continually pouring into the United States. When the nationalities of the immigrants corresponded to those already here, and when the country had infinite facilities for increase in population, the task was simple. The type of immigrant has changed, however, and the cities are becoming filled with a dangerous class of foreigner, the producer of crime waves and bomb plots. With these things in view, the sieve-like quality shown by our border and port officials is at least deplorable. The brew in the melting pot, once looked upon with such pride and called democracy, needs little more seasoning to change its nature entirely.