CHAPTER 24

POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION

REFERENCES.

*_Adams_ and _Sumner_, ch. III.

*_Commons_ and _Andrews_, ch. II, sec. 4.

_Fairchild, H. P._, Immigration. 1913. The standard of living--up or down? A. E. Rev., 6: 9-25. 1916.

_Fetter, F. A._, Population or prosperity. A. E. Rev., 3 (no. 1, supp.): 5-19. 1913. (Presidential address before the American Economic Association, 1912, much of which is incorporated with chap. 24 in the text.)

_Goldenweiser, E. A._, Walker's theory of immigration. Am. J. Soc, 18: 342-351. 1912-1913.

_Hall, P. F._, The recent history of immigration and immigration restriction. J. P. E., 21: 735-751. 1913.

*_Hamilton_, Readings, 384-386, 392-395.

_Husband, W. W._, The significance of emigration. A. E. Rev., 2 (no. 1, supp.): 79-85. 1912. Round table discussion of above, 86-88.

_Jenks, J. W._, and _Lauck, W. J._, The immigration problem. 1912.

_Lauck, W. J._, The vanishing American wage-earner. Atlan. Mo., 110: 691-696. 1912.

*_Materials_, 146-156.

_Mayo-Smith, Richmond_, Statistics and economics. 1899. Bk. I, ch. V.

_Mayo-Smith, Richmond_, Statistics and sociology. 1895. Bk. I, chs. V-VII.

_Millis, H. A._, Some economic aspects of Japanese immigration. A. E. Rev., 5: 787-804. 1915.

_Page, T. W._, The distribution of immigrants in the United States before 1870. J. P. E., 20: 676-694. 1912.

_Page, T. W._, Some economic aspects of immigration before 1870. Ibid., 20: 1011-1028; 21: 34-55. 1912, 1913.

_Roberts, Peter_, The new immigration. 1912.

_Ross, E. A._, The old world in the new. 1914.

*_Source Book_, 187-198. (Extract from Jenks and Lauck.)

_Warne, F. J._, The tide of immigration. 1916.

QUESTIONS.

1. Tabulate and chart the changes that have taken place in our immigration in regard to (1) amount, (2) character. What problems are presented by these facts? Stat. Abst.

2. Explain the terms "the new immigration" and "the old immigration," and give the important statistical facts regarding them.

3. Show the application of the doctrine of population to the present problem of immigration and wages in America.

4. Do the figures on immigration show anything as to the need of legislation restricting immigration?

5. What has been the effect of the recent immigration into the United States upon the use of machinery?

6. Apply the theory of wages to explain the effect of present immigration on the wages of unskilled or slightly skilled workers.

7. If the supply of labor of any class were to be decreased ten per cent., would wages rise in like proportion?

8. Is immigration now adding to the general welfare in the United States? State the facts and general economic principles on which you base your answer.

9. If there is an immigration of half a million workers annually into a country for a period of ten years--during which no new natural resources are made available, would wages in that country be affected? If so, of what classes of workers? What would be the effect on the amount of income received by land owners?

10. Explain how the general principles of price-determination hold in the determination of wages. Show how these principles apply when there is extensive employment of southern and eastern Europeans. (See Source Book.)

11. If in a given labor market the number of laborers increases while the number and technical efficiency of indirect agents remains unchanged, what change, if any, will result in the average rate of wages? What change, if any, will there be in the return to the indirect agents?

12. Is common, unskilled labor "scarce" (in any reasonable sense of the word) in China? in the United States?