IMMIGRATION AND CRISES.

This article analyzes the relationship between immigration and industrial depressions in the U.S. One aspect of the matter is perfectly obvious and has been thoroughly recognized for a long time, namely, that the volume of the immigration current is regulated by the industrial prosperity of this country. A period of good times brings with it a large volume of immigration, while hard times reduce the current to a minimum. Imports per capita are taken as the best indication of prosperity in this country, and the curve which represents this factor is shown to be almost exactly similar to the one representing the number of immigrants per 10,000 population. Another fact is that a period of depression in this country is followed by a large exodus of aliens. The popular interpretation of this fact is that this emigration movement serves to mitigate the evils of the crisis by removing a large part of the surplus laborers, until returning prosperity creates a demand for them again. The Italian, who displays the greatest mobility in this regard, has been called the safety valve of the labor market. Thus the movements of the alien population are supposed to be an alleviating force as regards crises.