le that a
reading test as a qualification for voting should be required of all. On
the brighter side of the political phase, it is asserted that it was the
foreign element of the East Side in New York that made possible the
election of a reform candidate in a recent election, and that this
element can be relied upon for reform and independent voting quite as
much as the American society element, which is frequently too
indifferent to vote at all. There is too much truth in this. At the same
time, one who is familiar with the discussions at the People's Forum in
Cooper Institute, New York, or similar meeting places of the foreign
element in other large cities, knows how essentially un-American are the
point of view and the theories most advocated.

_IV. The Religious Problem_

[Sidenote: Effects upon Religious Conditions]

What is the effect of immigration upon the religious life of the
country? This is an exceedingly difficult matter upon which to
generalize. There is no doubt that great changes have taken place in the
religious views and practices of the people, but how far these can be
attributed to foreign influence is something upon which agreement will
be rare and judgment difficult. It will be instructive, first of all, to
study this table, which gives the results of questions asked the
immigrants in 1900 concerning their religious connections. This was the
last inquiry of the kind officially made, and will indicate what
religious elements in immigration must be taken into consideration:

RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF THE IMMIGRATION FOR 1900

-------------------------------------------------------
|Total
| | Protestants
Countries | | | Roman Catholics
| | | |Greek Catholics
-------------------------------------------------------
Austria-Hungary|64,835 | 5,009 | 39,694| 7,699
Belgium | 1,728 | 94 | 967| 2
Denmark | 3,253 | 2,629 | 44| --
France | 4,902 | 165 | 1,736| 3
German Empire |25,904 |10,258 | 6,758| 18
Greece | 2,450 | 14 | 14| 2,350
Italy |79,664 | 50 | 78,306| 26
Netherlands | 1,994 | 839 | 190| --
Norway | 7,113 | 6,674 | 2| --
Portugal | 2,269 | 2 | 2,056| --
Roumania | 1,655 | 160 | 60| 31
Russian Empire | | | |
and Fi