of different grades, some are
educated and well-to-do, but the masses are poor, and the most recent
immigrants have low ideals of living. Few of those who come settle in
the country districts; the large majority herd in the city tenements
and engage in small trades and manufacturing. Jewish masters are
unmerciful as sweaters, unprincipled as landlords, and disreputable as
white slavers, but no man rises above limitations that others have set
for him like the Jew, and with ambition, ability, and persistence the
race is pushing its way to the front. The young people are eager for
an education, and are often among the keenest pupils in their classes.
Later they make their mark in the professions as well as in business.
The Jew has found a new Canaan in the West.

234. =The Lesser Peoples.=--Besides these great groups that constitute
the bulk of the incoming millions, there are representatives from all
the nations and tribes of Europe. All parts of Great Britain have sent
their people, and from Canada so many have come as almost to
impoverish certain sections. French-Canadians are numerous in the mill
cities of New England. From the Netherlands there has always been a
small contingent. Portugal has sent islanders from the Azores and Cape
Verde. The Finns are here, the Lithuanians from Russia, the Magyars
from Hungary. The Greeks are pouring in from their sunny hills and
valleys; they rival the Italians in the fruit trade, and monopolize
the bootblack industry in certain cities. With the twentieth century
have come the Turks and their Asiatic subjects, the Syrians and the
Armenians. All these peoples have race peculiarities, prejudices, and
superstitions. Most of their members belong in the lower grades of
society and their coming is a distinct danger to the nation's future.
There can be no question, of course, that individuals among them
possess ability and even talent, and that certain groups like those
from Great Britain and the Netherlands are exceptions to the general
rule, but there is a strong conviction among social workers and
students that those who are here should be assimilated before many
more arrive. Definite measures are advocated by which it is expected
that the government or private agencies may be able to make over these
latest aliens into reputable, useful American citizens.

235. =Public Attitude toward Immigration.=--Although interest in
national and immigrant welfare is far less keen than it well might