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?