Their women
made the domestics, and many of them still rule the American kitchen.
But the Irish men have moved up, into bosses and contractors, into the
stores and trades and professions, and especially into politics, until
they practically run the cities and have a lion's share of the
governmental positions. The Germans have always been among the best of
our immigrant population in intelligence, thrift, and other qualities
that make the German nation strong and stable. They have Germanized us
more than we have Americanized them. The Scandinavians have with
excellent judgment distributed themselves and gone largely into
agriculture. All these north of Europe peoples belong to a common
inheritance of principles and ideas, and all have found it natural to
assimilate into American life. America owes a large debt to them, as
they do to the land that has become their own by adoption.
[Sidenote: Necessity of Discrimination]
But what can be said about this new immigration? First let us see how
great the change in racial character has been, and then differentiate
these new races. It will not do to brand any race as a whole.
Discrimination is absolutely necessary if we are to deal with this
subject practically and justly.
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