437,000,000
1882 | 788,992 | | 725,000,000|
1886 and 1885[90]| | 334,203 | | 578,000,000
1893 | 439,307 | | 866,000,000|
1897 and 1898[90]| | 230,832 | | 616,000,000
1906 |1,100,735 | | 1,226,000,000|
-----------------+----------+----------+--------------+------------

By comparing the two sets of columns it will be seen that, owing to the
protective tariff, the imports of merchandise vary but slightly in
periods of prosperity and depression compared with the variation in
number of immigrants. Thus in the recent period of prosperity, the
imports increased twofold above the lowest point of the preceding
depression, while the number of immigrants increased nearly fivefold.

The swell of immigration in the above-mentioned periods of prosperity
increases the supply of labor, but the protective tariff prevents a
similar increase in the supply of products. Thus immigration and the
tariff together prevent wages from rising with the rise in prices of
commodities and cost of living. This permits profits to increase more
than wages, to be followed by overproduction and stoppage of business.

Furthermore, when once the flow of immigrants is stimulated it continues
for some time after the pinnacle of prosperity has been reached. In 1903
the boom met a check at the beginning of the year, but the number of
immigrants continued to increase during the summer and fall at the rate
of 20,000 per month in excess of the number during the high period of
prosperity in 1902. This makes it possible for great corporations to
continue their investments by means of cheap labor beyond the probable
demands of the country, with the result of overproduction, loss of
profits, inability to pay fixed charges, and consequent panics. Thus it
is that immigration, instead of increasing the production of wealth by a
steady, healthful growth, joins with other causes to stimulate the
feverish overproduction, with its inevitable collapse, that has
characterized the industry of America more than that of any other
country. It helps to create fortunes during a period of speculation, and
intensifies the reaction during a period of stagnation.

CHAPTER VII

CITY LIFE, CRIME, AND POVERTY

Statistics are considered by many people as dry and uninteresting, and
the fact that a book is statistical is a warning that it should not be