new blood have upon the character of the community?--_Professor
Mayo-Smith._

It is advisable to study the influence of the newcomers on the ethical
consciousness of the community--whether there is a gain or a loss to us.
In short, we must set up our standard of what we desire this nation to
be, and then consider whether the policy we have hitherto pursued in
regard to immigration is calculated to maintain that standard or to
endanger it.--_Idem._

II

ALIEN ADMISSION AND RESTRICTION

_I. Method of Admission_

[Sidenote: Chief Ports of Entry]

How do immigrants obtain entrance into the United States? New York is
the chief port of entry, and if we learn the conditions and methods
there we shall know them in general. The great proportion coming through
New York is seen by comparison of the total admissions for 1904 and 1905
at the larger ports:

Port 1904 1905
New York 606,019 788,219
Boston 60,278 65,107
Baltimore 55,940 62,314
Philadelphia 19,467 23,824
Honolulu 9,054 11,997
San Francisco 9,036 6,377
Other Ports 22,702 24,447
Through Canada 30,374 44,214

[Sidenote: The Floating Gateway]

The proportion for New York is not far from eight tenths of the whole.
Hence it is true, that while the "dirty little ferryboat _John G.
Carlisle_ is not an imposing object to the material eye, to the eye of
the imagination she is a spectacle to inspire awe, for she is the
floating gateway of the Republic. Over her dingy decks march in endless
succession the eager battalions of Europe's peaceful invaders of the
West. That single craft, in her hourly trips from Ellis Island to the
Battery,[13] carries more immigrants in a year than came over in all the
fleets of the nations in the two centuries after John Smith landed at
Jamestown."[14]

[Sidenote: Human Storage Reservoirs]

Reading about the arrivals at Ellis Island, no matter how realistic the
description, will not give a vivid idea of what immigration means nor of
what sort the immigrants are. For that, you must obtain a permit from
the authorities and actually see for yourself the human stream that
pours from the steerage of the mighty steamships into the huge human
storage reservoirs of Ellis Island.[15] We know that however perfect the
system, human nature has to be taken into account, both in officials and
immigrants, and human nature is imperfect; much o