The Hardwick Gazette, September 10, 1925
Immigration Largely Reduced
Immigration Statistics are always of more or less interest, and according to figures given out for the year ending June 30th, last, the net number of immigrants admitted to the county was 69 per cent. Less than for the same period list year.
The total number of aliens who arrived during 1924-1925, according to the statistics, was 294,314, which was reduced by 92,726 nationals returning to their own countries. During the preceding year 706,890 aliens arrived and only 76,789 left.
The quotas of several countries, the report stated, were unfilled, among them being Czecho-Slovakia by 17 per cent.; Germany by 11 per cent.; Great Britain by 12 ½ per cent.; Irish Free State by 5 per cent.; Italy by 10 per cent.; and Sweden by 6 per cent.
Further the report stated, the number of nationals who departed for their native lands offset in several instances the number of immigrants, notably in the case of Italy. Only 6203 Italians arrived here during the year, and during the same period, 27,151 Italians returned to Italy. Other countries to which emigration from the United States was greater were Greece Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Yugo Slavia, China, Portugal, and Rumania, which it was said, caused a loss of 15,106 unskilled laborers, against a gain of 70,742 during the preceding year.
The net gain in skilled labor, the report continued, was 42,422, compared with 143,616 in 1923-1924. Farm labor gains exceeded departures by 14,764, compared with 27,233 during the previous year.
The proportion of foreign born white aliens to the total population was given as less than 14 per cent. In 1860, it was 12.9 per cent.; in 1890, 13.1 per cent.; in 1900, 13.4 per cent., and in 1920, 13 per cent.
The net number of newcomers in the country during the past year – the number by which the total of aliens who arrived exceeded the aliens who departed – was 201, 586, against 630, 107 in 1923-1924. According to the national industrial conference, where thee statistics were given out, the figures show that the quota immigration law has not only effectively stemmed the influx of aliens, but also that it has done so to a greater degree than was expected during the first year of its operation.
Craftsbury Academy Notes.
The Academy opened with an unusually large attendance, the enrollment being over one hundred. There are clothes to enter in the next two or three weeks.
“The Merchant of Venice”, which was given by the East Hill Players on Friday evening, netted proceeds of about $130.00. The play as also the others of Shakespeare, which have been previously given by this group, was under the able leadership of Miss Jean W. Simpson, and the proceeds complete the John W. Simpson Memorial Prize Fund. These plays are very much enjoyed by the school and community.
The Senior Class has organized and the class rings are already ordered. Clayton Orton of Plainfield, a nephew of Charles Cton, of the class of 1888, has entered the Junior Class.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
