WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION 405

post offices in 8 counties in the State of Washington; and 19 from 16 post offices
in 16 counties in the States of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and
Wyoming.
DISTRIBUTION OF MEXICAN IMMIGRATION

From all of the 957 post offices in 598 counties of the 19 States mentioned,
extending from Texas and California on the south, to Washington, Michigan,
and Pennsylvania on tlie north, came reports showing that this Mexican immigrant
 population is present in these localities in noticeable numbers, disclosing
an almost nation-wide distribution of this immigration.
In order to prevent legislation checking this immigration, an effort has been
made to show that these migrating Mexican peons all, or nearly all, return to
Mexico and, therefore, are not increasing our permanent Mexican peon population.
Another claim is that beginning in 1929, nearly a year before these hearings, that
immigration had been effectually reduced by a better enforcement of the law.
But, notwithstanding all these statements, we assert that this alien Mexican
population has been increasing during the past 12 months up to and including the
time of the making of these reports to us as members of this committee, all of
which have been made within the past six months.
These reports show that by far the greater proportion of the Mexicans present
in these eommunities are foreign born.

MEXICAN POPULATION INCREASING

Answering queries whether this Mexican peon population is increasing in the
respective localities from which the reports come, 781 reports say that this population
 is increasing in the majority of the localities reporting, while 523 reports
say that this population is not increasing in the minority of the communities
from which those reports come. Of the smaller number reporting on the speed
of these increases, 301 say that the increases are rapid in those localities, while
248 of the reports showing local increases say that such increases are gradual.
An overwhelming majority of those reporting increases of this population
state that the marked increase began since 1921, when the quota system began
to be applied to Old World countries, while a minority of the inereases are reported
as having begun prior to 1921. This last is consistent with the 1920 census
figures showing a net average addition of 26,522 persons born in Mexico for
each year during the decade preceding 1920, while the large majority of reports
showing increases of this population as beginning since 1921 is in harmony with
the many estimates of a verv heavv increase of this population during the
present decade.
As bearing upon the question whether these Mexicans return to Mexico, and
therefore do not materially add to the permanent alien Mexican population of
the country, the following are a slight fraction of the statements in these reports
directly on the question of the increase of this population:

REPLIES TO INQUIRIES AS TO WHETHER THE MEXICAN POPULATION IS INCREASING
AND THE SIZE OF MEXICAN FAMILIES IS LARGER, IN THE LOCALITIES FROM
WHICH THE REPORTS COME

“Increasing rapidly. The whites absolutely refuse to associate with Mexicans.”’—
 Miss Lena Wattenburg, farmer's daughter and secretary of the grange,
Fort Lupton, Colo.
“ All the big contractors, the railroads, trucks, and all kinds of cars are bringing
in the lowest class of Mexican every day. The big contractors of Texas cities
are not giving a white man a job as long as they can get a greaser. A white man
Sn get a job at any price after he reaches 45.”-—Chas. N. Thetford, Houston,
ex.
“Tnereasing rapidly; has doubled itself in five years.”—Thomas C. Doak,
M. D., city health officer, South San Francisco, Calif.
“Mexican population in this county is increasing.’ —Murs. Etta Hadley,
lecturer, Iowa State Grange, Newton, Iowa.
“Becoming quite numerous on sugar-beet farms and at mines. Mexico should
be on quota basis same as other countries.”’—Judd McCraw, Butte, Mont.
“Tp view of their high birth rate and the falling rate among white people, if
the present immigration keeps up * * * a large part of Texas will have
become thoroughly Mexicanized.”—William N. Michels, county democratic
axecutive committeeman, Houston, Tex.