CHAPTER IV 
IMMIGRATION AND BUSINESS CYCLES PRIOR TO 18go 
Economic Motives for Migration. 
Evenfwith no direct knowledge of the statistics of immigration, 
one would be led to expect that variations in economic conditions 
in the United States would exercise a large influence upon the num- 
ber of incoming aliens. It will be granted that the hope of economic 
betterment is not the sole motive for emigration. Religious or 
political persecution, racial discrimination, or the mere love of 
adventure may be the impelling force. But, in the main, the emi- 
grant is a seller of labor, seeking the best price for his services, and 
hence not apt to be attracted by a stagnant market. Furthermore, 
for many prospective immigrants the financing of the trip becomes 
easier when times are prosperous in the United States, for at such 
times friends and relatives who have previously emigrated are in a 
better position to remit funds for the trip. Approximately one 
third of the total number of immigrants have their passage paid by 
relatives.! Even those who pay their own way are apt to find it 
easier to obtain the necessary funds in periods of prosperity in the 
United States, for, as we shall note more in detail in a subsequent 
chapter, periods of prosperity in the United States are ordinarily 
accompanied by prosperity in the country of emigration, when 
savings are more readily accumulated and property more easily 
disposed of.: 
Lastly, the increasing facility of communication tends, we should 
expect, to decrease the lag between industrial slumps and the con- 
sequent decreases in immigration. 
Opinions of Authorities on Immigration Problems. 
The arguments just cited for expecting a close relationship be- 
tween fluctuations in industry and immigration are uniformly 
supported by the conclusions of various authorities who have given 
consideration to this problem. 
132.1 per cent in the seven fiscal years, 1908-1914, inclusive. 
2See discussion of this point in Chapter VIII. 
ny