382 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
destroy our institutions and ideals and there was organized opposition to their admission. Now the fear is that because the immigrants are coming from southern and eastern Europe, those prophecies of sixty years ago are about to be fulfilled. The average American expecting every Greek to have the beauty of an Apollo and the ability of a Pericles, and reading only sensa- tional newspaper accounts of some crime he may or may not have committed, concludes that the race has degenerated and constitutes a most undesirable addition to our population. This is manifestly unfair. The Greek immigrant should be accepted for what he is worth in modern society. And we should inquire not only as to his moral standards, his capacity for self-govern- ment and his economic value but, equally important, whether his development in these directions is being promoted or retarded by the treatment he receives in the United States.
The only way of measuring the morality of a people is by the very low test of their criminality. For this the only statis- tics available are the records of the courts, police departments, and penal institutions. These need most careful interpretation. Classifications are usually very carelessly made and do not dis- tinguish between Americans of native and foreign parentage, so that no conclusions can be drawn as to the effect which resi- dence in the United States has upon the conduct of the foreigner. It should also be remembered that the immigrant's offense is too often only his ignorance of the English language which to an irritated Irish policeman is in itself a crime. Violations of the city ordinances through ignorance of sanitary regulations, of the requirement of a license for peddlers, and of similar regu- lations, cause more arrests than viciousness. The newly arrived foreigner must speak through an interpreter and a careless trans- lation often gives the court an incorrect idea of what has been said. The testimony of the witnesses against him, and occa- sionally the charge, are not translated to him and so as he is unable to appreciate the full bearing of the questions asked him, his chances of acquittal are fewer than the American's. The report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration for 1908 shows that 15,323 aliens were detained in the various penal and
