ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

FOR THE YEAR 1874.

To his Excellency, W. R. TAYLOR,

Governor of the State of Wisconsin:

In compliance with the requirement of section 19 of chapter one hundred and fifty-five of the laws of 1871, I have the honor of submitting to you, herewith, a report of my labor, proceedings and account of expenditures as Commissioner of Immigration of the State of Wisconsin, for the year 1874.

At the commencement of the year, in entering upon the discharge of the duties of the office, I found that my predecessor, Mr. Johnson, had made selections of efficient gentlemen, in the several counties in the state, in accordance with the provisions of sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of chapter one hundred and fifty-five, act of 1871, and after making such changes in the status of said county committees as my judgment led me to believe fit and proper, I left them as I found thein, from time to time corresponding and receiving communications therefrom in relation to immigration, until the amendatory and repealing act under chapter 338, laws of 1874, rendered the same inoperative.

The information I derived from the county committees is merely statistical, and has no direct bearing on the subject of immigration, further than statistics apply, therefore, I deem it unnecessary to enlarge this report by the correspondence, inasmuch as the same subject matter has formed a part of past reports.

The following is the number, nationality and destination of the immigrants arriving at Milwaukee from April 1st to December 15th, 1874:

Last year report for the number of immigrants arriving at Mil

It will be seen by the above statement that immigration for the past season, centering in Milwaukee, falls considerably short of that of former years. This applies more particularly to the Scandinavians and Germans, and may be accounted for by the unusually rich harvest in Norway and Sweden in the year of 1873, the unparalleled increase in the products of the fisheries, together with the vast development of long hidden or neglected national resources of

those countries, combined with reports of the devastating visitation of grasshoppers in Western Minnesota and Iowa, all which have, perhaps for a time, caused the natives of said countries to forego their intention of seeking homes among us.

Complaints, many and bitter, are made by immigrants of the treatment they receive in Chicago, Ill., where, by the ill-advised legislation of last winter, they are left to the merciless extortions of hotel keepers, rapacity of swindlers and the unmitigated operations of confidence men, who prey upon the poor untutored immigrants with the most unblushing effrontery, feeling a security in their reprehensible acts, begot by the indifference of the city authorities. I most sincerely deprecate the state of things that renders me powerless to remedy this evil and remove from the pathway of the immigrant the annoyances that environ him in that city. I would respectfully suggest that your Excellency recommend such legislation as shall provide for the reëstablishment of an agency in Chicago, to be kept in operation during the immigrant seasons of the year, as I believe that the past history of the agency lately discontinued there will adduce abundant proof that it has been an instrument promotive of incalculable good, putting the immigrant in possession of statistics relative to this state, which, since its discontinuance, he has been left in profound ignorance of, likewise protecting him as it had power, from the flagrant abuses and unholy impositions he is now subjected to.

The total expenses of my office is two thousand five hundred dollars. I have paid out of said amount for office rent, clerk hire, postage, stationery, light, fuel and all other office expenses.

tact.

During the year I have used my best endeavors to promote the comfort and give all the information and render all the assistance in my power to those with whom official duties have brought me in conAnd with a view of disseminatinng more extensive information concerning this state, I have forwarded to foreign countries whence immigration springs, pamphlets, maps and statistics relative to our resources and industries. I have good reason to think that immigration will receive a new impulse next year, and that our several industries will be called upon to expand so as to make room for those who seek to escape from out the prison of their mean estate. Transplanted to our soil, the hardy mountaineers of Norway and Sweden, the natives of the German Empire, the French and Swiss republics will soon become valuable citizens, their many

virtues well fitting them to appreciate and enjoy the priceless boon of liberty and equality before the laws, which our institutions guarantee to all.

It gives me pleasure to take advantage of this opportunity to make favorable mention of the willingness evinced at all times and under all circumstances by the municipal authorities of the city of Milwaukee to assist me, likewise to record the humane and praiseworthy treatment accorded to the immigrants by the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company.

I have also taken abstracts from different reports in the United States, giving statistical information of the manufacturing and agricultural interests of the state, and on immigration.*

All of which is respectfully submitted,

M. J. ARGARD, Commissioner of Immigration.

*Statistical tables omitted from priuted report in accordance with chapter 32, laws of 1874.