"In my judgment the smallest part of the duty to be discharged in successfully handling aliens, with a view to the protection of the people and the institutions of this country, is that part now provided for by law. Its importance, though undeniable, is relatively of secondary moment. It cannot compare in practical value with, nor can it take the place of, measures to secure the distribution of the many thousands who come in ignorance of the industrial needs and opportunities of this country, and colonize alien communities in our great cities." [Sidenote: Information Agencies Proposed] Suitable legislation is strongly urged to establish agencies through which, either with or without the cooeperation of the states, aliens shall be made acquainted with the resources of the country at large, and the industrial needs of the various sections, in both skilled and unskilled labor, the cost of living, the wages paid, the price and capabilities of the land, the character of the climates, the duration of the seasons--in short, all that information furnished by some of the great railway lines through whose efforts the territory tributary thereto has been transformed from a wilderness within a few years to the abiding place of a happy and prosperous population. [Sidenote: A Growing Evil] "Again the importance of undertaking to distribute aliens now congregating in our large cities to those parts of the United States where they can secure employment without displacing others by working for a less wage, and where the conditions of existence do not tend to the fostering of disease, depravity, and resistance to the social and political security of the country, is urged. The Bureau is convinced that no feature of the immigration question so insistently demands public attention and effective action. The evil to be removed is one that is steadily and rapidly on the increase, and its removal will strike at the roots of fraudulent elections, poverty, disease, and crime in our large cities, and on the other hand largely supply that increasing demand for labor to develop the natural resources of our country. Too much encouragement cannot be given to the reported efforts of certain railway companies to divert a portion of the tide of immigration to the Southern states. It is impossible, in the opinion of the Bureau, to overestimate the importance of this subject as bearing upon the effect of immigration on the future welfare of this country."[42] [Sidenote: Chart of Distribution] What are the facts concerning the present location and distribution of immigrants? The answer involves a most interesting study. Taking the immigration of 1905, the chart[43] on the next page illustrates the distribution by states. [Illustration: PROPORTION OF IMMIGRATION AND NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS GOING TO EACH STATE DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1905 BY PERMISSION OF THE BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION] [Sidenote: Where the Masses Stay]