The Nature Of Emigration

Is emigration an evil or is it a good? An extremely complex question, that does not allow a unique, deductive and categorical solution. In order to respond, it is precise to consider the emigration with regard to the civilization in general; the country to which it immigrates, to that from where it emigrates, the emigrant, material as well as moral interests. It is also necessary to distinguish between what is emigration in its present state, as to  what it should be.

Consider the emigration (immigration) as a historical-social phenomenon, it is impossible not to recognize that it has produced great benefits for the progress of humanity. Uninhabited regions have been populated,  cultivated and transformed. New villages have been formed , tribes of savages have been converted into civilized nations, large social masses have been saved from perishing, it has also increased the wealth in circulation as well as  established productive relations among the people.

 As a result of a large emigration, Christianity was able to transform the Old World, and through emigrations, the Americas, the
Oceania, and Africa have been added to the treasure of civilization. With regard to the countries to which the emigration is directed, there is no doubt, that emigration (which is immigration to these countries) is a good, as long as a saturation and excess of population is not produced. By means of immigration, knowledge and manpower is obtained; the most precious elements of life and wealth. Half of the globe is still insufficiently populated, particularly America, Africa and Oceania, calculating that they need 400 million more inhabitants (besides their natural increase of population), that they precisely will receive from Europe and Asia. However, it is necessary that the emigration that is directed to those countries be of the class that is needed. A country that needs farmers, will not gain anything, but on the contrary if a large mass of artisans and professionals, were to immigrate, it would be more beneficial.

The immigration of workers has created a problem of the competition that is provoked in connection with the national workers, a problem that has powerfully attracted the attention of the Conferences of Workers, recently held. In the 6th International Conferences of Trade Unions, which met in Paris on August 30, 1909 with an attendance of delegates from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, United States, France, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Rumania and Switzerland,
Gompers ( from the United States), emphasized  the necessity to avoid emigration to a country that was undergoing economic depression, or where there was a strike in effect. He proposed that those countries that found themselves in this situation, to make it known to others, that it would make matters worse if more workers immigrated.

As to immigration being beneficial to the country that undergoes it, opinion has changed several times in the course of the last century. Prior to the strong emigration movement that took place in Europe towards 1840, the statesmen and economists were worried about the loss of manpower and of capital that would be presented, requesting  that a barrier be placed. Later it had fallen to an extreme opposite, in which the emigration had been eulogized as a source of incalculable benefits for the emigrants and for the country from which they left, speaking of it as a powerful means of political influences in the exterior, opening new markets to commerce and industry of the mother country.

The sending of money by the emigrants to their families and the amounts that those who returned would bring, have been an important element in contributing  to the prosperity of their native land.  From 1900 to 1910 the situation of the countries of the south of Europe (Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal) improved sensibly by the sending of funds which the emigrants
made, especially those who immigrated to America.

History of Emigration: Old and Modern

Emigration is presented in the history of two great eras; the old emigration and the modern, characterized by the distinct impulse that has motivated them. In the ancient times emigration was forced ( already deriving from economic and political causes); in the modern age (established nationalities and stable governments) is changed to voluntary, obeying to commercial interests or to the perspective of an individual improvement.

A) Ancient Emigration

Although some writers have not considered as true emigration the people of ancient times, saying that they were not but successive movements of masses of population that were separated from their tribe, removing themselves from one point to another, when the land where they had settled was exhausted or did not suffice for its livelihood. It is certain that they would obey an economic law that would obligate them to search for means of existence outside of their native soil, as it occurred with the emigrations of the Aryans. On other occasions, the exodus would be caused by an invasion from other people; history offers numerous examples of this; the fertile regions of Europe suffered the overflow of the people that came from the north of Germany, Scandinavia, the Danube, and of Asia.

The most ancient and important of emigrations that was carried out in Europe was that of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans. The result of the emigration of these people, was the foundation of colonies that maintained political and commercial relations with the metropolis. In this case the ancient emigrations affected the form of colonization. There existed a remarkable difference between the Carthaginian and the Greek colonies; these enjoyed a complete freedom in which the émigrés would
administrate their own affairs ; whereas Carthage would govern its colonies, its agents intervening in all administration and commercial acts. The Roman emigration had another character. The Senate distributed the territories that were situated in the conquered provinces, among those that had served in the army, and that were already useless for the practice of that profession. The emigrants (those who served in the army) would voluntarily leave Rome to go and colonize the territories. By this procedure, they would obtain a triple advantage of avoiding serious disturbances in the interior, create dependent colonies of Rome, and that the colonizers would guard such (those situated on the borders), against the enemy. The emigration that this motivated, was more of a military political character which differed sensitively from the modern voluntary emigration.

Upon the fall of the Roman Empire, a human wave invaded the territories that were not defended, thus commencing the invasion of the people of the north. The Rhine, that up till then, was an impassable barrier by the Germanic race was conquered, and the immigration known in history as the " Invasion of Barbarians" arrives to upset the economy of the countries of Celtic and Latin race. Once satisfied the secular greed of the men on the other side of the Rhine, a unification under the powerful hand of Charlemagne takes place for the moment. Two new currents of immigration, this time violent, are produced in a contrary sense. On one part the  Saracens come from Asia, and are scattered along the shores of the Mediterranean, they undertake to France where  they are established for many centuries in Spain. On the other hand, the Normans originating from the bottom of Scandinavia, are cast upon the States in formation, penetrating the heart of France and are established in what was later on one of the most beautiful French provinces: Normandy.

Much later, an emigration of Normans parted for Great Britain, which had been previously invaded by the Anglo-Saxons, a notable branch of the great Germanic invasion, which according to Turquan, explains the emigrant and colonizer character  of England . Since then ,those of Celtic origin, forced by the conquering landlords, searched for their well-being through emigration, as well as those of the Anglo-Saxon origin having the same tendency to emigrate and spread colonies over the world. The descendants of the Normans,  confirm the temperament of their ancestors by their adventurous tendencies. For which it precedes, it is understood that
the commotions that were a European theater during the invasion of the barbarians were more than just political wars. The warriors were accompanied by their wives, their children and the elders.

A moment of calm arrives for Europe in which the decimated people tend to their reform, concentrate around their masters and organize their task; but then the religious feeling is directed against its secular enemy and western Europe prepares to fight with the east giving rise to one of the most formidable invasions recorded in history. The crusades have at least in its beginning, more of an emigration character of warfare than of a purely religious war. Thus the first crusaders are established in Asia and institute the kingdom of Jerusalem, whose defense against the incessant attacks of the Moslems determined the subsequent expeditions. After this until the discovery of the New World, there is not able to distinguish in Europe any emigration movement of importance, save small irruptions on the side of the Danube.

In the Middle Ages, these movements of the people are less frequent than in the ancient times, since the servants obligated to the land were not able to emigrate voluntarily. Each master limited the people which it dominated,  the convents would offer an open door to the excessive of population, and in the cities the regulations of the corporations would connect to the emigration of the artisans.

B) Modern Emigration

In this era emigration returns to powerfully resurrect, with the discovery of America and by the extension of the geographical knowledge relating to Africa, southern Asia and the Oceania. The discovery of a superior continent in extension to Europe, gave place to a fever of expatriation, that has not ceased among the people of the old continent. Little by little the bonds of the feudal system are broken, the emigrants spreading to all discovered areas. The merchants and industrialists depart to America,  establishing centers of development. Masses of adventurers are attracted by the thirst of gold of the mines of North and South America. M. Gladstone said " There is no need to seek another motive for the immigrations that have populated the new
continent: it is the " Auri Sacra Fumes," that has been given to Italy, France, Spain, England and Portugal the greatest adventurers, to the ones that is owed in the midst of incredible dangers, the foundation of the States of America.

 If it would have been said to the leaders of the first expeditions, that instead of precious metals they would only find misery and
work, they would never have left their country." But then this is not absolutely true, for after the era to which M. Gladstone refers to, many millions of Europeans emigrated not influenced by the gold fever, but by other causes. As it was indicated previously, emigrations by religious and political causes, had taken place inside of Europe, in this era which occurred in France by the revocation of the Nantes Edict, and more directly by the bloody draconian measures against the Calvinists, emigrating during
the reign of Louis XIV . A great mass of population composed of merchants, industrialists, scientists, accompanied by their families,  received hospitality in England, Low Countries, Germany and Switzerland. Also the horrible persecutions carried out against the Catholics by the Protestants of England and much later the expulsion of the Spanish Moriscos, gave place to emigrations. Later the French Revolution and the wars stirred up by Napoleon and the European monarchical brought the commerce and industry  to a stand-still. Emigration was offered as a supreme resource for tranquility and individual prosperity.

Finally, in the actuality the establishments of manufacture and large production centers near to those of the populous have concentrated all the disseminated force in a territory, creating new populations. The freedom of labor and the large manufacturing center's request for manpower, with offers of good paying wages has increased immensely the rural population, thus harming drastically the agricultural production. This stream of emigration from the villages, directed to the large populated areas has brought themselves a reduction in the demand for manpower and has produced a flow of emigration toward other countries in search of work. This is a universal phenomenon that is observed in all nations whichever may be its wealth, its political government and its geographical position. This emigration continues being directed mainly to the countries of America.
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