E. A. Ross has attempted to predict some of the changes that will take
place in the population of the United States, as a result of the
immigration of the last half-century.[144] "It is reasonable," he
thinks, "to expect an early falling off in the frequency of good looks
in the American people." A diminution of stature, a depreciation of
morality, an increase in gross fecundity, and a considerable lowering of
the level of average natural ability are among other results that he
considers probable. Not only are the races represented in the later
immigration in many cases inferior in average ability to the earlier
immigrant races, but America does not get the best, or even a
representative selection,[145] from the races which are now contributing
to her population. "Europe retains most of her brains, but sends
multitudes of the common and sub-common. There is little sign of an
intellectual element among the Magyars, Russians, South Slavs, Italians,
Greeks or Portuguese" who are now arriving. "This does not hold,
however, for currents created by race discrimination or oppression. The
Armenian, Syrian, Finnish and Russo-Hebrew streams seem
_representative_, and the first wave of Hebrews out of Russia in the
eighties was superior.
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