APPENDIX II. REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF INFORMATION. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION, DIVISION OF INFORMATION, Washington, D. C., June 30, 1919. SIR: The twelfth annual report of the Division of Information is herewith presented. When the last annual report was submitted, the Division of Information had just been restored to the Bureau of Immigration, the war was still in progress, and plans were being formulated to carry on the work of the division on a war-time basis. Before these plans could become operative, the armistice was declared and radical changes became necessary. A cessation of hostilities consequent upon the signing of the armistice did not necessarily mean that peace would follow in the immediate future, and in the uncertainty which prevailed the old-time functions of the Division of Information could not be undertaken with that vigor and enthusiasm which had characterized its operations prior to the time that necessity demanded that it should become, for the time being, a part of the United States Employment Service. PREPARATION FOR THE FUTURE. In compliance with the terms of the law of 1907, a set of seven bulletins were prepared in 1910, setting forth, in condensed form, information concerning the "resources, products, and physical characteristics of each State and Territory." These bulletins were issued under the title "Agricultural Opportunities," as follows: No. 1 comprised the North Atlantic States, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. No. 2 dealt with the South Atlantic States, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. No. 3 gave information concerning the eastern group of the North Central States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. No. 4 was devoted to the western group of the North Central States, comprising Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. No. 5 related to the South Central States, comprising Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. No. 6 gave information concerning the Northwestern States of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and the Territory of Alaska. No. 7 comprised the south group of the Western States of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, and the Territory of Hawaii. When these publications were issued in 1910 the subject matter of each was devoted, principally, to agricultural opportunities and such matter as would be of use to those desirous of engaging in farming, Schools, banks, churches, routes of travel, proximity to markets, and the most direct way to reach them were indicated. They were not translated into foreign languages as other publications were, for the reason that they were not intended for circulation outside of the United States. The demand for these publications was greater among citizens than among aliens, whether newly admitted or otherwise. With the breaking out of the war in Europe in 1914 the growing tendency on the part of American citizens and alien residents of the United States to seek the land as a means of gaining a livelihood was halted, and by the time the United States entered the conflict it had practically ceased. A renewal of interest in farm life is again manifesting itself, and it is the desire of the Division of Information to give to each applicant for information an accurate up-to-date statement concerning opportunities in each State and Territory; these opportunities to embrace the industrial as well as agricultural, it being understood that the word "industrial" is used here to indicate public work-whether national, State, or municipal-as apart from work on the farm or farming proper. To this end, and in view of the fact that radical changes have taken place in working conditions on farm and in city and town, a reprint of the publications under consideration becomes imperative. The conditions of 1910, or ante bellum days, do not prevail now, and it is the purpose of the division to issue a publication for each State which, in compliance with the terms of the statute, will describe its "resources, products, and physical characteristics" in such a way as to be helpful to the seeker for accurate information. PUBLICATIONS BY STATES. Experience demonstrated that with the grouping of a number of States in one publication the identical State which the applicant for information had in mind did not stand out as prominently as he wished, and grouping it with others did not appeal to him. It will be more illuminating and less expensive to have the opportunities of each State given in a separate bulletin issued by the Division of Information, as those of 1910 were, with the approval of the Department of Labor. It is the intention to have the proper officials of each State set the seal of their approval on publications dealing with the "resources, products, and physical characteristics" of the State in question. In this way accuracy will be assured, the friendly interest of the State will be aroused, and the recipient of the publication will know that no pains have been spared to secure dependable data. The Division of Information can have nothing to do with aliens prior to their admission, by legal process, to the United States. Once the alien has been passed by an immigrant inspector and is entitled to participate in the affairs of American life, it is little less than a |