Speech #500162260

from the Select Committee to Inquire into the Importation of Contract Laborers. Convicts. Paupers. etc.. submitted the following as the views of the minority: [To accompany bill H. R. 12291.] The undersigned. member of the Select Committee to Inquire into the Importation of Contract Laborers. Convicts. Paupers. etc.. agrees with the majority of the committee in reaching the conclusion that some law should be enacted which would. more effectually than the present laws. restrict and if possible stop entirely the influx into the United States of all such persons who. instead of benefiting our country. as the large majority of immigrants undoubtedly do. are a direct source of evil in many ways. The undersigned thinks that a large number of people who now fill our poorhouses. insane asylums. hospitals. and other charitable institutions. as well as the hordes of the most ignorant. most wretched. and least desirable people of certain parts of Europe. who now crowd some of our largest cities. and whose presence enables selfish employers of labor to force and keep down the wages of American laborers. both native and adopted. should never have been admitted to land in the United States. He is. however. of the opinion that no law should be passed to lessen the immigration of industrious.1 awabiding people. who come here in good faith with the intention of making this country their permanent home. who bring their families with them. and who in due course of time become useful and valuable citizens of the Republic. especially. when every unprejudiced mind must admit that that class of immigrants for the last fifty years has been one of the main causes of our unexampled progress in every field of indusry and enterprise. The undersigned opposes any measure that would unnecessarily annoy the. desirable immigrant. but he is in favor of all such measures as would most likely result in excluding all such foreign elements whose coming is not a benefit to our country. but rather the opposite. He is of the opinion that exemption from the contractlabor law should apply to professors in colleges and schools generally and to all schoolteachers and tutors. and not only to professors in universities. The penalty for any violation of the provisions of this act should apply to all persons. citizens of the United States included. and not only to aliens. He would strike out the third section of the bill requiring that no vessels shall transport more than one passenger to every 5 registered tons. The act of August 2. 1862. known as the passenger act of 1882. regulating the carriage of passengers by sea. makes provision not only for the comfort. sanitary condition. food. treatment of immigrants. but also for the minimum amount of space to be allotted to each. This laW has worked well. and the undersigned is not aware of any complaint that its provisions are not adequate from either a moral. sanitarian. or humanitarian standpoint. and can conceive of no good reason why this law should be changed. The proposed legislation would simply tend to restrict immigration with regard to the numbers of immigrants coming. but not as to their desirability or undesirability. The fourth section provides for a headmoney tax of $5. It is evident to the mind of the undersigned that 61 would be sufficient to meet all the expenses required for carrying out the laws regulating immigration . A headmoney tax of 5 is not high enough to restrict immigration. but it would impose quite a burden upon many worthy immigmntsespecially upon a family of five. six. or more persons. many of such coming to this country to settle upon farms in the West or Northwest. Why should the head of such a family be obliged to pay$25 or $30 or more into the overflowing Treasury of the United States as an admission fee. when the people of many States tand ready toreceive him with open arms?