Mr. Speaker. if it be true that illiteracy is not a curse to any country. then our idea of government is all wrong and the millions of dollars we are annually spending to educate the youth of the land and raised by taxation is wasted. By common consent we are agreed that this class of immigration is undesirable. If undesirable it should be restricted by laws that in fact restrict. The McCallBartholdt bill aims at this evil in particular. These bills are drawn upon judicious and diplomatic lines. I am not prepared to say now. nor do I think I will be prepared to sayin the future. that it would be in good form for our Government to say by its laws to Italy or any other power that its citizens shall not immigrate to this country. It would be such a distinction and discrimination as would be sure to offend. and rightfully. such nation discriminated against by our laws. In my judgment all the bills reported by this committee are diplomatic in their language. excluding the citizens of no country by name. but dealing with a class. The bills just referred to provide that no immigrant who can not read or write the English language or some other language shall be received into this country. The Corliss bill provides that an alien who is maintaining his domicile in a foreign country while thus maintaining his domicile shall not engage in mechanical labor in this country. Can any man who loves his country. be he native or foreign born. and who has at heart the interest of the laboring people of his country. have any serious objection to the provisions of this bill? I ask why should a man maintaining his residence in Canada or Mexico be permitted to come for the day or the season into this country and compete with the American laborer who bears his full proportion of the expense and burden of government? He comes here only to earn American wages. he comes into direct competition with our own wage earner. and he takes his wages earned here back to his foreign home at the end of the day or season and spends them at home. where he can buy cheap foreignmade goods.
Keywords matched
foreign born immigration immigrate immigrant