Mr. President. I can not agree with my friend from New Hampshire that the amendment offered by the Senator from West Virginia is imposing a head tax upon immigrants into this country. The amendment. if I understand it correctly. provides that those who come to this country as immigrants in ships flying the Stars and Stripes shall have a special concession made to them of $10 per head. Surely. Mr. President. it seems to me any immigrant inspired by the right principle. who comes here with the right motives. because he is attached to our institutions and desires to better his condition and become a citizen of this Republic. would wait a week or two and take passage in an American ship. It is a proper elementary school for him to take his first lesson in American citizenship by being under the influence of a ship flying Old Glory at her peak. officered by American citizens. and with a crew composed mostly of American citizens. I think it is a wise provision that this amendment should be incorporated into the law. for after the immigrant has made the passage across the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by those influences he will. perhaps. be better able to fully appreciate the beneficent Influences that are to surround him in the country which he proposes to make his future home. It is a right step. too. I think. to give this crumb of comfort. r financially. to American ships.
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immigrants head tax immigrant