Speech #570083720

I believe in the doctrine that Anerica should stand for America first and other countries afterwards. and it is for the general welfare of our own people that I protest against taking into the American family ten millions of people 10.000 miles away. alien in race. alien in. customs. alien in habits. alien in education. alien in almost everything that helps to make good American citizenships. people who were never born to become Americans. When we say they are fit to govern themselves we do not admit that they are fit to govern us. For many years we have stubbornly resisted the immigration of Chinese into the United States. but now it is proposed to take into our national family in one lump ten millions of Orientals. including several hundred thousand Chinese. to compete with American workingmen and participate in American government. ExPresident Harrison. on page 185 of his work entitled Views of an ExPresident. in discussing the annexation of these islands. said: We have done something out of line with American history. not in the matter of territorial expansion. but in the character of it. Heretofore the regions we have taken over have been contiguous to us. save in the case of Alaska. and indeed Alaska is contiguous. in the sense of being near.