Speech #580034265

I will refer the gentleman for full information to the report of the Commissioner of Immigration. it would take me some time to answer the gentlemans question fully. My understanding is that in general this class of immigrants stay in the cities. They do not go to the homes of the West and the South which the gentleman speaks of. There is a bill now before the Commissioner of Immigration the object of which is to have agents try to distribute to different parts of the country the immigrants coming from those three countries. As a matter of fact. the mass of them stay in the cities. they do not go upon the homes. That is one great objection to their coming. They crowd the cities. They spread disease. they become charges on the community. and for these reasons they are not a desirable class of immigrants. Mr. Chairman. such is the record which is attracting attention all over the country. You can scarcely pick up a newspaper in any part of the country which at least some time in the course of a month will not contain an editorial or some other information bearing on this question. The President of the United States in his last annual message called the attention of Congress to this question. and I think his views are particularly sound. I read from his language: We can not have too much immigration of the right kind. and we should have none at all of the wrong kind. The need is to devise some system by which undesirable immigrants shall be kept out entirely. while desirable immigrants are properly distributed throughout the country. The National Board of Trade at its meeting held in Washington January 19. 1904. passed the following resolutions: