Speech #590030727

And this theory our people accept as true. and cheerfully pay the bills. While we have thus taken steps to guard our country against an open enemy from without whose coming and purpose would be heralded by the marshaling of armies. beating drums. and waving banners. we must not deceive ourselves to the belief that these are our only dangers which threaten our peace and safety. There is going on every day an apparently peaceful invasion of our country by thousands of people from foreign lands who come under the guise of friendship. which enables them to plot against our Government. to inoculate our people with the noxious diseases they have. and to destroy the standard of living and wages of the American laboring man and drag them down to the level of pauper labor of the Old World. Mr. Chairman. this should remind us that one of the most Important questions demanding the attention of the Federal Congress is that of foreign immigration. And whom can we admit into the circle of our national family without injury to our domestic. moral. social. healthful. and commercial wellbeing? Our Government was nearly a hundred years old before Congress thought it necessary to close our doors against anyone or place any barriers in the way of free and unobstructed entry into our ports. This was in 1875. when a law was passed excluding prostitutes and persons convicted of felony and serving out their sentences for other than political crimes. Prior to that time almost the entire immigration to this country came from northern Europe. of the same stock as our ancestors. of a brave. hardy. and industrious type of men and women. who were willing to brave the dangers of a new country where they could build homes for themselves and children and enjoy the full measure of freedom and independence guaranteed by our Constituion. We needed no laws to exclude them then. We need none now. We still have an abundance of room for healthy. Industrious. lawabiding. and patriotic citizens. who. inspired by an admiration for our institutions. voluntarily come to make this their permanent home. It has been with the aid of this kind of immigration that we have developed the wonderful resources of the country until today. although one of the youngest anmong recognized nations of the earth. we are the greatest of them all. It was not until after the civil war that we began to feel the evil effects of an undes -able foreign immigration. and this was promoted largely through the operation of the contract labor law. which brougit to our shores thousands of the most abject and povertystricken of Europe. whose future there was so dark that they were willing to sell themselves into slavery for a time in order to get their way paid to this country. where they might perchance Improve their condition. There are instances where these white slave dealers even went into the jails and prisons of Europe. and. under the promise of bringing the inmates to this country. secured the release of deepdyed felons. and into the slums of the cities where lost women dwelt. gathering them together. brought them all to become fit subjects and citizens of the United States. It was this menace to our morals and security which prompted Congress to enact the first exclusion law. New contingencies arising from time to time have made it necessary to enact other laws enlarging the excluded list. and the crying needs of today demand the turning away of thousands of people who should not be allowed to come among us. Before the war the people who came to our shores were patriotic and libertyloving home seekers and home builders. who are a treasure in any land. But since that time the tide of immigration has shifted from northern and western Europe to southern and eastern Europe and to an entirely different people. different in manners. customs. education. mental and moral training. many of them without any sense of patriotism or regard for our free institutions. though they are allowed to profit by them with the ultimate purpose in view that. they intended to appropriate our advantages to their own selfish ends. and in a given time return to their mother country. taking with them there every dollar they earn except what was necessary to keep soul and body together. In fact. the difference between the immigrants who came to the country previous to the year 1880 and those coming since that time might be thus described: That the former were of our own familykith and kinwho bade adieu to the land of their nativity and came and cast their lot with ous. pledging their lives and fortunes with ours unto the fullest development and achievements of this then but young Republic of the West. As to the latter. most of them come only at the dictates of a spirit of commercialism. greed. and rapacity. intending only to stay long enough to gather to themselves sufficient of our wealth to enable them to live comfortably in their frugal way. and with it to return to their native country without even thanking us for our generosity in allowing them to hoodoo us. This position I will fully sustain further on. when I will go into full detail. The following table shows the annual immigration to the United States for the past eightysix years. which is the first year our Government began to keep such a record: Number of immigrants arrived in the United States each year from 1820 to 1905. both inclusive. Year ending September 30: 1820 --------------------------------------- 8. 385 1821 -------------------------------------------- 9.127 1822 -------------------------------------------- 6. 911 1823 --------------------------------------- 6. 354 1824 --------------------------------------- 7.912 1825 --------------------------------------------- 10. 199 1826 -------------------------------------------- 10. 837 1827 --------------------------------------18. 875 1828 --------------------------------------27. 382 1829 --------------------------------------22. 52o 1830 --------------------------------------23. 322 1831 --------------------------------------22. 63: October 1. 1831. to December 31. 1832 ------------------ 60. 482 Year ending December 31 : 1833 -------------------------------------------- 58. 640 1834 -------------------------------------------- 65. 365 1835 45. 374 1836 -------------------------------------------- 76. 242 1837 -------------------------------------------- 79. 340 1838 -------------------------------------------- 38. 914 1839 -------------------------------------------- 68. 06i) 1840 --------------------------------------------- 84.066 1841 -------------------------------------------- 80. 289 1842 --------------------------------------------- 104. 565 January 1 to September 30. 1843 ------------------------- 52. 496 Year ending September 30 : 1844 -------------------------------------------- 78. 615 1845 --------------------------------------------- 114. 371 1846 --------------------------------------------- 154. 41f 1847 -------------------------------------------- 234. 96S 1848 --------------------------------------------- 22. 527 1849 --------------------------------------------- 297.024 1850 --------------------------------------------- 310. 004 October 1 to December 31. 1850 -------------------------- 59.976 Year ending December 31: 1851 --------------------------------------------- 379. 466 1852 --------------------------------------------- 371. 603 1853 --------------------------------------------- 368. 65 1854 --------------------------------------------- 427. 83" 1855 -------------------------------------------- 200. 877 1856 ----------------------------------------------1-)5. 857 January 1 to June 30. 1857 ------------------------------112. 123 Year ending June 30: 1858 --------------------------------------------- 191. 942 .1859 --------------------------------------------- 129. 571 1860 --------------------------------------------- 133. 143 1861 --------------------------------------------- 142. 877 1862 --------------------------------------------- 72. 18 1863 -------------------------------------------- 132. 925 1864 --------------------------------------------- 191. 114 1865 -1---------------------------------------------180.339 1866 -------------------------------------------- 332. 577 1867 --------------------------------------------- 303. 104 1868 --------------------------------------------- 282. 189 1869 ----------------------------------------------352. 768 1870 ----------------------------------------------387. 203 1871 --------------------------------------------- 321. 350 1872 -------------------------------------------- 404.806 1873 ------------------------------------------- 459. 803 1874 ------------------------------------------ - 313. 339 Yea? ending June 30Continued. 1875 -------------------------------------------- 227. 498 1876 -------------------------------------------- 169. 986 1877 -------------------------------------------- 141.857 1878 -------------------------------------------- 138 469 1879 -------------------------------------------- 177. 826 1880 -------------------------------------------- 457 257 1881 --------------------------------------- 66 431 1882 -------------------------------------------- 788. 992 . 1883 -- - ---------------------------------------- 603. 322 1884 -------------------------------------------- 518. 592 1885 -------------------------------------------- - 5 346 1886 -------------------------------------------- 334 203 1887 -------------------------------------------- 490 109 1888 -------------------------------------------- 546 889 S1889 -------------------------------------------- 444 427 -. 1890 -------------------------------------------- 455. 302 1891 -------------------------------------------- 560 319 1892 -------------------------------------------- 579 663 18 3 -------------------------------------------- 439. 730 1894 -------------------------------------------- 285. 631 1895 -------------------------------------------- 258 536 1806 -----------------------------------------------38.267 1897 -------------------------------------------- 230 832 1898 -------------------------------------------- 29. 290 18D9 ---------------------------------------------- 311 715 1900 ------------------------------------------- -448 572 1901 -------------------------------------------- 487 918 1902 --------------------------------------------- -648. 743 1903 ------------------------------------------- 857 046 1904 -------------------------------------------- 812 870 1905 -------------------------------------------- 1. 026. 499 An analysis of this table will disclose the countries from which these people came and support what I have just said. The whole number of immigrants during these years was 22.931.983. To this number Great Britain has been the largest contributor. sending us 7.286.443 of her sons and daughters. In 1851 she sent us 272.740. From the year 1892 up to and Including 1904. her annual emigration was less than 40 per cent of what it was the preceding forty years. although last year it shows a material gain over the preceding thirteen years. Her figures of 1851 were never reached by any other country until last year. when AustriaHungary outnumbered her with 275.693. Next comes Germany. a close second. with her contribution of 5.187.092. Her largest number in any one year was 215.009. in 1854. standing second to Great Britain until last year she was outnumbered by both AustriaHungary. with 275.693. and Italy. with 221.479. Like her neighbor. Great Britain. after the year 1893 her annual immigration fell off so largely up to and including the year 1905 that it was not more than 30 per cent of what it had been the preceding forty years. Italy ranks third in total immigration. sending in all 2.000.252. but. unlike the United Kingdom. our advantages did not attract them sufficiently until after the year 1880. Up to that year she did not send us as many as 9.000 in any oneyear. In 1832 she only sent 3. in the year 1880 the number reached 12.354. From that year on there was a steady and rapid increase. until the year 1903. when it reached the astonishing figures of 230.622. Fourth in order comes AustriaHungary. with 1.971.431. her entire emigration to the United States. Though very late in discovering the great advantages for exploitation our country afforded. she sent her first emigrants. 13 in number. In 1861. From this small beginning it grew steadily until 1900. when it took new impetus. that year reaching 114.840. 1901. 113.390. 1902. 171.989. 1903. 206.011 . 1904. 177.156. and in 1905. 275.639.