Speech #590091406

Mr. President. in reply to the Senator from Montana. I will say that in the immense building to which I have referred. where those immigrants congregated before going aboard the steamer. they have. as the Senator from Vermont noted this morning. In conformity with an arrangement with the Italian Government. a system of inspection. but as a casual observer. standing in their midst and seeing go forth this great throng to this country. it did not appear to me an inspection of a very thorough character. The evil effects of such an element among us are made evident in various ways. among others. in the large percentage of aliens who make up the inmates of our penal and charitable institutions. and who are largely. if not entirely. responsible for the serious violence and disorder constantly occurring In sections largely occupied by them in this country. from which places we continually see evidence of antagonism to government and hatred of law and order. involving destruction of life and property. such as are made manifest by the anarchists of Germany. the nihilists of Russia. and the communists of France. In this connection it may be stated as a fact not unworthy of note that in the portions of this country where we are free from this undesirable class of Immigrants such things as serious outbreaks and defiance of law and order are comparatively unknown. and It may further be said. without fear of successful contradiction. that where such disturbances have occurred they may be traced to the vicious examples thus set them by. the aliens. But. Mr. President. the objections to the indiscriminate admission. as at present. of Immigrants to this country are so manifold that they need not be detailed. and the bad effect upon the people of our land is so apparent as to be readily observed. The detrimental effect upon our social. religious. and moral conditions can not be calculated. nor can one well estimate the farreaching evil effect that will be sustained in the way of disease. pauperism. vice. and crime from the existing conditions. Mr. President. much that has been said on the subject of Immigration bears directly upon the subject of naturalization also. The two subjects are so identified that they can well be considered together in the same bill and discussed at the same time. The benefits derived from living in a country such as ours is. in itself. a blessing that all might well crave. no matter from what part of the habitable globe the immigrant may come. When it is recognized. as it is today everywhere. what the right of American citizenship Implies and the rich heritage that an Americanborn boy has in that respect. we. at least. by the laws passed by the Congress of the United States. should not seek to bring this citizenship Into disrepute at home or abroad. but. on the contrary. should ever be willing to protect and elevate It. We annually spend millions and millions of dollars upon our public and private educational Institutions looking to the fitting of our people to properly discharge the obligations of government and enjoy Its blessings. and our sons are required to wait until the year of maturity bdfore they can exercise the elective franchise. They have not only. therefore. the full opportunity of education afforded to all classes and races. but they are imbued from childhood with full knowledge of our form of government and our institutions. and it is a fact that. the average American boy knows more of our institutions and form of government than a foreign adult who has resided here for ten years. Yet the foreigner. no matter who he Is. has but to come and knock at the door of the naturalization office. and even If he complies with the law he has only to live In this country five years before he can vote. But it Is within the knowledge of us all that with the use of the fraudulent practices prevailing in many places. to the disgrace of the country be it said. throngs of them are immediately made fullfledged American citizens and carried to the polls to vote. not for the man of their choice (for they have no choice). but simply for the manipulator who has them in charge. The immigrant does not have to speak our language. he doer not have to possess any educational advantages or any means. and he thus helps to swell the election returns. which. in our cities particularly. most frequently are against good government and the intelligence and worth of the community. Great political machines and powerful organizations thrive and exist MAy 22. and have their being in some of our larger cities. and as a result make and unmake rulers. and at times control the political destinies of the nation entirely through the manipulation of this class of immigrants. That such a condition as this should exist in this country is shocking to our civilization. and it ought not to remain for a moment longer. That it is true. however. is well known and recognized. and within a period of two years. it appears from a recent report of a special attorney appointed by the Department of Justice. that in the city of New York. out of 791 criminal complaints filed. 685 convictions were had. It also appears that through civil proceedings 1.916 fraudulent certificates of naturalization were canceled. and it was ieported that these were but a small fraction of the total number of frauds that had been committed. Every possible safeguard should be thrown around the admission to citizenship of the immigrant after he arrives. as well to the end that he may not exercise the right of suffrage fraudulently as that he may be competent to understand when he does so. and also that he may not go abroad and there fraudulently avail himself of the rights of citizenship in this country. The following report of the Commissioners on Naturalization. recently made to the President of the United States. will be interesting on this point: The commanding position assumed by the United States among the great powers of the world. especially since the Spanish war. has inaced many aliens resident abroad to secure naturalization certificates from the courts of this country by false personation or perjury. for the sole purpose of engaging in unlawful pursuits or practices in their native country. under the protection afforded them by such alleged citizenship. In the same way certificates have been procured in the name of alien criminals resident abroad or of aliens who for some reason would be debarred from entrance into the United States. and by the possession of which certificates they are assured of entrance into this country. Many alleged citizbns of the United States. principally Syrians. resident in Hayti and Santo Domingo. have procured certificates for the sole purpose of escaping local taxation and to invoke the protection of the United States in any internal trouble arising in those countries This report clearly reveals the tricks resorted to in fraud of our citizenship.