ChairmanD. that the Chineseexclusion law should be more rigidly enforced and proper efforts made to have all yellow races placed in the same category as the Chinese. because assimilation is unnatural and obviously undesirable. Another reason advanced by the exclusionist or restrictionist is that the poorly paid European laborer works for less and consumes less. and thus lowers the American standard of living and wages. And yet. despite the steady. and to some alarmingly large. increase of immigration of recent years. our standard of living and wages was in no way affected. but is higher today than it ever has been. Let us remember. Mr. Chairman. that while the immigrant received less for his labor at home his living expenses were correspondingly lower. and in this country he is not favored with any rebate by the few men who virtually control the necessities of life. and he would certainly be unlike the rest of humanity if he did not try to obtain the highest possible reward for his services. And yet by a strange law of reasoning. too subtle for me to grasp. it is charged in one and the same breath that he cheapens labor. and yet is largely responsible for labor strikes. You know that can not be true. for the very object of a strike is to secure a raise in the wage standard and better the condition of labor.. Again. it is urged that we place a high tariff on goods coming to this country with the ostensible purpose of protecting our wageearners from the cheap competition of European labor. and at the same time allow the laborers themselvesfree entry into our country. Now. Mr. -Chairman. the immigrant does not perform any labor for nothing. for the labor he readers lie is compelled to demand an equivalent sufficient to meet his high American living expenses. I amn applying these arguments not to the imported contract laborer or the socalled " bird of passage." whom I emphatically object to. but to the white man that comes here with the purpose of making this country his permanent home. The demand for labor increases naturally with the growth of industries. and the immigrant comes in response to that dematid. In this connection. I think that the recent large influx of immigrants is a high tribute to the Republican party. its policies and their practical application in the conduct of the affairs of this Government. Now. the idea of free trade or tariff for revenue only has its basis in an altruistic conception of the commercial brotherhood of uationsa conception belied by the experience of mankind and fundamentally opposed to the law of selfpreservationa law that applies to nations as well as individuals. and a law that is the basis of the protective system. That the policy of protection may be. and is in some respects. overapplied I personally have no doubt. And while I recognize and appreelate the vast amount of work and controversy the readjustmeat of the existing tariff schedules would involve. I believe it ought to be done to the extent of reducing the tariff on goods whose production and sale is controlled by a few men. My conclusions in this regard are that immigration is not antagonistic to the principles of national selfpreservation. because its ruling motive underlies the individuals desire to better the status of himself and progeny. Or. put in another way.. his aims and those of the nation are harmonized by a unity of intention. Now. it has been charged by some and.
Identified stereotypes
Poorly paid European laborers work for less and consume less, lowering the American standard of living.