Speech #590164731

Mr. Speaker. while there are some provisions in this bill which are of doubtful value and the necessity of which I can not at this time see. yet I believe that.the measure in other respects is an improvement upon our present immigration laws. and I shall therefore vote for the adoption of this conference report. I do not favor the headt.ix compromise. and if it were not for the fact that the parliamentary situation is such as to prohibit the offering of any amendments. I should move to reduce this tax from four to two dollars. which is the amount of the head tax under our present immigration act. Also to strike out the section the enforcement of which is left to the scientific (?) "guess" of the examining surgeon. as to whether persons of poor physique can or can not earn a living. This provision and its practical effect and operation will unjustly affect a certain virile. though not physically robust. race. I am glad to note the absence of the educationaltest amendment from this bill. the incorporation of which. in my judgment. would unreasonably restrict desirable immigration and not have any material effect in barring undesirables. The provision for the creation of a commission to investigate this subject and report its findings to Congress is a step in the right direction and ought to result in a harmonious solution of this question. While many of us in and out of Congress honestly differ in our opinions on various phases of this immigration question. it will perhaps not be amiss for me to remind you and the country in general in this connection that nothing is gained. and a great deal of friction caused. putting it briefly and bluntly. by the indiscriminate and lamentably ignorant classification of certain nationalities of eastern and southern Europe as " Dgoes" by certain writers and professional reformers in the guise of slum workers. These people seem to have and preserve a stubborn mental antipathy toward a white person not born in this country. anod what is more to be regretted. are prone to make him feel like an alien at every opportunity that presents itself. although in thought and feeling he may be a better American than the one who traces his ancestry to the landing of the Pilgrims. Let us not draw our conclusions of the foreign element in our midst by impressions of them created when they first land or are here a short time.