Speech #610081240

Mr. Speaker. I do not controvert the propositionI am in full accord with itthat Congress has full power and authority under the Constitution to regulate immigration. to prohibit it altogether. to prescribe the terms upon which foreigners may come. the character of the people who may come to our shores. and the terms upon and the causes for which they may be deported. I stated a while ago. and I repeat. that I would increase the restrictions now existing upon the admission of aliens into this country and impose a larger head tax than now required I would apply a test which would diminish the throng oi undesirable aliens which yearly comes amongst our people. amounting to a million last year. I would exclude persons of the character denounced in this bill. I would prohibit them from coming. and I would. If they were admitted in violation of the prescribed terms upon which they might come. deport them to the country from whence they emigrated. but. Mr. Speaker. this bill Is not content to deal with the subject of immigration. It goes beyond that. It not only undertakes to prohibit the transportation of alienswomen and girlsfor immoral purposes from one State to another. but It undertakes to prohibit. and makes it a felony. the buying or furnishing a ticket to any woman of the character described for the purpose of carrying them from one State to another. It is an effort on the part of the committee to report a bill. and. if successfully. passed. will be an effort on the part of Congress to absorb under the guise of regulating commerce the police powers of the State. The associations and the people who are interested In the matter of preventing the "whiteslave" traffic do not. so far as I can learn. demand the kind of legislation proposed in this bill. especially in that part of it which proposes to use the commerce clause of the Constitution to prevent the transportation of women from one State to another. What they have chiefly demanded is the exclusion of those undesirable aliens from our shores rather than their regulation and punishment after they come to this country and become mixed with the mass of our citizens. With all efforts to exclude undesirable aliens and with all legislation looking to that end I am in hearty accord. As evidence of what Is demanded by the good people Interested in this matter. and who have made a thorough investigation of it. I desire to refer to andread the resolutions adopted by the American Purity Federation. at Burlington. Iowa. October 21. 1909. at its last annual congress. which are as follows: Whereas the Immigration Commission reports thousands of undeniably undesirable persons being brought to this country every year by the foreign steamships for the profit in the traffic: Therefore be it Resolved. That the American Purity Federation urge the Congress of the United States to increase the steamship head tax. to debar undesirable aliens by the illiteracy test. a money requirement. and a character certificate.. to require young girls to be accompanied by or to come to a near relative. and to fine the steamships $300 for bringing an undesirable alien when the undesirability could have been ascertained before embarkation. If the Committee on Immigration would devote its efforts to reporting bills and passing legislation along this line. In my judgment they would accomplish much more for the benefit of the country and for the prevention of the "whiteslave" traffic than this bill will do. because the bill is so drawn. in my judgmlent. that it must meet the fate of the provisions ii the present Immigration act. which the Supreme Court of the United States declared to be unconstitutional. and because it does not. as it should. strike at the veiy root of the evil which should be corrected. As a suggestion along the line of further restriction of immigration and the need of it instead of this kind of legislation. I quote from the last annual report .of the commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island. Hon. William Williams. as follows: I have already adverted to the easygoing character of our exclusion laws and stated that even their strict enforcement keeps out only the very bad elements of foreign countries. Between these elements and those that are a real benefit to the country (as so many of our immigrants are) there lies a class who may be quite able to earn a living here. but who in doing so tend to pull down our standards of living. I am not now concerned with the question whether or not laws can be framed which will correctly describe this undesirable class. I. wish merely to emphasize what must be known to every thinking person. that it is coming here in considerable numbers and that we are making no effort to exclude It. Few people are bold enough to claim that we are In urgent need of any more Immigrants. who will crowd into the congested districts of our large cities. And yet this Is where a large percentage of our immigrants now go and stay. At the time when portions of the West are crying for outofdoor labor the congestion In New York City may be Increasing at the rate of many thousands per month. Another way of putting this Is to say that much of our presentday immigration is not responsive to the legitimate demands for additional labor In the United States. I -think this fact should be made known throughout those sections of our country where many erroneously think that further restrictions of the right kind would Increase the difficulties incident to obtaining labor for which there is a real demand. Quite the contrary Is the case. for poor immigration tends to deter good immigrants from coming. If the Committee on Immigration will devote its attention to passing laws along this line. they will have my hearty concurrence. cooperation. and support. After the alien lands. he becomes amenable to the laws of the State in which he resides. Its police power reaches out and stretches around him to punish or protect him just the same as it does over a citizen. The laws of the State where he resides are invoked for his protection and for his punishment. The federal laws have to do with his entering this country. but once he is admitted their application and operation terminates. Under the federal law he may be deported for cause. yet to no punishment provided by federal law can he be subjected for criminal acts committed within and punished by the State. .Under the state law he must be tried and punished for his offense. the same as a citizen would be. If these alien women and girls are the wards of the Government. some measure of discipline should be exerted to reclaim and reform them. some police power of the Government should be invoked to check their .downward career. If the restricted police power of this Government will not reach and regulate the conduct of these alien women. how can it fasten upon a citizen. amenable for his transgressions to the laws of the State. and punish the citizen for what in its first and last analysis is neither more nor less than a breach of a police regulation of the State?