Speech #620234671

The Germans and the Irish likewise show higher percentages of skilled mechanics and of persons engaged in business and the professlos. Mr. Chairman. as I view this proposition. the immigration question does not touch the section of the country from which the chairman of the Immigration Committee comes and from which the gentleman from Georgia. who sits directly in front of me. comes. and if those who agitate chiefly in favor of restricting immigration here. as the gentleman has stated this afternoon. the Junior Order of American Mechanics. It strikes me that it is the same old organization that at one time desired legislation against the race from which I come. I would not be so severe or harsh as to maintain that It Is.because of the part that emigrants took in keeping this Union together that .those who protest against immigration want to prevent their further admission. But I want to say this. Mr. Chairman: That the immigrant has -been a factor in the economic. social. and political development of this country since the beginning of the country. and when it came time to sign the Declaration of Independence there were no fewer -than eight signers of that declaration who were what the gentleman would term of foreign blood. aliens. they were -IrishMlatthew Thornton. George read. Charles Carroll.