Speech #620291695

New York. California. and Kentucky were "KnowNothings." The slogan of the "KnowNothing" Party was that Americans must rule America. and their greatest strength was in the Thirtyfourth Congress. from 1854 to 1856. when they claimed 43 Representatives and 5 Senators. Ten years later. however. in the hirtyeighth Congress. from .1864 to .866. there was not a "KnowNothing" Representative in the House. and the "KnowNothing" Party lisappeaed without having accomplished anything against immigration. The truth is that in 1864 Congress passed a law to encourage innigrmAion. especially the importation of contract labor. This law was repealed. however. in 1868. leaving on the statute books the act of 1819. amended slightly by the acts of 1847 and 1848. providing improved conditions in tile steerage of inmigration ships. The law of 1864 stands out as the only attempt on the part of the National Government to promote immigration. New York in 1824 passed a law requiring all masters of vessels arriving at the port of entry to make a written report giving the name. age. and last residence of every person on board during the voyage. ajid whether any of the passengers had gone on board any other vessel. with a view of proceeding to New York. Another section of the law gave the mayor of New York City the power to require bond of every master of a vessel to indemnify the mayor and the overseer of the poor from any expense incurred for passengers brought in and not reported. This law was held to be constitutional by tile Supreme Court of the United States. and in 1829 the State of New York passed another law. which provided that the master of every vessel arriving from a foreign port should pay to the health comnnissioner $1.50 for every cabin passenger. $1 for every steerage passenger. mate. sailor. or marine. and 25 cents for every person on a coasting vessel. In 1837 Massachusetts passed a law requiring the owner of a vessel to pay $2 for each alief passenger brought to her ports and to give bond that certain immigrants should not become a public charge. Both the New York and the Massachusetts statutes were later held in part to be unconstitutional. California and Louisiana passed statutes looking to the limitation of immigration. which were held to be unconstitutional. In California th6 question of Chinese immigration became so acute that recourse was had to the Federal Government. which resulted in the Burlingame treaty. which was proclaimed on July 28. 1868. and which was the first treaty to deal with Chinese imgration to the United States. The attitude of the United States in this treaty toward Chinese immigration was not popular in the Pacific Coast States. and they continued their agitation for further restriction of Chinese immigrants. which resulted in the Congress of the United States passing the act of March 3. 1875. aimed at immigrants from China. Japan. and other oriental countries. This law prohibited the importation of convicts. women for immoral purposes. coolie labor. and Chinese and Japanese subjects without their free and voluntary consent. and fixed heavy penalties for a violation of the provisions of the statute. Later other treaties and Chinese and Japanese exclusion acts forbade the immigration of Chinese and Japanese to this country. as well as Korean laborers. skilled or unskilled. And that is the way the matter stands today. So the bill now before the House Is not intended to exclude Chinese. Japanese. or Korean laborers. skilled or unskilled. as that is already provided for. From the unsatisfactory attempt of State legislation on the imluigration question it became apparent that the subject was too big for State control. and in a very unusual decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on March 20. 1876. that court decreed: We are of the opinion that this whole subject [of immigration] has been confided to Congress by the Constitution . that Congress can more appropriately and with more acceptance exercise it than any other body known to our laws. State or national. that by providing a systern of laws in these matters applicable to all parts and to all vessels a serious question which has long been a matter of contest and complaint may be effectually and satisfactorily settled. This decision virtually put the subject of immigration under Federal control. and on July 6. .876. following the decision of the Supreme Court in March of that year. Senator Conkling and Representative Cox of New York introduced bills in Congress for the national regulation of immigration. No legis lation. however. of this sort was put on the statute books until August 3. 1882. This law provided. among other things. that a head tax of 50 cents each be levied on all aliens entering the ports of the United States to defray expenses of regulating immigration and caring for needy immigrants after landing. that lunatics. idiots. convicts (except for political offenses). and persons likely to become public charges should not be permitted to land. and that the Secretary of the Treasury be charged with executing the provisions of the act. and that he be empowered to enter into contracts with such States officers as the governor of any State might designate to take charge of the local affairs of immigration within such State. On February 26. 1885. the first act of Congress was approved. forbidding the importation of contract labor to the United States. This law was defective hi that no arrangement was made for its general execution. no inspection of the alien was provided for. nor deportation of the contract laborer. if found so to be. This act. however. was amended by an act of February 23. 1887. which gave the Secretary of the Treasury authority to deport within one year from -landing any alien who had come to this country contrary to the provisions of the contractlabor act. In 1SS9 a standing Committee on Immigration was established in the Senate of the United States and a select Committee on Immigration and Naturalization was established in the House. In 1890 these :committees were authorized to make a joint investigation of the immigration question. and especially to look into the various State laws on the subject. These committees. in making their report. suggested that While no very .radical changes in the immigration laws were at that time advisable. still they found that throughout the -country there existed a strong sentiment for a stricter enforcement of these laws. The fact is that in the year 1890 one or more political parties in 23 different States demanded additional regulation of immigration. lesponsive to this demand for stricter immigration laws and regulations the Congress of the United States ptqssed. and it was approved on March 3. 1891. an additional immigration. act amendatory of previous acts. This act added to the list of aliens heretofore excluded those "suffering from a loathsome or contagious disease." "polygamists." and those "whose ticket or passage is paid for with the money of another or who is assisted by others to come." except. however. that any person living in the United States could pay the way of a relative or friend. provided. of course. that the relative or friend did not belong -to some of the excluded classes. This act strengthened further the :existing contractlabor law by prohibiting the encouragement of immigration by promises of .employment through advertisements -published in any foreign country. and steamship companies were forbidden under penalty to solicit or encourage immigration. The law of 1891 also -created the office of Superintendent of Immigration. and instead of some State officer. by appointment of the governor. having charge -of the execution of the immigration laws in that State. as provided for in the act of IS82. the whole -question -of immigration for the first time was completely -under Federal control. This act also provided that the commanding officer -of every vessel carrying :aliens to our shores should furnish to the proper immigration -officials the name. nationality. last residence. and destination of all immigrants on board. that medical examination of immigrants at United States -ports should be inade by surgeons of the United :States MarineHospital Service. and within one year after arrlval any immigrant might be returned who had come to this -country in violation of law. and that. too. at -the expense of .the transportation company that brought him. It was not until 1907. however. that -steamShip companies were required to keep a record of outgoing passengers. e For the first time inspection of immigrants on the Mexican and Canadian borders was established. While this was the most stringent Immigration act passed by Congress up to this time still -the subject of immigration continued to be much discussed. and a strong -movement for further restriction developed. owing largely to the industrial -depression from 1890 to 1896. Investigations more or less extensive were conducted by joint committees of -Congress and also by the Industrial Commission. In 1.894 an act was passed .raising the -head tax from ..50 cents to $1. but Iresident Cleveland vetoed another bill passed by both branches of .Congress providing for a literacy test. Based upon the report of the Industrial Commission made to Congress Februail:y 20. 1902. a bill .was introduced in the House providing for a .comiplete codification and rearrangement of .all Immigration acts froam Marci 3. .1875. to the act of 1894. An amendment was .-ffered. to this hill and passed by the House by i vote of 86 ito 7 providing that .all persons over 15 years of age who were unable to read the English language or some other language should be excluded. :maling an exception in favor of Wives. parents. grandparents. and children under 18 years of age. The bill so amended .passed the House May 27. 1902. When it reached the Senate it eliminated the educational test. raised the head tax from $1 to $2. and made it unlwftil for any person to assist in the entry or naturalization of alien anarchists. The House agreed to these amendments. and the bill was approved by the President March 3. 1903. It was not until FFebruary :20. 1907. that any other immigration act of much import was passed by Congress. although by an .act of February 14. 1903 the .Dppartment of Commerce iand Labor was established and the Commissioner General of Immigration was placed under that department. his official position being that of a head of a bureau. On June 29. 1906. the Bureau of Immigration was changed to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. a uniform rule for the naturalization of aliens was provided for. and the administration of the new naturalization law was charged to this bureau.. A little history of the immigration act of February 20. 1907. the latest now on the statute books (with a small amendment of March 26. 1910). and the one sought to be amended by the bill we are now considering. may not be amiss: A bill introduced by Senator DIUNCIeAM. Of Vermont. was favorably reported by the Senate committee on March 29. 1906. This bill sought to amend the immigration act of 1903 by increasing the head tax from $2 to $5. Imbeciles. feebleminded persons. children under 17 years of age unaccompanied. and persons " who are found to be and are certified by the examining surgeon as being mentally or physically defective. such mental or physical defect being of such a nature which may. affect the ability of such alien to earn a living." were added to the excluded classes. The section of existing law excluding prostitutes was amended by adding: "Women or girls coming into the United States for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose." A division of information was created in the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. and steamship companies were for the first time required to furnish to the proper immigration officials lists of outgoing passengers. In the Senate the bill was amended by the insertion of a literacy test very similar to the one this House is now considering and which I will later quote. and the Senate bill as amended by the literacy test passed -the Senate. May 23. 1906. When the bill reached the House it was referred -to the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. and they amended it by substituting one of their own in many respects similar to it. including the literacy test. In the -conference between the House and Senate conferees the head tax was made $4 and the other amendments were agreed to except the literacy test was -eliminated. and a commission composed of nine members was authorized to make a complete investigation of the immigration question and report its findings to Congress The bill as amended became a law February 20. 1907. Composing this commission. which .I have referred to. were to be three MAembers of the House appointed by the Speaker. three Members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate. and the other members of the commission to be appointed by the President of the United States. This commission. after an extensive investigation both in this country and in Europe. costing $1.000.000 and covering a period of four years. made a voluminous report. embracing 42 volumes of printed matter. covering all phases of the immigration question. This commission. after a most thorough investigation of the immigration question. found certain facts to exist and -made some specific recommendations to Congress. In the first place. the commission found that there were too many immigrants coming to this country. that there is now an oversupply of unskilled labor in the basic industries of the United States. that restrictive legislation ought to be passed by Congress. and that the literacy test was the best Single method of accomplishing the desired end. Let me quote the exact words of the commission: The investigations of the commission show an oversupply of unskilled labor in basic industries to an extent which indicates an oversupply of unskilled labor in industries of the country as a whole. a condition which demands legislation restricting the further admission of .such unskilled labor. It is desirable in making the reduction that a sufficient number -be debarred to 1produce a marked effect upon the present supply of unskilled labor. Even the Hon. William S. Iennet. the -only dissenting member from any of the findings of the commission. concurred in this in his minority report. ie said: A slowing down of the present rate of the immigration of unskilled labor is justified by the r. eport. .And after enumerating more than a half dozen ways by Which this reduction could be :brought about the .commission added: A majority of the commissioneight out of the ninefavor the readingandiwriting test as the most feasible single method of restricting undesirable Immigration. And this is not a partisan political report for political purposes. It is a report by men of both parties after a most careful and painstaking investigation. Tie fact is -that the question of immigration is nota politiczl one. I have briefly reviewed tile legislation on this question. and before taking up and beginning to liscuss tie merits of the bill now pending -before this House I Nwant to aldduce some proof to show that the question is nonpolilical aind that restrictive legislation has been demanded in the national platforms of the two dominant political parties in this countrmy. Away back in