Speech #620291705

In answer to the question of the distinguished Member from Missouri . I will say that the act of February 20. 1907. created an Immigration Commission to study this question fion every conceivable standpoint. and after having devoted four years to extensive investgation. both in this country and in Europe. at an expenditure of $1.000.000 that commission came to the unanimous conclusion that there was aln oversupply.of unskilled labor in this country. Even the Flon. William S. Bennet. the only memeber of the commission who handed down a tissenting opinion at all. agreed with the majority that there was n oversupply of unskilled labor in this country. anti it is indeed a very cheap labor and goes largely to our industrial centers. Profs. Jenks and Lauck. in their book. page 26. speaking of the immigrants coming to this country. say They find that our supply of free agricultural land is practically taken up. that there is a strong denmand for their labor. especially in our mining and manufacturing centers. at wages much higher than any that they have known In their own country. although they raay be low when compared with the American standard. On page 10.9. same book. they say: A study of more than 5.000 wage earner.. in all sections of the country showed that the average daily earnings of native white Americans were $2.4Z and of Immigrants $1.68. Respecting the cost of living the sattle authors. oni page 174 of their book. say: The cost of living is about $10 per man for the Croatians for a month and the same for thte Slovaks. and from $5 to $7 for the Italians. The Italians live mainly upon bread and macaroni and bologna sausage. which accounts for the extremely low cost of their maintenance. Speaking of the amount of money brought into this country by tlhe south and east European immigrant per person aIld his necessity to take employment at low wage in this country these same authors. on page 183 of their book. say: During the past eight years the average amount per perzon among these immigrants has been about onethird as nmch as anong immlgrants from northern and western Europe. Consequently. finding it absolutely imperative to engage in work at once. they have not been in a position to take exception to wages or working conditions. but must obtain employment on the terms offered or suffer from actual want. Ott page 195 of the same book is found the following: The low standards of the southern and eastern European. his ready acceptance of a low wago and existing working conditions. his lack of perntianent interest in the occupation and community in which le has been employed Ills attitude toward labor organizations. lis slow progress toward assimitation. and his willingness seemingly to accept indefinitely without protest certain wages and conditions of employment have rendered it extremely difficult for the older classes of employees to secure improvements in conditions or advancement in wages sitce the arrival in considerable numbers of southern and eastern European wage earners. America is being filled up with people from other countries in such numbers and in late years of immigrants of such a character that it is impossible to assimilate them. and America is gradually but surely being foreigeized. It will be remembered that there were no statistis kept of alien immigrants to this country until 1819. From that yeai. down to now the increase has been tremendous and the character of the immigrants has undergone a marked change. Let us first look into the number find thee the character of tle ilmigrants that have been coming to this country. From 1820 to 1830 there arrived on our shores 143.430 immigrants. from 1830 to 1840. 599.125. from 1840 to 1850. 1.713.351: from 1.850 to 1860. 2.589.214. from 1860 to 1870. 2.314.824. from 1870 to 1880. 2.812.191. from 1880 to 1890. 5.246.613. from 1890 to 1900. 3.844.420. from 1900 to 1910. 8.795.386. while in 1911 there arrived in that one year 878.5S7. A glance at these figures will show the tremendous increase in immigration to this country. The first decade that has any record of immigrants coming to this country. the decade from 1820 to 1830. shows that there were only 143.439 immigrats admitted to the United States. while during the last decade. the decade from 1900 to 1910. there were 8.795.386. more than five times as many. although from 1820 to 1830 there was no Federal law oie the statute books really seeciug to restrict imlmigration and no law on the statute books really attempting to regulate it or aniy part of it. except the act of 1819. which regulited in a way the steerage passengers at sea. From 1900 to 1910. when nearly 9.000.000 alien immigrants were admitted to this country. there were on the statute books pretty stringent immigration laws. as is shown by an examination of the immigration acts of March 3. 1891. antd February 20. 1907. the one now sought to be amended. The passalge 6f the literacy test bill will curtail annually by some 200.000 the influx of immigrants to our shores. The Immigration Commission in a uuanilnous reportthose in favor of the literacy test and those opposet to itdeclared that there were too many immigrants coming to this country. and that their lmber ought to be inaterially curtailed. The question is. How should it be done?