Speech #620314622

Speaker. the letter of Prof. Jenks is as follows: Fmlntiiuaav: S. 1913. vfy DiAn M. PRilSrIDENT : I have noted in the papers that you have before you for consideration the new immigration bill. arnd that February 6 you gave a hearing on the bill. As a former member of the Immigration Commission. who gave a great deal of time to tire consideration of the subject. I trust that I may express an opinion regarding the bill. The fundamental reason why there should be at the present tinm a rather widely extended restriction of inimigration is the fact that lie number of unskilled workets coming in at the present time is sufficent to check decidedly the normal tendency toward an improved standard of living in many lines of industry. Of course I am well aware of the fact that Mr. Hourwich in his new book. as often before. and many others claim tlat the bringing in of these laborers simply fills the demand for unskilled workmen and that the American laborers and the earlier immigrants go to higher positions. That was doubtless true earlier. that is doubtless true in part nlow. but the figures collected by the Immigration Commission. on a sufficlent number of Industries in different sections of the country to give general conclusions. prove beyond doubt that in a goodl many cases these incoming immigrants actually drive out lIto other localities and Into other unskilled trades large numbers of American workingmoen and workingmen of the earlier immigration who do not get better positions. but. rather- worse ones. My own judgment and that of a number of our invesilgators when the work of the Immigration Commission began was substantially that upheld now by Mr. iHourwich and I hose vho agree with him. But Prof. Lauck. our chief superintendent of investigators in the field. and. so far as I am aware. every single investigator in the field. before the work ended reached the conclusion fron personal observation that the tendency of the large percentage of imligration of unskilled workers is clearly to lower the standard of living in a ntmber of industries. alid the statistics of the commission support thls impression.