Speech #630132161

They are frequently found destitute in our streets. they seek employment at our doors. they are found in our almshouses and In our hospitals. they are found at the bar of criminal tribunals. in our Dridewell. our penitentiary. and our State prison. And we lament to say that they are too often led by want. by vice. and by habit to form a phalanx of plunder and depredations. rendering our city more liable to increase of crime and our houses of correction more crowded with convicts and felons. That is what those gentlemen had to say about the immigration that came to our shores nearly 100 years ago. and which the gentleman from Alabama spoke of so highly. Mr. Chairman. the objection to immigration is not new. as you will observe. The same class of people. yes. the same sections of our country that objected to these immigrants 100 years ago are found now again advocating and demanding restriction. I say to them. if they would have more immigration. if they would receive at least a part of it. I can assure them they would not favor restriction. Immigration has been a great blessing and benefit to the country. and I feel confident that the immigrants that are to come will measure up with the old immigrants which helped to build up our country. Mr. Chairman. in an effort to prejudice the minds of the American people the restrictionists have asserted that the foreign Governments are. aiding emigration to this country. This is an unmitigated falsehood. these Governments. far from encouraging emigration. are doing everything possible to prevent it. knowing as they do that they are losing annually thousands of their best citizens. They maintain. and properly so. that emigration robs them of the young. healthy. and ambitious men antd women. just the very kind they would like to retain within their borders. Statistics will show that during the past 10 years over 80 per cent of our immigrants have been between the ages of 14 and 45. This clearly indicates that we are receiving immigrants in the prime of life. men and women who are producers. and who will create wealth. It has been estimated that to raise a child to the age of 14 years costs approximately $1.000. think. then. of the billions of dollars that these incoming aliens represent. In order to maintain the progress of this great Nation it is imperative that we do not further restrict desirable immigration. The industry of the country requires the labor of the foreigner. and the presumption that the immigrant is a competitor of our American labor is erroneous. On the contrary. the employment of immigrant labor creates a demand for a better grade of labor. andi it is productive of better wages for the American workingman. The work performed by the immigrant is that of the hardest kind. work of a character for which it is wellnigh impossible to secure American labor. yet work which nevertheless must 1e performed. Some of the restrictions would have us believe that at present there is practically no regulation of immigration. and that. with very few exceptions. every individual who seeks admission is successful in his quest. For the benefit of these gentlemen and others who may have been misled by these statements. I would like to state that during the fiscal year of 191112 there were over 16.000 immigrants denied admission to our country. while there were over 1.000 deported who had been admitted on probation. as it were. and who were forced to leave because of circumstances arising subsequent to their admission. I also desire to call the attention of these gentlemen to the fact that at the present time we exclude all idiots. imbeiles. feebleminded persons. epileptics. insane persons. and persons who have been insane within five years previous. persons who have had two or more attacks of insanity at any time previously. paupers. persons likely to become a public charge. professional beggars. persons afflicted with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease. persons mentally or physically defective. such mental or physical defect being of a nature which may affect the ability of such alien to earn a living. persons who have been convicted of or admit having committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. polygamists. or persons who admit their belief in the practice of polygamy. anarchists. or persons who believe in or advocate the overthrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States. or of all government. or of all forms of law. or the assassination of public officials. prostitutes. or women or girls coming into the United States for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose. persons called contract laborers who have been induced or solicited to migrate to this country by offers or promises of employment or in consequence of agreements. oral. written. or printed. expressed or implied. to perform labor in this country of any kind. skilled or unskilled. those who have been. within one year from the date of application for admission to the United States. deported as having been induced or solicited to migrate as above described. any person whose ticket or passage is paid for with the money of another. or who is assisted by others to come. unless it is affirmatively and satisfactorily shown that such person does not belong to one of the foregoing excluded classes and that said ticket or passage was not paid for byany corporation. association. society. municipality. or foreign Government. either directly or indirectly. all children under 16 years of age unaccompanied by one or both of their parents. at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor or under such regulations as he may from time to time prescribe. The supporters of this measure will tell you that by adopting the literacy test we will keep out a great portion of those coming from southern Europe. and that we will therefore secure more desirable Immigration. Mr. Chairman. literacy is not a test of character. of honesty. industry. or integrity.