Speech #630133031

After all. education is largely a matter of opportunity. And many of the illiterates who come to this country today are illiterate because they were denied educational advantages. But we have had this question of excluding immigrants before us at every stage of our history. The gentleman from New York stated awhile ago that even when we were Colonies the great philosopher. Benjamin Franklin. opposed the further immigration of Germans into Pennsylvania. About 20 years later he evidently found that his theories were wrong. that his fears were unfounded. for he was one of the committee of five of the Continental Congress who helped draft the Declaration of Independence. and in the Declaration of Independence one of the complaints against the King of Great Britain is that he refused to pass laws to allow foreigners to migrate to this country. In the early part of the nineteenth century the agitation against immigrants was directed against the Germans and the Irish. Why. even the children of Irish immigrants were insulted in the public schools in the larger cities of this country. The turner halls of the Germans were frequently attacked. the doors were broken and the windows were smashed by the prejudiced haters of foreign immigrants. Even as late as iS9S there was complaint against the Swedes coming to this country. and it is universally conceded in these days that the Swedes. as well as Scandinavians generally. make a splendid type of American citizen. It is universally conceded in these days that the Irish and the German immigrants of half or threequarters of a century ago were a fine class of men and women. Their descendants have added materially to the upbuilding of this American Commonwealth. And yet. if you were to read the attacks made upon them during the period they were flocking to our shores in great numbers. you would find that the language used against them was just as bitter. just as vindictive. as is the language that is being used against the immigrants of our day. Mr. Chairman. statistics show that an overwhelming percentage of the immigrants of today are farm laborers and unskiiled workmen. There is a crying demand for farm labor all over the Union. In the West millions of acres of arable land lie undeveloped on account of the scarcity of farm labor. With the opening of the Panama Canal much of this immigration will go direct to the West. We in California have already provided for an immigration commission that will try to locate these immigrants in our orchards. our vineyards. and our farms. The products of the soil will be greatly increased in that State. We will be able to send a greater abundance of the good things of life to the teeming masses of the East. And what is true of California is equally true of all the Pacific Coast States. I for one have no fear of the illiterate immigrant. It is the educated scoundrel. who could easily work his way into this country under this Burnett bill. whose presence here will be the real menace to our institutions and our countrys welfare.