Speech #630133043

Mr. Chairman. I believe in a restriction of immigration for the reason that I believe it is necessary in order to protect and preserve our standard of American citizenship. I believe it is necessary not only to protect and preserve our standard of American citizenship. but also to raise that standard. because in my opinion in no other way can we perpetuate and hand down to posterity the institutions of our country. Mr. Chairman. a number of gentlemen have made the assertion on the floor of this House that Americans. being themselves only a few generations removed from immigrants. have no right to exclude others from coming to this country. I contend that such an assertion is both incorrect and based upon anl inaccuracy of terms. The early settlers who came to America and laid the foundations for its future greatness were colonists. not immigrants. They came both to escape religious persecution and for the purpose of bettering their economic condition. They faced difficulties and evolved a civilization which. though complex. has to a great extent remained AngloSaxon in character. It is to a civilization already founded and a country in the full tide of its national career that these later persons. properly termed immigrants. are coming. They seek to share the advantages of this great Republic equally with those whose forefathers made it possible. nor would we wish to exclude any who bring with them health. intelligence. and a desire to have a part in the permanent upbuilding of the country. America has always held itself out as an asylum for religious and political refugees who are worthy and qualified in a proper sense to become American citizens. and against such we never wish to close our doors. It does not follow. however. because of the rather liberal opendoor policy which has so loag been nmaintained. that the people of this country have lost their right to say who shall come among them. This privilege has been enjoyed by all peopies since the earliest time. The Hebrews. the Greeks. the Romans. all hedged about their citizenship with the most rigid restrictions. America chooses to be liberal in this respect. but it does not follow that the people of this country have not the right to say what the character of its future citizenship shall be. Imnmigration h.is already been somewhat restricted. we do not allow the admission of alien criminals or insane. which in tile early days of the immigration movement were freely admitted. to later become a burden upon the taxpayers of this country. To show the extent of the burden imposed. the census of 1S90 disclosed that 33.2 per cent of the insane in tile United States were of foreign birth. In 1904 the New York State Lunacy Comnmission reported to the Department of Commerce and Latbor .that in Greater -New York 60 per cent of the insane were of :al1in birth. Il a recent tabulation of statistics it -is pointed out that in 1912 of the 31.624 insane patients of the New York hospitals 13.728 were of foreign birth. Of this latter number 9.241 had never become naturalized citizens. so that 29.2 per cent of tile total number of insanle cared for by New York State were aliens. Tile average length of residence of the inmates of insane hospitals is 9.85 years. consequently the 9.241 aliens in the New York hospitals in 1912 represent a future cost to the State of New York of $25.412.038.44. It can be contended with great show of jnstice that it is unfair to impose upon New York tile burden of meeting a condition for which the National Government alone is responsible. As regards diseased foreigners the immigration coiliission kept a record of all charity patients entering certain New York hospitals from August 1. 1908. to February 28. 1909. and of the 23.758 cases 52.3 per cent were foreign born. The expense of caring for these cases fell entirely upon the people of this country. No one now contends that we have not the right to exclude such undesirables. It would be illogical to say that we have no right to go further and exclude illiterates also. provided that we are convinced that their admission is having a detrimental effect on the country. That the admission of such hordes of illiterates does have a harmful effect is not open to doubt. The statistics do not conclusively show that the illiterate and other foreigners are more criminal in the conmission of certain crimes than are the native Americans. but they do disclose the fact that the children of immigrants are more inclined to crime. The report of the Immigration Commission contains the following statement: The proportion of the more serious crimes of homicide. blackmail. and robbery. as well as the least serious offenses. is greater among the foreign born. It is not solely on the ground of their criminal inclination. however. that we wish to exclude the illiterates. It is unldesirable for any State to have a large body of uneducated men. and particularly is this true of a republic. where each one call exercise the rights of citizenship.