Speech #630255200

I did not vote for it. because I believed that the commission would simply stir up trouble for business men and for workingmen all over the United States. At that time I believed that this commission would tend to create new offices. new expenditures on the part of the Government. and would offend the Democratic policy of economy. The commission has no power to do anything except to Investigate. and one of the things the chairman of the committee says it intends to investigate is that of Asiatic immigration. Now. the question of Asiatic immigration is fairly well understood by the Committee on Immigration and Naturalizatiou. which has before it. as Congress has. over 40 volumes that were prepatred at an expense of over a million dollars. which the people of this country paid. in order that the commission might investigate this very question. and it certainly was investigate(]. Mr. Chairman. the bill creating this Commission oil Industrial Relations appropriated $100.000 with which it might begin business. and that was after the expenditure of over $1.000.000 by the Immigration Commission to investigate the question of immigration and Asiatic conditions as they would affect this country. Under section 3 of the act. this commissionmay report to the Congress Its findings aud recommendations. and suh mlt the testimony taken from time to time. and shall make a final report. accompanied by the testimony not previously submitted. not later than three years after the date of the approval of this net. at which time the ttin of thils commission shall expire unless It shalt have previously made final report. and In the latter case thle term of the commission shall expire with the making of Its final report. and the commission shall make at least one report to the Congre.s6 within one year from the time of its apooitment. *and a second report within two years from the time of Its appointment. Now. It is a temporary body. a sort of floating kidney. to stir up questions as between capital and labor. and to report. and to report. and to report to Congress. so that its reports may be very successfully buried after they reach Congress. It now asks for $100.000 to go on with its investigations and its reports. We have had the fortyodd volumes of the report of the Immigration Commission. and they are hidden in congressional offices. and imany of them have gone into the scrap healp. A few of them have gone into libraries. where they may be perused by the specialists on the subject. But we are now to get volumes and volumes of testimony taken. not by a congressional commission but by an independent body created by Coigress. till of which must be taken up subsequently and considered by committees of Congress.