But we should not ignore the existing conditions. One thing is certain. there is no demand in the North for this literacy inhibition and disqualification. Do you wish to make our struggle twvo years from now worse than it naturally must be by estranging from us thousands and hundreds of thousands who. if this bill is passed. will say that wvhile the Republican Party was once the exclusive party the Democratic Party has taken its place. and that having repudiatedits historic attitude toward the foreign born now has become the party of exclusion? SI urge you. Senators. before you give your approval to this literacy test. to think of our political necessities In the North. In this connection let me say frankly. and with the best and kindest spirit. that I canl not understand why my distiiiguished brethren from Southern States. who are comparatively strangers to the immigration problem. are so insistent that immigration must be checked when the number of foreign illiterates in their States is insignificant. only 1.000. 2.000. or 3.000 Inl some instances. while even among the white natives the illiteracy runs as high as fifty anod seventy thousand. Why. I ask. are those who apparently are not inmnediately concerned with this great problem so insistent upon closing the doors to the worthy alien. who is ambitious to enjoy the opportunities and to assume the responsibilities that attach to our citizenship?
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immigration foreign born literacy test