Speech #630393727

John Mitchell. who was president of the United Mine Workers of America for a number of years. a man who has the .confidence of the mine workers of the country and who has .given this question much study and thought. in an article entitled "Protect the Workman." appearing in the Federationist of October. 1909. has the following to say on the subject: " Certain steamship companies are bringing to this port many immi.grants whose funds are manifestly Inadequate for their proper support until such time as they are likely to obtain profitable employment. Such action is improper and must cease. In the absence of a statutory .provision. no hard and fast rule can be laid down as to the amount of money an immigrant must bring with him. but in most cases it will be unsafe for immigrants to arrive with less than $25 besides railroad ticket to deslination. while in many cases they should have more. They must. in addition. of course. satisfy the authorities that they will not become charges upon either public or private charity." No official bulletin upon the subject of immigration has attracted more attention or caused more discussion than that issued under date of June 28. 1909. by the commissioner of immigration at the port of New York. from which the above excerpt Is taken. It is both interesting and significant to observe the expressions of approval and disapproval of the principle laid down by Commissioner Williams for the .guidance of prospective immigrants and the steamship companies through whose instrumentality large numbers of aliens are induced to leave the countries.of their nativity.and seek temporary or permanent *homes upon our shores. While this article Is written from the standpoint of a wage earner. the subject is approached from the viewpoint of an American. because fundamentally no governmental policy can be of permanent value to the wage earners as such that is not beneficial to our country and all our -people. and it is because a high -tandard of living and a progressive improvement in the conditions of life and labor among workingmen are essential to the prosperity of the whole people that the wage earners believe in a reasonable and effective regulation of immigration. The commissioner of the port of New York. in :serving timely notice upon steamship companies and indirectly upon the people of the Old World that "in most cases it will be unsafe for immigrants to arrive with less than $25. besides railroad ticket to destination." has laid down a rule that. if followed. will not only afford some measure of protection to American labor. but will also protect -the poor and oppressed of other countries by deterrlng them from coming here without adequate means to enable them to maintain themselves until such time as they can secure employment at a rate of .wages comparable to the standard prevailing In the trade in which they seek work. When it becomes known in the countries of Europe that it is necessary for an immigrant to have in his possession a sufficient amount of money to pay his own way to the interior of the United States and to live until be can secure work at the prevailing rate of wages. only such immigrants will seek admission as are of the better class. and the danger of lowering the American standard of living will be materially reduced. It -goes without saying that it is no advantage to society when an alien .gains admission to our country and is forced by his necessities to accept employment at a rate of wages lower than the established or prevailing rate In the class of work he undertakes to do. And it is a real hard:ship to the American workman anda loss to society if the newly arrived -immigrant underbids him and secures the job held by one of our own citizens. The standard of wages for both skilled and unskilled labor In the .United -States has been built up as a result of years and years of energetic effort. struggle. and sacrifice. When an immigrant without resources is compelled to accept work at less than the established wage rate. he not only displaces a man working at the higher rate. but his iaction threatens to destroy the whole schedule of wages in the industry in which he secures employment. -because It not infrequently occurs that an employer will attempt to regulate wages on the basis of the lowest rate paid to any of the men in his employ. Any reduction in wages -means a lowering of the standard of living. and the standard of living among a civilized people can not be lowered without lowering -in the same ratio the physical standard and the intellectual and moral ideals "of that people. Of course. it may be said that -this observation is not borne outby the experience and the history of our country. It is admittedly true that our population is largely an immigrant population. and that the standard of living has gradually tended higher. but in considering the influence and effects of stimulated immigration it is necessary to con. trast conditions now with conditions prevailing in the past. and also to keep in mind the change that has taken place in the extent. and the character of the immigration. If the number of aliens coming anfiually to the United States were no greater now than in any year between 1820 and 1880. there would be. and could be. no reasonable ground for complaint. indeed. there *would be little demand from wage earners for the enactment of laws restricting immigration if the number of aliens arriving did not exceed the number admitted in any year up to 1900. provided. of course. that such aliens were not brought here as contract laborers or were not physically. mentally. or morally defective. That immigration in recent years has been stimulated beyond the line of assimilative possibility will be apparent even to the casual observer when the volume of immigration at the present time and in the recent past is compared with the number of immigrants who arrived here during the first 80 years for which statistics have been tabulated. For illustration. more aliens were admitted through our ports in one year. 1907. than were admitted during the entire 24 years from 1820 to 1843. inclusive. and nearly as many aliens were admitted in the five years from 1904 to 1908. inclusive. as were admitted during the 40 years from 1820 to 1859. inclusive. It Is Important to an intelligent understanding of this subject that at this point consideration be given not only to the extent of present immigration as compared with the immigration of early times. but also to the character and intention of many aliens who in recent years have gained admission to our country. It Is safe to say that prior to 1880 nearly every immigrant. except contract laborers. left his own .country for the purpose of making a permanent home for himself and his posterity in the country of his adoption. The immigrant of those days was a sturdy adventurous pioneer. who was willing to undertake .andwithstand the struggles and the hardships incident to the development of a new and ofttimes dangerous country. He expected to carve out a career for himself. to build his home. and to find employment on ground and in fields upon which no other man had claim. The ave.nues and the opportunities of employment and home building of early times have largely passed away. Today the alien has not the chance. even though he have the inclination. to be a constructive factor in the development of a new and high civilization. Large numbers of the immigrants of recent years regard our country simply as a foraging ground in which they ex pect to make a " stake." and when they have done so to return to their own countries and spend the remainder of their lives there. and this " stake" is too often accumulated by eating and living in a manner destructive of physical and social health. An Immigration of this character is of absolutely no benefit to us. The alien who enjoys the advantages and protection of our Government and afterwards takes or sends his accumulated savings back to the country of his birth is not unlike our butterflies of fashion whose parents invest American millions in the purchase of foreign titles. That *the question of immigration presents a real problem which is rapidly approaching a crisis is evidenced by many circumstances all of which point in the same directionnot the least of these being the act of Congress creating a commission to make an exhaustive investigation into the effects of immigration upon our national life. From public and private institutions -of charity comes the ominous warning that the means at hand are insufficient to relieve the cry of distress. the bread line. that standing indictment against society which has been duplicated in other cities and in other sections of the city of New York. proclaims louder than words that something is radically wrong. Tradeunions. ever jealous of their prestige and of the dignity and selfrespect of their members. -have. given out millions of dollars to buy bread for those of their number who can not find work to do. And all this time. during which ablebodied men anxious and willing to work are tramping the streets and the highways in Idleness. "hundreds of thousands of :Immigrants are pouring in upon ussome to make the struggle of the American worker more difficult to bear. and others to be recruited into that army of unemployed which threatens to become a permanent institution of our national life. It is not sufficient to say that these are abnormal conditions. the result of a temporary industrial depression. or that the evils will vanish with the return of "good times." While there can be no doubt that a revival of industrial activity will relieve. in a measure. the -strain of the situation. and perhaps the cry of want and the mutterings .of discontent will be less frequently heard. nevertheless a cure will not be effected and the problem will remain unsolved. The world does not owe a living to an ablebodied man. but society does owe its workmen an opportunity to earn a living under fair and reasonable conditions. The first duty of a community is to give Its own members the opportunity of being employed at decent wages. then. and not until then. its arms should be held wide open to welcome the less favored of every nation and of every clime. The American wage earner. be he native or immigrant. entertains no prejudice against his fellow from other lands. but as selfpreservation is the first law of nature our workmen believe and contend that .their labor should be protected against the competition of an induced immigration comprised largely of men whose standards and ideals are lower than our own. The demand for the exclusion of Aslatics. especially the Chinese and the Hindus. is based solely upon the fact that as a race their standard of living Isextremely low and their assimilation by Americans impossible. The American wage earner is not an advocate of the principle of indiscriminate exclusion which finds favor in some quarters. and he is not likely to become an advocate of such a policy unless be is driven to this extreme as a matter of selfpreservation. He fails. however. to see the consistency of a legislative ntive policy which does not. at the same time that it protects dustry. give equal protection to American labor. If the products of our mills and factories are to be protected by a tariff on articles manufactured abroad. then. by the same token. labor should be protected against an unreasonable competition from a stimulated and excessive Immigration. And it Is highly important to the peace and harmony of our population. whether it be native or alien. that discrimination against Americans shall not. be permitted. Every good citizen will view with regret and foreboding the publication of advertisements. such as the following. which appeared in -the Pittsburgh papers a few days ago: "Men wanted.