Speech #630423523

I squarely differ with the President on a square issue. so far as his message permits the fram-" ing of an issue. We restrictionists believe thatiltogether too many ablebodied persons are coming into this country. whether their characters are good. .bad. or indifferent. We believe that immigrants are coming too fast to be assimilated. and we believe that the low wages which they are willing to accept are a menace to our high standard of living. Therefore we declare that the time has come for Congress to abandonthe historic policy of letting in every ablebodied person whose character is not questionable. ind in lieu of that policy we believe that we ought to adof)t the- policy of substantially cutting down the number of immigrants. even if in so doing we are forced to bxclude many persons who might prove to be desirable citizens. The efforts of those who desire this reduction in immigration have for the most part been centered on the attempt to enact a law which provides that every immigrant must at least know how to r6ad in some lahguage or other. probably. of course. in his own tongue. That requirement is comlonly called the " literacy test." and a bill embodying that test has five times passed the Senate of the United States and has four times passed the House of Representatives of the United States. -Ind three times it has encountered a veto. We ire now face to face .Nvit President Wilsons veto. and I do not want to befog the issue by a discussion of details. I want to meet the issue LII188 1915. squarely.from the point of view of whether or not we are going to restrict immigration for the sake of reducing the number of immigrants. If you believe that the country needs and ought to receive every ablebodied man or woman who comes here. provided they do not come here under contract. and provided they are of unquestioned moral character. then you will be doing your duty if you support the Presidents veto. If. on the other hand. you believe. as we restrictionists do. that too many immigrants are coming here every year. then I shall have no difficulty in persuading you to vote to pass the bill over the Presidents veto. even though you may not think that the literacy test is the best way to accomplish the restriction which you seek. and even though you think that some better test might well be devised.