The. bill"presented as the result of the committees work passed Ithe House of Representatives by a vote of 125 to 48. and passed this body unanimously. That was a bill markedly in advance Of anything that had been previously enacted looking toward the restriction of immigration. Returning again to the questioh of. restriction of immigration let us inquire whether the literacy test is new. as the President seems to think it is. and whether it is a radical departure. as he says. from the policy of the Government. He is not sure that the people have ever heard of or seriously considered it as a policy and bases his action in vetoing this bill upon the assumption that such a proposition has never been sharply called to their attention. He seems not to have known that as early as 1892 this very test was demanded. . Let me read from volume 2." page 572. what the commission say: The other bill presented by the Senate committee is interesting in that for the first time restrictio" of immigration by fneans of an educational test W(s recommended by a congressional committee. The report goes on to tell how the proposition was presented. what lines the debate took. and states that although the bill failed of passage a board of inquiry was constituted by Congres3 to further investigate the matter and report. The President seems also to be unawareof the fact that. following that agitation and the filing of the report of that board of inquiry. both of the great political parties of the Nation demanded through their national conventions restrictive legislation of positive type.
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immigration literacy test