Chairman. two years ago a bill similar to the oie uider discussion. and introduced and fathered by the gentleiman froim Alabama. was before the House for its consideration and action. After a study of its provisions and the effect of their enforcement I becaiie comviniced that it was not a good mesnre aiild should be defeated. and I voted against it. and later oii voted to sustain the Presidents veto. I shall vote against the pending measure because of my conviction that a literacy test is not only undesirable. bit is mifair. inreasonahle. and unAnerien and violates our tiiehonlorel principles that this coumitry small be a reftge for thte oppressed of other lands. .n asylum wlhere the persecuted miay coii aind worship their God according to the dictates of their own consciences without tle fear of molestation from any source. Those of us who oppose this unfair. educational test do not oppose those restrictionS that are designed to exclude the criminal. the anarchist. the insane. those who suffer from contagious diseases. and others who are likely to become public charges. We do not want such as these. and we favor their rigid exclusion. ExSecretary Nagel. who in the Taft administration ])resided over the department of which the Bureau of Nat uralization was a part. made an exhaustive and close study of this question and reported to the President that the administration of a law with such a test would cost tie Government over a million dolltars more annually to operate this bureau anid that the application oi the literacy test could not be fairly and justly niade. The gentlemen on the other side of this question. when confronted with the opposition of President Clevelaiid to such a test. invariably retort with the excuse that conditoims vere different during his incmhency of tme great office of tile Presidency. But.
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literacy test