Speech #640067355

Mr. Chairman. the citizenship of a nation. like the morals of character or the blood of the body. should be kept free from poison. corruption. and contamination. Undesirable immigrants should not be permitted to come into our country. The criminal. the lunatic. the anarchist. the pauper. the invalid. and the degenerate should not be allowed to land upon our shores. All these things I cheerfully concede. This principle of public policy I heartily indorse and advocate. On the other hand. I do not believe that immigration should be unnecessarily or unreasonably restricted. I believe that the centuryold. libertyloving. opendoor policy of the Republic in matters of immigration should be steadily maintained. I am convinced that the humanitarian traditions of our country should still be. observed. and that foreigners of sound body. mind. and morals. of good and patriotic intentions toward our country and its institutions. and of sufficient means to justify the assumption that they will not become public charges. should be welcomed into our midst. made to feel that they are at home. and extended all .the blessings of law and liberty that our Constitution and our flag afford. I voted against the Burnett immigration bill during its passage through the Sixtythird Congress. I shall vote against it again at this time. because it contains an unjust. undemocratic. and unAmerican provision. the socalled literacy test. In my judgment this test is not only unjust and unAmerican. but is silly and senseless as well. PRESENT IMMIGRATION LAW AMPLY SUFFICIENT TO EXCLUDE UNDEsrmiABLE ALIENS. After all. the law embodied in the Burnett immigration bill is not really necessary to protect us against undesirable immigrants. The present immigration law. now5 alive upon the statute books. is all sufficient. if properly enforced. to guard our people against the evils of unhealthy additions to our population. If our real desire is to exclude the criminally inclined. the physically diseased. the mentally defective. the morally unfit. and the financially deficient. we have ample means at our disposal at the present moment to accomplish the results desired. Section 2 of the present immigration law. the law now on our statute books. provides as follows: SEc. 2. That the following classes of aliens shall be excluded from admission into the United States: All idiots. imbeciles. feebleminded persons. epileptics. Insane persons. and persons who have been insane within five years previous. persons who have had two or more attacks of insanity at any time previously . paupers. persons likely to become public charges. professional beggars. persons afflicted with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or danigerous contagious disease. persons not comprehended within any of the foregoing excluded classes who are found to be and are certified by the examining surgeon as being mentally or physically defective. such mental or physical defect being of a nature which may affect the ability of such alien to earn a living. persons who have been (onvlcted of or admit having committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude . polygamists . anarchists. or persons who believe In or advocate the overthrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States. or of all government. or of all forms of law. or the assassination of public officials . prostitutes. or women or girls coming into the United States *for the .purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose. persons who are supported by or receive. In whole or In part. the proceeds of prostitution . persons who procure or attempt to bring in prostitutes or women or girls for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose. persons. hereiafter called contract laborers. who have been induced or solicited to migrate to this country by offers or promises of employment or in consequence of agreements. oral. written. or printed. expressed or implied. to perform labor in this country of any kind. skilled or unskilled. those who have been. within a year from the date of application for admission to the United States. deported as having induced or solicited to migrate as above described. any person whose ticket or passage is paid for with the money of another. or who is assisted by others to come. unless it is affirmatively and satisfactorily shown that such person does not belong to one of the foregoing excluded classes and that said ticket or passage was not paid for by any corporation. association. society. munlcipality. or foreign Government. either directly or indirectly. all children under 16 years of age unaccompanied by one or both parents. at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor or under such regulations as he may from time to time prescribe: Provided. That nothing In this act shall exclude. if otherwise admissible. persons convicted of an offense purely political. not involving moral turpitude: Provided further. That the provisions of this section relating to the payment for tickets or passage by any corporation. association. society. municipality. or foreign Government shall not apply to the tickets of passage of aliens In Immediate and continuous transit through the United States to foreign contiguous territory : And provided further. That skilled labor may be imported If labor of like kind unemployed can. not be found in this country: Aid provided further..That the provisions of this law applicable to contract labor shall not be held to exclude professional actors. artists. lecturers. singers. ministers of any religious denomination. professors for colleges or seminaries. persons belonging to any recognized learned professions. or persons employed strictly as personal or domestic servants. I respectfully submit that these provisions of our present immigration law are comprehensive and exhaustive and that they amply provide for the exclusion of all really undesirable aliens. But the authors of this bill do not seem to think so. They insist that another test must be added. and they have given us the literacy test. one that is essentially whimsical and illogical. unjust and unAmerican. At bottom. the author$ of this measure really desire to restrict immigration in general. but they do not dare to say so. for they know that the public policy and the national traditions of a century of glorious American history would be violated by it and that the American people would not tolerate it. It has been found necessary. therefore. to avoid open declaration in favor of unqualified restriction by inventing a pretext of patriofism and of solicitude for the welfare of the citizenship of the Republic. And. instead of selecting as a test the shape of the head. the color of the hair. or the size of the feet. they have proposed the plan of testing the immigrants qualifications for good citizenship by his ability to read a few words upon a printed slip which may be handed him. To my mind. this test is ludicrous and absurd and I am opposed to it. Let us consider the exact language of the literacy test and of the method of Its application as it appears in the pending bill. It is as follows: All aliens over 16 years of age. physically capable of reading who can not read the English language or some other language or dialect. including Hebrew or Yiddish. That for the purpose of ascertaining whether aliens can read. the Immigrant Inspectors shall be furnished with slips of uniform size. prepared under the direction of the Secretary of Labor. each containing not less than 30 nor more than 40 words in ordinary use. printed in plainly legible type In some one of the various languages or dialects of immigrants. This is the test and the method of its application. and the immigrant who can not stand it Is to be banished from the country. Is such a requirement just and reasonable? Is it in harmony with the theory and practice of our Government In matters of immigration for more than a century? Is the innovation proper. even if we have never before known such a thing in our national life? Will the application of the test give us a better quality of citizenship from abroad?