Speech #640217381

I.want to say. that I am heartily in favor of the. object. of this amendment. but as it is drawn I do not think it could be properly enforced. I was going to suggest to the Senator that: by taking a little time and consulting possibly with the officers of the Bureau of Immigration an amendment might be drafted which would apply to what .we term .the new immigrant. class- which constitutes the class to which the Senator has referred. and at the same time except from the operaton of it those coming:from. contiguous territory like that of Canada. The importance of this is show.n by the figures which are obtainable at the department. I find. by referring to.the tables of immigration during the lyear period between 1899 and 1909 of the classes known as the new immigrationpeople from Russia. AustriaHungary. the Balkan States. -and Italy. especlaly southern Italythat of the nearly 6.000.000.who came durlag that time. 73 per cent were males. and that something over 30 per cent of the males who came from those sections left their wives behind them. indicating that they came here for a temporary purpose. and that they intended to return whenever they had earned and laid up a sufficient amount to make them rich in the countries from which they came. I find during the five years between 1910 and 1914. inclusive. that of the south Italians there were 36 per cent who reported leaving their wives behind them. of the Russians. 45.7 per cent. of the Croatians and Slovenians. 46j per cent. of the Ruthenians 44J per cent. of the Hungarians. 43& per cent. of the Slovaks. 34 per cent. of the Bulgarians. Montenegrins. and Servians. 76 per cent of the married men left their wives. in the country from which they dame. of the Roumanians there were 73 per cent. who came without their wives. of the Armenians. over 50 per cent. of the Turkish. over 80 per cent. And so it runs. All of the races constituting what we call the new immigration come here substantially for temporary purposes. leavlng their families behind them. When they have worked here 5 or 10 years and have accumulated a little competence. they go back to the old countries. It is this class of people who in the year 1909 overcrowded all the seats of the great basic industries of the country. and not only crowded out American labor but competed against themselves to such a degree that in the iron and steel industries they only had work onehalf the time.