Speech #640264337

Empire. excluding a part and including a part. that It rins through the very center of little islands in the ocean. and Ithe man who lives north of that arbitrary line can not come in. but the man who lives south of it can c6me in. and that is true of islands of small extent. However. wherever the committee drew its pencil it made a line between human beings and differentiated between them. but the line that it drew %ias not a line between chIracter or citizenship. but a mere arbitrary line on a map. As to the literacy test as a test. that matter has been discussed. and I should not refer to it at all. except that I want to utter my final protest against it. This literacy test is not to be applied to our pe6ple where there.are open schoolsand where the door of opportunity is held back and everyone is invited to enter the places of learning. but it Is to be applied to people born in other climes. other Governments. and other environmenits. It is. as the President said in his former veto message. .not therefore a test of capacity or disposition. but a test of opportunity. The man in the United States. speaking generally. who has resided here within sight of the schoolhouse and who has not acquired some education.