Speech #650306554

Washington). J11ly 19. 1918. There are in Russia about 1.800 Serbian refugees. including. 506 children. whom the Serbian minister at Moscow wishes to send to the United States. their situation in Russia under the present conditions. it is stated. being tragic. and especially demoralizing to the children who should be placed in school. The Department of State Is informed that both England and. Franco have received large numbers of Serbian refugees. and it is the departments opinion that the admission of these Serblans into the United States would not only be a humane act but would have a good moral effect in the Balkans. We are met with the obstacle. however. that as the immigration law now stands. it constitutes what would seem to be. from an executive point of view. an insuperable harrier to the admission of the people under consideration or of other aliens similarly situatedat least it seems apparent that most of them could not land at ports of this country in pursuance of saidlaw. Probably most of them are destitute and. even if entirely free from mental or physical disability of the kind inhibited by the statute. would yet per se be likely to become public charges here. That would be the situation which would confront the immigration officers who would have to pass upon the cases upon the arrival of the aliens at United States ports. unless it should be shown then and there that arrangements had been perfected under which the aliens would be placed in suitable employment in this country at which they could make sufficient to support themselves and those dependent upon them. and arrangements of that character could not be made in advance without violating the spirit and intent of the contractlabor provisions of the statute. In view of the above. the Department of State took the matter up with the Department of Labor. and it is Secretary Wilsons belief. in which I share. that no department or office of the administrative branch of the Government or organization having a quasigovernmental status or in any way connected with Government affairs should undertake of its own motion to make arrangements to care for war refugees tn this country. and that legislative sanction would be required. Accordingly. I have the honor to submit herewith a draft of a proposed joint resolution and to recommend its transmission to the Congress with a view to obtain legislative sanction for carrying out the proJect with respect both to the aliens immediately concerned and to others who may hereafter find themselves similarly situated in Russia or other European countries.