Speech #660273279

A hundred years ago we find that those who came to this country. 94 to 95 per cent of them. went upon farms to till the soil. But now a large portion come not to produce but to consume. And the House has a bill to exclude aliens. that we might possibly have another moment to catch our breath. for we know not how to solve the problem of immigration. We postpone. little (reaming that procrastination is the thief of time. It reminds me of a story that Lincoln told about Congress. He said that a farmer had a tree which fell into a fertile field. and when he continued to plow around it he was asked why he did so. The farmer replied. " It will not burn. because it is too soggy. and it is too tough to cut and too heavy to haul away." It seems as though with this immigration question we are simply plowing around a fertile field without solving our problems. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee. I was hoping that instead of having this bill of exclusion we might have some constructive measure which would look into the future and place our immigration upon a basis so that we could sift those who come to our shores. so that we might accept those who are desirable. so that we might receive those who will assimilate with the great American spirit. But it seems that Congress is not ready to tackle this problem. Canada has learned her lesson. She does not continually give offense whenever she excludes immigrants from a certain nation or any alien group that could not assimilate with the Canadian life and population. The matter of immigration is regulated by an administrative body capable of acting when the needs require action. Why should not we prepare a standard known as the American standard. and then we can tell the immigrants who come to our shores. " Here is our standard. We will be pleased to open .our doors if you accept it. but if you will not. our ship is in the harbor." Instead of that. whenever we are confronted with a proposition of this kind we are also confronted with those who want to capitalize their ideas. I have the greatest respect for the gentleman from California. the chairman of the Military Committee. but when he points out the menace and makes a speech urging us to prepare for war. why does he not give us a solution and urge us to solve the problem once and for all instead of widening the breach by advocating military preparedness?