Speech #660273428

There are 76 points of entry. al6ng:our northern boundary. There are only 23 exn.miningphysicians there at the present. time to perform the duties imposedupon them by the statute. although it is estimated that 12.000.000 are passing to and from- Canada annually. As bearing on. the subject of administration. one of the subscribers has for a long time urged. the abolition. of.. the office of commissioner of. immigration at Ellis Island. and the- "al~nment there of an Assist-. ant. Secretary of. Labor. in. order.- that appeas may. be promptly passed: upon. Thedelays that are now occasioned because of. the loss of time in.transmittingappeals to Washington are intolerable. They areunfair." to the Government as well. as to the immigrats By adopting the:. plan. proposed. much. of the existing- congestion could be eliminated. and substanitial economies introduced. It is obvious that under the existing methods a. considerable clerical force is required. both at Ellis Island. and In- Washington. to attend to tie correspondence occasioned by -the. appeals- taken that. might otherwise be.dispenseds with. There has. been. and is no reason- for the inadequate policy of administration at Ellis Island. that has been pursued in: the past and for necessitating the transaction of business: there In. a manner which is necessarily inefficient because. of: the. lack of. inspectors and physicians: Under the. present law it Is contemplated that every. Immigrant shall: be examined by two physicians. but. in. a large number of cases this can not. be done because of the lack of ai adequate staff.. Congress has failed* to make the necessary appropriations. overlooking the fact that the United States has collected in- head taxes in. the past nine years from the immigrants that have arrived here approximately. P11.000.000 in excess of all appropriations heretoforemade byCongress" for the enforcement of the. immigration laws. including all administration expenses. The theory on which the head taxes have been levied has been that they should be.devoted- to an- effective supervision of the arriving. immigrant and to his protection against exploitation. The reason for the increased head tax was to effectuate these purposes. Yet the immigrants have been made the source of revenue without regard to the crying. need for improved methods of administration. The majority report calls attention to the fact that many of the new immigrants are not such as might go to the farms and that a large proportion of them were bound for cities. The exclusion of these immigrants would not tend to solve the problem of. urban and rural distribution. That affects our present population as much as it would: any increase In. our population due to immigration. The subject is one that requires careful and scientific study. It can not be. disposed of by the rule of thumb.