Speech #680040351

In one second. I am of the firm opinion and belief that notwithstanding the frequent unjustified charges that are being made against Immigration our country In no way has suffered from it. but. on the contrary. has been greatly benefited. It is not only the presentday immigration but the immigration of a hundred. eighty. sixty. and forty years ago was obliged and did perform the hardest and the most common work which helped to upbuild our country. It has been employed in the forests and in the fields. in the mines. in the shops and plants. and has in every way aided and assisted in developing the wealth of our Nation. Not only has the immigrant helped to create. but he materially aided in finding an outlet for our surpluses. which has made our country the envy of the world. not only rich and prosperous. but the best country to live in. The socalled "new" immigrant beyond doubt has clearly proven and demonstrated his loyalty to our country. to our flag. and to our institutions. and it is manifestly unfair that not only he but those of foreign parentage should be condemned on the floor of the House by a certain few gentlemen who make it appear that they are undeserving or that the Nation. as is so often stated. is in imminent danger from them. Of course. I had not expected that tho gentleman from Ohio would deliver his immigration speech. so ably prepared. at this time. In the near future I am going to answer him and others at length.. Then I will show the gentleman from Ohio and some of my colleagues from the South. as well as from the Pacific coast. that they unnecessarily fret and that they are in error when they try to make the Nation believe that the newer Immigration is inferior to the older immigration. and I will not only go back to the immigration of the eighties and sixties but for their Information I will read statements and reports made by men who. like they. looked with apprehension to the then coming immigration. and I know that the Members and the country will be amused when they read the unkind things that were said of the immigrants who were charged with overrunning our cities and filling our penal institutions in 1670. And when opportunity presents -itself I shall also read some of the reports about the immigrants who were coming in the seventeenth. eighteenth. and nineteenth centuries. Not with the intention. of course. to reflect upon them or the splendid citizenship of our country but merely to bring to the attention of the House and the country how some gentlemen even in those early years have been carried away with prejudice as some are today. and that the praise given to the earlier immigration was not forthcoming then. and for that purpose alone I insert. having the opportunity to extend my remarks. an extract from pages 18. 19. 20. and 21 of the second annual report of the managers of the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism. dated New York City. December. 1819: First. As to emigrations from foreign countries. the managers are compelled to speak of them in the language of astonishment and apprehension. This Inlet of pauperism threatens us with the most overwhelming consequences. And this In the report of 1819. over 100 years ago: The present state of Europe contributes in a thousand ways to vast and unceasing emigration to the United States. A universal shock of commercial embarrassment has pervaded. and still pervades the continent of Europe. The whole system of trade and exchange is affected.