Neither is tie voyage. bad as it is. beset with the uncertainties. hardships. and perils which used to characterize it. The way is cleared for the travelers at every step. Never in the history of our country has artificially stimulated immigration formed so large a part of the whole as now. There is nothing in the modern conditions of immigration which serves as a guaranty of high quality in the immigrant. I repeat that the present conditions give us no guaranty of desirable qualities of the incoming immigrant whom we are asked to take into our national life. May I quote. as my definition for " desirable." Marcus Ell Ravage. who writes: "What America means hy desirable is no question of superiority. The word does not mean anything. The definition of a desirable -immigrant Is: A person who can with the least expenditure of time and trouble be made into an American." A law restricting immigration to meet labor conditions is necessary. The proposed legislation offered by the Committee on Immigration aims to do this. The early distinction between the Republican and Democratic Parties was their attitude toward labor. The Republicans favored free labor. the Democrats slave labor. The first was high priced. the latter cheap. Since the Civil War public opinion has continued to favor wellpaid labor. A policy of unrestricted immigration would flood the country with cheap labor. It would encourage an attitude of considering manual labor as menial labor. This attitude is all too prevalent. as evidenced by the preference for whitecollar jobs.
Identified stereotypes
Immigrants are of low quality and undesirable.