Speech #680078826

After the bill had passed the House and Senate. it was vetoed by the President. A similar bill had been vetoed by President Taft. but in his administration there was not a sufficient number of Members of the House and Senate favorable to the legislation to pass it over his veto. In 1917. however. the advocates of restrictive immigration had grown to sufficient numbers in the House and Senate to pass it over the Presidents veto. and it was done by a vote of 287 to 106 in the House. and a vote of 62 to 19 in the Senate. I was one of the 287 voting in the House to. pass the bill over the Presidents veto. I have never for a moment doubted the wisdom of my vote on that occasion. This act of 1917 remained the law until it was supplemented by the act of 1921. During the war and for the first year thereafter there was very little immigration. but by 1920 the tide had begun to flow again. and it was plain that the most elementary considerations of selfpreservatlon demanded that we Impose additional and more drastic restrictions upon it. So the act of 1921 was passed. As an evidence of the growth in sentiment among the people in favor of these additional restrictions. it may be cited that tme act of 1921 passed the House by a vote of 276 to 33. and passed the Senate by a vote of 78 to 1. I was one of the 276 who voted for it in the House. This act of 1921 fixed the quota at 3 per cent admissible in any one year and based the quota upon the census of 1910. The act expires on June 30. 1924. and unless Congress enacts something in its place. then. at the expiration of that date. there will be no quota limitation. and we will again be subjected to an avalanche of immigration which the American peQple do not need and do not want. This bill was introduced by Representative ALBERT JOHNsoN. of the Slate of Washington. and is therefore known as the Johnson bill. Its principal features are: Preserves the basic immigration law of 1917. retains the principle of numerical limitation as inaugurated in the act of May 19. 1921. changes the quota basis from the census of 1910 to the census of 1890. reduces the quota admissible in any one year from 3 to 2 per cent. provides a method of selection of immigrants at the source rather than to permit them to come to this country and land at the immigration stations without previous inspection. reduces classes of exempted aliens. places the burden of proof on the alien to show that he is admissible under the immigration laws rather than upon the United States to show that lie is not admissible. provides entire and absolute exclusion of those who are not eligible to become naturalized citizens under our naturalization laws. Altogether this Johnson bill represents the most advanced. intelligent. and constructive effort to deal with this great problem which has yet been made by Congress. It should receive the approval of an overwhelming majority of our membership. and I am certain will be indorsed by the country at large. One of the wellrecognized laws of diet and hygiene Is that the human body only profits from the eating of such foods and in such amounts as it can assimilate. I do not think the rule is different as to immigrants. The United States will only profit from such immigration as it can assimilate or. as some frequently put it. can Americanize. When I read some time ago of the shipload of aliens that was deported back to Russia. including those two anarchists. Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. I thought of the youngster who attended a picnic and ate a liberal supply of victuals and later on in the day his mother saw in standing arounl with a woebegone look and said. " Son. whats the matter? Havent you had enough to eat?" "Oh. yesm." said the boy. "Ive had enough. I feel as though I dont want all Ive got." So. gentlemen. it seems to me that the United States is not suffering from any lack of foreign immigration. The main trouble is we do not want all we have got.