Speech #680079630

That being the case. I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment. Before this tine I have been listening. have not spoken on the pending immigration bill. not because of lack of interest. but because of the unusually large demand by others for time to speak. many of whom are better able than I to give the House information it evidently so much wishes to have. I am and for years have been deeply interested in the subject of immigration. although I am pleased to say the State from which I come. particularly the district I represent. is and has been fortunate in the character of its immigrants. We are to a large extent. if not altogether. free of conditions which. if we credit speeches we listen to. as well as newspapers and magazines we read. are very unfortunate in some parts of the country and call for prompt and firm action by our Government. looking to the correction. if possible. of those conditions and prevention of their recurrence. I am prompted to speak because some speeches made here have attracted my serious attention. as they must challenge the attention of others who. like myself. are unprejudiced and whose only wish and purpose is to influence. by votes and otherwise as they may be enacted relating to this very important matter. Speeches attracting my attention. and of which I wish briefly to speak. are those which set forth the strange but not entirely new doctrine that people of foreign countries wishing to come to this country have a right to come. that while our Governmenit has some more or less limited andindefinite right to regulate their coming. it has no right to prohibit it or materially to restrict it. that our immigration laws not only ought to be but must be such as will provide equal opportunity for peoples of all foreign countries to come without any kind of discrimination. certainly without any right on our part to express an opinion or to make a selection of or as to those who can be or can not be admitted. It is only fair to say that those who make the kind of speeches to which I refer do not. in so many words. assert the right of foreign citizens to come to our country regardless of our duly expressed wishes. nor do they. In so many words. deny to our Congress the right to enact immigration laws with regulatory and restrictive provisions. but they do say. and seem to believe. that such provisions must apply alike to peoples of all countries and in their practical operation must be acceptable to all. and they boldly assert that our Government has no right to exclude the people of any country. Strangely enough they say nothing of our policy of exclusion of the Japanese and the Chinese. If they have heard of that policy it is safe to say they approve and commend it. There are comparatively few Japanese or Chinese in some congressional districts. and such as are domiciled there do not vote. whereas there are large numbers of European immigrants. most of whom sooner or later become American citizens and vote as their interests and the interests of their people seem to require. These speeches do not eopnly deny the right of our Congress to enact immigration leglhtion. but the tone and evident purpose of many of them are such as to evidence a deliberate attempt to overcome and remove from our minds the oldfashioned. deepseated conviction which many of us have that the right to regulate. restrict. or to prohibit immigration. even to the extent of permitting and encouraging immigration from one country while refusing like privileges to others. or to provide a system of selective Immigration which might not be entirely satisfactory to any foreign country. is inherent in our Government in the exercise of its rights as a s)vereign Nation. a right which must under no circumstances he denied. a right which under no circumstances is a joint right to be shared with or the exercise of which is dependent upon the wishes or interests of governments or peoples of other countries. This is indisputably a right of our Government. to be expressed and made effective by the Congress. and with this right is the duty of the Congress to act always and only in the interest of and for the protection of our own Government and our own people. The time seems to have come when it is necessary for our Government to emphasize the indisputable fact that enactment of immigration laws in (ir own interest and for our own protection is its right and duty. Peoples of foreign countries have come and will undoubtedly be permitted to come to our country. not at any time or in any sense as a matter of right. but as a privilege extended to them by our Government under laws enacted and to be enacted by the Congress. a privilege which may be modified and. if seems advisable or necessary. may be withdrawn. While the right of the Congress to enact inimigration laws. which do not meet the wishes or the needs of peoples of other countries is not openly or directly questioned. it is very strenuously and evidently In good faith asserted that the Congress has no right to discriminate in favor of the people of one country and against those of another country. that any right or privilege relating to immigration extended by our Government to one or more countries must be extended to all others. The position of those who make that assertion is untenable. The fact is. the Congress has a perfect right to exercise the very power which these speakers so vigorously would deny to it. It has a perfect right to discriminate. and if conditions i this country or in foreign countries are such as to make it necessary. in the judgment of the Congress. to do so. it is its duty to discriminate. If the Congress shall so determine. the very purpose of an immigration law may be to discriminate. and in expressing this determination it is the duty of the Conigress to consider and have in mind the interests. the present and future welfare. only of our own country and its people. It is frankly admitted by all whose duty it is to consider immigration measures that discriminatory features are exceedingly disagrecalfle and that inclusion of them in an immigration law ought if possible to be avoided. that is. as far as conditions in out. country and in foreign countries permit. It is and always will be unfortunate if it shall be deemed necessary by the Congress to enact laws which extend privileges to one country while denying them to another. The purpose and effect of all laws of our Government rclaiing to foreign governments and their citizens ought. as far as lossihle. to be free of discrimination in favor of or against any of them. but as to our immigration. there is no room for doubt as to the right as well as the duty to discriminate at any time and to any extent the Congress shall deem necessary. It has been said that in many of the treaties our Government has entered into with foreign governments it promises and agrees not to discriminate respecting immigration and that discriminatory features of this bill are contrary to the terms of such treaties. The fact Is that every treaty in which any limitation of our right to discriminate is assumed by or imposed upon our Government relates to trade and commerce. in no Areaty is there any limitation whatever of our right to discriminate as to immigration. It is not necessary. in this connection. to speak of the remarkable results of immigration. as it has contributed to and influenced the growth and development of our country. Immigrants imbued with and carrying out their worthy purpose of becoming loyal American citizens have been welcome. and the helpful influence they have exerted and the value of the contribution they have made can not be overestimated. But conditions in some foreign countries inducing emigration to this country are in some respects different from those existing during the years when emigration from those countries to ours was highly desirable and eminently satisfactory and helpful from our standpoint. If conditions as they now exist make it advisable and necessary for the Congress to enact a law to regulate and restrict immigration. it Is justified in enacting such a law and to provide for its strict enforcement. And such a law being necessary. the Congress ought to act without delay. Why do I say that? It is evident that some features of the bill we are considering are distasteful to and are vigorously opposed by those who assume to express the sentiment of States and districts in which there are large numbers of foreign voters. that Is. voters of foreign birth and descendants of men and women who came from foreign countries. If that sentiment. expressed here and elsewhere. influences the form and effect of regulatory and restrictive provisions to be written into this bill. if that is now the condition of affairs. when. at what time In the future. do you believe the Congress will be able to enact a law. if such a law shall be advisable or necessary. uninfluenced by considerations of political expediency such as now threaten to interfere with the passage of this bill? As time goes on do you believe these unfortunate conditions. due to some extent to unrestricted immigration. will improve and disappear? Do you not know that without a properly restrictive immigration law properly enforced such unfortunate conditions as now exist will continue and continue to get worse? I am not now expressing an opinion as to the necessity of enacting into law this bill or any of its restrictive features. The bill will be fully discussed and carefully examined by the House. and we shall later be better able than we are now to express an intelligent opinion.