Speech #680082578

Mr. President. the immigration policy which was overwhelmingly adopted without party or sectional discussion by the Congress in May. 1921. and continued by reenactment since then. is in certain respects a departure from the timehonored American policy which has made this country a refuge for the oppressed of every nation and has opened to our own ancestors larger avenues of opportunity. Unless unusual conditions had prevailed we ought not to and we would not have entertained for a moment the thought of departure from the American policy that has worked so well in the past. Congress framed the present law restricting Immigration as an emergency measure because it believed that couditions existed in this country and in the world following the recent war that necessitated the temporary restriction of immigration to prevent a great influx of persons seeking to escape from the economic disorder in Europe. The law was considered by practically all as a primary step in our afterwar reconstruction program. The facts which led the Congress to favor temporary restriction of immigration at that time were as follows: (1) The country was unusually. if not unprecedentedly. unprepared to care for a large number of newcomers. With a rapidly falling market. production was disorganized. factories were closing. unemploymentsaid at that time to affect four or five millionshad been increasing rather than decreasing. and with credit so enormously inflated no one could foresee how much further contraction would be necessary during the return to normal conditions. (2) The stream of Immigration at that time1921already large. bade fair to rise to unprecedented proportions. practically limited only by the capacity of ocean transportation. which was rapidly increasing. Reports of consular agents. steamship agencies. and others indicated that at least 10.000.000 persons in warwrecked Europe would take the first opportunity to escape to our shores. While we were willing to receive as many as possible of them. yet under the then economic conditions we could not have permitted an avalanche of immigration to further add to our problems. (3) The prospective immigrants were almost exclusively unskilled laborers. who. if admitted. would not have spread over the country and relieved the shortage of farm laborers. but would have crowded into city areas the overcrowding of which was already intensified by the svspension of building due to the war and the high cost of materials and skilled labor. joining their unassimilated nationals in these congested centers Land increasing the already enormous difflculties of Americeani7ation. a menace alike to the public health. the public morals. the living wage. and American standards of living. (4) A flood of immigration coming coincidently with a nationwide depression in industry would have intensified the industrial depression due to the inevitable process of deflation. and it seenied certain that these newcomers would not have henefited as they expected to do by immigration. but would have only swelled th bread lines end the ranks of the unemployed. They would have hurt our own workers incalculably without helping themselves at all. Under such circumstances humanity to the sufferingpopulations of Europe as well as a proper concern for the welfare of our own workers demanded a temporary suspension of immigration to give us time for a wellconsidcred readjustment of our industrial situation and the wise and hmmane regulation of immigration on permanent lines. Three years have passed under the numericalrestriction provisions of the present immigration law. and we must now determine our future policy. otherwise on July 1 next all numerical restrictions will be removed. Mr. President. I appreciate there is a strong sentiment throughout the country for a continuation of a policy of numerical restriction in immigration. The extent to which we should go in limiting immigration upon an equitable and indiscriminatory basis is the puzzling problem of Congress. The basis of the present law is that 3 per cent of the number of foreign born risiding in the United States. according to the census of 1910. shall be admitted annually. Under this law 357.803 newcomers may be admitted annually. Under the terms of the inding bill. as reported by a majority of the committee. it is proposed to go one step further and limit the number to be admitted each year to 2 per cent. This would reduce the number of immigrants to be admitted to 238.534. or about 120.000 less than the number provided for in the present law. In my opinion. conditions in this country do not require a further depaxture at this time from the immigration quota declared in 1921 in the midst of a most serious economic depression. We wit the limit at that time by reversing our timehonored policy. Yet today. with an entire change for the better of economic eonditions not only in our own land but throughout the world. with the possible exception of Germany. it is proposed to set up a further barrier and to more emphatically announce to the world that immigration to this country is not welcomed. What conditions. economic. political. or social. have taken plae since 1921 to warrant this further change of policy? I challenge those who take this position to present any proof (1) that there has been such a change in the economic conditions in this country as to necessitate further restrictions upon immigration. or (2) that the conduct of our immigrant population in the past has been such as to justify what amounts to a pronouncement to the world that America is to extend less and less welcome to foreigners seeking here the enjoyment of the blessings of liberty and equal opportunity. The intent of the bill reported by a majority of the committee is to impose even closer restrictions on the admission of aliens that prevailed under the present law. which will expire June 30 next. To make the present quota system more drastic might seriously embarrass us in the future. At the same time it seems hbt fair and just to the foreign born. citizens and noncitizens alike. who have taken up their residence here. that the door should net be entirely closed behind them. thereby shutting out their immediate families and near relatives who are now in Europe.