Speech #680084705

President. I shall detain the Senate but a few moments. I want to say in the beginning that in all the history of the Government there has never been any partisanship touching the immigration question. Representatives and Senators have voted their individual convictions on the subject. When the first literacy provision was adopted in an immigration bill it was vetoed by Grover Cleveland. a Democrat. The next literacy provision that was adopted by the Congress was vetoed by President Taft. a Republican. The next by President Wilson. a Democrat. President Harding signed the first quota law. and the expression of the present President of the United StatesMr. Coolidgeis familiar to all. In his first message to Congress one of the best parts of that message--indeed. I would say the best part of the messagewas that touching immigration. and let me recall to the Senate what he said on that occasion : American institutions rest solely on good citizenship. They were created by people who had a background of selfgovernment. New arrivals should be limited to our capacity to absorb them into the ranks of good citizenship. America must be kept American. For this purpose it is necessary to continue a policy of restricted immigration. It would be well to make such immigration of a selective natureWe have done that in this billwith some inspection at the sourceWe have done that in this billand based either on a prior census or upon the record of niaturalization. I shall not read further. The President makes it plain that he is for basing our immigration quota upon a census prior to that of 1910. He could not have used stronger language in indorsing the 1890 censuswhich is the only other census that has been discussed and been consideredthan lie employed in that particular message. Indeed. we will comply with the Presidents request if we adopt the 1890 census in toto. because the "national origin " amendment. offered yesterday by the Senator from Pennsylvania. has already been incorporated in the bill. to take effect tJly 1. 1927. if we go a step further and adopt tlq amendment l I have proposed. we will then have complied in full with Presi- dent Coolidges request. t As a further evidence that there has never been any politics . in this question. may I say that the first amendment proposing I to base imimigration on the census of 1890 was offered by a Republican Senator. our colleague. the junior Senator from Pennsylvania .