President. while I sins In entire sympathy with the argument submitted by the junior Senator from Washington . and while I believe that we ought to keep cheap labor out wherever we can lonorably do so. yet I call not bring myself to reach the conclusion. while we are holding the Philippine people without their consent. while we are confronted from year to year and from month to month with their demands for freedom. while against their will we are holding them under the dominion and control of our Government. that we should limit the right of those people to come and go from the continental United States just the same as any other citizens of the United States have the right to come and go. The remedy for the situation. and to my mind the only honorable remedy. is to give the Filipinos their independence. Then I would be glad to put them upon the same quota basis. so far as immigration is concerned. that we apply to like peoples. But we are here retaining our jurisdiction and our control over the Philippine people. making laws under which they must live. and now if the amendment proposed by the junior Senator from Washington should be agreed to we would say to them. in effect. " Except in limited numbers and under certain regulations you can not come to the mainland of the United States." It seems to me that is inconsistent with every policy and with every fundamental principle which has underlaid our Government from the days of the Revolution down to the present hour. I can not understand possibly how on the one hand we can hold them in subjection. as it were. and on the other hand deny to them the freedom of travel which we extend to everybody else.
Keywords matched
immigration