President. that led to the War of 1812. when our ships were held by British menofwar and American seamen were taken off them on the theory that they were not American citizens but were British subjects. In other words. this is the kind of legislation that leads to international difficulties. to reprisals. and eventually to a state of mind which verges upon a willingness to break relations with us. Why should we. under the guise of protecting our shores against foreign undesirable immigrants. pass legislation which would interfere with the right of foreign nations to run their merchant marines in their own way just as we run ours in our own way? The German Government has made various protests against this proposed legislation. The German Embassy in a note dated March 3. 1931. states: The possibility of the enactment of these bills Is causing the Government great concern. since that would not only deviate from international practice but would also seriously affect the rights of the German shipping companies * * * because the contracts concluded between the German shipping companies and their crews are governed entirely by German law.
Keywords matched
undesirable immigrants