Speech #720142120

And the federation can find no logic to sustain the theory. either. that the products of such labor should be suffered to compete with the products of American labor. or that such lowpriced labor should be permitted free entry into the United States to take the places of American workmen for hire upon which the latter could not maintain his standard of living. The American workman. therefore. represented by the American Federation of Labor. opposes the entrance of the Filipino into the United States as unfair and destructive to the American wage standard. and for the same reasons he would exclude the products of cheap Philippine labor. The federations fear of the evil results of the immigration of cheap Philippine labor has been realized on the Pacific coast. where already serious labor troubles have arisen from the belief that Filipinos are being imported to supplant American workmen in field and shop. No one can justly hold that the American workman. represented by the American Federation of Labor. is guilty of unAmerican conduct in attempting to shelter himself from the competition of cheap labor from any country whatsoever. On the contrary. this great body of workers has a right to combine pragmatism with idealism in its campaign for Philippine independence. Another group on the side of independence are those Americans who would restrict immigration to the United States from whatever quarter. Their opposition to the free entry of Filipinos is quite consistent. They would be unfaithful to their principles if they worked to admit English.