Speech #770032521

That we all. of course. recognize. The letter to the New York Herald Tribune continues: Yet one complaint frequentl made. which this writer has had a personal opportunity to substantiate. Is the apparent preference accorded United Statesbound refugees over returning American citizens at the bewildered and warinflated city of Lisbon. Aboard the steamship Excalibur. on which this writer returned from Portugal this weekThat was less than 2 weeks agoAmerican repatriates were crowded in dormitoriesbut Immigrants had no trouble in obtaining the best cabins on the ship. evenIn one case at leastin preference to a prominent returning United States physician who had been living in London for years and was paying his own way home at the full rate. Pressure from relatives In America and. sometimes. from official friends in Washington. is frequently given as the reason for such preferential treatment. Yet many Americans feel that an Americanowned line. at a time like the present. should not permit political influence to gain shipping priority for immigrants over returning nativeborn citizens. many of them veterans of the last war. Scattered in and around Lisbon today are hundreds of Americans awaiting transportation home. Their cost to the American Red Crosswhich is doing Its work In a magnificent waymust be well in excess of $2 a day a person. for food alone. It would seem logical. therefore. that the Red Cross and United States Government officials should be anxious to repatriate these Americans as soon as possible to points in the United States where most of them have either funds or friends. and where they can again become selfsupporting. Instead of that. hundreds of Americans continue to live on Red Cross funds in Portugal for weeks. while a large proportion of the berths on westbound ships is given over to European refugees. hopefully bound for the New World. The average number of passengers on a westbound sailing of American Export Line ships is about 200. of which only some 50 are likely to be repatriated Americans. The remainder may be made up of a small number of returning. selfsupporting United States businessmen. a few Government officials and anywhere from 80 to 100 foreign refugees. Now. the representatives of our Government abroad are as fine and upstanding a group of men as can be found anywhere. I am in thorough accord with that statement.