R. 1295. When I speak in opposition to these three measures I am not only speaking for myself but I am authorized to speak for the American Legion. Any fairminded person who looks back over our history of immigration and naturalization will. I believe. confess that it is more by dint of great good fortune than because of good sense and longrange planning that America has profited richly through its acquisition of peoples of foreign stock. Even though we have had almost unlimited resources to develop. a tremendous industrial expansion to feed. and a vast geographical empire to absorb a rapid population growth. the evidence is plain that we have somewhat poorly assimilated the great mass of foreign peoples who have been attracted. for one reason or another. to seek a home in America. The principal trouble is that we have not had a consistent. farsighted national immigration policy. Personal and private interest. rather than the general welfare and the national interest. has been the guiding factor in such controls and restrictions as w" have exercised. If there has ever been a national viewpoint expressed. it has been how fast can we absorb foreign stock economically. rather than in what volume can we assimilate newcomers ethnologically. socially. and politically.
Identified stereotypes
Foreign peoples are poorly assimilated and a burden on America.