Speech #810076348

I cannot quite fathom how these Members and those who have forgotten can urge and advocate our spending millions of dollars for the relief of these unfortunate people in all parts of the world and at the same time are unwilling to have them admitted to the United States notwithstanding the fact that thousands of goodhearted Americans are willing to sponsor them. I hope that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. GosSETT] will in the future familiarize himself with the vast and great benefits that have accrued to his State and to the United States as a result of these foreignborn immigrants settling therein. I am satisfied that the State of Texas has benefited from these very capable immigrants. I recollect personally that I was able to assist these immigrants in securing. purchasing. and acquiring vacant lands in the State of Texas some 60 years agowhich land was selling at two or three dollars an acre. I am proud to state that all of these hundreds of immigrants who took my advice and acquired land and settled in Texas. be they Czechs. Poles. or of Slavic stock. and regardless of national origin. have made good and have demonstrated to the world that they could develop the land with their own hands and labor to their own benefit and for the countrys benefit. They have helped to develop our fields. our forests. and our mines. I have talked to many Members in whose districts these immigrants have settled. and every one of them has the highest praise for these foreign born. for they are the epitome of good citizenship. loyalty. and have cdntributed materially to the betterment of our society. In that connection. lest I forget. I remember reading a report by a Philadelphia Commission in 1790. which commission reported as follows: "We view with alarm the hordes of undesirables allowed to come to our shores. filling our penal institutions and poorhouses. and overcrowding sections of our country." Mind you. these immigrants that were coming to the United States in those days were not of the socalled newer immigrants coming from southeast and southwest Europebut they came from Great Britain. Scotland. and adjacent countries. The aforementioned commission in 1790 was organized to investigate charges that the immigrants could not be absorbed by our country. Though the great Benjamin Franklin urged this investigation it only shows that we should not be surprised when men of lesser caliber and ability also make mistakes. Our population at that time was between three and four million people. The fears then expressed were not borne out by the facts because all of those people permitted to migrate have made possible the development of our great country so that today we are the greatest manufacturing. agricultural. most prosperous and democratic country in tie entire world. Yes. these people who came to our shores after the Irish famine and the FrancoPrussian War in 1870 from Germany. having fled here seeking freedom and liberty from oppression and persecution. and those arriving here In the early 1880s. all have made good. and I am proud of them. During the First World War many men were unfamiliar with the patriotism and loyalty of these immigrants. At that time I assured the country that they would prove their loyalty and patriotism. and they did so prove. The same doubts occurred in World War II. and I am indeed gratified and pleased that my assurances in all these years have been justified and my confidence has not been misplaced. for these eligible Immigrants and their eligible offsprings enlisted in both wars and fought courageously and valiantly. as do real freedomloving patriots. for the country of their adoption. and recognizing at all times the benefits accrued to them by virtue of their heritage. I recollect some years ago when some leaders of organized labor opposed the coming of the Industrial Revolution. which included the immigration of foreignborn and the advent of the machine age. I assured them that both of these factors would be to their advantage because more jobs would be created. and the immigrant would bring about the advancement of American labor to higher levels and better standards of living. which cannot be denied. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. GosSETTI should familiarize himself with the history and development of our country since the inception of our first immigration policy and dispel all poisonous prejudices from his mind in view of the aforementioned facts which I have briefly attempted to outline. If he does this. I am satisfied that he would refrain In the future from making these unwarranted remarks. as I said before. and would not oppose this humane bill. Rather. he would support this needy legislation and permit these longsuffering. unfortunate people to enter our doors. which incidentally does not in any way increase the extant immigration quota. The increase takes place on a horizontal rather than on a vertical level.