Speech #840181454

The irresponsible. lusty auction has. started already this year. exactly as we heard it in 1952 and in 1948just as we heard it earlier. and in between the presidential election years as well. The auction is being conducted in the usual uninhibited manner by the presidential aspirants. by governors facing election. by Senators whose terms are about to expire. and by some of my colleagues in the House of Representatives. It is being carried on by all their assistants and helpers. and by all the professional immigranthandlers who make a living as paid servitors of various social. religious and charitable agencies which have made a crude business out of the truly noble and humanitarian task of assisting the immigrant. At the risk of losing some popularity contests within my own political party as well as in my congressional district. I have long ago refused to look upon immigration as a means of winning friends abroad and political support at home. To me. immigration is first and foremost a matter of the national welfare and national security. The volume and the type of immigrants coming to the United States must. in my opinion. be predicated solely on unbiased and impartial findings as to how many we should admit and whom we should admit. Findings that are scientific and not political. The quantity and the quality are of equal importance. and the interest of the American people must be the sole and exclusive yardstick. Immigrants entering the United States are entering into the bloodstream of the Nation. It is like an injection into the bloodstream of a human being. It can be beneficial to him. increasing his strength and his vitality. But. if the injection is one of improper quality or improper quantityit could be fatal. THE PAST A comprehensive picture of our current problems cannot be presented without an outline of the historical background of American immigration. From the first settlement of the North American colonies to the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783. immigration to the New World was regulated not by the colonists but by the governments of Europe. The interest of the European ruler was enhanced by the size of the population of his domain. The A4445 more abundant the labor force. the greater his profits and the more gold that accumulated in the royal coffers. Consequently. all European rulers tried to prevent the exodus of their subjects. the peons. who were already then attracted by the magnificence of the wide open land and the opportunities beckoning from across the seas. The new settlers on this side of the Atlantic deliberately encouraged immigration. Here. more people meant more producers. more consumers. and more wealth to be extracted from the newly acquired soil andlast but not leastmore people meant increased safety of life and property. It is estimated that in 1640. the population of the North American colonies numbered 25.000 people and by 1700. it had risen to 200.000.