Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-12-12
THEY INDORSE col. REHD,S IDEAS


THEY INDORSE col. REND'S IDEAS |
Immigration Restriction Lcague-1'rcs.
dent. John Fiske: Secretary. Prescott
+. Hall. 50 State street. Boston. Mass:
Treasurer. Samuel u. Parker. 80 State |
street. Boston. Mass.
Boston. Dec. Y. 1906
TO the editor of The Eagle: We have
read with great interest the synopsis
In The Eagle Of Colonel w. +. Rend's /
scheme for the restriction Of natural.
zntiOn. or. rather. for the establish
incnt Of commission with that end
I'm view. While We concur with most
Of your editorial views upon this sub
jcct. we still hold that the true solution
lies In the passage of the LOdgc-C orliss
bill.
And In this connection and In view Of
the fact that some of our newspapers.
In commenting on the recent election.
have minated that the foreign vote
Influenced the result Of that election.
we beg to call your attention to the fol-
lowing:
What most of the advocates Of furth-
or restriction want. and what the
Lodge Orllss bill. shortly to come be-
fore the Senate, aims to accomplish. II
not the exclusion Of foreigners gener-
ally. bu, of those who are Ignorant alike
Of their own language. Of an Occupn.
ton. ana Of the standards Of living and
character which distinguish the Amer
lean people.
Now In regard to the recent election
two things may be said: First, the
way man will vote In u particular
election II not q test Of his desirTblllty
In other RESPECTS. Second. u bill like
he one proposed would have kept out
u very small proportion Of the foreign
born who voted In the recent election
either for gold or for silver. for McKin.
ley or for Bryan. g1--.s
II l,as been shown In the various pub.
licatiOns OF the Immigration Restric'
ton League. and elsewhere. that Hitter.
acy ana general undesirabllity go to.
gcthcr. The illlternte are the Slav,
Latin and Asiatlc races. During the
last fiscal year the average llliteislcy Of
immigrants from stria-llungary
Italy, Poland and Russia was 4O1 per
cent. while OF those from the United
Kingdom. France. Germany ana Scan
dinavia II was only 81 per cent.
Now what part did the Slav, Latin
and AsIatic vote play In the recent cleo
ton? According to the census Of 1S0t
part I, PIP. 40, I'D. II all the males
OF voting age Of those races had been
naturalIzed ana had voted In the last
election. the percentage which thell
vote would have been OF the total vote
] would be rs follows: United States
3.6l; North Atlantic States, 3.OS; South
. Atlantic States, $50; North Contra
: States, 254; South Central States. O.sl
; Western States, 500. But not all thes'
: could have voted. by the census OF
I 1880 part H., PIP. 900, GSs), Of the slav
: Latin AMI Asiatic foreign born In thu
D United States $40 per cent were aliens
x while OF the British, Irish, German ant
= Scandinavian only 90 per cent wer'
d aliens. The vote Of the Slav, Latin an'
: .Ashtic elements Of our population was
therefore, not over ~ per cent OF tn
. total vote In the last election, ana prob
- ably much less. 1t Is true that Their
has been large immigration OF TIL
Slav ana Latin peoples during the las
u six years, ana that last year they form
T. cd 80 per cent of the total immigration
= But It has been shown both by cens''
and by the testimony of the immigrant
= themselves that they do not go into tn
" States which We're pivotal during tn
- last election, except to the city OF On
cagO, but cOngregate on the AtMntl
y seabOard.
~, 1t Is therefore misleading to say tia
~ the illiteate fOrelgn-bOrn vote In tn
w. recent election has any material bca
ing upon the question of excluding IL
-, illitemte immigrants who are now pr
~, senting themselves for admission.
~, 1880 the Slav and Latin immigratiO
,m was about One-tenth of the total imn
.r grafton; to-day It Is more than half III
people who built up the North and We
n, were the British, Irish, Germans M
o, Scandinavians. These would be pra
n. tically unaffected by a reading M
nd writing test. Very truly yours,
cE PRESCOTT i. HALL,
be Secretary immigration Restricti'
do League
of Boston Globe: Colonel william
Rend of Chicago, according to the Cl
np cagO Eagle, has evolved plan to OBJ
no ate much Of the trouble caused by o
IN present naturalization and immigrants
IRIS laws. lie advocates a naturalizat
ere commission to pass upon the merits
cir all applicants for citizenship.
he st. Louis Republic: The Chica
he Eagle prints an epitome of an excelle
in plan for securing better citizens,
ne. rather for preventing unworthy allie
RI from obtaining citizenship. The plan
ed, the idea of Col. w. J.. Rend, one Of I
IN. leading men Of the Windy City. In
mt nutshell, Col. Rend's idea provides
Ike the establishment of a commissi
nw which will weigh well all of the adva
cal tapes and disadvantages of aDDlicaI