The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-11-19
. RESTRICTIVE IMMIGRATION
LAW

It is generally known hat foreign i'm
migration to our country has fallen off
at least forty per cent if not one half
within a few a The Messenger
lately stated that a considerable pro-
portion of those coming now, and with
in two or three years past, are by no
means a desirable class Those coming
are generally very poor and many be-
long to the European pauper class.
The immigration from the countries
that once mainly came to swell u
population with desirable workers and
to become good citizens. have to a
great degree ceased to come, and now
Italy, Austria-Hungary and other parts
Of Europe are sending over a class
that are by no means the kind needed,
and who will hardly ever become good
citizens understanding our laws and the
genius Of free institutions. Reared un-
der Strong governments, Inc often in
ignorance and poverty, accustomed to
an iron rule, with the soldier n his
rifle at every turn, they misunderstood
what liberty is and abuse it. So ignor-
ant and undesirable are a considerable
proportion of immigration, there is a de-
cidedly growing public sentiment fav-
orable to restricting immigration more
and more, making an educational test
to apply. This will De probably done
by the next congress-. A requirement
of reading and writing may be deemed
an absolute prerequisite. There is an
intelligent opinion existing that some
legislation is necessary to restrict, to
lessen the immigration tide, and it is
probable that congress will adopt a
measure looking to that end. The Mes
senger has insisted through the years
that no man born in other lands should
be allowed to vote until he had lived
here twenty-one years, as long as a
native born elector must have lived be-
fore exercising the right Of suffrage.
Referring to the countries in Europe
furnishing the mor desirable classes of
phia American says:
"And the records Of immigration show
that the exclusion of h illiterate
would exclude the most undesirable of
immigrants. Generally speaking, the
proportion of illiterates among the i'm
migrants coming from northern Europe
is very small. or the immigrants who
come from Ireland, from Great Britain,
from Germany, from Scandinavian
countries, but few are illiterate. but
few would be excluded by an educa-
tional test requiring an ability to lead
and write. And it is from these coun-
tries that come our most desirable i'm
migrants, the immigrants who make
the best citizens, whom we assimilate
most readily. 1t is from Russia AND
southern Europe, from Italy n Aus
tria-Hungary that come the most I'M
desirable Of immigrants, n of these
immigrants quite, one half, and the
worst half, are i~lliterate."
Not many peoples on the globe are
capable of receiving that liberty which
is guaranteed under the Constitution
Of the United States. A great many
American born citizens-whites too
never appreciate the value and bless
ings Of free institutions because they
have never studied civics and do not
understand the nature of the govern
ment under which they were born and
are living. 1t requires knowledge as
we'll as character to make a good, true
citizen. A man must surely hav a
proper understanding Of his govern
ment before he can grasp correctly
what his rights are and what duties
and responsibilities ~devolve upon him
as an elector and citizen of a great re-
public. Every voter born on our shores
however full his Intellectual promise,
complete his educational preparation,
are his acquisitions, history, politics,
ETC., he must still remain a minor until
reaching his twenty-first birth day,
and until then he cannot exercise the
right Of elective franchise, although at
seventeen he may have had a better
insight into and a completer grasp of
the complexities OF free institutions and
the meaning Of liberty and the fran
chise thar any man born under a mon
archy could have in two decades. So
let the foreign born man not vote until
he had passed as long q pupilage as the
native son.