The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-12-13
Commissioner Sergeant Talks Of
Undesirable Immigrants
STRINGENT LAWS ARE NEEDED
Especial Vigilance Is Needed on MexI-
can Frontiers, Where Undesirable
Laborers Can Be Found Work
Ing for 25c and s5c Day.

washington. December 12.-The hearings
on the immigration bill by the senate
committee on immigration were conclud-
ed today The testimony taken was large
ly in the interest of legislation, and
willingness was manifest on the part or
the witnesses to submit to the elimination
of the provision for an educational test,
should such action prove necessary to
secure the success of the bill. Commits
sioner-General of immigration Frank Sar-
gent said he recognized the fact that the
feature could be sacrificed without de-
stroying the efficiency of the BILL Mr..
Sargent made an urgent plea for retcn-
tion of the So head tax. He spoke es-
pecially of the necessity for increased
vigilance on the Mexican frontier, and
said that he recently had secured infor-
nation by personal observation Of the
smuggling into this country of large
number of the most undesirable element
of Mexican poems, who were willing to
work at from 25 to 35 cents per DAY.
Fed From Troughs.
These people, he said, were fed from
troughs, as hogs might be, and were
treated as slaves. They were finding em-
ployment in the mines of Colorado and
New Mexico. We did not want such labor
as that, and the Mexican frontier is long
and hard to guard. rendering the work
expensive. He declared that the plea for
unlimited immigration is from the trans
portation companies alone, and not from
the manufacturers and farmers He COM
planned of the transportation companies
schemes to evade the law, and appealed
for iron-clad requirements.
Mr.. James, M. Farquhar. excongress-
man and ex-member of the industrial
commission, who said that he had car
ried a union card for fifty years, also
indicated a willingness to have the edu-
cational test dropped.
Among the more important witnesses Of
the day was Robert Waachorn, In
charge of the United States immigration
inspection service in Canada, with head
quarters at Montreal. He said the bill
would be improved If all the provisions
relating to Canada should be stricken
out, except section 49, placing the en-
tire regulation of border immigration in
the hands of the immigration bureau. He
said that at present the Canadian rail-
roads coming into the United States are
prompt In complying with the require
ments of the inspectors, but that this
compliance was due to the penalty Inn
posed.
Penalty Badly Needed.
without that penalty 1t would be i'm
possible to secure their compliance. He
said that owing to the strict requirements
made by our laws Of steamship lines,
coming into the United States. there had
been almost entire elimination of unde-
sirable immigrants landing at American
ports, but that the reverse was true OF
immigration coming to the United States
through Canada, the percentage of dis
eased persons coming through Canada
being so while those coming direct to the
United States, the proportion was only
one-tenth of l per cent
Commissioner David Healy, with head
quarters at Victoria. B. c.. gave similar
testimony concerning the necessity for
guarding the northwest frontier. He
spoke especially upon the danger from
an invasion of Japanese coolies.
Richard K. Campbell, chief inspector
for the immigration bureau suggested
a number of amendments LOOKING to the
Improvement of administrative features
of the bill.