Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-05

steamship lines who nave NO tnfer0H what
ever In the matter save to increase the re-
turns on their capital By carrying masses
Of immigrants hither In the steernge quar-
ters Of their ships
Az said IN my last message to the Con-
tion of the right sort. and we should have
none whntever of the wrong sort. OF course
it Is desirable that even the right kind OF
immigration should be properly distributed
in this country. We need more Of such Inn
migration for the south; and special effort
should be made to secure It. Perhaps u
would be possible to limit the number OF
immigrants allowed to come In any one
year to New York and other northern cit
les, while leaving unlimited the number al
lowed to come to the SOUTH always pro-
vided, however, that strtcter eHort Is
made to SEQ that only immigrants OF the
right kind come to our country anywhere.
In actual practice 1t has proved 30 dfmcult
to enforce the immigration laws where long
stretches of frontier marked by an mag
mary line alone Intervene between us ana
our neighiaors that recommend that no Inn
migrants be allowed to come In from Canada
and Mexico. save natives OF the two conn-
tries themselves. As much as possible
should be done to distribute the Immigrants
upon the land and keep them away from
the congested tenement-house districts OF
the great cities But distribution Is a PAL
liative. not cure. The prime need Is to
keep out all immigrants who will not make
good American citizens. The laws now ex-
listing for the exclusion of undesirable Inn
migrants should be strengthened. Adequate
means should be adopted, enforced by suffi-
cient penalties, to compel steamship COM
panies engaged in the passenger business to
observe in good faith the law which forbids
them to encourage or solicit immigration to
the United States. Moreover there Should
be a sharp limitation imposed upon all YES
sells coming to our ports as to the number
of immigrants in ratio to the tonnage which
each vessel can carry. This ratio should
be high enough to insure the coming hither
of as good class Of aliens as possible. Pro-
vision should be made for the surer pun
ishment of those who induce aliens to come
to this country under promise or assurance
of employment. 1t should be made possible
to inf1ict a sufficiently heavy penalty on any
employer violating this law to deter him
from taking the risk. 1t seems to me wise
that there should be an international con-
ference held to deal with this question CT
immigrant ton, which has more,than merely
national significance; such a conference
could among other things enter at length
into the methods for securing a thorough
inspection of would-be immigrants at the
ports from which they desire to embark
before permitting them to embark.
In dealing with this question 1t is unwise
to depart from the old American tradition
and to discriminate for or against any man
who desires to come here and become a
citizen, save on the ground of that mans
Etness FOR citizenship. 1t is our right and
duty to consider his moral and social quail
ity. His standard of living should be such
that he viii not by pressure of competition
lower the standard of living of our own
WaSe-Workers: for ii must ever be prime
OBJECT OF our Legislation to keep high their
standard of living. If the man who seeks
TO come here is from the moral and social
standpoint of such a character as to bid
fafr to add value to the community he
should be heartily welcomed. We cannot
aHord TO pay heed to whether he is of one
creed or another. of one nation or another
we cannot afford to consider whether he is
Catholic or Protestant jew or Gentle
WneCner he ia Esng1iShroan Ir;sb
trenchman or German, Japanese Italian,
scandinavian Slav or Magyar What we
should desire to find out is the individual
quality of the individual man In nv jndg-
Inent, with this end in view we shall have
to prepare through our own agents a far
more rigid inspection In the countries from
when the immigrants come. 1t will be a
great deal Better to have fewer Immigrants
put all OF the right kind than a great nun,
per OF immigrants. many of whom are nee
e:asafiiy or the wrong kind. AS far as nos
th;n we WISH TO unit the immgra ton to
ms country to persons who propose to be-
come citizens of this country and we can
wei AFFORD to insist upon adequate scrutiny
OF the character OF those who are thus FRO
| &c an increase in the strigency Of the !, MS
| 70 keep out insane, idfotic epiIeptJc and
pauper immigrants But this is by M mos no
elioush. NOT merely the anarchist. but
| eseiy man OF anarchistic tendencies all
| violent and disorderly people Ali naonia ae
| PAD character. the incompetent, the Iazy
me VICIOUS, the physically unfit. defertfve
" degenerate should be kept out The
sloGhs OUT or which American CITIZENSHIP is
| 70 De hulit should be strong and heaIthy
| SOUND III body, mind and character. If If
pe DIRECTED that the government agents
n.y. notia NOT always select we'll, the answer is
Silat Trey would certainly select better than
! 90 the agents and brokers of foreign steam
| sup companies, the people who now, a.
| Whatever selection is done. w
~, ne questions arising In connection wit,
| l =, l,1-, =;
Inc conditions in China are s,,ob - =. -.
| entne thlhese coolie class that is the crs -
| " Shhlsse iaporers, skilled and unsI5fIIed
ies!tiInaaely come under the head of mn
cea, ap ns immigrants to this country, be-
cause OF their numbers, the low vases fo,.
Wiilch they work. and their low standard Of
wing. MOI only IS it to the interest of tiis
| country TO keep them out but the f,bins-a
a. ut i.Ies 40 MOI desire that they should
Ibe ADMITTED. AT present their entrance i,
prohlDlted by laws amply adequate To ar.
eohphsh this purpose. These laws have
peen, are being. and will be Thoroughly ON
ioiceu Inc violations of them are so few
IN number as to be infinitesimaI and o,n
| De entirely disregarded. There is no serions
proposal to alter the Immigration 1au,s az
regards the Chinese laborer, skilled or mn
shiiied' ana there is no excuse for any man
| feeling or affecting to feel the sliebtest
alarm on the subject
! But IN the effort to carry out the noIicx,
/ Oh exciuding Chinese laborers Chinese cool
res grave injustice and wrong have heep
| done by this nation to the people of China
| ana therefore ultimately to this nation
itself. Chinese students business and nro.
fessionai men OF all kinds-not only mer-
| chants, but bankers, doctors. manuractnr-
ers, professors, travellers and the like
should be encouraged to come here ava
| treated on precisely the same footing Thai
! we treat students. business men. traveIars
| and the like of other nations Our laws
and treaties should be framed. NOT so "a :
| to put these people In the excepted class
| but to state that We will admit all Chinese
| except Chinese of the coolie class. Chinese
/ skilled or unskilled laborers There world
not be the least danger that any such nro-
| vision would result in any relaxation of the
/ law about laborers. These will under an
/ conditions, be kept our absolutely. Rut If
| Will be more easy to see that both iustice
| and courtesy are shown, as they ought to
/ be shown, to other Chinese if the law or
| treaty Is framed above suggested. Ey
aminations should be completed at the MORT
of departure from China For this nur-
pose there should be provided more ade-
quate consular service in China than we
now have. The appropriations both for the
/ offices of the consuls and for the Office
| forces In the consulates, should be in
! creased
AS people We have talked much of the
open door In China. and we expect and