The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-26


 science and the art of free government; the reason for this is the intelligence, character and industry of the people who compose our citizenship. The Crea- tor of the universe did not make all men with the same intellectual force or the same character. nor did he create all nations on an equal plane; in all ani- nal life the rule is universal that where the inferior animal mixed Its blood with the superior, it of necessity pulled down the standard of the higher at least to the extent that it lifted the standard of the lower
 "If we open our doors to the un- limited and ndiscriminate immigration of people who are below the American
 standard of life and living they will of necessity drag down the price of labor, the conditions of home life and the char acters of our children toward theirs, to the future oetriment and injury of the
 nation. I believe this bill to a large ex-
 tent will restrict the immigration com ing into this country. It will separate
 the good from the bad. It will prevent the ignorant, degenerate and pauper classes of Europe from coming here and yet leave the door open for men of char acter and intelligence to join our com mon citizenship.
 Concerning Educational Test. If I had the time I would discuss the bill in all it's details. but as the time is limited l intend to confine my re- marks to one feature of the bill alone, and that Is what is known as the educa- tional test. Under the provisions of the bill as presented to the House, every immigrant coming into this country will be required to read and write in some language. There has been much discus- sion as to the advisability of adopting this test for the admission of immigrants. Some have said that 1t is not fair; that it was not a proper test and does not discriminate between good and bad immi- grafton. Others have taken the extreme view that the educational test would keep out very few immigrants and would be worthless for that reason. But in my judgment, the requirement that every immigrant coming to this country shall be able to read and write in some lan
 guage will stop from coming here about one-third of the immigrants that an- nually arrive, and more than that, 1t will stop the ignorant the vicious and the depraved. I admit freely that education is not always a test of intelligence; that it is not always a test of character; nor is it always a test of energy or of thrift
 We all admit that we have at times known men of very great intellectually who on account of some peculiar circum- stances, have not acquired an education
 We all admit that we have known men of the very highest character who were unable to read and write. We have known thrifty and industrious citizens who had passed through the world as successful men without the knowledge of letters.
 Rare Exceptions to Rule.
 But, MT. Speaker, we recognize that tIat tlaat where we find a man or a race of people of high intelligence and character they are sure to acquire a knowledge of letters in keeping with their times and char acters. It is very rare thing that a man of intelligence does not obtain an educa- tion, even if he has to dig it out of the books by himself as was the case with one of the presidents of the United States, of whom it Is said he was unable to read and write until he was grown man, and learned his letters at the cobblers bench. As to character, there are some instances that can be given of men of high educa- ton and learning who absolutely were lacking in character, but as l stated be- fore these are exceptions to the rule. In any community in this country, or any where else in the world when you are classifying the people of character In a locality you will find them amongst the educated and learned. When you are looking for the degraded and depraved you will find them amongst the unedu-
 cated and the ignorant. For the boy or man to acquire and education requires thrift and industry on his part and there fore demonstrates that these character istics belong to the man who possesses it. There is no tool that man can use in
 his efforts to acquire his daily bread and improve the of his hands in his daily toll that is of more aid to him than an | l,t.~ tnlx take advantage of the experience of the
 past as well as the improvements of the hour On the other hand we often find that the slovenly and the lazy will not take an education when 1t is within their very grasp; they prove their lack of in telligence and character by their lack of industry.
 Make the Republic Great.
 "As I stated before, the intelligence, character and industry of the citizen | makes the greatness of the republic. We are glad to welcome immigrants to this country who will uphold and maintain our present high standards of life, but we will be doing a serious injury to our selves and our chiuldren if we allow the gates to remain open to the ignorant vicious and lazy who seek to come to us from the old world. We must sep arate the good from the bad when they | come 10 our ports TOT aunlSSloH ana l know of no test that we can apply that
 universally will be more effective and | more successful in excluding those whom we do not want and admitting those that We do than the educational test that is proposed in this bill.
 "rhe price of our country is the high
 position of American labor; our good wages and our comfortable homes. We do not want to bring our working classes down to the standard of life and living of | the world; and yet the world over, Hitter acy Is invariably coupled with low | standard of labor Ignorance and vice as a rule stand hand in hand. They are a menace to the free government of our country. Our social institutions depend for their very existence on the ability of our citizens to exchange their views on the great public question in order to achieve a common purpose for their com mon good The greatest means of com I munication of course is through the pub lie press, the magazines and books of the country. This is a closed door to H. literates and when the ignorant exoeed the educated in large numbers in any | community 1t must of necessity be a great | detriment to the upbuilding of society and the maintenance of a stable government The life of a free nation, democracy it. self, depends upon the intelligence and virtue of the average citizen. When in | tellignce in any community is at a low plane, democracy and free government be- come absolute impossibility. An en- l pire takes its place and a despot holds l the reins of government. We are today suffering untold miseries as a nation | from the reckless selfish and thoughtless introduction, purely for the purposes of