The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-11-04
BY KNUTE NELSON.
Senior United States Senator from
Minnesota.

Senior United States Senator from
Minnesota.
Aside from the question pertain
ing to oriental immigration, don't
believe that at present there is any
urgent demand for any radical or
important change in our immigra-
tion laws. 1t may be that in respect
to some of the administrative de-
tails some slight changes and i'm
provements may be required. If so,
il is matter that will undoubtedly
be brought to the notice of the i'm
migration department, and that de-
partment will probably call the at
tention of congress to the matter.
The immigration law of 1903, as
amended by the act of 1907 seems
to cover most of the mooted and
important questions pertaining to
our immigration system. The head
tax of So was doubled, and many
other restrictions imposed which
tended to make it more comprehen-
sive and drastic.
There is only one question that
was not disposed of by our last i'm
migration law, and that is the ques
tion of illiteracy, whether there
ought to be a literary test for the
admission of immigrants; that is,
whether we ought to require immi-
grants to be able to read and write
either the English language or their
own language before being admit
ted.
The argument in favor of the
proposition in its early stages. was
this: that the immigrants from
northern Europe Great Britain.
Germany, Holland and the Scandi-
navian countries, was a desirable
immigration, and that all these i'm
migrants could read and write,
while the immigration from south.
ern Europe, especially from Italy,
was undesirable and that inasmuch
as large proportion of these people
could neither read nor write, such
a law-that is a law making a lit
erary test-would exclude these un-
desirable immigrants.
But later events, to my mind,
have tended to show that these i'm
migrants who some years ago were
considered undesirable. are not al
together so. 1t is possible that a
portion of the Jewish immigration
from southern Russia may not be
as desirable as 1t ought to be be-
cause of the fact that the people are
disposed TO huddle in our great
cities, but as to the Italian immi-
grafton, | think these is a change of
sentiment in this country. We have
seen that these immigrants, after
coming here and becoming accus.
toned to our ways, have taken VI
higher spheres of labor than those
they entered when they first ar
rived. We find that in a great many
fields of labor. such as coal mining
iron mining, copper mining, and in
all our street and tunnel work, and
in all our railroad work, that it is
difficult to get the necessary labor
among our own people from north.
ern Europe, and were it not for the
fact that quite recently large mum.
Der of immigrants have been coming
from Italy and southern Europe we
would be sadly in need of labor ia
perform this kind of work.
And these Italians who are com
Ing here year by year are filling a
vacuum in our labor market that
has arisen from the evolution trans
piring among our own laborers
These laborers from southern Eu
rope, who are engaged in railroad
work, mining and various othe
kind of work, seem on the whole t.
be thrifty and well paid; and it ha
come to my observation that thei
children, If given an opportunity
are as swift to learn the Englisl
language and to become American
lied as any other Of our population
and have every reason to believ
that they will make as good citizens
There il no discounting the fac
that there Is a good deal of energ