The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-22
IMMIGRATION BILL ID BE INTRODUCED. Important Clause on Japs
 and Chinese TO BE TAFTS BUGABOO Situation Then Created May Be Very Acute-United States Cannot
 Afford to Antagonize the
 Oriental Governments
TO BE 'TAFTS BUGABOO
Nv JONATHAN WINFIELD

troduced in the United states Senate Will
 be a general immigration bill. It VIII De
 offered bv Senator Dillingham;, for -he
 purpose of placing the immigration iaWs
 of this country on a uniform basis and or
 bringing them up to date, so as to mod
 ernize the service.
 One of the most far reaching clauses in ' the new code will be the one affecting
 the immigration of Chinese and Japanese.
 and their admission into this country. It
 will have the hearty support of Pacific
 coast senators and representatives and In
 all likelihood will be adopted.
 The revision of the immigration laws is
 the one bugaboo that President Taft will
 have to face on the last year of his ad-
 mlnistration. Ills diplomatic training Will
 be severely tested, for the new immigra-
 ton laws will have as their object re-
 striction of the admission of Chinese and
 Japanese to this country, if not the total
 abolition of Chinese immigration and
 verey limited Japanese immigration.
 During the administration of every
 President there has always been howl for drastic action by Congress to elini- nate the immigration of "undesirable' Asiatics, and the people of the Pacific coast consider that Chinese and Japanese are undesirable citizens In this part Of the world. International complications al ways ensue and matters become acute be- N tween this country and the countries SUD- M iected to the restrictions"
 ia In Roosevet's administration the lingo | press of Japan printed sensational news paper articles concerning the proposed ac- tion of the United States in restricting the immigration of Japanese to the United fofa ha n q wrought up to a high pitch and war ru- j mors were current both in this country and in Japan. Richmond Pearson Hobson, congressman from Alabama and hero of Santiago fiared the red flag in the United States House of Representatives and told his fellow statesmen to beware of the Yellow Peri1.'
 Through the skillful handling of the matter by state department officials and the diplomatic officials of the Flowery Kingdom, the infiammatory talk subsdeo, E and in the early part of the Taft admin istration a compromise was affected, first E broached upon MT. Taft's visit to the X Micado, whereby Japan agreed to restrict M its immigration to the United States and s4 Hawaii.
 M This understanding, however, which & was to be effective for two years, will E end in January, and then Japan, so tine r7 Understanding is among certain officials ff of the state department, is going to make T q stand upon the rights of her citizens Y abroad An immigration treaty with
 sJapan some time ago, also expires about < } this time, and it is stated that Japan will efmake demands upon the United States
 md Great Britain that her citizens be M given the rights of the most favored na- |& tion.
 Al An acute situation, it is contended, will come into being the minute Congress D ts the Immigration laws. Drastic N steps are to be taken, it is understood M to absolutely exclude the Chinese, and XXI less stringent measures may be adopted T in regard to the Japanese, as they are regarded here as a more desirable lot than their brothers, the Chinese Another clause in the immigration act, which Senator Dillingham; will introduce and which is expected to have the indorse- ment of the representatives from the en- tire east is provision effecting the ad- mission of Italians and Greeks to this country.
 It is recognized by the lawmakers that these foreigners are as undesirable as either the Chinese or, Japanese primarily because they have the same character istics as the Orientals. They do not make 6 citizens, but simply are transients in this country for a certain length of time after which they return to the their na- k tive lands. There are other reasons, too, N which make these people undesirable In M the United States, but immigration off '4s- oials state this is the chief concern of &* those who are interested in seeing the &N country build tip it's population through x foreign immigration
 # This situation brings the United States W lace to face with a grave problem. It i cannot afford in any way to antagonize fSt ne government of China, Japan, Itafy
 4nd Greece, and it has no desire to do SO SA mould arbitrary laws be passed aiming X<sNl the citizens of these countries, retalia- <&Hf f1on measures would surely be resorted to #by the respective governments men, &Ntioned. United States trade would suffer and as an outcome war might be de- fTclared.
 1k The Dillingham; bill is the outgrowth
 Of constant study of the immigration M viewpoint of this country's welfare from # every conceivable angle. It respects the M rights of the federal government, and at X the same time has been drafted with the M object in view of denying admission of M such people as would not be desirable for M citizenship. The joker in the bill that |H makes both ends meet is the educational }& clause, which applies to all sorts of im- migrants, whether they are from Great Britain, Ireland. Sweden, Norway, Ger many, whence the most desirable inmi- grants come, or from Russia, Spain, II ffance, Italy, Japan China, where the least desirable have their origin. This provision is to the effect that "All hiaie aliens l6 years of age or over, who PiS SiSdpy cdpdDl6 or reading and writing, but unable to read and write in some language Or dialect, shall be ex- ciuded' Tt provides, however, that an adinissable alien may bring in his father
 or grandfather over 55 years old. or a son not over IS years old, whether such persons are literate or not
 The contract labor laws at nresent bave been greatly strengthened and enforced
 and It will be impossible if the new hill
 becomes law for alien contract Iaborers
 to be brought into this country.
 At the end of the bill is a clausa r,h;ob
 is regarded as one of the greatest sa retv
 valves of any similar measure ever
 brought before Congress It gives the
 federal government and it's diplomatio
 representatives a loophole to successful,y
 treat the complex immigration cases that
 are bound to arise without throwing this
 country into war scare. It gives fhe
 President of the United States the au-
 thirty to review various cases.
 Should steamship companies aid or abet
 in landing undesirables, the bill author
 izes the President to impose fine of s4oO
 in every case.
 His Last Word