The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-19
ID PLACE CHECKS
 ON IMMIGRATION Ellis Island To Be More or
 Less a Closed Door DRASTIC MEASURES
Will Probably Be Undertaken To Protect United States Against Criminal and Undesirable
 Classes of Immigrants

Washington, February 1S-(Special.)- That further checks are to be placed on immigration, and that the "open door" at Ellis Island will become more or less a closed door, if restrictive legislation is enacted, Is evidenced In the report and recommendations of the immigration com mission, recently submitted to Con gress.
 The United States has nearly reached the limit of it's assimilative capacity, so far as caring for the millions constitut- ing the cheap labor market of Europe are concerned. Mighty as 1t is. it can no longer welcome these foreign hordes without peril to itself. The immigra- tion commission has outlined restric- tive programme conservative and yet eff fective.
 It believes that drastic measures shall be undertaken to protect the United States against criminal and other unde- sirabe classes. Aliens convicted of a serious crime within a period of five years after admission should be deport- ed, 1t recommends; the President should appoint commissioners to make arrange ments with such countries as have ade- quate police records to supply emigrants with copies of such records, and that thereafter immigrants from such coun- tries should be admitted to the United Sates only upon the production of proper certificates showing an absence of con victions for crimes; any alien who be- comes 8 public charge within three years after his arrival in this country shall t,r r,,1,s o+ f1,A erection of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
 The commission has paid careful att tention to the subject of protecting the immigrant against exploitation of dis couraging him in his habit of sending his savings abroad: of encouraging him in gaining permanent residence and nat uralization in the United States.
 The better distribution of alien immi- grants throughout the country Is imper- ative, believes the commission. One of the means to accomplish this purpose, according to the commission, is for the states to enact laws regulating imml- grant banks and employment agencies. Aliens who make it their business to keep immigrants from influences which may tend toward their assimilation and naturalization as American citizens should be subject to deportation. far-reach ing system of information for immi- grant settlers should be established. The general policy of excluding Chinese la borers should be continued, and the ques- tion of Japanese and Korean legislation should be permitted to stand so long as the present method of restriction proves to be effective.
 The commission makes this import ant finding:
 "Our investigations show an over supply of unslilled labor in basic in- dustries, to an extent which indicates an oversupply of unskilled labor in the industries of the country as a whole and therefore legislation is necessary which will at the present time restrict the further admission of such labor It is desirable that sufficient num- Der be debarred to produce marked effect upon the present supply of such unskilled labor"
 Among the method of restricting im- migration outlined by the commission are the following:
 The exclusion of those unable to read or write in some language: the limita ton of the number of each race ar irving each year to certain percent age of the average of that race arriving during given period of years; the exclusion of unskilled laborers unac- companied by wives or families; limi- tation of the number of immigrants arriving annually at any port; mate rial increase In the amount of money required to be in the possession of the immigrant at the port of the arrival; material increase of the head tax; levy of the head tax so as to make a marked discrimination in favor of the men with families.
 The majority of the commission Is inclined to favor the educational test as the most practical and feasible of those outlined The minority takes d. rect issue on this point, however, and Representative W. s. Bonnet of New York declares he is strongly opposed to this method of restricting immigra- ton, believing 1t neither just nor log ical
 The commission report then goes on to draw comparisons between the old and the new immigration. as follows:
 "The old immigration was essentially one of permanent settlers. The new inn migration is largely one of individuals, considerable proportion of whom ap- parently have no intention of permanent ly changing their residence, their only purpose in coming to America being to temporarily take advantage of the greater wages paid for industrial labor in this country. It appears that at least 40 per cent of the new immigration movement return to Europe. The old immigration came to the United States during period or general development and was an im- portant factor in that development, while the new immigration has come during a period of great industrial expansion and has furnished practically unlimited sup ply of labor to that expansion.
 ''It Is clear that the tendency of the new
 immigration is towards industrial and city pursuits rather than towards agri- culture. This has produced condition of congestion and expanded the slum dis- tricts. However. the average conditions in large cities where investigations were made-New York. Philadelphia Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Buffalo and Milwau- kee-are better than was anticipated Conditions in New York, where the largest number of people Hive per acre, were found. generally speaking, better than in some of the other cities where less care had been taken to pass or en- force proper laws and ordinances"
 The keystone of the present situation, pregnant with significance to the laboring interests of the United States, is thus de fined:
 "The development of business may be brought about by means which lower the standard of living of the wage earners. A slow expansion of industry, which would permit the adaptation and assimi- lation of the incoming labor supply, Is preferable to a rapid industrial expan- sion, which results in the immigration of -k-x,I In ~lu