New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-05-07
ATTACK UTERACY TEST
Cooper Union Meeting Protests
Against Di|Iingham-Burnett Bills
OSCAR S. STRAUS CHEERED

Saws His Brother, Hero of Ii
tanic, Would Have Him Speak
for Those Who Seek U. 5.
mass meeting OF protest against the
Dillingham; Burnett bills, now before Con-
gress, providing for the exclusion OF INIT
crate aliens. filed Cooper Union last nlsht
to the doors. The meeting eliminated IN
the passing Of resolutions. directed 10 the
President. the Secretary of Commerce anu
Labor and every member Of Congress u'-
gently requesting them TO oppose the enact
meut Of the proposed restrictive laws d.
being detrimental to the common "eildle
and inconsistent with those American idedlS
which have given the stimulus OF humanity
to the conscience of the world
The first part of the meeting proouceu
an enthusiastic demonstration on neha'l
of Oscar S. Straus, former Secretary oil
Commerce and Labor, whose or"the''
Isdor Straus was one of the heroes OF tlo
Titanic catastrophe. The applause as ne
entered the hall was deafeninS for seNera !
minutes and broke out anew win oqu"i
vigor when Edward Lauterbach, speaking
for the committee of arrangements, intro
duCed him as temporary chairman uhui
the arrival of former Congressman VIII
lam s Benne;, who was unavoidapiy de-
tained.
Il should not have been here being undei
the shadow Of painful bereavement
began Mr.. Straus, had | not felt tha' Tue
subicc: Of our discussion Is OF such great
importance TO so large an element OF inc
peoplc that ar, sure II Isidor Straus was
able TO make his wishes felt he would nave
mn sDcsL for the welfare and benefit or
! the tens of thousands who seek these
shores OF liberty and for whom he iaporeo
| so periodically ana humanely.
! Restrictive Measures Not New.
! The movement 10 restrict immigration is
not new In the early sos there grew up a
great party. known as the Know Nothing,
or Little American, party. who believed
\ this great continent should be dedicated 10
their own selfish wishes. and that the
millions who looked 10 IT as the goal of
| their endeavors should he deprived or Inc
great benefits which the fathers intended II
should give
! The arrival Of Congressman Sulzer set
the temperamental audience in an uproar'
wherever" said Mr. Straus, when the
| tumult had subsidized "the immigrants need
protection. you'll find my friend sulzer IN
the front rank.
I'm 1856" Mr.. Straus, went on, Just such
bill as the present one came up before
| Cleveland.
| THAT great statesman" said Mr.. Straus,
| who had the courage or his CONVICTIONS
regarded the literacy test as pretext ~
| limit immigration and he refused absolutely
to lend himself TO such an indirect method
of excluding people from this great coun-
try. Under the Dillingham; bill the country
| is pledged TO do by subterfuGe what II
dares not do openly without offending In
ternational sensibiities.'
Charles w. Eliot Grover Cleveland. An
drew Carnegie and Theodore Roosevelt
were the type OF men who opposed the Ill
eracv test. Mr.. Straus remarked. Con-
| pressman Bennett. taking the chair, intro
dIced Congressman Sulzer, who said, in
| part:
The educational test is the poorest test
| | know. No man is responsive TOT the
place and condition Of his birth. His ina
bility to read and write Is not crime II
is n misfortune. The man is not to blame.
II is the country where he was born mat Is
10 blame and the evidence that he cannot
read and vrte is the best reason why he
should leave that country and come to ms
SAYS Test Is Not Solution.
The educational test moreover, is the
last test in the world which will rid US of
tho undesira bic foreign element. In all my
experience as a criminal lawyer in all my
| 7 ln.- vat
| known a crook who came from other shores
| who could not read and write.
II am going back to Washington where
| during the next week there will I've one OF
| the greatest lights for liberty since the
! Civil War. But I'll tell you ono thing TO-
night-neither the Burnett nor the DiIins-
| ham bill will ever pass the House with the
educational clause in it, Nor he added
driiy, with the Root amendment
! The Root amendment provides that a
poljtjcal refugee may be dcportcd without
! tiaI at the demand Of the country from
which he fed. Mr.. Straus attacked this
! PROVISION also. saying that # would have
/ kept OFT such men as Lafayette, Carl
Schurz and GarihaldL.
! Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, himself an immi-
! grant at the age OF two years, spoke
! against the bills, not as Jew, bhI a. an
| American.
! Il value America" he said, mot as A
! place Of birth but as an ideal. America IA
me IS not a land; it IS a religion. ! refuse
! TO deny this ideal. this religion, 10 the great
/ host Of men who long for it merely because
/ thcy fsil 20 meet the eXigencies Of a 1T
eracy test
There's n scat in the United states sen
ate got h. wrong and filed unworthily
! Every man who voted for the man who fills
! il was able TO read only too well, to read
! check almost before it was written. Lit
! eracy did not prevent Illinois from blottina
| the record cf the nation with her perhdy.'
! Other speakers included Congressman
| Henry NJ. Godforle. the Rev u. Percy
Stickney Grant, William jay S"hiefelin
| George Gordon Battle and Magistrate John
! J. Fresch.. Letters OF regret and cnCOur-
| agemeni were read from Jacob II. Schif
Congressman Francis Burton Harrison
Herman bidder and others Those on the
platform Included Judge Rosalskv, Judge
Leon Sanders. Edmund Wise and Mrs
| Wisc and Mrs julius Bier.
-1-
THINKS VAN NESS WAS SENILE