Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1912-05-14
THE IMMIGRATION BILL.

Mass meetings have been held in New York
for the purpose of protesting against the Dilling-
ham-Burnett immigration Bill which provides for
a literacy test of immigrants. One was held at
Cooper Union the other day. The speakers ad-
vertised were Oscar s. Strauss the Rev Percy S.
Grant George Gordon Battle, Rabbi Stephen s.
Wise, Magistrate John j. Fresehi Joseph j. Fran
colini Representatives William Sulzer, Francis
Burton Harrison and Henry Nj. Goldfogle, and
Joseph Barondes, Theodore SUtro, and Michael A.
Rofrano.
Similar gatherings have also been held at
Faneuil Hail. Boston, and at Monument Theater,
Baltimore In the latter place Cardinal Gibbons
presided. Meetings of protest are further contem-
plated in Chicago, St Louis, and Philadelphia.
Jacob III. Schiff in a letter of regret that he
unable to attend one of these meetings, said in
part:
9 | feel in particular that the proposed litter
aey test should never find room IN the immigra-
ton laws of our country. The immigrant who
comes here to find actual work, by which to sup
port himself and his family and who possesses
good health and physical strength, is likely, even
if he cannot read or write, to become better
citizen and greater asset to this country than he
who is highly trained and educated and who be-
cause of this, assumes that the world owes him
living, and who becomes a danger to society if
that be not granted him in the manner he ex-
poets.
Legislation that will keep out the physically
weak and the morally unfit we should sustain, but
any effort to adopt measures which may tend to
exclude the healthy immigrant should meet with
our most emphatic protest and legitimate resist
ance Nor would it be desirable that legislation
be enacted, l. understand it is proposed to do,
recurring immigrants TO furnish certificate of an
official the country they originate from, attest
ing to their previous behavior and good standing
for il should readily be seen that such require
me would raeut in furnishing ap
despotic government officials with weapon with
which the United States should be the last to
provide foreign governments"
We can understand and endorse the argu-
ment against the literacy; for it is fact that
many of our best and most solid home builders
have had but little schooling, while some danger
our characters have not lacked education. But
it has been pointed out during theldseussion of
the bill that a great number of illiterate aborerS
have come here and though they may have no
direct influence the government, they are in a
position to vote for against strikes and thus
influence the industrial conditions, and unless they
can read and get am intelligent understanding for
themselves of the questions involved, they are
likely to vote the tools of agitatorS his argu-
ment appears unanswerabe.
The objection to a moral test is not well
taken. 1t is true that in the early days many
convicts and desperate characters were welcomed
to the American shores In 1161 Thomas Dale gov
ernor of Virginia, asked the king of England to
send all offenders condemned to die, and thous-
ands Of convicts were sent here and sold to
planters for term ranging from seven to twenty
one year In 1919 the transportation of "unre-
formed and women became very common.
and from I'LL to 1875 it has been estimated that
more than 10000 criminals came to the various
American colonies.
Some have held that in view of the success
achieved with such immigrants in the beginning of
our history it is nonsense to advocate morality
test now, but can seriously contemplate a
return to those promitve conditions as desirable
Let the immigrant come with record duly at
tested by an American consul That would be no
hardship and it would give no undue power to II
oregn government.