El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-20
Immigrant Quiz Is COstIy
Commission Expended $3.50, 900 in Eff
fort to Solve Problem OF
Handling Aliens.
Frederic j. Hastlin--

some degree, but at the same time pro-
vided for future legislation by the ere
aIlon of the immigration commission.
! winch 1t directed to gather the facts
upon which such new legislation Should
! be based
Report Takes Up II Volumes.
| The commission decided to make a
| LfsI hand investigation rather than to
| act merely as a compiler of data al
| ready gathered. It investigated every
| possible phase of the question in
Europe and America, going with the ut
most care INTO the whole question Of
the causes and effects of immigra ton
| both at home and abroad. Upward of
| Jhree years was consumed in the in
/ curry, and as result a report cover
ing - volumes, or practically 30, 900
J octave pages, has been published 1t is
/ such monumental work that it is
! doubtful If anybody will ever read it
/ from A to z. However it has a two
volume abstract and index which digest
| the whole report although there are
many things in the full report that are
] Of course referred to only in the brief
I est way in the big abstract.
The commission did not finish its
/ work until within a half hour of the
/ time the law required that the report
| should be filed. Representative William
} ). Bennett, of NeWsYOrk, desired to file
a minority report, but declared he was
| prevented from so doing by the fact
J that the majority report was foruu-
lated TOO late to permit any elabora-
ton as to his views and conclusions.
Commission Spent $4,000.
I During its life the commission spent
I $4,000 in its Investigations. There
were quite a few criticisms at the time
concerning the long drawn out charac-
ter of the investigation and the un-
usual expense incurred, but. consider
| ing the thoroughness with which the
work was done, much OF this criticism
probably was not deserved.
When it came to investigating emf
grafton conditions in Europe six of the
nine members, accompanied by a large
, staff, went to Europe in May and stayed
Austria, Hungary, Finland. Greece,
Turkey. and practically all other Euro
pean countries.
In studying the relations between the
immigrant and various American in
duStr1es use was made of a large CORDS
OF investigators. Data was gathered
from the Individual immigrant, the
household of the immigrant, the en-
ployers Of immigrants and from local
OFFICIALS, organizations and Institutions.
In gathering information concerning
immigrants in iron and steel industries,
detailed information was received from
$4,000 employees, and an intensive study
was made Of nearly $500 households.
the heads Of which were employed in
these industries.
Improve Conditions.
Investigations of the commission
were put to Immediate and practical
use Its agents who investigated steer
age conditions on transatlantic mas
senger ships were able to pick up pieces
of information which, reported to the
bureau of immigration. took the form
Of recommendations that abuses within
the law would better be remedied bv
the steamship companies. The same
was true of its investigation of the i'm
migrant aid societies and homes. With
the information placed in the hands of
commissioner Williams, of Ellis Island
steps were promptly taken to debar a
number Of missionaries from the island
and to require the immediate correction
of conditions complained of by several
societies and homes.
The commissions Investigation of the
white slave traffic was a very thorough
one, and information was put into the
hands of the immigration authorities
which resulted in the deportation of
many engaged in the traffic as well as
many of their victims Many other
cases were brought to light which de-
served prosecution and the information
obtained was placed in the hands of
many cities, with the result that
large number of convictions were Sc
cured.
Seek to Save American Standards.
As a result of its Investigations the
commission made a number of impor-
tant recommendations to congress, the
majority of which have been incorpor-
ated in a bill now pending before con
gress- 1t recommends that care be
taken that immigration shall be such
in quantity and quality that the pro-
cess of assimilation will not be made
too difficult; that general legislation
on immigration should be based upon
economic principles and business con-
sideratiOns; and that business expan-
sion ought not to be permitted to lower
nr1R n ct dor DC raf Il
living.
It specifically recommends that
aliens convicted Of any crime within
five years of coming to America shall
be deported; that no immigrant be ad-
mitted from any country having ade-
quate police records who cannot pro-
duce a satisfactory certificate of char
acter; that any alien who becomes a
public charge within three years shall
be depOrted. 1t says that in order that
immigrants may be protected from eX-
ploitauOn, to discourage the sending of
savings abroad; to encourage settlers
on the land and to secure a better dis
trlcbution Of immigration, the states
ought to provide for the inspection Of
immigrant banks, regulate labor agen-
cles and cooperate with the federal gov
eminent in bringing their opportunities
to the attention of immigrants. The
recommendations also made that any
alien trying to persuade another alien
not to become an American citizen shah
De immediately OepOTUeQ.
immigration Restrictions
With reference to the restriction Of
immigration, the commission concludes
that the first restriction should be
against those who do not intend to be-
come American citizens Another re-
strictiOn recommended by the commits
sion applies to those who cannot read
or write in some language. It concludes
that there is today an over-supply of
unskilled labor in the United States,
and that a sufficient number of immi-
grants should be debarred to produce
a marked effect upon the unskilled Ia
Dor supply.
With regard TO Asiatic immigration,
the commission recommends that the
general policy Of excluding Chinese Ia
Dor be continued; that the present IN
Outstanding concerning Japanese and
Korean immigration be permitted to
stand without further legislation so
long as the restriction continues to be
effective, and that an understanding
be reached with the British governm tent
whereby East Indian labOrers would be
effectively prevented from entering the
limited States