Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-23
House Probes Matter
as Law Is Failure.

| ton that it's terms. as well as those OF
| the law prohibiting the immigration of
| contract laborer enacted in 1880, were be-
| ing violated and evaded, that committee
| was appointed by the House TO investi-
| gate the matter.
| This committee recommended that the
| enforcement of the immigration law
| should be ntrusted solely TO state Off
GERS, praised the odd immigration, con-
demned the new" and announced that
| the time for restricted immigration had
arrived In 1889 the Senate and House
| created standing committees on immigra-
| tion and they Jointly made further in
! yestigatiOn. The result was the law of
| 1891, which added many features still
! found in the immigration law. 1t gave
the federal government sole control of
immigra ton. excluded persons suffering
| from lOathsome and dangerous contagious
diseases and intrusted to the public health
| and marine hospital service the important
| task of making the necessary health in
| spections. 1t strengthened the contract
labor law, and required the steamship
| companies bringing deportable aliens to
| American ports to carry them back at
! their own expense.
In 1892 still another investigation was
! ordered, and a joint committee of the two
houses of Congress recommended further
| changes. 1t reported that inspection up
to that time was largely farce. and
| ba sed on this the law was amended in
| 1855, by which the boards of inquiry were
| created. The following year the head
| tax on immigrants was raised to one dol
| lar.
| In 1897 Congress passed another law,
| which excluded those aliens over sixteen
! who were physically able, but who could
not read or write. exception being made
of the parents. grandparents, minor chill
dren and wives of admissible immigrants.
! nd MOS ire
which was the first literacy test ever
| falling off in quality, that the same thing
passed by Congress. He said. In answer
| to the charge that our immigration was
was said of immigrants. who. with their
descendants. are now numbered among
| America $ best citizens. He thought a
hundred thousand illiterate immigrants
who came to found homes and to work
We're less dangerous than one unruly agi-
tator The House passed the bill over
| Cleveland's veto, but the Senate refused
| do SO.
In 1903, after the investigation by the
!! industrial commission had been made, the
! ii louise again
Refuses to Accept passed an immi-
the Literacy Test. with the lit
eracy test in it. The Senate refused to
| concur In the eStaDuSilfIIent vi suCii d
test but added a provision increasing
the immigrant head tax from one dollar
TO two dollars. The immigration and
naturalization Of anarchists We're pro-
ilibited. This bill finally became a law,
and although the immigration question
continued in the forefront OF legislative
interest, no additional legislation was
enacted until 1907, when, out of a num-
Der of bills. Congress finally agreed upon
a law which raised the head tax to 81.
| created the immigration commission and
| empowered the President to refuse en-
| trance to the immigrants from any coun-
| try who hold passports to other countries
| than the United States, when those pass
| ports are being used to enable the hold
| ers to come to the United States to the
| detriment of internal labor conditions.
| This is the clause under which Uncle
| Sam excludes Japanese and Korean Ia
borers from the United States-a sort Of