Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-12-16
THE BURNETT BILL AND HAWAII


II the Burnett bill passes Congress in the form
hat appears to have been favorably reported b,
the house immigration committee, it will be Sc
tious blow to Hawaii's prospects for securing
caueasian immigrants from Europe =. ~
The "literacy test is the stumblingblock to
the Spanish and Portuguese Immigrants, who, AZ
experience shows more and more emphaticaIly
1te making good citizens in Hawaii DIR. Victor
y Clark, former commissioner Of immigration
Iere, at one time estimated that from forty to
|'xty per cent of the Europeans then being
Ifought to this territory could neither read non
Nrite Yet they proved to be industrious, sober
0omeloying people and, aside from a tendency
IN considerable proportion to 60 to the Coast
|nIckly became an integral part of the popull,
ton.
From time to time during the past three
|tafs, this literacy test has come up to worry
|awaii. Senator Dillingham's bill, the prede.
eesor to the measure fathercd by Congressman
ohm l. Burnett, included literacy test, but
'aEaii was exempted from its provisions The
Dillingham; bill was later dropped and the Dill
'neham- Burnett bill, generally known as the
|0fnett bill, substituted The Burnett bill was
|tfore the Congress at the last regular session
md finally got to the stage Of conference re
port to the house and senate The bill as it came
rom conference carried this clause:
That after tour months from the approval Of Is
this act, the relieving persotls shall also be 81
excluded from admission ;.
All aliens over sixteen years OF age. physically
capable or reading who cannot read the English Ian
snage or some other Language or dialect.
Certain exceptions were made to the sweeping
|chibition above, such as allowing wives and
|ed relatives Of lawful admitted aliens To en-.
|f without COMP wing with the provisions Of the
Both house and senate passed the bill and It
vent to President Taft, who vetoed it, basing his
.||i0n on opposition to the literacy-test clause.
Ike senate passed the bill over his veto on Feb
||'nfy Is Of this year, but on the following day
Ne house upheld the veto and the bill was killed.
Vow il has been revived.
Hawaii was not excluded from the operation
| the literacy test in the Burnett bin, as had
.|1n the case in the Dillingham; bin There is
. likelihood now that Hawaii has been so ia,
|0fcd In fact the telegraphic reports say that
he new Burnett bill requires aliens to be able
Both to read and write, whereas only ability to
0.|d was required by the vetoed bill The rapid
|I with which action has been taken by the
louise committee indicates strong sentiment in
favor Of the measure and it will probably pass
s. much the same form as proved obnoxious to
PRESIDENT Taft.
The effect Of such bill on immigration to
laval is easy to forecast 1t is true that the
|trritory has discontinued its European agency
and IS no longer assisting immigration But
when the Panama canal opens, Hawaii may once
more wish to turn to Europe for agricultural la.
bor and if the Burnett bill is operating with the
'teracy test included, it viii be practically i'm
possible to build up Caucasion immigration from
southern Europe ~