The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-09-14
Senator Would Limit Number Of Arrivals to Ten Per Cent
Of Such Nationality Already Here.
Illteracy Test Praised

Iantic States. even though forty-one OF
the sixty-nine had been farmers at home.
BENJAMIN Harrison said that our gates
swing in, but not out He made that
statement before il was known that 40
per cent of certain class OF immigrants
stay here for a while and then go back
to Europe. Insane men, habitual pau
pers, criminals-anybody and everybody
were once admitted to the country.
Laws were then passed TO exclude immi-
grants of unsound mind, diseased of
body. or delinquent morally. We are now
required, think. to attempt precautionaI
measures OF an economic character
THE immigration Commission, of
which ] was a member, spent two years
in Analysing conditions here and in En-
rope. We investigated thrty-seven of
our basic industries at 800 mining and
manufacturing centers east Of the Rocky
Mountains, came into contact with 200.
900 individuals, and made eco family
studies. The report Of opr work fills
forty volumes We examined foreign get
Elements in New York. Boston, Philadel-
phia, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago. and
Milwaukee. There is overcrowding
among such colonies in large cities, but
there is worse overcrowding in small
cities and villages. Twenty workmen
often sleep in one room, so that they
can save their money and send IL TO
Europe.
THE market for common labor, we dis
covered, was oyersupplied at many man
ufacturing centeIs. Unskilled men in the
iron and steel industry were earning but
s546 a year, which indicated that they had
employment less than half the time. We
found that the same class OF labor was
idle some of the time in the bituminous
coal mining the silk FEATURING the
oil refining, and the wooden. worsted,
leather, cotton. and clothing industries.
Living on Only 30 n Month.
IF such men as am talking about
are idle for periods ranging from one
tenth to one-half OF each month it fol-
lows that they must live as economically
as possible. Moreover. that has always
been their custom through necessity.
They are in the United States for no
other purpose than to make and save
money. While here they live in colonies
as unmarried men. Many Of them have
left their wives and children at home.
Eighty-fve out Of every 100 immigrants
from South Italy are males. 1 venture
to say there are Loo Greet men. the
United States TO one Greek woman.
bOdTulIlS bOSSeS manage the houses IN
which these unskilled workers eat and
sleep. and their expenses in some places
are as low as 50 a month per man. They
do not learn the English language:
they have no intention of remaining and
becoming citizens.
Il said that We investigated go COM
munities. In all OF them foreign labor
predominated. The conditions in each
We're un-American We tried later TO
find a typical American community
where families lived in separate homes.
where the children were attending the
public schools and where the fathers and
mothers were gradually adopting tire
customs OF this country. We looked in
vain No such community exists be-
cause during the last ten years immi-
grants from Southeastern Europe have
driven the common laborers once en-
ployed at our manufacturing and mining
centers out of business Moreover. they
are competing against one another.
"A company of Southern Italians or
Russians or slavaks reach the United