The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-02-03
uses VETO ON TEST
WILSON REFUSES TO sign TIE
house MIGRATION BILL
OPPOSES LITERACY TEST

asa UGLU LII AA&IAOE sAS
President Declines to Add His Sigma
trre, Believing That it is Against
xaa wishes of the People-Says
Party Platforms Must Speak OF
Subject so That Voters May Choose
President Wilson vetoed the immi'
grafton bill Thursday because OF the
ifterscy test for admission OF aliens
His message was referred to the
House immigration committee Wnose
chairman, Representative Burnett
win move next Thursday that the
measure be passed over the veto.
Much informal discussion among
nmpers Of the House followed re-
oeipt Of the veto, and there were
many who believed the two-thlrds
majority required to repass the Dill
could not be procured. immigration
bills containing hteracy tests were
vetoed by President Cleveland and by
President Taft, but both times failed
Of repassage.
President Wilson's message dellV-
cred TO the House was as follows:
ssIt is with unaffected regret that
end myself constrained by clear con-
viction to. return this bill (H. K.
5000, An act to regulate the lmmi-
grafton Of aliens to and the residence
Of aliens in the United Stateso, with
cut my signature.
ssNot only do feel it to be seri-
Gus matter to exercise the power OF
veto in any case, because it Involves
opposing the single judgment OF a
majority Of both Houses of a con-
sress, a step which no man who real
ICES his own liability to error can
take without great hesitation but
also because this particular bill is IN
so many important respects admlra-
BILE, we'll conceived and desirable.
s'Its enactment into law would un-
Soubtedly enhance the efficiency and
Improve the methods Of handling the
important branch of the public ser.
vice to which it relates. But candor
and 8 sense Of duty with regard to
the responsibility so clearly imposed
upon me by the constitution IN mat
ters of legislation leave me no choice
bat to dissent.
.In two particulars of vital conse-
euence this bill embodies radical
departure from the traditional and
long established policy of, this coun-
try. policy in which our people have
conceived the very character OF their
government to be expressed, the very
mission and spirit Of the nation In
respect Of its relations to the peoples
Of the world outside their borders.
'tIt seems to all but close entirely
the gates of asylum which have al
ways been open to those who could
find nowhere else the right and OPP
portunity of constitutional agitation
for what they conceived to be the nat
uraf and inahenahle rights OF men;
and it excludes those to whom the op-
portunities Of elementary education
have been denied, without regard to
their character, their purposes, or
ther natural capacity.
Restrictions IKE these, adopted
earlier in our history as a, nation,
would very materially have altered
the course and cooled the humane
ardors Of our politics. The right OF
political asylum has brought to this
country many a man Of noble char
acter and elevated purposes who was
marked as an outlaw in his own less
fortunate land, and who has yet be-
come an ornament to our citizenship
and to our political councils.
@The children and the compatriots
Of these illustrious Americans must
stand amazed to see the representa-
tiyes of their nation now resolved, IN
the fullness Of our national strength
and at the maturity of our great in
stitutions, to risk turning such men
back from our shores without test OF
quality or purpose. 1t is difficult for
me to believe that the full effect OF
this feature Of the bill was realized
when it was framed and adopted, and
It is impossible for me to assent to 1t
In the form It is here cast.
"The literary test and the tests and
restrictions which accompany it. con-
stitute and even more radical change
In the policy Of the nation. Hitherto
we have generally kept our doors
open to all who were not united by
reason Of disease or incapacity for
self-support or such personal records
and autecedents as were likely to
make them a menace to our peace
and order, or to the wholesome and
essential relationships Of life.
ttIn this bill it is proposed to turn
away from tests of character and OF
quality, and to impose tests which ex-
elude and restrict; for the new tests
here embodied are not tests of quail
ity or Of character Of or personal ft-
ness, but tests Of opportunity. Those
who come seeking opportunity are
not to be admitted unless they have
already had one Of the chief oppor-
) tunities they seek-the opportunity
of education. The object Of such pro-
visions IS restriction, not selection.
eff the people Of this country have
made up their minds to limit the
number Of immigrants by arbitrary
tests and so reverse the policy Of all
the generations Of Americans that
have gone before them, it is their
right to do so. am their servant
and have no license to stand in their
way. But do rot believe that they
have.