The Irish standard., 1915-01-30


cial message to Congress saying he
disapproved the measure because
of the literacy test and other restrict
i've tests which it proposes as con-
dition of admission of immigrants to
the United States.
President Wilson's message deliv-
cred to the House was as follows:
1T is with unaffected regret that
I find myself constrained by clear
conviction to return this bill Oh. r.
5000, an act to regulate the immi-
grafton of aliens to and the residence
Of aliens in the United States) with
out my signature.
mot only do feel it to be a ser
ious matter to exercise the power of
veto in any case, because it involves
opposing the single judgment of the
President to the judgment of a ma
jority of both houses of Congress, a
step which no man who realizes his
own liability to error. can take with
out great hesitation, but also because
this particular bill is in so many i'm
portant respects admirable, well-con-
ceived and desirable.
Its enactment into law would un-
doubtedly enhance the efficiency and
improve the methods of handling the
important branch of the public serv-
ice to which it relates. But candor
and a 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 but to dissent.
"In two particulars of vital conse-
Quence, this bill embodies a 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 peo-
pies of the world outside their bor-
ders. 1t seeks to all but close entire
ly the gates of asylum, which have
always been open to those who could
find nowhere else the right and op-
portunity of constitutional agitation
for what they conceived to be the
natural and inalienable rights of
men; and it excludes those to whom
the opportunities of elementary edu-
cation have been denied without re-
gard to their character. their purpos-
es, or their natural capacity.
Restrictions like those adopted
earlier in our history as a Nation
would very materially have altered
the course and cooled the humane ar
dors of our politcis. The right of
political asylum has brought to this
country many man Of noble char
acter and elevated purpose, 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 public councils.
"The children and the compatri-
OTIS of these illustrious Americans
must stand amazed to see the repre-
sentatives of their Nation now re
solved, in the fullness of our Nation
al strength and at the maturity OF
our great institutions, to risk turn
ing such men back from our shores
without test of quality or purpose
It is difficult for men to believe that
the full effect of this feature of the
bill was realized when 1t was framed
and adopted, and it is impossible fol
me to assent to 1t in the form in
which it is here cast.
1.-THE literacy test and restriction:
which accompany 1t constitute an
even more radical change in the pol
icy of the nation. Hitherto we have
generously kept our doors open to all
who were not untitled by reason OF
disease or incapacity for self-support
or such personal records and ante
cedents as were likely to make them
a menace to our peace and order OF
to the wholesome and essential rela
tionships of life. In this bill it is
proposed to turn away form tests OF
character and Of quality and to i'm
pose tests which exclude and restrict;
for the new tests here embodied are
not tests Of quality or of character OF
Of personal fitness but tests Of oppor
tunity. Those who come seeking op'
portunity are not TO be admitted un,
less they have already had one of
the chief of the opportunities they
seek-the opportunity of education.
The object of such provisions is re-
striction, not selection.
III 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 1t is their
right to do so. I am their servant
and have no license to stand in their
way. But do not believe that they