Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-05
THE LITERACY IMMIGRATION TEST
BY FREDEItIC J. HAskIN


grafton bin has been passed over the
RESIDENTS veto. Tho provision cx-
ciuuing immigrants who cannot read
thc so-callcd literncy test-has become
law. This question has been the cause
VI more disagreement between Congress
ana the White House than any Other
in our history. For twenty wears con.
Srcss has been passing bills with
ileracy tests. and for twenty years
various Presidents have been vctoine
thcm President Cleveland and prcsi-
oent TART each vetoed such bills: Presi-
dent Wilson vetoed one ut the last SEES
sion OF Congress. But the Senate. with
SIX votes to spare over the two-thirds
majority necessary to override the
presidential veto. and the House with
margin OF twenty-one votes. have
iiauc tne hteracy test part of our
national law in spite OF the White
House.
The vital question now is. how Ia
tnls test going to affect our immigra
tion: The question Of Immigration /,
one very close 10 the deepest interests
OF the nation. The United states OF
to-day has been built very largely by
immigrants and the children OF i'm .
migrants. The 32.0OO.0O0 Immigrants
who have settled In the United States
IN the last century. aud the desccn-
dants they have left behind them. con-
population. To-day. when the country
is beginning to get thckly settled. the
question or restricting tho immigrant
tide becomes significant for the first
timr. The new law is a step in that
direction.
Tho literacy test consists in the
simplest OF tests of the ability 10 read.
The candidate for admission 10 tho
United States is handed a slim of papcr
containing not less than thirty nor
more than forty printed, words The
words may be i'm any languages no
cares to select--his own native tongue
or dialect. or English, or any other.
lie has to be able to read them To
people born and brought up in n land
or Tree, of even compulsory. education
u docs not seem like much OF a tcst
Rut in the year 1914 it would have
been sufficient to bar 10000 immi-
grants from landing on American soil.
There is no room for doubt-,he
litcracy test VIII prove "a barrier moro
formidable" to immigration than any
": nav" raised in the past. All the old
barriers are still in force--thc pro-
visions excluding tho criminal, tho
mentally defective. tho diseased the
anarchist. tho INDECENT. ctc.---but the
new test Will keep out more pcopl.
than all the old ones put together
Lust year 1867 would-bc immigrants
were denied admission on various
srounds-nbout per cent OF the total
immigration.
Would HIVE Bnrred 10000.
Had the iiteracy test been III force
during the same time. il would have
resulted in barring out 40. 900 additional
more than twice as many as All The
other causes put together. and moro
than 10 per cent of the total.
In order to get Il clearer idea Of what
the litcracy test will mean in tho
future. 1t is necessary TO 20 hack two
or three years. Since tho war broke
out in Europe. Immigration has not
been pressing questionable stream
has been temporarily damned back
What II will be after tho war is a
problem that time alone can solve; but
IT seems probable that. after n few
years. the situation Will tend to return
To normal peace basis
In 1913 and 1914 We had gotten used
To the idea that the normal tide Of
immigration amounted to about 1000
600 immigrants n year. In 1907, the
high water mark in our history and
in the history OF immigration in any
nation. the figures climbed to l2S5 600
In 1914 again they reached l.2ls.ooo.
but for the decade 100000 is n fair
average. How many or that annual
million would the literacy test keen
out? In 1914 1t would have kept out
100000: In 1919, 10000: in 1874 low
year-l1.,00o. Totaling these three
typical years. one finds that the
litcracy provision would have excluded
more than 100000 immigrants. more
than 90 per cent OF the total for those
years.
II is only REASONABLE" to suppose TINT
somewhat the same ratio vii! obtain
after conditions return 10 normal. In
1915, immigration was only a quarter
what II was In 1914 and last year IL
was still lower. Some people see in
the European war nm agency that will
solve the immigration problem. because
the scarcity OF men due TO battle losses
will keep the survivors at home.
Others. again. predict tax burdens so
heavy that the rush to America will
he greater than ever in order 10 escape
them.
Condition VIII Return.
Tho truth lies probably somewhere
between these extremes. and the con-
ditfon few years after the war will
probably not be greatly different so
far as Europe IL concerned, from what
IL was few years before But IL will
be different so far as America is con