The Washington herald., 1918-02-28
ALIEN STACKER
BILL PASSED
BY BIG VOTE
Congressman Ignore Lam
sings Protest; Fight
Taken to Senate.

over the protest of Secretary Lam
sing, the House of Representatives
last night passed the so-called alien
Stacker bill by a vote Of 344 to q.
The administration will continue its
fight against the measure in the Sem
ate.
A letter was read during debate by
Chairman Flood, OF the Foreign AZ
fairs Committee, in which Secretary
Lansing informed the House that
treaties had been arranged already
with Great Britain and Canada, and
that others were near completion with
France and Italy.
Congress Has Its Own Duty.
Representative Burnett, OF Alabama,
author OF the bill, replied the State De-
pdrtment had made many similar pre-
dictions ever since the United States
went to war He declared that Con-
gress, as well as the State Depart
ment, was in duty bound to protect
the native American from the alien
Stacker who would stay at home and
get the Americans job while he went
to the trenches"
An ny
Rogers, of Massachusetts, providing
that no aliens be drafted II their coun-
tries had treaties to the contrary, was
rejected. This change in the bill also
was backed by the administration. II
is understood to refer particularly to
Italy.
The bill provides that any alien who
claims exemption from military ser
vice by reason of his alienage shall
be deported and shall never be eligible
to American citizenship. Thie. said
Representative Burnett,is the furthest
the country can go. He said that
while it was legally impossible to
draft a foreigner IL the latter declined
the penalty of deportation would In
duce most of them to join the ranks
Burnett said after the bill passed
that Re thought it possible thai
France and Italy might now b'
spurred to complete the pending
treaties in order not TO seem to have
their subjects and citizens drafted
into American service.
Opposition to the bill was based
almost entirely on the possibility
that it might raise international
troubles with friendly nations, anC
that it would be all but impossible
of enforcement. Representative
Gordon. of Ohio, said:
There is not one reputable au'
thority which would say that on'
nation has the right to compel thu
subjects or citizens of another Il
go to war for it. The United State:
went to war in 1912 because Grea
Britain insisted on the right to i'm
press our seamen.
Put the shoe on the other foot
Suppose there were Americans in
Italy or Japan or some other ooun-
try, and those nations should in
sist on impressing them into serv'
iCe-not by treaty or agreement, but
by a law of their own.
Duty of America.
what would America do? I'd hate
to say 1 were an American citizen
unless she would step in and in
terfere with all her might.
This act cannot be defended be-
cause it seeks to do indirectly wha
it admittedly could not do directly
The President, to keep US out OF
trouble with other nations, simply
will have to ignore this law if the
Senate should pass it, which doubt. .
Representative Burnett replied tina
neither the nationals of neutrals mol
enemy countries would be taken, bu
that it was only fair for the CO.
belligerents of America in the pres
ent war to see that none of thoil
lighting men found a cloak of pro
testion by residence in this country
He declared it was a question wheth'
er Congress would continue to per
nit aliens to take Americans job!
while the latter went out to fight.