The Washington herald., 1920-07-15
Men and Business
By RICHARD SPILLANE-

Somebody might do a real service
by introducing common sense into
The administration Of the Immigra-
tion Department. For twelve years
Mr.. and Mrs. Joseph Rishwan have
been coming from Yucatan to the
United States. 1t is dreadfully hot
In Yucatan in summer. Mr.. Rish-
wan Is wealthy. Never has there
been question as to his right to
enter this country until now. The
other day when the immigration Of
fcials examined the passengers OF
the Ward Line steamship Monterey
Mr.. Rishwan was asked IL he could
read and write. "A little Spanish"
he replied. He was tested in read
ing Spanish and made a mess of ii.
| Then he and his wife were sent
to the detention camp. Mr.. Rish-
: wan. who was born in Syria but has
( lived in Mexico many years. had
| 900 with him. He intended TO
| spend a month or two here. Part of
this time was to be devoted to Wis
iting his daughter Sadie, who Is a
pupil at a young lady's academy in
New England.
/ Mr.. Rishwan is a storekeeper in
Yucatan. He has been so busy
making a living that he has not had
time. he says, to get school edu-
cation.
From recent development 1t ap-
pears that many persons who can
pass the literacy test at Ellis Island
were less worthy of admission than
Mr.. Rishwan. The fact that he was
admitted eleven times and stopped
the twelfth would indicate that
there was carelessness heretofore
or too strict an Interpretation of the
law in the twelfth instance.
David Lupton told story at the
! Art Club the other night that has a
( bearing on the Rishwan incident.
He says a Jew applied for job as
/ janitor OF a school.
Sign this application" he was
told.
II Cant write" he replied.
| What! Can't write. and you want
a position in a SCHOOL," he was ask
ed Indignantly.
II don't want a job as a teacher"
( he said. II want job as a janitor."
He didn't get il, so he went out
and engaged in odds and ends of
! trade, and he prospered until he had
quite a big business. One day he
was introduced to a bank presiden mt,
who had been informed of what a
/ fine business man he was and who
! offered credit in abundance to him
/ in order to expand his establish
ment.
You lend me money!" the Jew
said in surprise. How much you
| lend me?"
The banker told him.
"All right" said the Jew. Let
me have it"
A note was made out and pre-
sented to him TO sign.
What's this?" he asked.
That's a note-sign it." said the
banker.
mo" said the caller.
Why not?" asked the banker.
II can't write" was the answer.
What" exclaimed the banker
You can't read or write? Then how
in the name of goodness does it
happen that you are a successful
business man."
MY friend" said the Jew. IF I
could read and write I'd have been
a janitor."
Just the same, a man who cannot
read or write is dreadfully handi-
capped. Some persons of native
shrewdness overcome the handicap.
but not many. Perhaps the greatest
soldier of the Confederate army
would have had difficulty in passing
the literacy test of the Ellis Island
people. One of the members of the
recent Select Council OF Philadel-
phia had no more education than
the average American child years
old. To some persons education is
a veneer. To others ii is a price,
less treasure.
lis Island. but. like everything else.
il has its limitations.
Here is a bit out oft he speech
Of Chi Chen Mich. president of the
Chinese Chamber of Commerce, at
a dinner in his honor given at the
Bankers Club in New York:
IF you want to develop the Chi.
nese as buyers you must develop
their industries. You in America
spend more than $50 a person each
year for clothing. while we in China
spend only 81. II we could increase
our buying power to 50 we could
take the entire output of your New
England mills.
Such are the enormous possibili-
ties of the Chinese market"
Sleuths Seek "Yellowback" Readers.