The Washington herald., 1920-11-17
A Selected Population.

the world who provide the sinews for nat;o,.e-s
atIng' IN selecting settlers extorts the admiration
OF onlookers. Character, physical health. knowledge
ana potential worth citizens OF what il is
noped will be model community, are all being
investigated. There no "unguarded gates" for
an Indiscrminate rush of asprants, however
plous or racially loyal to push through
NOW this must be grievously Disappointing to
thousands and hundreds of thousands of per.
sons, who, now more than ever before want
place OF refuge for oppressors and who want to
get away from scenes of famine persecution and
Woe But since the new land cannot begin to
support all who might to come and since
1t Is not the intention to make Ahe state a sani-
iarium or a "city of refuge" the edict has gone
forth that there shall be discrimination with the
highest civic ends in view
This experiment in selecting high-grade cit
izenry, in keeping the ratio of consumers equal
to the productivity OF the land, and in making
certain that persons acquiring citizenship shall
sympathize with the ideals OF the nations founders
will be watched with intense interest In the
United States, just the present time when
Congress is about entering upon rectifcation and
stiffenng OF the laws governing immigration it
should be meditated upon soberly For many dec
AIDES OF national history we avoided all con-
slderations OF the kind that the Zonistic state has
considered fundamental We fell lar below the ra-
honallsm OF Canada and OF Australia We had
the open door," and we drew no distinctions
between the healthy and the diseased, the honest
and the criminal. We conferred citizenship as
and the criminal We conferred citizenship as loosely
and unimpresSively permitted debarkation We
did nothing to distribute the incoming food, allow
ing it to go where it would or stay where it
would. We assumed sincerity of purpose on the
part OF the immigrant to his motives for COM
ing that was beautiful in theory but often far
from the truth in fact. We expected assimilation
to roceed automatically and invariably without
any guidance or any inspection to see whether it
came to pass. We let European governments shift
to us their undesirables and detectives, and we
paid enormous toll in taxes for institutional bur
dens that Europe thus escaped
If perchance voices of protest were raised IN,
persons or by organizations that thought the
policy unwise and endeavored to induce Congress
to establish standards of admission, they had to
night interests that prohted by the prevailing
let alone policy. Sometimes these opponents
OF reform were persons who looked upon labor
as a commodity and wanted to get if cheapIv.
sometimes they were transportation companies
owned by alien capitalists who were growing
rich by carrying emigrants hither; and some
times they were friends of would-be immigrants
who wanted for their kindred the economic gains
that residence here brought.
Along the early part of this century public
opinion OF the country began to harden against
the traditional policy of laxity Some barriers
began to be erected The ideal of a selected
population began to take nebulous FORM
The war of I9I4-IS came to disclose facts that
have had their effect in still further educating
the public and it is safe to predict that Congress
from this time on will much more independently
OF forces that it used to conciliate In sheer
self-defence the nation must stop drifting and
take its stand. Its ethical justification for such
course is beyond dispute Some higher standards
must be set up, and they must be more than
physical or economic Persons who are admitted
must be placed inland, not dumped on the eastern
seaboard and left there. Debarkation in Gulf
and Pacific coast ports must be arranged Citizen
ship must be earned Discrimination must take
the place OF indiscrminateness Vague emot;onaI
altruism must surrender to clean cut rational self
interest The national house must have a bact
door for election well front door for ad-
mission. Open secret enemies of the national
ideals must be ferreted out The immigration serv-
ice should function abroad systematically as
do the consular the diplomatic and with full
authority to aid in the process of selection We
have right to probe the motive for migration
hither as well as the capacity for assimilation
after arrival
In support OF such policy there will be as
hearty support from the sincere American born
abroad comes from the native born The war
that showed the disloyalty of representatives OF
many races and many lands also showed the
loyalty of other representatives of the same
groups. The fundamental distinctions that now
have to be framed not based on grounds of
nativity or creed economic utility. They rest
on the original assumption that nation has
the same right to choose its civic children as
family has to decide who its guests and who
its kindred by marriage will be. Temporary hos
pitality in case of personal need may demand
the open door But permanent residence 4, IN.
circle is quite another matter.