The Denver Jewish news., 1923-08-30
Copyrighted. 1922. Jewish Correspond
Burean.l

Copyrighted. 1927. Jewish Correspondence
Burean.l
The perlexing nnd tiresome immigra-
tion question again holds the stage. No
less than five important pronounce
ments were made on the subject within
the space Of one week. President
Coolidge expressed an opinion. Secre-
tary Of Labor Davis gave his impress
sions" of Europe. Ambassador Getldes
made n report. 10 which Commissioner
Of Immigration Curran replied. and
Louis Marshall made statement.
Taking these statements In the order
In which they were made. there is very
little that tx refreshing in the Presi-
dents statement. nothing striking about
the Labor Secrctarys impressions"
something surprising In the Ambassa-
doris revelations. little that Is invigor-
Remains Mr.. Marshall's statement
which liz entirely unexpected and II not
new. welcome ard reassuring.
Because Mr.. Marslmll's statement
came last and also because 1t appeared
where probably hut few readers Of these
lines have seen it-in the Yitltlisll Day
Of New YOrk-it may lie we'll perhaps
to refer to the Inst first. Nr. Marshall.
II would appear from his Interview. is
opposed rather more to the new tangled
selection than to restriction. We are
NIL accustomed by now to restriction).
The so-called selective immigration
scheme In an entirely new fad which
Mr.. Marshall regards as unjust and
un-American." He finds that the whole
agitation In favor of restriction In its
latest visciOus phase of selection IL
based en prejudice cultivated In cer-
tainparts Of tlse country. Not wishing
to mince words. Mr.. Marshall says
what has beea ON tlse tip Of all tom
g,ies. that the restriction aaitatiua. and
particularly tao seaective restriction, is
aimed primarilx pHsinst the Eaxt-Eu.
bsapesn Jr11. IT Il WF. X6rhaIfH cnu-
fenfion. 4 contention baaed on sad fncts
and experiences. that behind this 'anti-
American mO<efseAt" there II ''the Ia
hor aristocraey" which. he declares,
commands for itself. because Of the
labor shortage In the country. the high
est wages. possible. while hundreds Of
thousands OF able-hOslied men in Eu-
rope who are not admitted to America.
nre unemployed and doomed to starve
to death.
Passing from the general to the sE,e-
cifc. from immigration at large to
Jewish immigration. Mr.. Marshall.
warns against the abuse inherent in
the proposed practice OF having the con-
snls do the choosing He IL not wor-
ried about the physical and mental fit-
ness Of the European Jews But he Is
afraid Of the selective immigration plan
because 1t may give the immigration
authorities in European ports all man,
ner Of protexts for disgualifying the
.undesirables" Mr. Marshall announces
that he will oppose the plan Of selec-
tive immigration with all his power,
and will seek the first opportunity Of
placing the case before President Cool
idge.
And now one may return to the Pres
ident's prOnOuncement. Like most Pres
idcntial statements, 1t is not in the
first person. is not supposed to he a
quotation of the speakers remarks, but
is given out in the usual inspired form
of "it is believed" And what is be-
lieved is that the President favOrs
the sclective system as advanced by
Secretary of Labor Davis
at is said Mt the White House land
anything .said at the White House is
usually said by or in behalf Of the
President> that the President is firmly
of the opinion that aliens who are per-
mitted to enter the United States should
te Of the calibre who will not only help
industry but who will in respect to
character and background he able to
do their part in building up the stand-
ard of American citizenship. In the
opinion of the President. it was added,
there was no more important question
before the country than that of secur-
ing immigrants of the highest possible
standards
Holding such opinions as these. the
question il. will Mr.. Marshall. IL and
when he sees the President, he able to
ri. A.. s,.l, f1.r
danger of the Davis plan. The odds
nre singularly against Mr.. Marshall.
Which is painful, but not surprising
painful because Mr.. Davis journey to
Europe appears to have had the object
of telling Europeans what America pro-