The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-07-11
IMMIGRATION BARS
GRADUALLY RISING
CONGRESS PROBABLY WILL MAKE
IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR
ALIENS TO GET IN.
DESIRE OF PEOPLE Is KNOWN
Government Officials Feel IL Is Better
There Should Be Shortage of Labor
Than That Dur Institutions Should
Be Further Endangered.
BY EDWARD 8. CLARK

~
Observation-Disclosures Is made
freely in Washington today that in a
few years it will be a harder job for
an intending immigrant to break into
the United States thar it Is for a nov
itiate in the Order of Burglars to
break into a thrlce-watched bank.
There seems to be a conviction in
the minds of government officials that
In the country at large there Is a de-
termination to raise rather than to
lower the immigration bars, and that
Inc national legislators, knowing this,
Will see to 1t that the present some
what drastic laws regulating immigra-
tor shall be made yet more drastic.
Inc recent pleas of certain. elements
In the community that the United
states ease up a little in the matter
OF immigration seemingly have met
with little sympathy among represen-
tatives and senators. They apparently
are convinced, from perusal of the ed
itorial expressions and gi1mpses of
the cartooning expressions of opinion,
that he country Is determined o.
only that the foreigners now here
shall be Americanized and started on
their way to assimilation, but that fur
Their restriction laws should be passed
and kept in force until means are
found properly to distribute the i'm
migrants after they once gain access
to our shore.
New York city, and other cities with
1t, for many years has had problems
arising from the fact that certain
classes of immigrants, notably those
from southern and eastern Europe,
have insisted on remaining in the
crowded hives of men," refusing ev-
cry effort to induce them to go to the
less populous centers or to take to
the fields and to engage in agricultur-
al pursuits.
Our Own People Need Protection.
The United States government in
the last thirty years, at one time or
another, has passed laws and enacted
regulations intended to protect the i'm
migrants who come into the United
States from sharpers, from agents of
crime, and generally from those who
would prey upon the credulity or the
ignorance Of the incomers.
Today officials say that the govern.
ment has done all 1t could to protect
the immigrant, but that 1t has done
little to protect its W people. Mem.
bers of congress seem to view the
situation as one calling for some
means of relieving native and natural.
lied Americans from what some men
are not afraid to call the menace OF
the undesirable.
Virtually everything that was said
on the subject Of immigration during
the last session tended to show that
the senators and members finally we're
reused by what they thought was pub
lie sentiment in the matter, and in
tended eventually to draw in the Ell
lis island gates until they we're little
more han ajar.
Members of congress, however. seem
ingly realize there is some truth In
the statement of employers who con-
duct great industries that more la
borers are needed, and that the only
way ~ SCl liCln 10 ~ DlALS ihtih ~
the other side of the water. But the
officials of the government generally
seem to believe that 1t is better to have
a dearth of labor of certain kinds than
1t is to allow immigration to continue
in the ~surcharged stream in which it
flowed into our ports for many years.
Dangers of Propaganda.
It is more than surmised. also, from
what one hears from officials of the
government, elected and appointed, that
they believe the danger of .'un-Amer-
icanizing' this country is a worse dan
ger than any dearth of labor possibly
can be. Not all people, perhaps, I'M
derstand just how far this un-Amer-
icanizing process has proceeded on
its way. Recent developments along
what are called propaganda lines for
this or for that have shown that Amer
leans of long American descent have
been Influenced In their thoughts, nan
ners, methods, and views of life by
contact In the so-called social centers
of the country with immigrants who,
instead of becoming learners of Amer
lean lessons, became teachers of les
sons of their own.
Many of the advocates today of a
communistic form of government for
the United States are what might be
called Mayflower or jamestown Amer
leans who we're moved to the beau
ties of communism" by the subtle
teachings of communistic immigrants
In the social centers where they were
brought together.
There is a growing realization, and
one has only to talk to government
officials to know it, that A~mericaniza-
ton is needed today not only among
immigrants from southern and east
ern Europe. but among Americans who
have yielded to belief In doctrines
strange and dangerous to American
life.
Peace in Capital Society.
There is peace in official society in
the city of Washington. All is quiet
along the Potomac. No longer are the
la dies of the cabinet, the ladies of the
judiciary, the ladies of the house and