Southwest Washington labor press. [volume] (Hoquiam, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1923-08-31
Americans OPPOSE
WIDE OPEN POLICY
ON IMMIGRATION

Unrestricted immigration would
mean a savage drive to cut wages
with the consequent danger Of . low
ering Of American standards Of liv-
ing. This Is the chief reason the
American Federation Of Labor vigor-
ously fights letting down the bars Of
immigration. Organized labor be-
lieves there is no reason for the agi-
tation TO 4lib9ralize" the immigration
laws except the desire Of such cOrpo-
rations as the United States Steel
Corporation for an unlimited supply
Of so-called cheap labor.
The Steel Corporation, which has
been leading in the campaign to con-
vince the public that industry must
have more immigration, is disturbed
by the fact that there are no vast
hordes Of men waiting outside the
gates Of its mills for a chance to
slave twelve hours q day at lower
wages than the corporation is now
paying.
The steel trust sees in unrestrict-
ed immigration the opportunity to
cut wages and thereby increase its
already swollen profts-profits SO
large that during the period of de-
preston in the steel trade following
the war it was. able to pay its regu-
lar dividends by dipping into it's huge
surplus.
Twelve Hour Day.
The steel trust also believes that
with unrestricted immigration it will
be easier to maintain the twelve hour
wOrkday, which is meeting with such
universal and deserved condemnation.
A constant supply of docile labor, too
ignorant to conceive of anything bet
ter than twelve hours Of toll in a
steel mill, would enable the steel
trust to maintain the fiction that its
employees love the twelve-hour day.
The steel trust, in common with
other big employers Of labor, sees in
unrestricted immigration a weapon to
beat down trade unions which already
exist and to prevent further organi-
zation of the nations workers. It
knows that a food of millions of men
from Europe, ignorant of American
democracy and American trade union
ism, would furnish a plentiful supply
of strike breakers o replace Ameri-
can citizens striving for better condi-
lions, and would be an ever-present
menace to fair wage scales in every
industry of the nation.
Agitation.
The agitation for modifying the
immigration law is hypocrisy and an
ti-Americanism of the worst kind If
it was merely immigration that was
wanted, the present laws permit more
immigration than we ever had.
But what is desired is immigration
from Southern Europe, from where
come workers less easily organized,
less firm in their demands for living
wage, less inclined to resist Oppres-
sion and arbitrary rule on the part of
employers.
Organized labor is interested in
raising the standard Of living of all
our people who do useful work. It is
opposed to any move which would, d.
rectly or indirectly, tend to reduce
standards already established. It Is
opposed to any measure hat would
bring to the Unied Safes those least
likely to become American citizens.
imbued with American ideals of citi-
zenship. It notes that many of those
who complained he loudest during the
war that many immigrants had not
absorbed American ideals are now the
leaders in striving to bring in a new
food Of men and women who for a
generation or more might be entirely
alien to American democracy and
American government
Steel Trusts Wish.
To open the gates to such a rush
of immigrants as is desired by the
steel trust and other corporations of
similar policies would be to invite
deliberately a menace with which we
can i'll afford to trifle. The American
Federation of Labor sees this ques-
ton from the standpoint of Ameri-
cas- workers and from the standpoint
of American citizenship, and from
both points of view the proposal for
unrestricted immigration can only be
adjudged as dangerous in the ex-
IRENE.
We hear Of the campaign for Amer