Milford chronicle., 1923-09-21
UNCLE TEO'S
BEDTIME STORIES
UNCLE TED TALKS ON THE
IMMIGRANT

"Here comes Uncle Ted now, ana
I'm going to ask him." said Jack.
whats that you're going to ask
me. Jack?" inquired Uncle Ted from
the hall door. ,.s..o
eve want to know the dllIerence
between an alien and an immigrant
replied Jack. .,o nd
coming out on the porch, "a person Oh
foreign birth who has not become
naturalized citizen is an alien, Wnlle
one who leaves a country and comes
to the United States for the purpose
of making it his home is an lmml-
Grant. All immigrants are aliens until
they become citizens.
"Are there many immigrants COM
ing to the United States? asked Ruth'
20 YES, Ruth, but not nearly so
many since Congress passed restr1c-
tion law that keeps out the least de-
sirable and permits only a certain
number to come in from each country
For many years we have had laws TO
keen out criminals, diseased persons
and paupers, and a few years ago
Congress added literacy test 10 Keep
out the ignorant also. The lteTaCy
test REQUIRES the immigrant TO De aDIe
to read and write certain NUMBER Oh
words either in his own language OF
in English. OF course it is easier TO
Americanize the foreigner who KNOWS
some English. The literacy test was
passed by a Republican Congress over
the veto of President Wilson. There
are so many people in Europe who are
so anxious to come to the UnlLeo
States that one government over there
has established a school to train the
neople coming over here so they can
pass the literacy test"
"I wouldn't think that would De
very hard" said jack Il could reau
when was eight years old.
at isn't hard for those who are cap
able of learning but for the feeble
minded it is impossible. The law Is
vorv strict on that matter because re-
ports show that the average lnIe!ll-
gence of our immigrants has Deen ue-
clining and a large per cent OF thenl
have to be put in institutions and kept
bv the government. What we try to do
is admit only those who will become
good citizens. People Of low 1ntelll-
gence cost the United States $lOO,-
600 900 every year. President Harding
had the right idea when he said IN
his speech at Portland, Oregon, 1 pre-
fer waiting jobs to idle men ana l
choose quality rather than quantity IN
future immigrants.
"What do they do with the people
who can't pass the test?" asked Ruth' |
"The literacy test isn't the only re-
as you probably know.
They have to have certain amount OF
money to keep them from becoming
paupers Immediately and have some |
idea of what they intend to do over |
here. Those who can not pass the |
tests are deported that is, sent back |
to the country from which they came
They are not sent hurriedly; plenty
Of time is given for investigations and
reports"
"Have you ever seen any of the inn
migrants just coming inT" queried
Jack.
Eyes, several times my work has
called me to Ellis Island, where the
are examined. The amount
Of work done there is tremendous and
too often the public is misinformed
about some of the cases. I remember
1ne in particular concerning some Ar
menians who had been deported. The
papers said that fourteen children who
had been sent back to Turkey were
seized and killed when they landed
there Everybody was quite interest
ed in this case and the Bureau of I'M
migration was severely criticised.
However, Secretary of State Hughes
started an investigation and it was
'ound that some of those fourteen who
we're deported were men and women
and at the time of the investigation
hey were all well and happy"
isn't it too bad some of them have
% go back" said Ruth.
eyes it is, and both President Cool
dge and Secretary of Labor Davis be-
ieve that the tests should be made
before immigrants start to the United
States so the people who fail to pass
he tests will not sell everything they
lave and have no place to go when
hey are returned. Quite number Of
are smuggled in and, while
he Bureau of immigration does ev-
,rything it can to prevent the SNUG
cling, it would take much larger
orce to do away with it entirely. Sec
'etary Davis has said that one solu-
ion would be to require all aliens to
egister and carry card showing that
hey had been legally admitted, and he
S now working on an Alien Registra-
ion Bill which will probably be sub
nitted to Congress at its next session.
eff we had those two laws, exam
ming the immigrant before he starts
o the United States and then require
i'm to have a REGISTRATION card after