Evening star., 1924-08-11
BOOTLECGINC IMMIGRANTS
BY JAMES J. DAVIS. Secretary of Labor.
Mexicans could be admitted next
ARTICLE /.

| Mexicans could be admitted next
year.
Easy for the Mexican.
The Mexican does not assimilate.
All that is necessary for him to quail
ify for admission to the United States
is that he be able to pass few
simple health tests and read q, few
Yords from a prescribed ''literacy"
card. He pays So head tax and is
admitted. But, being Of a saving dis
position. he prefers to wander across
the border, paying 81 for the privi-
ledge to some unscrupulous person,
and without more ado he is in the
United States. Then we are supposed
to find this needle in the national
haystack!
On the Canadian border the sit
uation is fully as serious. Large
numbers Of Greeks, Syrians and peo-
pies from the Near East enter Can
ada In strictly legal way. Then
the human bootleggers get hold of
them and smuggle them into our bor-
der States. AS a matter Of record,
a number of these aliens are occupy
ing cells in county jails in Vermont
New Hampshire and Maine
But the most usual channel is via
Niagara Falls. Let US take a man
OF any nationality. He has entered
Canada in a legal way. But his ulti-
mate destination is the United States.
He goes to Toronto, takes a train for
Niagara Falls. We cannot read the
minds of every person who visits the
Falls. The man carries no baggage.
He enters United States territory. He
is lost in the crowd. He goes on
to Buffalo. Then he vanishes. How
are we to stop that?
Outnumber Legal Entries.
To revert to the southern border
Assistant Secretary Manning after an
inspection trip reported that 1t is
generally estimated that there are at
least twice as many surreptitious en-
tries as legal ones. Our inspector at
Laredo estimates the ratio as five
to one.
From various sources has come evil
dence that the bootleg immigration
traffic Is organized and directed by
a master hand or group. But whether
these higher-ups are located in
France, Cuba or the United States,
we are not as yet prepared to state
1t is evident, however, that an under
ground railway runs straight back
to France.
The West Indies appear to be the
headquarters of men operating to the
Southern States and more especially
Florida. Rum runners have found
source of not only additional but
heavy revenue in the smuggling of
immigrants. They approach our
shores tremendously overmanned in
crews. The huge surplus of each
crew is ferried ashore at so much a
head and then-we are supposed to
cover $4,000 miles of border with $50
men.
ShadOwed on nm Island.
A few months ago a deputy sheriff
prowling among the inlets and is
lands which abound on the west coast
of Florida came across 20 excited
Chinese on one Of the wild islands
Investigation developed that they had
been landed from a motor boat the
night before. after a run across from
Cuba. Evidently, in their haste to
discharge their live cargo and make
quick getaway, the smugglers, who
had collected from 800 to $500 a
head, mistook this island for the
mainland. The poor Chinese were
left marooned, and readily fell into
net and were deported.
This is merely an instance. The
records of the department show that
we have done our best, handicapped
as we are by lack of sufficient men.
We are doing our best to stop this
growing evil, and perhaps the pub
licity attendant on this series of ar
ticles will bring the Congress to
realization that we need money for
power boats; that we need money to
arm our men properly; that we need
money for an additional force, vastly
larger than the force now available.
(CopyrIght, 1924, by Current News Features.
1ncorporated.)