Evening star., 1926-12-16

It is seldom that there is bill be
fore Congress with so much nuina.
interest" interviewer in its dry verbl
| age as exists in the Wadsworth-Perl
man bill passed by the Senate last
! Tuesday and yet to go over the hurdle
| in the House. 1t provides for the re
union of 5000 or 10000 separated
| households-the fulfillment OF 35.oo'
| dreams-the climax of just that many
'short stories" such as neither Poe
nor Maupassant ever surpassed IN
! thrill.
If the measure becomes laW-ano
| it has the support not only or lts ma
iority in the Senate, but of the admin
istration. as represented by the Secre
tary OF Labor--it will correct the mis-
apprehension that Uncle Sam is heart
less and willing to violate the 1n1unc'
ton of the marriage ceremony, Lei
no man put asunder.
This country has set out to restrlcl
| immigration. not only in quantity Dut
still more particularly In selectiVe
quality. The proponents OF that poncy
declare that If we had not adopted
that defensive measure five or slS
wears ago. famine-stricken Europe
would have flooded overprosperous
America with millions Of immigrants
| There are others whose sympatnles
| for the distress of the world are sucn
that they cannot reconcile the exclu
| sion policy with our Christian duty
| toward the distressed of all natlons
| But there are none who avoWeoly ap
| prove of laws which break up ram
| lilies and encourage men to leave their
wives and children behind while the
main supporter thereof turns to new
| adventure and in time, perhaps. is
alienated from those who have been
| taken out of his environment. Inc
person who deliberately breaks up a
| home-alienates husband from wire
and father from children-is ostra
cized from self-respect and desplsed by
right-thinking society, everywhere.
Prior to our restriction our immigra'
| ton exceeded 1,250,000 annually. AS
| stated in the Senate debate, the f1rst
| immigration restriction law, passed IN
1921, admitted an average or 7b0,Ooo
immigrants per year. 1t expired py
| Limitation in two years and the sue
ceeding law Of 1924, now the govern
| ing law, is stricter and admits only
about 900. 900, half Of whom are from
American countries and come in with.
out quota-mostly from Canada. ana
| Mexico. That leaves the present
quota from all Europe only about
| 15O, 900 a year. Many immigrants VINO
came in prior to the 1924 law ie1t
their families behind, expecting nrst
to become settled In business or occu-
patton here and then send money back
to bring over their wives and chill
dren.
But under the quota restrictions OF
the 1924 law the wives and children
left behind were barred except when
they could get in under the quota
per cent of the number of the same
| nationality who were already mere,
based upon the 1890 census. Therein
| lay domestic tragedies by the thou
sands. Either the head OF the family
would be obliged to abandon his start
| toward prosperity in America and go
back to the .hardships of his old coun.
try or else be for many years, ana
probably in most cases forever, sepa'
rated from his family.
| The Wadsworth-Perlman amend
ment to tn immigration bill under
takes to correct that injustice so far
as concerns immigrants who came In
prior to 1924 and who have declared
/ intent to become American citizens.
1t admits wives and children under
Is years of age, not exceeding a total
| of $4,000 year, ito be apportioned
equitably among the various nation
aiities on the basis Of the number OF
relatives petitioned for by such aliens
rules and regulations to be prescribed
| by the Secretary Of Labor"
There has been an astonishingly
] wide range Of estimates OF the total