Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02
Continued From First Pase1

/ humans conditions. From the very
! FIRST have believed in system of strict
! selection Of immigrants overseas. No
! one should start to the United States
with the intention Of remaining here
unless he is reasonably assured that he
| will be permitted to enter. At first
| nearly everybody said this could not be
I done, but 1t Is being done at present.
! and We have made such progress in the
matter that immigration administration
now has become probably 80 per cent
! Selective.
A peculiar thing about the temporary
quota law of 1921 was the fact that rs
q numerical limitation 1t was not very
successful, though 1t did reduce the
number Of immigrants entering annu-
ally below the former figure Of 100000.
The FIRST years immigration under its
| operation was more than 100000. The
! second year it amounted to 522,9l9.
| In the third year the number reached
| 70S,Se6.
Dealing With Humans.
| While it was the prime purpose of the
temporary quota act to reduce immigra-
tion could not Hoss sight OF the fact
| that We were dealing with human be-
! inss. and in makine my first recon-
! mendations regarding legislation to cor
rect errors and omissions in the law I
kept that in mind. Imposition OF larger
| fines against steamship companies for
! bringing inadmissible aliens helped to
prevent interruptions practices. In one
| instance q steamship company which
packed its ships with immigrants with
out regard to the quota limitation. even
carving on one ship more than an en-
| tire years. quota for q particular coun-
! try. was put out of business. Nearly
J 900 fines were assessed against II.
The greatest single stride was made
when the immigration act OF 1924, I'M
der which We are now operating was
passed.
The fundamental difference between
this and the previous law is that it pro-
vides for determination Of quota status
before the immigrant leaves his foreign
home. and gives q reasonable time after
the quota visa has been issued in which
he may settle his affairs and depart for
the United States.
new quota system was also estab-
lished, using the census Of 1890 as q
base. and allowing . quota of 2 per cent
of that census, but providing also for
what Is known as the national origin"
i quotas to became effective, as the act
was amended. beginning July ! Of this
year. Unless Congress repeats or
changes that section OF the 1924 act,
these new national origin quotas will
be effective on the first Of next month.
The 1924 act gave to American con-
suls the right to refuse visas to immi-
grants who. in their belief. would not be
admissible upon arrival at port of the
United States. This fact together with
the Quots control by consular officers.
gave me q lOns-sousht opportunity to
put forward my plan for examining
aliens abroad, and to save them the
expense OF useless journey TO this
country.
Plan Was Welcomed.
already had made study in many
of the countries OF Europe. had con-
ferred with representative offlcials there.
and had found that there would not
be any serious objection to this pro-
cedure. Most countries welcomed this
opportunity Of protecting their ma
consulates in Great Britain and the
Irish Free State and 1t worked so
smoothly and SO satisfactorily that
gradually the system has been extended,
by invitation of the foreign govern
mentS concerned, to all the larger i'm
migrant sending countries.
Experienced immigrant inspectors and
physicians OF the Public Health Serv-
ice are stationed at United States con-
SulateS, and when an alien is about to
receive an immigration visa, these off,
Sular Ofi1cers rs to whether OF not he
appears to be worthy OF admission to
the United States Reflections Mt the
port Of New York have dropped from
several per cent to q small fraction of
l per cent and would be reduced still
lower but for the fact that We have
still been unable TO work out q salts
factory method of overseas examination
in q few countries from which small
numbers Of immigrants come.
Another feature OF selection which
the 1924 law provided was the prefer
ence and non quota status given to GER
tain relatives of American citizens
preferences for fathers and mothers.
children under AZ and husbands-and
the non-Quota status Of wives and chill
dren under Is. Preference also was
given to immigrants skilled in agricui-
ture. their wives and children. Thus
1t will be seen that to n certain extent
the law itself Is Selectiye in principle
aS to certain classes, but not as to in
dividuals within the classes. However,
no other preferences were allowed.
While the 1924 act incorporated many
humane features. several notifications
were necessary. For instance, believe
that an American woman Is entitled to
bring in her husband, regardless Of the
quota. We admit the wife Of q citizen;
why should we not admit the husband
Of one? This Is q country OF equal
rights to man and woman.
Furthermore, why should not an UNI
married child under IL years be en-
titled to the same non quota status rs
n child Of 10? Who would say, in
given case. that girl Of 10 is better
able to look out for herself, separated
from her family than a boy of IS? AS
father, l am inclined to believe that
I should rather let the boy Of 1s 60 on
his own than the girl a year Older.
Congress needed this suggestion, and IN
May, 1928. passed an amendatory law
giving non-quOta status to unmarried
children OF citizens up to the age OF al.
IL also gave non-Quota status to hus-
bands of American citizens who were
married prior to May 81, 1928.
Reunion Of Families.
The reunion of families separated By
the coming OF fathers and husbands to
this country to establish new homes has
been Of particular concern to me- Until
last year no provision was made to
facilitate such reunions. did not be-
l1eve that the bars should be thrown
down to all corners, but 1t seemed 70
me that within the quota we should De
especially concerned with the needs OF
those already here. The act of May 29, !
1928, gave a second preference In favor
OF the wives and minor unmarried chill !
dren of aliens who are lawfully resident
in the United States This has greatly |
facilitated the reunion Of families
BY the act Of 1924 aliens ineligible to |
citizenship were debarred. Congress |
probably did not realize the extent OF
that provision, for 1t included among |
others, Canadisn-born Indians whose
original domain had been in the United |
states as we'll aS i'll Canada. We had /
always felt that We should let these In
diAns cross the border freely. Under
the law, however, they cannot become