Evening star., 1955-02-02
Red Tape Bars Entry
OF Refugees 10 U. s.,
ChurehmaIl Charges
By cospor Names
siar Sseff Correspondent

- ATLANTIC CITY. N. j., Feb
IA Lutheran official today
charged that Government red
aApe and indifference have SO
hampered admission of refugees
to the United States that volun-
tary agencies may be forced to
quit.
DR.. Paul c. Empie, executive
director of the National Lutheran
Council. declared: THE harsh
statistics are that as of Decem-
Der l, 1854. at an approximate
cost of $141 800, only nine refu-
gees had come to the United
States in response to National
Lutheran Council assurances for
5.025 persons, over half of which
were filed between November.
1858. and July, 1854.
Unless responsible Govern
ment officials can give solid as
surances that the situation will
be improved, voluntary agencies
like ourselves would be thoroughly
justified in disseminating further
cooperation"
9,704 Admitted, He Says.
The 1858 Refugee Relief Act,
aigned by President Eisenhower
In August. 1853, provided that
100000 refugees and homeless
persons could be admitted to the
United States as nonquota i'm
migrants by the end of 1856.
DR.. Empie told delegates to
the 37th annual national Lu-
theran Council meeting that only
9704 persons had actually been
admitted by December /. 1854.
The council is a cooperative
agency for eight national Lu-
theran denominations having As
million members.
THE same problems which
existed a year ago seem not to
have been solved, and substanti-
ally the same excuses given by
the administration a year ago
are still given today" DR., Empie
declared.
"One frequently has the feel
ing that the national atmosphere
in which the (Senator Nc
Carthy Republican, of Wiscon-
SIM hearings were conducted
may have led some Government
officials involved to choose to do
nothing rather than to risk the
granting of security clearance
to refugees. At other times, one
wonders whether or not there
are political reasons for the
dragging of feet in administer
ing the act"
Mcleod Cites Problem. -
Scott Mcleod, administrator
Of the act. said recently he ia
vored revising the present law.
He said the chief hindrance
was the provision that each
immigrant must have a Job and
housing assurances. He also ex-
planned that the program was
slowed up because an average of
126, working days was required
to process an application.
DR.. Carl F. Yeager of Wash
ington, associate secretary of the
Lutheran Service Commission,& 4
today warned that young Amer
ican. .servicemen are facing zap
ualling moral and social prob
lens" in some foreign areas.
s,"Economic. social and political
tpheavals in many foreign lands
ease the path of the wrongdoers
and abet the tragic and wide,
spread traffic in human bodies"
DR. Yeager declared.
He pointed out that in some
smaller isolated communities in
Japan. "a fourth of the inhab-
itants are registered prostitutes"
and on pay day this percentage
may. 60 as high as a third
&"Involved in the vast and COM
plex problem is a clash of ideolo-
gies," he added. observing that.
according to military authorities.
Communist influences are be-
hind the pushing of dope and
the general decentralization of our
military forces"
DIR. Benson Reelected.
DR.. Oscar A. Benson of Mime
apolis, Mimi, was reelected
president of the council yester-
day. The head of the Augustana
Lutheran Church was chosen for
his third consecutive one-year
term.
Other officers reelected were
Or. Henry F. Schulz of Columbus. |
Ohio. vice president; DR.. F.. Ep-
pling Reinartz of New York, Sec
retary, and Fred c. Eggerstedt of
New York, treasurer.
DR.. Gould Wickey of Washing
ton. secretary of the Board of |
United Lutheran |
Church, was appointed yesterday |
to the Commission on Education |
by the council.
Members of the council are the
Evangelical, American
Augustana. United Evangelical, |
Finnish Evangelical, Free and
Evangelical Lutheran
Churches. The councils annual
meeting opened yesterday at the
Cotton Manor Hotel and will
close on Friday.