Ward: Immigration and Restrictive Law 



32. 



mon labors who come here to work in 

 the construction industry." The 

 "influences" against restriction have 

 also been very busy in Washington, 

 interviewing Senators and Congress- 

 men, attacking not only the percentage 

 limitation measure but also all restric- 

 tWe legislation. 



The propaganda against the new 

 restriction law has not been confined to 

 this country. In a despatch to the 

 Philadelphia Public Ledger, dated 

 London, Oct. 26, 1921, the following 

 statements were made: 



European steamship companies, 

 the traditional enemies of United 

 States immigration restrictions, have 

 started propaganda aiming at the 

 breaking down of the barriers put up 

 by the "3 per cent" law. They hope 

 when the present temporary measure 

 expires, next June, to have so pre- 

 pared the ground that again they will 

 be in a position to fill the holds of 

 their ships with pAirope's surplus 

 himianity and pour it into the United 

 States. This law which limits the 

 number of immigrants to a very 

 small proportion of the number 

 allowed to enter the United States 

 heretofore was a severe blow to the 

 steamship lines, and they fought it 

 hard when it was before Congress. 

 In the days before the war steam- 

 ships carried thousands of immi- 

 grants at approximately $100 a head, 

 whereas now they carry dozens. The 

 loss of that revenue came at a time 

 when the transatlantic passenger 

 business was less remunerative than 

 for years because of the high costs of 

 operating ships. 



To get back some of this business 

 the big companies have outlined a 

 plan for a campaign of propaganda, 

 and already have got it working in 

 England. The plans rest on the idea 

 of digging up specific cases of alleged 

 improper treatment of foreigners at 

 Ellis Island and spreading them 

 broadcast in the European press. 

 The attitude of the steamship com- 

 panies and of the other influences 

 which are seeking to bring the new law 

 into disrepute has been clearly set 



forth by Government officials. Repre- 

 sentative Isaac Siegel, of New York, 

 wrote to the President in September 

 citing instances of cruelty to aliens 

 which had occurred in the enforcement 

 of the law. President Harding replied 

 as follows: "I haven't any doubt in the 

 world but the enforcement of the immi- 

 gration laws is working many a hard- 

 ship. My own distress has been very 

 great over some of the specific instances 

 which have been reported to me. If I 

 have the situation correctly presented, 

 the difficulty must be charged to the 

 dishonest steamship agents who have 

 brought to this country innocent immi- 

 grants in spite of our continued 

 warnings during a period of very great 

 leniency. I know how very persistent 

 have been the impositions which have 

 been made on the Government agents 

 who have been disposed to be sym- 

 pathetic and more than generous in 

 carrying out the law." . . . 



Secretary of Labor Davis reiterated 

 the statement by the President that 

 much of the trouble is caused by dis- 

 honest steamship agents and that 

 pitiful stories of hardship are being 

 circulated in the deliberate attempt to 

 discredit the law. Assistant Secretary 

 of Labor Henning on Sept. 3, said, 



Unfortunately the law has no 

 teeth, and the only way the offending 

 companies can be punished is to 

 compel them to take back aliens who 

 are not admissible. 

 That, he added, was being done, the 

 Department "having exhausted its 

 milk of human kindness." Mr. Hen- 

 ning here emphasizes the fundamental 

 deficiency in the law. It has no teeth. 

 There is no fine or punishment for the 

 companies which disregard its provi- 

 sions, nor is the company required to 

 refund the deported alien's passage 

 money. The only way is to compel 

 the companies to carry back, at their 

 own expense, the surplus, and when 

 this has been done in a few hundreds of 

 cases, it is perhaps not too much to 

 hope that these companies will begin 

 to cooperate among themselves. As 

 soon as they do so, the law will prove 

 entirelv workable. 



