Apr. 30.
Tue nows received yesterday that President Coolidge has plainly intimated his intention' of vetoing the new immigration restriction measures, was to be expected. Discrimination of this particular kind is no} new thing. In the course of the past two decades it has more than once been advocated in Congress, though' it has never} yet been pushed to such lengths! as in the present instance. The situation now is embittered on! both sides for special reasons. California, which is and always hae been the stronghold of antagonism to the Japanese, hae} been enjoying a time of unparalleled prosperity, and that harvest the Californian party are quite determined to] keep for themselves; they dislike thie Japanese who, they say, undersell_ them market and are "bad citizens," spending nothing America but remitting all they can to Japan. The general feeling in the United States against the them their opportunity.
Topanese side, in addition to the prospect of large material loss and the indignity pnt upon them, there is the feeling that] they are being "hit when they are down" after the earthquake. As the chorus of protest in leading American newspapers and! from religious bodier shows, Congress, not for the first time, has proved itself completely out touch with the best feeling in America and President Coolidge] will have the support of a Inrge body of sober public opinion if]
vetoes _the objectionable The new measure, regarded as a whole, appears to be an attempt to'remove some of the anomalies which have arisen in the United States since the Dillingham Act regarding the admission, as immigrants, of aliens into the country became operative. Tt has been recognized, as much in America og elsewhere, that in some res-pets the quota system is un~ fair im that it does~ not adequately recognize the post-war changes in the political map of Europe. Undoubtedly, since it became operative, there. has been a decided falling.oft in ation from Europe to the United States. Tt may. not generally be known that under this law the nimber of emigrants admitted from any one country is limited to three per cent. of the number of people from that country who were re~ sident in the United States in 1910, The new bill to supersede the previ tem by one under which admis-signs, will be elaseed'gs (a) Quote Tmmigrants and (b) "Quota Relative Tmmigrants, the numbers being determined og follows? a basic quota of 200 plus two per cent. of the number of foreign born individuals of such nation ality resident in the United States in 1890. Quota relative rants will be admitted to the same number. The net result of this would be 1 redtiction of 20,000 in any one year, with Britain (having total quota of 125,000) benefiting to the extent of 48,000 as compared with the number allowed at. present under the Dillingham Act, and Germany by aver 15,000 while Russia and Poland would each be allowed about 20,000 loss each, and Ttaly 21,000 fower than' at present, Teaving quite apart the question of the effect om Japan of the proposed legislation, would be interesting to know exactly under what line of rea unless} soning the mow measure hee Congress removes the obnoxious) been worked out. The logical Fopanese clause, is quite what! presumption is that it is desired to eliminate as far a8 possible the admission of those whose entrance will not have a lasting benefit to the country. Tf s0, the further exclusion" of Rus: with a consequent lesser possibility of the introduction of masses of te Bolshevik element, is understandable. With regard to Italy the reason is much more obscure. We believe we are correct in stating that the aver-ago Ttalian immigrant to the United States during the last half-century has been at least on par with those of other nationalities, and some of the great railway systems of the country are a standing and ime perishable monument to the skill and energy of imported Tealian labour. "Tt is possible that the real reason may bs found in the patriotism of the Italian: Once an Ttalian always. Past excessive admission of! ong at heart, nationalization as undesirable aliens'' has given|citizens of the United States On the! notwithstanding. Tt is said to be almost a rule that the Italian entering the United States always Keeps his heart in Ttaly, and if and when a sum has been accumulated sufficient to ensure retirement in Ttaly, the United States is loft and forgotten. In the aggregate, this exodus of Italians to their mother country once they have become reasonably rich, must mean an one mormons sim in negotiable dollars leaving the New World forthe Old, sind there is little doubt that this practice, too has had influence in bringing about legislation which appears to be unfair to some countries and extréniely favourable to others.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.