The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., June 01, 1926, Page 11, Image 11

Page Eleven
THE UNITED AMERICAN
have
himself.
There
is
seemingly
too
much
“
Empire
” stuff
ment officials themselves are asking for such modi­
running riot in the veins of the French. antagonist, which
fication and changes which will enable them to admini­ makes
the French look altogether too “chesty.”
June 1926
ster the law with a semblance of justice. Commis­
sioner General of Immigration, Harry E. Hull, re­
cently went on record as favoring legalizing the alien
resident who entered America, even unlawfully, be­
fore the Quota Act of July 1, 1924, went into effect,
to permit their naturalization.
The Commissioner also recommends that legisla­
tion be enacted that will give a non-quota status to
parents of an American citizen which will permit
them to enter without difficulty. Under the law they
are given a preference, but the Commissioner frankly
states that this preference amounts to practically
nothing, particularly from countries with a law quota,
such as Italy, Russia and Poland. He also recom­
mends that the age limit of non-quota children of
foreign born American citizens, who had been left
behind in the old world, should be raised from eighteen
to twenty-one. Likewise he favors exempting alien
husbands of American citizen wives. Such modifi­
cations and changes, the Comissioner contends, will
eliminate all cases of unnecessary peculiar and dis­
tressing hardships which have accumulated since the
law went into effect. On this point Mr. Hull says:
I admit that the awarding of such quota changes might
present many administrative problems, but my experience to
date convinces me that certain remedies are required to meet
unu.sual situations.
Comes now the English medico who inspects
John Bull’s factories and (after an exhaustive study of the
forms and features of the English working girl) tells us that
“the English girl is becoming more beautiful than her im­
mediate ancestor.” How wonderful to know that the feminine
England has not depreciated so far as looks are concerned,
but, really, we have so much feminine beauty in America
that the information, though entirely satisfying, is rather
apropos to.the things America has been hoping to find im­
proved in Old England. For instance it would interest us
to learn that public opinion in England had caused the
government to take action against the English organizations
that are smuggling liquor into the United States. We would
also be exceedingly interested in learning that public opinion
in England had begun to frown on the unfriendly attitude
to America, that is common in England as much as elsewhere in
Europe. All the English girls are good looking and the English
people are all fine so far as the average American is concerned.
When they are rooting for England, they live up to a virtue in
citizenship we approve and are more than willing to concede
without argument. We are even willing to doff our hats and sing
as lustily as we can “God save ‘their’ king,” but why not say
something complimentary once in a while about America,
something we have really earned as friendly, though inde­
pendent, neighbors ?
Japanese emigration has found an open door in
In general the Commissioner upholds the quota
law and has this to say about it:
Cuba where the Nipponese immigrant finds employment in
cultivating and raising vegetables for the United States
market. The little brown man evidentally likes something
about us Americans, since he so persistently seeks to live
within hailing distance of our shores and as far as possible
within the economic sweep of the American dollar.
We now have the first intelligent and scientific set of
measures regulating immigration that we have ever enjoyed.
Whatever difficulties may be experienced under them, and I
will admit there are a few, I feel confident can be smoothed
out by comparatively slight amendments. We are today
nearer the solution af the immigration problem in this country
than we or any other country has ever been in history.
or less down the California way. Mother Earth is in the habit
of performing her little shimmy between eight and ten thou­
sand times a year, so why not an extra shimmy in California,
— they are as much used to that sort of entertainment down
there as they are in Italy.
The Commissioner favors a simple and expedient
system of alien registration, which he believes will
serve the pupose of protecting the better immigrant
against the disgraceful practices of those who are un­
worthy and place them beyond the pale of the sus­
picion and the investigation to which they are con­
stantly subjected on account of investigations and
government prosecution of those who have entered
this country illegally.
What’s the difference of a few earthquakes more
It may be a fine thing to follow the customary
parting admonition “be good,” but we know a lot of people
who believe they are “good”, and yet their goodness is so
elusive that you cannot put your finger on anything of par­
ticular benefit to any cause or anybody. The moral is that it
is not enough to be good unless you are good for something.
THE ULTIMATE METHOD BY WHICH THE IMMI­
GRANT MAY BE ASSIMILATED
(Continued from Page Four)
The man who nurses prejudices and wastes his
energy expounding theories of hate and fear is not contribut­
ing anything to make this world better for anybody, not even
for himsélf. His speech reveals the inferiority complex, and
tells the story of mental decay. The germ is, a foreign im­
portation and the fact that it is thriving in America indicates
that the American mastery of mind has suffered a partial
lapse. Support the gossip of prejudice and inadvertantly you
are dealing toleration a knock-out blow and strangulating the
American principle of human liberty, justice and equality.
Freedom sits in prison where passions run amuck. Slavery
begins where man enslaves himself.
Damascus, the city famous in biblical writings and
in the history of the middle ages for its exquisite silks and
linens, is the place where waring Frenchmen have been practic­
ing since they finished with the poor Morocan tribes who
believed that the small people, outside of Europe, had a mar­
gin on the right of self-determination. The French did not
agree on that point and now they are busy shooting up
Damascus, evidentally for the same reason. It may require
the fear of another Fritzie before the Frenchie learns to be-
is willing to give the fullest measure of service for
reasonable compensation, ample, however, to return
a fair margin to the investors who have pooled their
wealth for the private enterprise.
There is a distinct demarkation point between the
realm of justice and right, and the realm of injustice
and wrong. Let us help to extend the realm of justice
and right and native and foreign born will in common
work out the destiny of America without changi lg
our political course.
CRIME, THE CANCER THAT IS GNAWING AT
THE VITALS OF SOCIETY
(Continued from Page Seven)
social traitor. The criminal is an expression of our rank
individualism unconditioned by the counselling of social
conscience.
V. Our moral stringency must however be kept clear
of the danger of puritanical primness. There are dispositions