OCR Text |
Show Hurts American Labor. DtTRING the last few days senators ! from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts. Ohio, and many other states have presented the petitions peti-tions of several hundred labor organizations organi-zations connected with the American Federation of Labor, praying for the enactment of legislation providing an educational test for immigrants to this count-. Many of the prominent labor leaders have for some time been of the opinion that unrestricted immigration is hurtful hurt-ful to the interests of labor. There is no longer vacant land for immigrants to settle upon. The majority of them must go into the mines, the mills, or factories, or work in the sweat shops of the large cities. As they are usually usual-ly ready and willing to work for less 1 than the standard American wage, j their competition may be a serious matter.' European cheap labor may be almost as destructive, for a time, as Chinese chep labor. There are labor men who would not object to a total cessation of immigration, immigra-tion, because they think it would be much easier then to keep up wages or advance them than it is now. The Chicago Chi-cago Tribune argues that the requirement require-ment of an educational test will, by no means, put a stop to immigration, but will decrease its volume. It will keep out undesirable foreign elements which are now coming into the country in great numbers and which supply the cheapest kind of labor. The educated immigrant does not belong in that category. cat-egory. He has some idea of the value of his services. He takes kindly to the American wage scale. The uneducated uned-ucated immigrant works for what he can get. The American Federation of Labor is not alone in demanding an educational educa-tional test for immigrants. The demand de-mand was made before it took the ground it has taken. A bill providing such a test was passed by congress, but was vetoed by President Cleveland. Cleve-land. Since then congress has let the matter alone. Perhaps, now- that the labor unions are calling for such legislation, leg-islation, congress will act. There has been a fear in some quarters that such a law would be unpopular with citizens ot ioreign Dirtn or parentage. The attitude at-titude of the Federation of Labor, whose membership consists largely of men of foreign birth or parentage, ought to dispel the fear. It is true that in the past hundreds of thousands of immigrants who could not read or write have been let in. They have been absorbed into the body politics without visible injury to it. Their sons read and write, and are, as a rule, useful citizens. Many of them, no doubt, are prominent citizens. The illiterate immigrants are the ones who do much of the rough, hard, dirty work of the country. They displace men who, as a rule, proceed to do something better. Yet there are reasons, rea-sons, free from selfishness, why the flowing tide of illiterate immigration should be staid. If the members of labor organizations, indifferent to the fact that educational tests might have kept out their grandfathers or fathers, and may keep out some of their kinsfolk, kins-folk, seriously ask for the legislation they petition for, congress will do well to give it to them. |