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Show IMMIGRATION OF MEXICANS SHOULD BE RESTRICTED i Hiram W. Johnson Gives Speech WASHINGTON, D. C In urg. ing the restriction of Mexican immigration, Senator Hiram V. Johnson, of California, in a speech on the floor of the Senate, mid that an alarming percentage of the births in his native state were Mexicans and that the large number of Mexicans coaming to this country affected not only California and the border states but practically every state in the Union. He said in part: "In order that Senators may understand something of the seriousness seri-ousness of the situation, let me say to them that tfhe vital statistics statis-tics of the state of California, which have been released but a short time ago, show that one-sixth one-sixth of the births in the Stalte of California today are Mexican. It seems incredible,' because there is no such proportion of Mexicans to the whole population in that State, and there is no such proportion pro-portion in any of the States, 1 take it, of Mexican population. The controversy has grown acute in the West between those whr insist upon the necessity for Mexican Mexi-can labor and those who deny that necessity and desire restriction restric-tion of immigration. On the one side are the big interests, thr farming and agricultural organizations, organ-izations, the chambers of com. merce, and the like, begging and pleading that we pass no bill at all. On the other side are the representatives of labor, social workers, and others asking that we enact legislation controlling and restricting Mexican immigration. immi-gration. In regard to the effect that Mexican immigation has had upon up-on labor conditions, the Senator continued: "Tlxe Mexican penetration, in regard to its inroads on labor, can be best demonstrated by saying say-ing to you that on the railroads that run into Chicago I am not speaking now of those that are out at tfhe coast on' the railroads running into Chicago, more than 50 pe rcent of the labor is Mexican. Mexi-can. I mean by that the actual labor on the track and the like. That indicates to" you the penetration pene-tration of Mexican labor. They have penetrated into mills . in Indiana : they have penetrated in- to mills in all of the territory in the North at the present time." |