OCR Text |
Show RESTRICTIVE IMMIGRATION "We owe to restrictive immigration, immi-gration, fore than to any one thing the present prosperity and economic econ-omic stability of our country," stated Secretary of Labor James J. Davis, in an address on August 23, before the annual State Camp, Patriotic Order Sons of America, at Pittsburgh, Pa. "The position," he continued, "we have attained in industrial and business development devel-opment is now the envy of the rest of the world. I will not say it ia due wholly tio restrictive immigration, immigra-tion, but I will say this4hat with out our new immigration policy, no other effort that our bestl business busi-ness genius : eould make would have given us this prosperity. Without restricted immigration, everything else would have failed. Wi'.hout it, no constructive measure meas-ure could even have gotten a start. Par without restriction to immigration immi-gration and with great tides of aliens coming to us throughout every year, we should have wit- nessed an appalling competition for jobs. Millions would have been permanently idle, and even those who were employed would have been subject to staggering cuts in wages. .Two men would have been bidding for every job, each underbidding the other, and wages would have sunk to the bottom level.' I need hardly. say that with this collapse in wages would have gone a collapse of our presents tandard of living. And business itself would have been disastrously : affected j f or the million of wage earners would greater buyers in our market our not have had any approach1 to their present purchasing power. "That is what restrictive immigration immi-gration has done for us alL Many of the countries from whom our new citizens ccae still think 1 we passed this legislation as a sort of dacial distinction with a preference prefer-ence for certain races. Even here at home certain critics hold that ' view. They are all mistaken. Restrictive Re-strictive immigration had just one motive behind it, and that a strictly eoonomio reason. v It w passed for the economic salvation of A tnerica an end whih it haa triumphantly attained." |