Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

Mr. MAGNUSSON. That is why I am in favor of the regulations we now have.

Senator HOLMAN. Let us settle it.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. Leave it as it is.

Senator HOLMAN. Let us get them assimilated.

Senator STEWART. Do you know how much money is sent from America to foreign countries each year?

Mr. MAGNUSSON. No; I do not.

Senator STEWART. By those who live here and whose citizenship is elsewhere?

Mr. MAGNUSSON. No; I do not know what the amount is. It enters into the commerce and trade of the world, whatever the amount. Senator STEWART. I am not talking about purchasing a lot of foreign-made goods, but money each year that is earned here by foreigners and sent back to their native land.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. Yes.

Senator STEWART. Do you know how much is sent each year?
Mr. MAGNUSSON. No.

Senator STEWART. I saw this figure in the Congressional Record, that in 1937, according to postal information, and perhaps other information, there were over $600,000,000 sent back to foreign countries.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. Yes; that comes back. It represented an exchange of American and foreign goods.

Senator STEWART. Comes back?

Mr. MAGNUSSON. That is right.

Senator STEWART. I am interested in that. How does it get back here.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. I did not want to interrupt you.

Senator STEWART. That is about all I wanted to say on that subject. Mr. MAGNUSSON. The money sent over there is converted into goods and services which are imported to this country. There is an exchange of goods and services all around.

Senator STEWART. I do not get that.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. It could not possibly be otherwise.

Senator STEWART. There is practically no limitation on it.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. I may have a fantastic notion about economics, but when I got my salary from the Government I always thought that what I paid my taxes with and bought supplies with was paid for by the services I rendered to the Government.

Senator STEWART. I am asking you whether or not that, being, as I see it, a drain on the resources of the country, would affect our conomic condition?

Mr. MAGNUSSON. I have a different point of view. I think it would not be a drain. It would be an even exchange.

Senator STEWART. $600,000,000, assuming that was earned by aliens in this country and sent back to their families in foreign countries, at least that much money, maybe much more than that, would have been earned by American citizens, would it not? I am talking about the money they earned here and sent to their families in foreign lands, which I understand amounted to something like $600,000,000 in 1937. I do not say that is correct.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. Whatever the figure is, I accept it. The thing that is important is the meaning of it.

Senator STEWART. Assuming that it was money earned by aliens in this country, if it had not been sent to those foreign countries, it would have been earned by American citizens, either native born or naturalized, and would have remained here.

Senator HERRING. The Senator is referring to wages earned in this country by aliens and sent to their families in foreign countries.

Mr. MAGNUSSON. We are not making ourselves clear. I do not know just how to do it. The exchange of goods and services, or whatever the alien earned, was turned into goods and became part of the export and import trade of the United States. It was not given

away.

Senator STEWART. That is a rather strained construction, is it not? Mr. MAGNUSSON. I think not. I tried to make my point of view clearer by reference to the way my services and not my salary from the Government in reality paid for the goods and services I got by exchange.

That is all I wish to say in a general way. I think we should devote ourselves to the enforcement of the laws we already have, and assimilating the alien in the American way of life in as friendly a way as possible.

STATEMENT OF GEN. AMOS A. FRIES, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Senator HERRING. Please state your name.

General FRIES. Amos A. Fries, major general United States Army, retired, living in Washington, D. C.

Senator HOLMAN. You come from the great State of Oregon, do you not?

General FRIES. Yes.

Senator HERRING. And were born about 20 miles from Iowa?

General FRIES. And lived a long time in Missouri. I have a good deal of "show me" in me. I am representing the Sons of the American Revolution. I am chairman of the immigration committee of the national society. I represent citizens and descendants of citizens who fought to protect this country against internal and external evils, and who labored for one hundred or two hundred years to make this country what it is, and we believe that the people of this country have a right to decide on the kind of government and rules and regulations that should govern us.

The Sons of the American Revolution have been very keenly interested in this problem of immigration for a long time. Beginning back as early as 1934, in the convention at Louisville, Ky., they passed a series of resolutions in which they endorsed specifically this proposal to reduce immigration to 10 percent of the present quota, reduce it by 90 percent, and to extend the quota system to the North American continent. It was brought out that we were getting about 150,000 in the earlier years, in accordance with the quota, and were getting over 200,000 from the nonquota, being about 350,000 immigrants entering legally over a period of 10 years. So we are getting immigrants from the Western Hemisphere in larger numbers than from Europe.

They passed resolutions to reduce the quota system to 10 percent of what it is now and to extend it to the Western Hemisphere, and also went on record for the fingerprinting and registration of all aliens.

I have at different times appeared before the committees of Congress on the immigration question over a period of many years, having

become very deeply interested in it shortly after the World War, because of trying to protect my own Service, Chemical Warfare, from attacks that were inspired by these groups of alien-minded people and aliens, and also because of a close friendship with Albert Johnson, Congressman from the State of Washington, who had a good deal to do with the National Origins Act.

Senator HERRING. It will be necessary to take a recess at this time, as we must go to the Senate to vote.

(A recess was taken from 3:35 until 4:10, at which time the hearing was resumed.)

Senator HERRING. Proceed, General.

General FRIES. I want very briefly to cover a few of the points in the different bills.

I am sure that the Sons of the American Revolution will stand by me when I say we are in favor of these bills in their entirety. We are not attempting in any way to discuss phraseology, but we believe if the spirit of these bills is enacted into law we will have a better country from that time on.

One of the points made here is the question of neighborly attitude in assigning quotas to the Western Hemisphere. It seems to me that if we are willing to take as many of the people of the other countries in the Western Hemisphere as the number of our people who go there to live, that should satisfy the question of neighborliness.

On the question of caring for families, it seems to me that the provision here that gives preference to the members of alien families who are living abroad, that will care for that situation, and will provide for the future.

The matter of the intelligence test for American white stock seems to be sound. I can see no objection to that. I am sure we would be in favor of it.

Section 4 gives the Secretary of State the right to deny a visa to any alien whose presence here may be deemed inimical to the public interest. We think that is a good thing. Generally, I think our organization, and myself in particular, are against giving any undue power to any individual, but that power could be exercised only to the benefit of the United States. If a mistake were made, it would be against only one or two aliens, and that would not be a serious matter, but might add to the security of the Nation.

Section 6 provides that if any alien has been deported or ordered deported, he shall be excluded from admission to the United States, whether such deportation took place before or after the enactment of the bill, and if he enters or attempts to enter the United States after the enactment of this bill he shall be guilty of a felony. We believe that is a sound provision. Without that, when aliens are deported, if they can come back again, we would have to do it all over again. S. 408, which provides for registration and fingerprinting of aliens, we think, is absolutely sound. Organizations I have worked with for years have been practically a unit on it. The Sons of the American Revolution have passed various resolutions to that effect. We do not see why an alien should object to being fingerprinted, or why he should object to being registered, since every voter has to be registered. We understand the reason is that a great many who are here illegally are afraid they might be caught up. That is the real answer.

Someone suggested that it could not be enforced. Section 10 pro-vides a $10,000 fine and 5 years imprisonment, and I believe that is

enough to enforce it. Any alien who is so fearful of letting people know who he is that he would take the chance of that penalty would not make himself known under any conditions. I might suggest that if any American citizen feels he might be mistaken for an alien, might be picked up as an alien, he could go to any of these registration places, be fingerprinted and registered, and get a card evidencing that fact, and I think that would settle the matter.

There has been a good deal said about the consumer question. When there are not jobs enough now in the country to go around, I do not see how any alien can get a job without throwing a good American citizen out of a job. If he does get a job, then they say he is a consumer. I do not see the logic of that. If the alien gets a job, it must be a job that would otherwise be filled by an American.

S. 409 provides that all immigration shall be suspended for 10 years. In 1938 the Sons of the American Revolution passed a resolution stopping all immigration for 2 years. I am sure they will be glad to endorse this without a dissenting vote, especially with the provision that at any time our unemployment has reached 3,000,000 that can be rescinded.

It seems to me that we have been letting immigrants in here in unlimited numbers, both before and after the war, and it is time to cut that down, and we believe it should be stopped altogether for at least 10 years. Let us try something else.

We feel in a general way that every one of these proposed laws concerning immigrants should be enacted and strictly enforced, and where there is a question between the alien and the Government it should be resolved in favor of the Government. After all, we and our ancestors made this country. They tell us about the great good that aliens did here in the past. Why did not the ancestors of these aliens come here when there were forests to be chopped down and mines to dig? That is what our ancestors did. They came here and built this country. These aliens come here now to take advantage of what we have got.

S. 410 provides for the deportation of aliens that have been on relief. That is certainly according to the practices of the rest of the world. No other country would let aliens come in and take the jobs of their citizens, which we are doing today.

Finally, in S. 411 the Secretary of Labor is given the power to deport any aliens she thinks inimical to the public interest. We are for that. However, we have consistently fought giving the Secretary of Labor or any commissioner or any other persons the power, in the case of any alien who under our law became automatically deportable, to set aside that deportation and allow them to remain. They call some of them hardship cases. We have had 10,000,000 hardship cases. Let us be good to our own people first.

I am expressing the views of the 15,000 Americans in the Sons of the American Revolution. I also speak for the George Washington Post of the American Legion, the first post of the American Legion. I happen to be commander now, and I think they will back up everything I have said.

The national legislative representative of the American Legion has been heard, but I would like to add this for the George Washington Post.

STATEMENT OF READ LEWIS, DIRECTOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE INFORMATION SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY

Senator HERRING. Please state your name and tell whom you represent.

Mr. LEWIS. My name is Read Lewis. I am Director of the Foreign Language Information Service, with headquarters in New York. It is an organization which for a number of years has been working on the education and assimilation of foreign stock, and to promote tolerance and a better understanding between different groups in the United States. I have been director of the service for the past 17 years and, consequently, have been working with the problem with which these bills are concerned for a long period.

I believe when I was not present this morning Senator Reynolds made certain statements about my political affiliations. I might say that I am not and never have been a Communist, and am not and never have been connected in any way whatsoever with the Communist Party. If Senator Reynolds made any statement to the effect that I was such, I would be glad to know upon what basis. Senator REYNOLDS. May I ask him a question?

Senator HERRING. Yes.

Senator REYNOLDS. You are a native of what State?
Mr. LEWIS. Illinois.

Senator REYNOLDS. What is your official position with this organization with which you are connected?

Mr. LEWIS. Director, which means the executive director. Senator REYNOLDS. You are the real head of the organization? Mr. LEWIS. I am the real head of the organization.

Senator REYNOLDS. The Commissioner of Immigration is one of your codirectors, is he not?

Mr. LEWIS. He is one of the trustees of the organization.

Senator REYNOLDS. He is actively associated with you in the operation of the organization?

Mr. LEWIS. No.

Senator REYNOLDS. Who is actively associated with you?

Mr. LEWIS. Like other organizations, this is a membership organization incorporated under the laws of the State of New York. The organization carried on work originally for the Federal Government during the war. For the last 18 or 20 years the work has been supported from private sources.

Senator REYNOLDS. Who are your contributors?

Mr. LEWIS. Persons who are interested in promoting those particular objectives, individuals and organizations. It might be pertinent to read into the record a short statement that sets forth the aims and activities of the organization. Its purpose is to assist foreignborn in their adjustment to and participation in American life; to fight intolerance and discrimination on account of foreign birth, race or nationality; to preserve and encourage the folk arts and other contributions of the foreign-born; to bring about a fuller understanding and recognition of all the peoples and cultures that are part of our American inheritance. You will find here endorsements from Mr. Houghteling, one of our trustees, ex-President Hoover, Mrs. Roosevelt, Louis Adamic, Governor Lehman of New York, Thomas W. Lamont, James T. Shotwell, and others.

« ÎnapoiContinuă »