WESTERN HEMISPHERE TMMIGRATION 181

have been made to keep us down. Therefore, our effort here to
organize ourselves into this organization known as the League of
United Latin-American. Citizens, to the end that we may become
better citizens, seems to me to be all the more commendable.
That is all I wish to sav, and I will be very glad to answer any
questions.
Mr. Green. I would like to ask the gentleman if -he believes we
should have any restrictions on immigration from Mexico into the
United States?
Mr. Perarges. Yes; if you can prove that these Mexicans come in
here to compete with American citizens.
Mr. Green. Then do you believe in restricted immigration?
You are an American citizen?
Mr. Peraves. 1 am an American citizen.
Mr. Green. A member of the bar?
Mr. PeraLEs. Yes.
Mr. Green. From your statement, you have the interests of our
sountry at heart?
Mr. Perares. Yes.
Mr. Green. Would it not be better, then, for us to thoroughly
Americanize all the foreign strains which we have in our land now,
rather than to permit others to come in? We must first look to
America, not to the country of our nativitv—I mean the country of
pur ancestors.
Mr. PeraLEs. As to the method of doing it, I do not care to answer
one way of the other. I believe I have made myself very clear, that
[am for any measure that will tend to promote the welfare and happiness
 of the American people; and therefore, if the sponsors of this
bill or any other bill can prove that the Mexicans—that is those from
Mexico—are a menace to the American workingmen, because they
tome here and work for lower wages, then I say all right: good luck
bo you; more power to you.
But if you have not the facts to prove that that is the reason, and
the only reason, why these Mexicans ought to be restricted, and
therefore avail yourselves of utterly fictitious reasons, such as racial
inferiority, race degeneracy, then I say, gentlemen, you are absolutely
 wrong as to that; and that is why I have made this statement.
Mr. GrerN. I can appreciate the gentleman’s view, especially as
my extraction is probably the same; mine a little further removed
than yours. But I take the position that it is our first interest to
Americanize and protect all those who are here. All those who are
American citizens stand on an equal basis, but as to not only the
Mexican people, but all people coming into the United States—and
I believe the illustration will apply to four or five million people unemployed,
 with economic conditions in our country in places stagger-Ing,
 the natural resources being rapidly devoured, with the populaton
 increasing rapidly at the rate of every second or hour, in other
words, in the last 10 years with 20,000,000 people increase in the
population—it seems to me that our first duty, even though it may
be interpreted in other places as a selfish duty, 1s to our own American
People and our American property and our American institutions, and
00% to open our doors to permit these others to cqme in here and lower
dur economic standards by any other economic standard, and a surplus
 of emplovees in sll lines of labor.