442 WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION

A recent editorial in the Tacoma (Wash.) Ledger expressed its approval of
the position taken by Congressman Albert Johnson in favor of the restriction of
Mexican immigration in these words:
‘‘ Not much prosperity may be looked for in a country wherein wages are so
low as to preclude the worker from the enjoyment of the ordinary niceties of life.
The wonderful prosperity of America has been largely due to the high standard
of living made possible by the highest wages it has been found possible to pay.
fnything that would lower that standard is a direct blow to national prosperity,
: ence nh that the position taken by Representative Albert Johnson is amply
justified.”
Immigration is not a political question in a partisan sense. It can not become a
controversial question between any two Americans who hold the permanent welfare
 of the Nation and the maintenance of its standards as paramount to all considerations
 of personal or class desire and interest. -
The problem has been stated clearly by Charles T. Gwynne, executive vice
president of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York.
“Many people seem to be of the opinion that the business men as representing
the manufacturer or industrialist is strongly in favor of no restriction upon immigration
 in order that cheap and plentiful labor may be secured. It is true that for
many years manufacturers and other business men did hold just such views.
Of late, however, and particularly since the war, it has become evident to all who
have given the matter even a minimum amount of thought, that unrestricted
immigration is a real menace to the institutions of our country.
“It is doubtless generally felt to-day that anything which tends to higher wages
or higher income for the great mass of people, means greater buying power and
thus greater production and wealth all along the line. 1f we let down the bars and
admit freely all kinds and conditions of labor, which would mean in a large degree
unskilled labor, wages would come down and the buying power of hundreds of
thousands of our citizens would diminish. This country has been a long time
building up its present standard of living for the workingman, and that high
standard can not be maintained unless we maintain the present restrictions of
immigration, and many people think even more rigid restrictions.
*“It has been said of many large employers of labor, particularly in the Southwest,
 that they require at certain seasons of the year many additional laborers
and that any restriction of immigration at these points would seriously interfere
with the natural development of the South and Southwest. Yet because of the
present practice of admitting many of these laborers without any provision as to
their return, the statement has been made from time to time that a large proportion
of the asylums, hospitals, and other penal and philanthropic institutions maintained
 by the taxpayers of these sections are occupied by these immigrants or
their families. It would, therefore, seem quite in order for some steps to be
taken which would obviate the situation.”
As stated previously, the business men’s commission on agriculture, appointed
by the National Industrial Conference Board and the Chamber of Commerce of
the United States of America, went on record in November, 1927, in favor of the
restriction of Mexican immigration due to its detrimental effects on American
business and general standards of living.
Let me repeat again what the commission stated:
‘It may be seriously questioned whether the exemption from quota restriction
of immigrants from American countries was wise or desirable. There is a considerable
 and increasing volume of immigration of low-standard labor from Mexico,
 most of which enters agriculture, especially cotton production, sugar-beet
growing and the raising of fruits and vegetables.” From the point of view of the
farmer employing this labor this movement is immediately advantageous, but it
clearly tends to lower the returns of competing native producers and probably
makes for uneconomic utilization of our land resources. If the more desirable
types of farmers are to be excluded, it would appear to be advisable at least to
restrict the entrance of those types which do not make for the long-run interests
of our agriculture as a whole.”
President O. W. Killam, of the South Texas Chamber of Commerce, advised
the author thus:
“I have been more or less interested in this subject as it affects the general
prosperity of this part of the country, particularly the agricultural resources
and the general labor situation. The influx of Mexican labor into this part of
the State has, in my opinion, done much to retard the development of the border
 country, and its effects are just beginning to be felt by an increased number
of people.