166 ~~ NATIONAL ORIGINS PROVISION OF IMMIGRATION LAW
The Crammax. That will be granted.
(The statement referred to is as follows:)
STATEMENT OF HENRIK SHIPSTEAD BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITIEE oN IMMI-
GRATION REGARDING THE NYE RESOLUTION TO POSTPONE Errecruation or
NATIONAL-ORIGING CLAUSE
On two previous occasions the Committee on Immigration hax been called
apon to exuinine the report of the three Cabinet officials based upon their
investigations through statistical reports. On both occasions your committee
has refused to accept the report. The reasons given to the Senate for refusing
to accept the report are contained in the following statement by the chairman
of the Committee on Immigration, February 1, 1927:
“I desire to say that under the present immigration law the President ig
required to promulgate a proclamation on the 1st day of April, 1927, in respect
to the national-origins provisions of the law.
“Upon this subject two messages have been received by the Senate. The
last of those messages states that figures relied upon for the quota numbers
of various countries are ambiguous and that practical legislation could mot
be predicated upon then.”
And further he says:
“1 violate no confidence. 1 think, in saying. to the Senator from Missouri
that the majority of the Immigration Committee desired to repeal the national
origins law, but there being a minority in favor of it and our time being so
limited, we felt that we could not at this time have definite action.
* The resolution passed the Senate, came before the Immigration Committee
of the House, and a majority of the committee reporting the resolution to the
House reported in part, as follows:
“The committee having considered the text of Senate Joint Resolution 152,
to postpone for one year the goitug into effect of the national-oviging provision
of the immigration act of 1924, is of the opinion that at the end of one year
from July 1, 1927, the same uncertainty as to the results of regulating immi-
zration by means of the national-origins plan will continue to exist.
© “<That the Secretaries of State, Commerce, and Labor will have little, if
any, more positive evidence on which to base quota findings than at present,
“*That too much uncertainty exists as to the requirements of the law that
‘the President shall issue a proclamation on or before April 1, 1927,” when
read in conjunction with further provisions of the law.
“*That it seems far better to have immigration quotas for the purposes of
restriction fixed in such a manner as to be easily explained and easily under-
stood by all.
“ ‘That the committee is of the opinion that the United States, having started
on a policy of numerical restriction, the principle of which is well understood,
that little will be gained by changing the method.’ ”
I take for granted that your committee has again refused to accept the
report of the fact-finding commission appointed by the President according
to law. I base that upon the fact that the committee has decided to hold public
hearings.
LAW OF 1924 SPECIFIC
Under the provisions of the immigration law of 1924 the commission composed
of the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Commerce had the task of determining
the national origin of the population of the United States. This specific in-
struction of the law to this commission reads as follows : x
“Such determination shall not be made by tracing the ancestors of descend-
ants of particular individuals, but shall be based upon statistics of immigration
and emigration, together with rates of increase of population as shown by
successive decennial United States censuses. and such other data as may be
found to be reliable.”
You will note that the mandate is quite specific in its limitations upon the
commission. The purpose of this provision of the law was to create a fact-
finding commission. The commission is instructed by law to confine their source
of information to “immigration and emigration” statisties “together with
rates of increase of population as shown by successive decennial United States
census, and such other data as may be found to be reliable.”
The law specifies these three sources of information upon which to find
‘he facts. The report is here; in fact. it is here for the third time by request
