Some time ago the House Representatives passed a bill, the chief provision of which was to forbid the captain of any ship arriving in the port of a State which restricts immigration to have aboard more than fifteen Chinese immigrants. A few days later this bill was also passed by the Senate, the only amendment being that Chinese diplomatic representatives and persons planning to stay in this country for only a short period of time for educational purposes shall be exempted from the provisions of the bill. The House will probably pass the bill in its amended form, and if so, only the President's signature is required to make it the law of the land.

The question has been subjected to heated discussion in the American press. The idea of discriminating against any particular race is something new in this country, and some people see in it a manifestation of the "Know-Nothing" 2movement which was so widespread some twenty-five years ago.

An influential, not numerous, group see in unrestricted Chinese immigration the means of keeping wages at a low level, and undoubtedly, in the opinion of many Americans, this is the all-important factor to consider in regard to the Chinese question.

Undeniably, it sounds well to proclaim to the world that our country is a refuge and a haven for any race or class under the sun, but when this kind of philantrophic sentiment is tested in the laboratory of practical life, many unforeseen difficulties are encountered.

The opposition to Chinese immigration is greatest in those localities where the native population comes in closest contact with the Mongols, and its intensity is inversely proportional to the distance.

The Chinese cling with great tenacity to inherited customs, traditions, and 3prejudices; they do not mingle well with the rest of our population; they even display a certain contempt for everybody not belonging to the slant-eyed race. They are becoming alarmingly numerous on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, and only reluctantly do they comply with our regulations; they worship their own gods, traffic in women and children, and have small regard for marriage and family life.

Fearing our laws, they do not openly practice the way of living that they really desire, but their stay in this country does not weaken their oriental tendencies, and if they think that they can get away with it, they trade in human lives and commit other nefarious crimes particularly abhorrent to Americans. Experience has taught us that in communities where they have settled in considerable numbers and gained a solid foothold the social order has become disrupted, and the sense of decency blunted, and a general degeneration and lowering of moral standards have ensued. Under such circumstances it is desirable to pass laws preventing too heavy an influx of Chinese.

To be sure, the great reduction of wages on the Pacific coast caused by Chinese immigration has been very profitable for a few capitalists and industrialists, but it is generally agreed that this immigration as a whole [is evil in its effect], and it is therefore the simple duty of the Congress to enact protective measures.