©  Underwood  and  Underwood

Immigrants  Landing  at  Ellis  Island


POLITICAL  AND   ECONOMIC   REFORMS


515


With  this  change  in  the  source  of  our  immigration,  there  has
been  a  corresponding  change  in  the  character  of  the  immigrants
themselves.  The  immigrants  from  northern  Europe  were  better
educated,  more  familiar  with  representative  government,
and  in  many  cases  were  skilled  artisans  and  mechanics.  In
contrast  with  them,  a  large  proportion  of  the  immigrants  from
southeastern  Europe  are  illiterate,  or  unable  to  read  and  write
their  own  language ;  and  nearly  all  are  unskilled  workers.  The
demand  for  the  exclusion
of  illiterate  immigrants  led
Congress  on  three  occasions
to  pass  bills  debarring  im-
migrants who  could  not
read,  but  each  time  the
measure  was  vetoed  by  the
President.  At  last  in  1916,
it  was  possible  to  secure  the
necessary  votes  in  Congress
to  pass  this  measure  over
the  President's  veto ;  so
that  immigrants  who  are
unable  to  read  their  own
language  are  now  excluded
from  the  United  States.
The  Demand  for  Tariff
Reform.  Throughout  the
Civil  War,  high  tariff  duties
were  levied  in  order  to  raise  revenue,  and  also  to  protect  Ameri-
can manufacturers  who  were  paying  internal  revenue  taxes  on
their  products.  The  high  tariff  rates  were  continued  after  the
war,  the  surplus  revenue  being  used  to  reduce  the  national  debt.
The  Republican  party  favored  the  policy  of  protection,  but
many  Democrats  began  to  urge  a  reduction  in  tariff  duties.
They  pointed  out  that  a  large  surplus  was  piling  up  in  the
national  treasury,  and  said  that  the  high  tariff  duties  promoted
the  growth  of  large  corporations  by  helping  them  secure  a
monopoly  of  the  domestic  market.
James  G.  Blaine

From  a  photograph  in  the  Brady  Collec-
tion, the  War  Department,   Washington.
