News Brief

A discussion of alien registration was brought forward in the House of Representatives yesterday by Congressman Dickstein, who attacked the various bills introduced for this purpose. Describing the proposed registration legislation as a scheme to establish in America “the Czaristic system of the yellow ticket,” Dickstein bitterly assailed the proposals.

Entering into a detailed analysis of the various registration bills, Dickstein acknowledged his indebtedness for much valuable information to Max J. Kohler of the American Jewish Committee. Along with other bills that he attacked as an indirect method of eventually bringing about compulsory registration was the bill of Congressman Cable of Ohio, termed voluntary by Cable, because it carries no penalty for non-registration.

Dickstein said “the only difference between the registration of aliens and the old Russian regime is that the Russian regime specified a yellow ticket. Now all you have to do in these bills is to specify a yellow ticket and you have the complete condition that they had in Russia. Heaven save us from this.”

He also criticized the Congress leaders for not discussing immigration in proper time, pointing out that the bills were brought out in the last few days and that Congress, under suspension of the rules, steam-rollered and sometimes voted for inhumane measures that, had it really known about them beforehand, it would not have voted for. Dickstein pointed out the inevitable unhappy results flowing from a host of inspectors roaming throughout the United States to ferret out cases of alleged unlawful entry among seven million aliens, citing the experience of the government under the Chinese exclusion act where under-inspectors were guilty of oppression, blackmail, extortion and other undesirable activities. He pointed out, too, that immigration officials would become both prosecuting and judicial officers before whom the arrested aliens will be heard.

Continuing his attack, Congressman Dickstein said: “About 25 years ago. President Roosevelt, in one of his messages, said that not only must we treat all nations fairly but we must treat with justice and good-will all immigrants who come here under the law. President Roosevelt stated that it was a mark of low civilization and a low morality of discriminate against or in any way to humiliate the stranger who has come to live with us and who is conducting himself properly.

“How far have we gone since these memorable words were uttered and how queer sounds today in the halls of Congress the words of gentlemen who are sponsoring this legislation. How far they have gone from American tradition and how this hurtful legislation is removed from the spirit of our American institutions.

“I therefore want to express my solemn horror at this new attempt to establish and erect barriers between our citizens and non-citizens, which will endanger relations with foreign powers and which will throw our entire alien relationship into turmoil, indifference and disregard. The attempt to register aliens will eventually result in registration of our own people, because how is anybody to tell whether or not a given individual is or is not an alien? And if we do that, what is to prevent this government from issuing passports to everybody, making them carry around with them cards with photographs to show that they have the right to live in this country?

“Yon see, you are reducing to the absurd this whole movement to register seven million people without any reason whatever.”

During his address, Congressman Dickstein quoted from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s interview with President Green of the American Federation of Labor, denying that the A. F. of L. favors compulsory registration. Many members interrupted Dickstein with questions during his speech.