(Jewish Daily Bulletin)
The likelihood that President Coolidge will not issue the proclamation to put into effect the “national origins” plan became greater yesterday when a supplementary report on the computations of the sub-committee was submitted to the Senate by President Coolidge.
Secretaries Kellogg, Hoover and James J. Davis have now refused to take responsibility for the basis upon which the quotas for immigrants to be admitted during 1927 under the national origins law was determined.
When the quotas were announced last week, the three Secretaries said nothing of this kind in their letter of transmittal to Mr. Coolidge. In the letter sent by the President to the Senate yesterday they disclaimed resopnsibility for the computations arrived at by a sub-committee under their supervision.
Senators interested in the “national origins” quotas said that the new construction undoubtedly gave to the President an opportunity to refrain from issuing a proclamation to declare the quotas in effect on July 1, 1927.
Since the national origins quotas were announced and it was seen that Great Britain and Northern Ireland would not only receive such a large proportion of the total immigrants to be admitted, but a large increase from the present quotas, while the Irish Free State and Scandinavia would suffer accordingly, opposition has developed.
On Friday evening the President sent the national origins figures to the Senate, together with a letter from the Secretaries of State, Commerce and Labor dated Jan. 3. This letter gave a report from the sub-committee which made up the figures and determined the quotas.
Yesterday Mr. Coolidge sent to the Senate a formal fifty-world communication saying he was attaching a “copy of the letter of transmission” which accompanied the Kellongg-Hoover-Davis report, “to replace an inaccurate copy which was inadvertently forwarded to the Senate with such report.”
The new letter from the three Secretaries was also dated Jan. 3. Its first paragraph was identical except that it substituted “alter this representation” for “alter the conclusions arrived at.” Its last paragraph was essentially different, however, and read:
“Although this is the best information we have been able to secure, we wish to call attention to the reservations made by the committee and to state that in our opinion the statistical and historical information available raises grave doubts as to the whole value of these computations as a basis for the purposes intended. We cannot, therefore, assume responsibility for such conclusions under these circumstances.”
Representative Holaday of Illinois introduced a bill in the House yesterday providing for voluntary registration of aliens in order to facilitate procedure for their naturalization.
The measure provides that between May 1, 1927, and Oct. 31, 1927, inclusive, any unnaturalized alien who entered the United States prior to July 1, 1924, and who desires to become an American citizen may upon compliance with certain regulations register with the Labor Department.
The department is authorized to provide application blanks with questions designed to disclose the past history and present status of the alien, to assist in determining his suitability to become a citizen.
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