(d) Section 15 of such act, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 15. The admission to the United States of an alien excepted from the class of immigrants by clause (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or (7) of section 3, shall be for such time as may be by regulations prescribed, and under such conditions as may be by regulations prescribed (including when deemed necessary for the classes mentioned in clause (2), (3), (4), (6), or (7) of section 3, the giving of bond with sufficient surety, in such sum and containing such conditions as may be by regulations prescribed) to insure that, at the expiration of such time or upon failure to maintain the status under which admitted, he will depart from the United States."

(e) The provisions of such act, as amended, which are modified or repealed by this section shall remain in force as to all aliens arriving in the United States prior to the time this section takes effect, as nonquota immigrants under the provisions of subdivision (e) of section 4 of such act.

PREFERENCES

SEC. 4. Subdivisions (a) and (b) of section 6 of such act, as amended, are amended to read as follows:

"(a) In the issuance of immigration visas to quota immigrants preference shall be given—

"(1) To a quota immigrant who is the unmarried child under twenty-one years of age, the father, the mother, the husband, or the wife, of a citizen of the United States who is twenty-one years of age or over;

"(2) To a quota immigrant who is skilled in agriculture, and his wife, and his dependent children under the age of eighteen years, if accompanying or following to join him; but the preference provided in this paragraph shall not apply (a) to immigrants of any nationality the annual quota for which is less than three hundred, or (B) in any case unless specifically authorized by the Secretary of Labor upon a valid showing that the service of any such immigrant is needed in the United States, or that the immigrant seeks to enter the United States to engage in independent agricultural pursuits:

"(3) To a quota immigrant who is a member of any recognized learned profession, and his wife, and his dependent children under the age of eighteen years, if accompanying or following to join him; but the preference provided in this paragraph shall not apply in any case unless specifically authorized by the Secretary of Labor upon a valid showing that the service of such immigrant is needed in the United States; and

"(4) To a quota immigrant in whose behalf the contract labor provisions of the immigration laws have been waived, in the manner provided in section 3 of the immigration act of 1917, and his wife, and his dependent children under the age of eighteen years, if accompanying or following to join him; but the preference provided in this paragraph shall not apply in any case unless specifically authorized by the Secretary of Labor upon a valid showing that the service of such immigrant is needed in the United States.

"(b) The preference provided in subdivision (a) shall not in the case of quota immigrants of any nationality exceed 75 per centum of the annual quota for such nationality. Nothing in this section shall be construed to grant to the class of immigrants specified in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of subdivision (a) a priority in preference over any of the classes specified in the other paragraphs of such subdivision."

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS

SEC. 5. Subdivision (c) of section 13 of such act, as amended, is amended by striking out "or" before "(3)" and by adding after "3" the following: "or (4) is a North American Indian."

STOWAWAYS

SEC. 6. (a) The owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master of any vessel arriving in the United States from any place outside thereof, on board of which there is found any alien stowaway not presented to the immigration authorities for inspection, shall pay to the collector of customs of the custom district in which the port of arrival is located the sum of $1,000 for each such alien stowaway.

(b) No vessel shall be granted clearance pending the determination of the liability for such sums or while such sums remain unpaid, except that clearance may be granted prior to the determination of such question upon the deposit of

an amount sufficient to cover such sums, or of a bond with sufficient surety to secure the payment thereof, approved by the collector of customs.

(c) Such sums shall not be remitted or refunded unless it appears to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Labor that the presence of such alien stowaway on board of such vessel could not have been discovered by such owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master by the exercise of reasonable diligence at the port of departure or during the voyage.

UNITING FAMILIES

SEC. 7. (a) Subdivision (a) of section 4 of the immigration act of 1924, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"(a) An immigrant who is

“(1)_The unmarried child under eighteen years of age, or the wife, of a citizen of the United States who resides therein at the time of the filing of a petition under section 9; or

"(2) The unmarried child under eighteen years of age, or the wife, of an alien who was legally admitted to the United States for permanent residence prior to July 1, 1924, and who resides therein at the time of the filing of a petition under section 9;"

(b) Subdivision (b) of section 9 of such act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Any resident of the United States claiming that any immigrant is his relative, and that such immigrant is properly admissible to the United States as a nonquota immigrant under the provisions of subdivision (a) of section 4 or is entitled to preference as a relative under section 6, may file with the Commissioner General a petition in such form as may be by regulations prescribed, station (1) the petitioner's name and address; (2) if a citizen by birth, the date and place of birth; (3) if a naturalized citizen, the date and place of his admission to citizenship and the number of his certificate, if any; (4) if an alien legally admitted to the United States prior to July 1, 1924, the date and place of his arrival in the United States; (5) then name and address of his employer or the address of his place of business or occupation if he is not an employee; (6) the degree of the relationship of the immigrant for whom such petition is made, and the names of all the places where such immigrant has resided prior to and at the time when the petition is filed; (7) that the petitioner is able to and will support the immigrant if necessary to prevent such immigrant from becoming a public charge; and (8) such additional information necessary to the proper enforcement of the immigration laws and the naturalization laws as may be by regulations prescribed."

(c) The provisions of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of section 4 of such act, as amended by subdivision (a) of this section, shall not apply (1) in cases where marriage occurred subsequent to July 1, 1924, nor (2) unless immigration visas are issued to such wife and children within one year after the approval of this act. The total number of immigration visas issued to persons found to be nonquota immigrants under such paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of section 4 of such act shall not exceed thirty thousand, and no application shall be filed under section 9 of such act, as amended, on account of such immigrants until after the date of the approval of this act. In making certifications under subdivision (e) of such section 9 of such act, preference shall be given to such applications in the order of filing, treating the day and hour of mailing, as shown by the postmark, as the time of filing.

SEASONAL LABOR

SEC. 8. The Commissioner General, with the approval of the Secretary of Labor, may during each of the fiscal years 1929 and 1930 admit temporarily as nonimmigrants, for periods of not more than six months, not to exceed ten thousand otherwise admissible aliens from each such country, who, if coming for permanent residence, would be chargeable to the quotas of the respective countries, to perform seasonal or emergency labor in the United States: Provided, That labor of like kind unemployed can not be found within a reasonable distance of the place where such labor is to be performed.

TIME OF TAKING EFFECT

SEC. 9. (a) Sections 2, 3, 4, and 7 of this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after the date of its approval.

(b) The remainder of this act shall take effect upon the date of its approval, except that for the purposes of the immigration act of 1924 quotas for the fiscal year 1928 shall be determined under the provisions of such act without reference to the provisions of this act. If the proclamation of the President under subdivision (f) of section 11 of the immigration act of 1924, as amended by this act, is not made on or before April 1, 1928, quotas for the fiscal year 1929 shall be the quotas determined under the provisions of such act before its amendment by

this act.

Senator HARRIS. The committee will be in order. This meeting was called this afternoon to consider Senate bill 1437, introduced by me in December last, its purpose being to subject certain immigrants, born in countries of the Western Hemisphere, to the quota under the immigration laws. Mr. Dowell, representing the California State Federation of Labor, and other California interests, is present, and wishes to make a statement. The committee will now be glad to hear you, Mr. Dowell.

STATEMENT OF EDWARD H. DOWELL, VICE PRESIDENT CALIFORNIA STATE FEDERATION OF LABOR; MEMBER OF CITY COUNCIL, SAN DIEGO; SECRETARY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY FEDERATED TRADES, SAN DIEGO, CALIF.

Senator HARRIS. Please state your name in full for the record, and give the names of the organizations or interests you represent.

Mr. DOWELL. My name is Edward H. Dowell; vice president California State Federation of Labor; member of the city council of San Diego; and also secretary San Diego County Federated Trades; and my residence is San Diego, Calif.

Senator HARRIS. You may proceed now in your own way to make such statement as you desire and answer any questions that may be propounded by the members of the committee.

Mr. DOWELL. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I realize how valuable the time of this committee is and how little I can contribute toward assisting you in arriving at a decision. However, I do want to place before you the attitude that the wage earners of the State of California have toward the subject of immigration from Mexico. I want it understood at the outset that we believe the position we take is one entirely consistent with the policy of the United States of America, relative to immigration.

Our position is expressed in the following words taken from a resolution introduced by the California State Federation of Labor at the last convention of the American Federation of Labor, held in Los Angeles, Calif., last October :

That we most respectfully petition the National Congress to enact such laws and regulations as will place the nationals of the Republic of Mexico under the quota as provided for Europeans entering America.

Congress in its wisdom deemed it necessary to have the people of foreign lands placed on the quota basis and that only a certain percentage of these peoples be admitted to this country each year. Mexico has been given better consideration than any of these other countries, and there are but few qualifications placed upon those Mexicans

seeking admission into the United States, with the result that the way has been made easy and these numbers have been augmented by a great many who, because of the close proximity of that country, have been able to come in here surreptitiously.

Now, we believe that the only possible reason for the restrictive immigration act was that the so-called American standards of living should be maintained, that they were being impaired, and in many cases broken down entirely, because of the great influx of immigrants, who, not used to our customs, to our manner of living, willing to accept very small pay, worked under conditions not acceptable to us and seriously menaced the standards created and maintained by American labor.

Now, it is not the purpose of the wage earners of San Diego, or of all of California, to draw any invidious comparisons between the workers of Mexico and those of any other country. Suffice it to say, then, that if the European immigrant constituted a menace to the standards in America, then certain it is that those of Mexico do likewise. In order that you may understand something of our problem in California, and in all border States, I will read from a speech of State Senator Daniel Murphy, of California, dealing with the particular problem that is created because of the practically unrestricted influx of the people from Mexico:

The Mexican migration to California has not slowed down. Serious problems have followed in the wake of this practically unrestricted immigration of Mexican peons.

In Los Angeles, where the Mexican population is estimated at 150,000, the outdoor relief division states that 27.44 per cent of its cases are Mexican. The bureau of Catholic charities reports that 52% per cent of its cases are Mexicans who consume at least 50 per cent of the budget. Twenty-five per cent of the budget of the General Hospital is used for Mexicans, who comprise 43 per cent of its cases. The city maternity service reports 622 per cent of its cases Mexican, using 73 per cent of its budget. The bureau of municipal nursing and division of child welfare state that 40 per cent of their clients are Mexican, and in the day home of the Childrens' Hospital 23 per cent of the children cared for are Mexican, while 12 per cent of the out-patient Department are Mexican. Similar conditions exist in Pasadena and Long Beach, and in San Bernardino, Orange, Santa Barbara, and Fresno Counties.

In San Diego city and county during the past six months ending December 31, 1927, the Community Chest Welfare Agencies handled a total of 6,556 new charitable cases, almost double the amount handled over a similar period last year. These figures are taken from the official report of Miss Maria Mathis in charge of the socialservice department of the chest. In her report Miss Mathis states that these represent only a portion of the relief cases handled by local charitable agencies. Thousands of other applications for assistance which were taken care of through the community service, San Diego Council P. T. A., local labor organizations, homes for dependent children, Volunteers of America, the County Welfare Commission, and many other private relief bodies are not included in the above figures.

During the month of December, 1927, 846 individual applications for work, food, and transportation out of this city were made. to the social-service department alone. In addition, the board of supervisors has furnished railroad tickets to persons wishing to leave San Diego after being influenced to come here to seek employment,

only to find that a large percentage of the unskilled work, especially public work, is being done by Mexican immigrant labor. The trade unions, likewise, have furnished transportation for a great many out of work members to other points farther away from the border.

To show that these conditions are a matter of public knowledge we are quoting below from a news story in the San Diego Morning Union, the conservative organ of this city:

POOR NEWCOMERS VEXING PROBLEM-TO ASK CLUB AID

The San Diego-California Club, as an organzation that has brought many to this country, will be asked by the board of supervisors to aid in solving a problem that is vexing the board. Among those attracted to the southland are a number who are not self-supporting and who become public charges soon after they arrive. The county has to pay railway transportation for these indigents back to the place from which they came or support them on county funds in an institution or outside.

The California State Commission of Immigration and Housing state in their last biennial reports that the thousands of low-wage immigrant Mexicans constituted an absolute liability in that they come into this country and live under intolerable, un-American conditions, leading to the spread and increase of not only poverty among these poor laborers but disease as well.

The manager of the San Diego branch of the State Free Employment Bureau (of California) reports he has several hundred applicants for work each week for whom he is unable to supply employment.

Miss Margaret Shea, under the direction of the California State Department of Education, made a canvass of the migratory fruitpicking families, with a vew of focusing the attention of county authorities upon the migratory labor problem. The result of this investigation showed that 82.7 per cent of the migratory fruitpicking families were of Spanish-Mexican origin. In this same group covered by the investigation it was learned that 37.6 per cent of the children employed as fruit pickers were under the age of 9 years and that 48.4 per cent of these children were from 10 to 14 years of age, making a total of 86 per cent of these children under the age of 14 years. According to the State Labor Commissioner of California, it is among these families that the greatest number of violations of the educational rights of children act occur.

While it may be true that some of the large corporations, notably the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Pacific Electric Railroad, the Santa Fe Railroad, the Street-Paving and Cement Trusts, Cotton Growers' Association, and public utilities may temporarily profit by employing Mexican peon labor at two or three dollars per day, however, in the long run the community as a whole foots the bill. This type of Mexican laborers can not possibly eke out even a miserable existence on the starvation wages paid them by these large corporations; consequently the taxpayers, through the various county indigent funds, jails, and charitable associations are compelled eventually to pay the difference between the low wages and the cost of living. When it is considered that most of these Mexican laborers have very large families and that they are in a great majority of cases suffering for the actual necessities of life, it is apparent to every one possessing any feeling of humanity that something should be done to prevent this situation from becoming further intensified.