ID# 1047:
"America for Americans: Radio address of Hon. Martin Dies of Texas," May 6, 1935, about deportation
Date:
1935
Pages: (1|2|3|4|5)
Source:
The Harry H. Laughlin Papers, Truman State University, document, C-4-6

&quote;America for Americans: Radio address of Hon. Martin Dies of Texas,&quote; May 6, 1935, about deportation

5 controlled by a few men or interests. Such unrestrained individualism does not conform to the spirit of the American institutions of government. The are some who construe American individualism to mean the concentration of wealth and power into the hands of a few. This is the European idea, and never was American in origin or principle. The question is, Shall a few, whether that few be feudal lords under a system of concentrated ownership and control or a dictatorship under systems such as prevail in Russia and Italy, govern the masses, or shall individual and political freedom be preserved? Shall American individualism, as proclaimed by Thomas Jefferson, applied by Andrew Jackson, and interpreted by Woodrow Wilson, be retained as the basis of our political, religious, and economic life, or shall we embrace the foreign philosophy of an enthroned and governed minority, whether that minority be the Communist of Russia, the Fascist of Italy, or the great industrial and financial lords who seek control of the wealth and natural resources and the industrial power of the country? There is no middle ground or compromise. Either we are for or against America. If we are for America, we must be for the exclusion of new-seed immigrants and the deportation of those unlawfully here. If we are for America, we are for those cardinal principles which are essentially American, such as liberty or speech, thought, and action consistent with the public weal and the maintenance of a government that will be the servant of the people and not the master. Those who are seeking to weaken our immigration and deportation and naturalization laws by piecemeal legislation, such as removing the educational qualifications for citizenship, and even the obligation to defend their country in time of war, the legalizing of illegal entrants, the giving of discretionary power to the Secretary of Labor to deport or not to deport as she sees fit, the enlargement of nonquota classes, the nullification of public-charge provision by the acceptance of worthless bonds, and all other such antirestriction measures which are now pending in Congress, are working against the best interests of this country. The motives which actuate these various antirestriction blocs are immaterial and beside the question. The fact is that all of them, the internationalist, the sentimentalist, the greedy employer, or the steamship company seeking quick profits, and the aliens themselves and their relatives are all working for the same results. Though actuated by different motives they have the same goal. They have hurled the challenge and thrown down the gauntlet. They are engaged in a great offensive. They secure hearings on their bills without any difficulty and get them reported out without delay. On the other hand, hearings are granted to us on restriction measures during the closing days of the session, when it is too late to secure favorable action. Even when, after the greatest difficulty, we secured passage of restriction measures in the House we cannot get a vote in the Senate as was illustrated by my two exclusion and deportation bills which passed the House in its previous sessions only to die in the Senate for want of any active support. While we are on the defensive we are not "licked." We shall continue to appeal in the American people until public sentiment is so thoroughly aroused and crystallized in this Nation that the majority of the people will demand immediate action. I was appealing to you, my fellow countrymen, to adopt the American slogan: America for Americans. The only way we can deport aliens is to deport them, and the only way to furnish employment to the idle American citizen is to give available jobs to American citizens before a single alien can be employed. In closing, may I express my deep gratitude to the National Broadcasting Co. for affording us the opportunity to present the American case at the bar of intelligence and patriotic public opinion? 138266 -11493

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