In every State of the United States and in Alaska citizenship classes have been organized by the public schools, not primarily for the American adult illiterate but primarily for the foreigner at the instance of the Division of Citizenship Training of the Department of Labor. This has been made possible of accomplishment through a Government agency solely because there are over a million foreign who annually come into contact with the United States Government through the Bureau of Naturalization. The committee believes by authorizing this bureau to promote the organization of the public schools to include in their work the adult American illiterate that it will secure the attendance of the illiterate adult Americans upon these citizenship classes. It believes that the American adult illiterate should receive the invitation of the Government to attend these classes in citizenship training. It believes also that this influence will be the deciding element to prevail upon them to take the step which will mean their mental, bodily, and spiritual reclamation. The salutary effects that will come from the mingling together of these two currents of American humanity, the foreign born and the native born, under the supervision of the Federal Government and the public schools in an endeavor to overcome the handicaps of their earlier environment will go to the very fundamentals of those disturbances which are the outgrowth of ignorance. The committee believes that in view of present demands upon the United States Treasury this method of dealing with the educational problem of the country should be adopted, because it is truly economical, and because it has been proved successful. Any other plan must from its nature be an experiment and upon a most costly basis adding millions of dollars to the burden of the taxpayers annually, and perpetuate an organization costing millions annually until it can be determined whether the experiment will ultimately prove itself to be an expression of the democratic ideals of the country or a system which may mean a departure from those ideals of equality which have heretofore characterized our American education. Through this bureau this section authorizes the dissemination of information regarding the institutions of the United States so as to stimulate loyalty to those institutions. The committee knows no better agency than the public schools to accomplish this work. There are, however, many organizations-commercial, educational, racial, and others--that are now aiding the Division of Citizenship Training in this patriotic work and assisting in organizing the public schools for their wider use in imparting the fundamentals of education and civic training. This section proposes the extension of this influence to the residents of the Panama Canal Zone. The time may come when Congress may desire to extend naturalization jurisdiction to the United States district court in the Canal Zone and the committee believes that the best results will be attained if the residents of the Canal Zone are prepared in advance for those responsibilities by becoming educated both in our language and in our institutions of Government. READING AND WRITING PROVISION. Section 5, page 11, at line 10, amends section 8 of the present naturalization law. It adds the requirement to read the English language to that of speaking it as at present required. It defers the imposing of this requirement for one year after the approval of the act. It does not make the disability or the failure to speak the English language a ground for the dismissal of the petition for naturalization but for the continuance of the petition to enable the petitioner and those deriving citizenship through him to overcome this disability in the public schools which are now available all over the land. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION. Section 6, page 12, at line 1, recommends the appropriation of $500,000 to give force and effect to the foregoing provisions and sections of the act. DIVISION OF PATROL GUARD. Section 7, page 12, commencing at line 10, provides for the establishment of the division of patrol guard in the Bureau of Immigration in the Department of Labor to enforce the provisions of the immigration laws and in part the act of May 22, 1918, as amended. The necessity for this is well known to the committee by those who have appeared before it and shown that aliens are surreptitiously crossing the borders of the country in violation of the act referred to in the said sections. It recommends the appropriation of $250,000 to give force and effect to this section. Thousands have entered at unguarded points along the Mexican border recently. Dr. John W. Tappen, medical officer at the El Paso public health station, reports that hundreds of the most undesirable classes are entering daily, creating a serious menace to the health of the country. Other reports show that liquor smugglers and smugglers of aliens work together; that many aliens are smuggled across the Canadian waters; that the waters of Lower California, Puget Sound, and Great Lakes should be patrolled. REPEAL OF SECTION 1994. Section 8 provides for the repeal of section 1994 of the Revised Statutes, which is embodied in the bill at lines 1, 2, and 3, on page 8, with the proviso that any woman who shall hereafter be married to a citizen of the United States is required to take the oath of allegiance. Section 8 also provides for the repeal of all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act. SALE OF CERTAIN MACHINE TOOLS TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. NOVEMBER 8, 1919.--Ordered to be printed. Mr. KAHN, from the committee of conference, submitted the following CONFERENCE REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 3143.] The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the bill (H. R. 3143) to provide for further educational facilities by authorizing the Secretary of War to sell at reduced rates certain machine tools not in use for Government purposes to trade, technical, and public schools and universities, other recognized educational institutions, and for other purposes, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed by the Senate amendment insert the following: That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized, under such regulations as he may perscribe, to sell at 15 per centum of their cost to trade, technical, and public schools and universities, and other recognized educational institutions, upon application in writing, such machine tools as are suitable for their use which are now owned by the United States of America and are under the control of the War Department and are not needed for Government purposes. The money realized from the sale may be used by the Secretary of War to defray expenses, except cost of transportation, incident to distribution of the tools, and the balance shall be turned in to the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts: Provided, That in the event any such material is offered for sale by said institutions without the consent in writing of the Secretary of War, title thereto shall revert to the United States. And the Senate agree to the same. JULIUS KAHN, CHAS, POPE CALDWELL, Managers on the part of the House. J. W. WADSWORTH, HOWARD SUTHERLAND, MORRIS SHEPPARD, Managers on the part of the Senate. STATEMENT OF THE MANAGERS ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE. The House receded from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate with changes, the effect of which are as follows: The House bill fixed the price at which the machine tools could be sold at 10 per cent of their cost; the Senate fixed the price at 20 per cent. Your conferees finally agreed to the rate of 15 per cent of their cost, and the Senate conferees agreed to the same. The Senate provided that the money realized from the sale of machine tools may be used by the Secretary of War to defray the expenses incident to the distribution of the tools, except the cost of transportation, and that the balance shall be turned in to the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. The House conferees agreed to the change. Otherwise the bill is practically in the form and language that it left the House. ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH. NOVEMBER 11, 1919.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. SINNOTT, from the committee of conference, submitted the following CONFERENCE REPORT. [To accompany S. 425.] The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the House to an act (S. 425) to establish the Zion National Park in the State of Utah, having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter inserted by said amendment insert the following: under which name the aforesaid national park shall be maintained by allotment of funds heretofore or hereafter appropriated for the national monuments, until such time as an independent appropriation is made therefor by Congress; and the Senate agree to the same. N. J. SINNOTT, Managers on the part of the House. REED SMOOT, ALBERT B. FALL, HENRY L. MYERS, Managers on the part of the Senate. |