by the House of Representatives without a roll call on the basis that it was "not controversial."

We wish to call to the attention of the Members of Congress (and, particularly, of the Members of the United States Senate who will now consider this bill) that the Members of the House of Representatives were not fully informed as to the effect of the provisions of the Dempsey bill. These provisions will definitely harm not alone aliens but American-born citizens, and will deny the latter the right of self-expression, to petition Congress, etc.

Under the provisions of the Dempsey bill, a noncitizen member of any organization would be liable to deportation if his organization were to go on record in support of a measure that might in any way be interpreted as "changing the American form of government," whether or not the noncitizen voted for this resolution or whether or not the noncitizen was present even at the meeting which adopted the resolution.

It is not to be expected that trade-unions, church, fraternal, or social organizations should arbitrarily expel their noncitizen members. Consequently, the provisions of the Dempsey bill would serve, in effect, to prevent any organization with even one noncitizen member from petitioning Congress on any issue that might in any way be interpreted as "changing the American form of government." This, we submit, would prevent American citizens from expressing their views in legitimate and accepted fashion on problems affecting the Nation.

We wish to express our opinion that the Members of the House of Representatives were not aware of the implications of the Dempsey bill. The reason for this is that the Members were led to believe that this was an "alien" bill, affecting only noncitizens, and therefore did not fully investigate the various ramifications and actual effects of the measure.

Another example of the anti-American_nature of this kind of "antialien" legislation is presented by the Hobbs bill (H. R. 5526), providing for the establishment of detention camps for aliens ordered deported for whom passports cannot be obtained to carry out their deportation.

This bill, if passed, would make the concentration camp an accepted legal institution in this country. It is a direct importation from Nazi Germany and one of the first attempts to legalize in an unconstitutional manner extended detention.

The supporters of the Hobbs bill patently admit its unconstitutional character by attempting to prevent its consideration by the United States Supreme Court and providing that "original and exclusive jurisdiction" be vested in the circuit court of appeals of the United States.

The Hobbs bill, we submit, is unconstitutional. We quote from an opinion of Federal Judge Anderson, in the Massachusetts district court of April 23, 1925 (petition of Brooks, 5 F. (2d) 238, 239):

"There is no power in this court or in any other tribunal in this country to hold indefinitely any sane citizen or alien in imprisonment, except as a punishment for crime. Slavery was abolished by the thirteenth amendment. It is elementary that deportation or exclusion proceedings are not punishment for crime (Bilokumsky v. Tod, 263 U. S. 149, 154, 44 S. Ct. 54, 68 L. Ed. 221; Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 149 U. S. 698, 730, 13 S. Ct. 1016, 37 L. Ed. 905; Bugajewitz v. Adams, 228 Ú. S. 585, 591, 33 S. Ct. 607, 57 L. Ed. 978)."

Judge Anderson, in his opinion, stated further:

"This court knows of no power in it or in the immigration authorities to require this or any other alien to give ‘a personal bond and to report' to the Commissioner of Immigration, whatever this phrase may mean. He is entitled to be deported or to have his freedom."

Similar objections must be voiced against the bill introduced by Representative Smith, of Virginia (H. R. 5131), which incorporates not only the different provisions of the Dempsey and Hobbs bills, but also provisions for the registration and fingerprinting of all aliens.

Particularly on the question of the registration and fingerprinting of aliens, this same maneuver of cloaking anti-American measures as antialien is being attempted. These bills for the registration and fingerprinting of all aliens (H. R. 130, Arends; H. R. 3392, Starnes: H. R. 5138, Smith; H. R. 5196, McLeod; S. 408, Reynolds; S. 1470, McKellar) will in effect serve to regiment the entire American population, since every citizen will be forced to carry identification and proof of citizenship that he is not an alien.

Such prominent individuals as the Honorable Herbert H. Lehman, Dr. Frederick T. Robinson, Dr. Cyrus Adler, the late Max J. Kohler, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Sidney Hillman, the Honorable Alfred E. Smith, Senator Robert F. Wagner, the late Senator

142240-39-ser. 3—H

Royal S. Copeland, Senator George W. Norris, Senator William H. King, Senator Gerald P. Nye, Representative Samuel Dickstein, Representative Emanuel Celler have been among the many prominent and outstanding Americans protesting the registration and fingerprinting of aliens as an undemocratic and anti-American

measure.

The Dempsey bill, the Hobbs bill, the Smith bill are not "alien" bills, nor is much other legislation that paraded under that title. These bills are much more far reaching in actual effect than their titles and announced contents signify. These bills attack the very foundation of our American institutions and directly threaten the welfare and the well-being-the democratic rights-of the American people.

We submit further that the amendment to the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act denying Federal relief to noncitizens has directly and indirectly affected thousands of American-born dependents of the 45,529 aliens removed from the rolls. These American-born citizens face starvation and unnecessary hardships because of this provision.

We have a great and renowned tradition in our country that is threatened by this kind of legislation-a democratic tradition of hospitality, equality, and justice. The entire framework of our system of living and government is jeopardized by an attempt to single out the foreign-born for repressive and dictatorial attacks. The foreign-born have become so intimately a part of the American people that any attack upon them-any attempt to discriminate against them or deny them their civil or human rights-would seriously affect, and perhaps even dislocate, our democratic mode of living and the functioning of our democratic institutions. At the same time, special measures affecting the foreign-born and alien population would be impossible to administer without affecting as well a large section of the American-born population.

We can best enhance the American tradition of hospitality, equality, and opportunity by eliminating existing discriminations that tend to separate and divide the American people against their best interests. The noncitizen has shown his desire and willingness to become a part of the American Nation, but in many instances has been prevented from assuming citizenship because of the red tape, high fees, high educational and literacy requirements.

We should enable all noncitizens, who wish to do so, to become naturalized citizens by amending the naturalization laws so as to eliminate discrimination and unnecessary restrictions.

To this end we support the passage of H. R. 210, introduced by Representative Celler, to lower naturalization fees to $2. We support the passage of H. R. 4369, introducted by Representative Lesinski, eliminating educational requirements and literacy requirements for noncitizens, 50 years of age or more, who entered before 1917 and are prevented from becoming citizens because of the high educational and literacy requirements. We support the passage of H. R. 3215, introduced by Representative McCormack, to enable anyone who entered before July 1, 1924, to become an American citizen, even if there is no record of his entry.

This kind of program, we submit, is more in keeping with our American mode of living and our tradition of hospitality, as expressed by President Theodore Roosevelt, in his Presidential message of 1906:

"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. Whether they are Catholic or Protestant, Jew or gentile; whether they come from England or Germany, Russia, Japan, or Italy, matters nothing. All we have a right to question is the man's conduct. If he is honest and upright in his dealings with his neighbors and with the State, then he is entitled to respect and good treatment. Especially do we need to remember our duty to the stranger within our gates. It is the sure mark of low civilization, a low morality, to abuse or discriminate against, or in any way humiliate, such a stranger, who has come here lawfully and is conducting himself properly. To remember this is incumbent on every American citizen and it is of course peculiarly incumbent on every Government official, whether of the Nation or of the several States."

Respectfully submitted.

AMERICAN COmmittee for PROTECTION Of Foreign Born.

NEW YORK CITY, April 1939.

Mr. SMITH. May I take those two memoranda tonight? Mr. HOBBS. Yes. Are there any others to be heard tonight? Mr. Whitehurst, the clerk of the committee, has just called my attention, Judge Smith, to a matter that he has an amendment-and I will state, parenthetically, that we could not get along without Mr. Whitehurst; he is sort of a keeper of our consciences and watchdog, not of the Treasury but of legislation and he calls my attention to subsection (b), on page 6, line 6, which reads: "any organization expressly authorized by the law of any State," and he suggests that some of the organizations that he feels sure you would want to exclude from the operation of the law would be those authorized by the United States, such as the Boy Scouts of America, and so on, so he suggests that this be amended to read: "any organization expressly authorized by a law of the United States or of any State."

Mr. SMITH. At that point, Mr. Emerson suggested about labor unions the language and I have made a note here "or any bona fide labor organization."

Mr. HOBBS. That is agreeable to you?

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir.

Mr. HOBBS. Are there any other gentlemen here who desire to be heard tonight? If not, we are very grateful to each and every one of you gentlemen for your assistance in this hearing. There is one gentleman who had to go to New York to make a speech tonight, and we will hear him tomorrow afternoon, if we can arrange it, if we get through with our full committee meeting in time. We are not inviting any additional testimony, but if anybody has been overlooked that we think should be called, we will be happy to make an exception in his case at that time. We will try to meet at 2 or 2:30. (Whereupon, at 5 p. m., the subcommittee adjourned.)

CRIME TO PROMOTE THE OVERTHROW OF GOVERNMENT

THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1939

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
SUBCOMMITTEE No. 3 OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY,
Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 2:30 p. m., for further consideration of H. R. 5138, Hon. Arthur D. Healey, presiding.

Mr. HEALEY. The committee will come to order for further consideration of H. R. 5138.

Mr. Trevor.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN B. TREVOR, REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN COALITION, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. TREVOR. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, my name is John B. Trevor, representing the American Coalition. Mr. HEALEY. Where do you live?

Mr. TREVOR. I am a resident of New York State, but my office address is Southern Building. The headquarters of our organization is Southern Building, Washington, D. C.

Mr. HEALEY. Whom do you represent?

Mr. TREVOR. The American Coalition. The board of the American Coalition represents delegates from 115 of the leading patriotic societies of the country. I have a list of them here that I would like to submit for the record.

(The list referred to is as follows:)

SOCIETIES COOPERATING WITH THE AMERICAN COALITION

Aeronautical Association of America, Inc.

Allied Patriotic Societies, Inc.

American Coalition of New York.

American Defense Council.

American Vigilant Intelligence Federation.

American War Mothers.

American Women's Legion of the World War.

Associated Chapters, Order of De Molay of Pennsylvania.

Associated Farmers of California, Inc.

Auxiliary, Sons of Union Veterans of Civil War.

Better America Federation of California.

California Society, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America.

Colonial Order of the Acorn, New York Chapter.

Congress of States Societies.

Dames of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Daughters of America, National Council.