true, does much to assimilate to American ideals and standards the
children of even the most unassimilable immigrants. The public school is
not as yet, however, a perfect agency of socialization, and even when
attended by the children of these immigrants they fail to receive from
it, in many cases, the higher elements of our culture and still continue
to remain essentially foreign in their thought and actions.

(3) _The Political Argument._ Many of these immigrants are,
therefore, incapable of understanding and appreciating our free
institutions. They are not fit to vote intelligently, but are
nevertheless quickly naturalized and form a very large per cent of our
voting population, especially in our large cities. As a rule, they do
not sell their votes, but their votes are often under the control of a
few leaders, and thus they are able to hold, oftentimes, the balance of
power between parties and factions. It is questionable whether free
institutions can work successfully under such conditions.

(4) _The Racial or Biological Argument._ Undoubtedly the strongest
arguments in favor of further restriction upon immigration into the
United States are of a biological nature. The peoples that are coming to
us at present belong to a different race from ours. They belong to the
Slavic and Mediterranean subraces of the white race. Now, the Slavic and
Mediterranean races have never shown the capacity for self-government
and free institutions which the peoples of Northern and Western Europe
have shown. It is doubtful if they have the same capacity for
self-government. Moreover, the whole history of the social life and
social ideals of these people shows them to have been in their past
development very different from ourselves. Of course, if heredity counts
for nothing it will only be a few generations before the descendants of
these people will be as good Americans as any. But this is the question,