this country. At present, however, almost nothing is being accomplished
in the way of insuring such a selection of the most fit. All that is
attempted at the present time is to eliminate the very least fit, and
the elimination amounts to only about one per cent of all who come to
us.

Our present immigration laws debar a number of classes, chiefly,
however, persons suffering from loathsome or dangerous diseases, persons
who are paupers or likely to become public charges, and contract
laborers, besides Chinese laborers. Practically all who are debarred at
the present time come under these heads. Other classes who are debarred,
however, are idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, insane, criminals, assisted
immigrants, polygamists, anarchists, prostitutes, and procurers. Only an
insignificant number, however, of immigrants are debarred upon these
latter grounds. In 1907, with a total immigration of 1,285,000, only
13,064 were debarred as coming under these excluded classes, or a trifle
over one per cent. For a number of years, indeed, since we have had any
restriction laws at all, the number debarred has been a trifle over one
per cent. Of course, this constitutes no adequate selection of
immigrants which would satisfy biological or even high social
requirements. It would seem, therefore, that our immigration laws, from
a biological and sociological standpoint, are extremely deficient and
that some means of more adequate selection among immigrants should
speedily be found.

It has been suggested that a better selection of immigrants may be
secured by imposing an illiteracy test upon all male immigrants between
the ages of sixteen and fifty years coming to us, excluding those male
immigrants between these ages who cannot read or write in some language.
It is not proposed that this test should take the place of the present