Bryan Daily Eagle And Pilot

GOOD FOR YOU, WOODROW.

The vetoing of the Immigration bill by President Wilson has caused wide spread comment throughout the country, both sides having advocates. The President evidently proceeded on the principle that because a man cannot read and write should be no bar to his becoming a citizen of the United States. In other words, this deficiency would not prevent him from becoming a good citizen. That all the rascals are not to be found among the ignorant and uneducated, but rather that the preponderance of rascality is on the other side. A similar proposition is pending before the Texas Legislature as a prerequisite to suffrage. The Waco Times-Herald is against both, and in discussing the subject says:

"The Times-Herald rejoices in the fact that President Wilson returned to the Congress with his disapproval the bill that sought to set up a literacy test for the immigrant. The measure may, of course, get by, but the President has been true to American ideals.

"The Times-Herald has little or no patience with this character of legislation. Here in Texas it is sought to set up a literacy test for the voter. All such legislation contradicts the principle of freedom. A man can be a good citizen without knowing how to read and write.

"The plea is sometimes advanced that such legislation is needed to safeguard the purity of the ballot box. It is safe to say that for every ignorant rascal in the land there is a match among the educated. Education makes a man somewhat shrewder; it doesn't change his character one iota.

"There is another thought in this connection. If we would confine the government to the few simple duties for which it was created, there would be little or no temptation for men to corrupt the ballot. The more the government meddles where it has no concern, the more determined the interested parties to get control of the machinery. There is need for some clear thinking right here."