[Sidenote: Immigration Bills in Congress]
The interest taken by Congress in immigration is indicated by the
introduction in the House during the session of 1906 of nineteen bills
to regulate or restrict immigration, while a number were introduced in
the Senate also. The House Committee on Immigration, of which Mr.
Gardner, of Massachusetts, is chairman, took all the bills into
consideration and reported a comprehensive Bill to Regulate the
Immigration of Aliens into the United States. This proposed law advances
considerably beyond the Act of 1903, which it is designed to replace. It
raises the head tax from $2 to $5, introduces the reading test,[34] and
practically creates a money test also, by requiring every male immigrant
to have $25 in hand at the time of examination.[35] The money from the
head tax is to constitute a permanent immigration fund, to defray not
only the cost of the Immigration Bureau, but also that of maintaining an
information bureau, to save immigrants from being deceived and show them
where they are most wanted and likely to succeed.[36]
[Sidenote: The Reading Test Pro and Con]
The section in this proposed legislation that has caused most
discussion and dissension is the illiteracy test.
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