1917.

Records for 1914 show that "illiteracy among the total number of
arrivals of each race ranged all the way from 64% for the Turkish to
less than 1% for the English, the Scotch, the Welsh, the Scandinavian,
and the Finnish. The Bohemian and Moravian, the German, and the Irish
each had less than 5% illiterate. Races other than the Turkish, whose
immigration in 1914 was more than one-third illiterate, include the
Dalmatians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, Russians, Ruthenians, Italians,
Lithuanians, and Roumanians."

It is frankly admitted by the proponents of this method of restriction
that it will keep out some who ought to come in, and let in some who
ought to be kept out. It is in some cases a test of opportunity rather
than of character, but "in the belief of its advocates, it will meet the
situation as disclosed by the investigation of the Immigration
Commission better than any other means that human ingenuity can devise.
It is believed that it would exclude more of the undesirable and fewer
of the desirable immigrants than any other method of restriction."

On the other hand, it is argued that the literacy test will fail of
success because those who want to come will learn to read and write,
which will only delay their arrival a few months without changing their
real character. But the effect of such attempts will separate those who
succeed from those who are too inferior to succeed, which would be an
advantage of the plan rather than a defect.

The second method of selection enumerated (2) above, was proposed by
Rev. Sidney L. Gulick, particularly with a view to meeting the need of
restriction of Asiatic immigration.[151] This immigration will be
discussed shortly, but in the meantime the details of his plan may be
presented.

"Only so many immigrants of any people should be admitted as we can
Americanize. Let the maximum permissible annual immigration from any
people be a definite per cent. (say five) of the sum of the
American-born children of that people plus those who have become
naturalized of the same people. Let this restriction be imposed only
upon adult males.

"Taking the 1910 census as our basis, the 5% Restriction Proposal would
have fixed the maximum permissible immigration of males from North and
West Europe at 759,000 annually, while the actual annual immigration for
the last 5 years averages but 115,000. The permissible immigration from
South and East Europe would have been 189,000 annually