It is significant and hopeful that men are thinking upon the subject. What we want is full and fair discussion and thorough information. Nothing is so perilous in a democracy as ignorance and indifference. It is far better for men to disagree thoughtfully than to agree thoughtlessly. What all patriotic and Christian men seek is the best good of this country, which means so much to the whole world as the supreme experiment of self-government. That the people are awakening was shown by the Immigration Conference in New York in December of 1905, when five hundred men, most of them appointed by their state governors, gathered under the auspices of the National Civic Federation to discuss the whole question of immigration. The immigration experts of the country were present, and the company included United States Senators and Representatives, college presidents and professors, leading editors, lawyers and clergymen, and prominent labor leaders. [Sidenote: Conclusions Reached] No such conference on this subject has before been held, and the results of the discussion, which was for the most part as temperate and sensible as it was straightforward, were such as to bring about a better understanding between the men who are supposed to be theorists and the representatives of American labor. The resolutions unanimously adopted were conservative and practical. The most important recommendations call for admission tests in Europe rather than after the alien has reached America, for the spread of information leading to better distribution, and for the establishment of a commission to investigate the subject of immigration in all its relations, including the violations and evasions of the present law. Undoubtedly such a commission, appointed by the president and possessed of competent authority, could accomplish much good. For one thing, it could keep the matter before the people and wisely guide public sentiment. [Sidenote: The Right of Self-Protection] However much men may differ in view as to specific legislation, one point ought to be regarded as settled. That is, the right of Congress to pass such laws as may be deemed essential to safeguard American institutions and liberties. A nation has the inalienable right to protect itself against foreign invasion; and it does not matter whether the invasion be armed or under the guise of immigration. No foreign nation has the right to send its peoples to America, or by persecution to drive them forth upon other nations, and no foreigner has any inherent right to claim admission to the United States. [Sidenote: Welfare of the State Supreme] Right is determined, in migration as in civic relations, not by the will or whim of the individual, but by the welfare of the state. Further than this, the government has the right to deport at any time any aliens who may be regarded as unfit to remain. There ought to be no confusion as to rights in this matter. [Sidenote: Cases that call for Reform]