illegal eniploment demeans them asrnhuman beings and makes a mockery ofrnthe rule of law.”rnAccordingh’, Gramm wants Congressrnto set up a guest-worker program, underrnwhich illegals would receive I.D. cards, arnone-ear work permit, and coverage underrnU.S. wage-and-hour laws, with 15.3rnpercent of their wages set aside for eachrnworker in an interest-bearing account.rnFox appro’es—a good start.rnA program like this, assuming itrnworked as planned (always, in the politicalrnworld, a problematical assumphon),rnwould bring order and regularitv to arnchaotic situation. It certainly makesrnmore sense than a new amnesh”, whichrnwoidd stimulate more illegal borderrncrossings than ever, which would buildrnprcssme for another amnesty, whichrnwould . . .rnFriends and defenders of the marketplacerneconomy—I stand in their frontrnrank, sleeves rolled up—are fond of notingrnhow, in the real world, particular incentivesrncall forth particular responses.rnI h e incentive of something (legal status)rnfor net-to-nothing (idenhfying oneself)rnis the wrong kind of incentive.rn1 la ing said all this, I confess to uncertaint’rnregarding just how well thernGramm plan, if adopted, would work.rnWe seem to be at a great historical crossroads.rnThroughout the West, by reasonrnof our prosperity and peace, more peoplernwant to come live among us than thernWestern nations have power to regulatern—or even accommodate.rnI read of economic and political “rehigees”rntiving to force their way into thernUnited Kingdom by any means aailable,rnincluding rubber rafts for crossing thernChannel. Sixteen recently stowed awayrnunder a Eurostar train. “We want a betterrnlife,” said a frustrated Kurd protesting at arnCalais detention center for illegals.rnSenator Gramm nods in vigorous assent.rn”If I had two little children in Mexico,”rnhe says, “and we lived in the condi-rnHons endured b’ many Mexican citizens,rnno power on earth could prevent mernfrom crossing the Rio Grande for work.”rnImmigration is the sincerest form ofrnflatterv. People come (invited or otherwise)rnbecause they see how well thingsrnare working here. This summer I spentrntime in Flonduras on a parish adult missionrntrip. The wonder is why everyone inrnHonduras doesn’t come up here.rnOf course, not everyone has the energyrnor ambition to try, which is obviouslyrngood. But many do want to improverntheir lot. The question isn’t—never hasrnbeen—will we have immigrahon? Therncjuestion is, can we control it?rnAmnesty isn’t control; it’s unconditionalrnsurrender. Where do you stop?rnNowhere, that’s where. Built into thernGramm plan are limits on the numbersrnof guest workers, in accordance with economicrnneed. Would that do the job? Itrnmight well, but I doubt it, the border beingrnso vast, so long, and so empty.rnDr. Johnson outlined the plain dutyrnof those (like himself) keen to defendrnstandards in the use of the Englishrnlanguage: “We retard what we cannotrnrepel. We palliate what we cannot cure.”rnThat just may be where we are on immigrationrn—the English-speaking peoplesrnchallenged, pulled in differentrndirections, reaching for succor into stillconsiderablernreservoirs of courage andrngood sense.rn— William MurchisonrnOBITER DICTA: The second of ourrnthree new quarterly columns debuts thisrnmonth on p. H. In The Bare Bodkin, syndicatedrncolumnist Joseph Sobran willrncast a Chestertonian eye on the currentrncultural scene (and he’ll write about it, asrnwell). You will find Mr. Sobran’s columnrnin the January, April, July, and Octoberrnissues.rnWith this issue. Chronicles is finallyrnback up on the newsstands. Please checkrnyour local bookstore; if it doesn’t carrvrnChronicles, please follow the instructionsrnin the ad on p. 5. You could vin arnone-year extension to vour subscription!rnNewsstand sales are a major source ofrnnew subscribers, and wider circulationrnhelps us keep our subscription ratesrnlow.rnWatch this space for details on upcomingrnRoekford Institute events. The Institute’srnFifth International Convivium willrnbe held during the second half of Aprilrn2002 in Tuscany, where we will explorernhow civilization was reinvented by Italiansrnliving in the free cities of Siena, Pisa,rnFlorence, Lucca, and Arezzo. Tuscanyrnwas home to Petrarch and Dante, therngreat painters of the Middle .Ages and thernRenaissance, and to one of the most significantrnpolitical intellectuals the worldrnhas produced, Machiavelli, whose muscularrndefense of republican libertyrnhelped inspire the men who laid thernfoundation of our own American republic.rnGet to the heart of a great civilizationrnand understand how provincial peoplesrnfought for liberty —town b}’ town andrneven, sometimes, street by street. Lecturesrnwill focus on Machiaelli, Petrarch,rnDante, St. Catherine of Siena, the bravernPisans who resisted Florentine domination,rnand the gangster-banker Medicirnwho devoted themselves to destroyingrnliberty. A special bonus lecture will setrnthe record straight on the Galileo controversy.rnThe Roekford Institute’s Fifth AnnualrnSummer School (summer 2002) will bernheld, as always, here in Roekford. Thisrntime, we’ll turn our attention to late antiquit)’rnand look for answers to the question;rnfiow do we live full lives in a dying age?rnFacult}’ will include Dr. James Patrick,rnprovost of the College of Saint ThomasrnMore, and Fr. Hugh Barbour, O. Praem,rnprior of St. Michael’s Abbe’ in Silverado,rnCalifornia. Break out your copies of SaintrnAugustine’s City of God and Boethius’srnConsolation of Philosophy.rnThe Roekford Institute’s Sixth InternationalrnConvivium, which will be held inrnBrittany in early October 2002, will addressrnthe French Revolution: liberalismrnversus Christianih’. A special session willrndiscuss the courageous Christian warriorsrnof the Vendee.rnThere’s still time to register for thisrnyear’s John Randolph Club meeting,rnwhich will be held in Roekford, Illinois,rnthe home oi Chronicles. Please see the adrnon the back cover. For more informationrnregarding this or any Institute eent, pleasernvisit www.ChroniclesMagazine.org or callrnthe Institute’s vice president, ChristopherrnCheek, at (815) 964-5811.rnOur poet this month is Bruce Guernsey,rna professor of English at Eastern IllinoisrnUniversity. His poetr)- and prose have appearedrnin the Atlantic, Poetry, Fiction,rnAmerican Scholar, and War, Literaturernand the Arts, among others. Dr. Guernseyrnis the author often collections of poems,rnincluding January Thaw (University ofrnPittsburgh Press).rnOur art this month is provided bv ourrnart director, H. Ward Sterett of Roscoe,rnIllinois. Mr. Sterett received his B.F.A.rnfrom the Universit’ of Colorado and hisrnM.F.A. from Northern Illinois University,rnand attended the L’Abri Fellowship,rnwhere he studied the effect of Christianityrnon art. He currently works as a sculptor,rnpainter, and printmaker in Roscoe.rnC/lSdbcM)rnOCTOBER 2001/9rnrnrn