Aliens or Americans? Part 30

Holt, Hamilton. Undistinguished Americans. James Pott & Co., New York.

$1.50. Biographical and readable.

Lord, Eliot, et al. The Italian in America. B. F. Buck & Co., New York.

$1.50. Makes an exceedingly favorable showing for the Italians; somewhat one-sided but valuable.

Mayo-Smith, Richmond. Emigration and Immigration. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. $1.50. An exceedingly valuable and scholarly work.

McLanahan, Samuel. Our People of Foreign Speech. Fleming H. Revell Company, New York. 50 cents, net. A handbook containing many valuable facts in compact form.

Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. $1.25, net. Descriptive of the conditions in which the foreign population struggles for existence.

Roberts, Peter. Anthracite Coal Communities. The Macmillan Company, New York. $3.50. A study of the anthracite regions and the Slavs, similar in character to Dr. Warne's book.

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Doubleday, Page & Co., New York. $1.50. A work based on personal investigation and living among the Slavs who labor in the stockyards in Chicago; vivid narrative. This book discloses the treatment of the alien that makes him a menace to America.

Strong, Josiah. Our Country. Baker & Taylor Company, New York. 60 cents.

The points made in the chapter on Immigration are as pertinent now as when the book was issued in 1881.

Strong, Josiah. The Twentieth Century City. Baker & Taylor Company, New York. Paper, 25 cents; Cloth, 50 cents. Has the breadth of view and effectiveness which belong to the author.

Warne, F. Julian. The Slav Invasion. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa. $1.00, net. Study at first hand of conditions in Pennsylvania mining regions and the Slav population.

Whelpley, J. D. The Problem of the Immigrant. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. $4.20. Dealing with the emigration and immigration laws of all nations.

Wood, Robert A. Americans in Process. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.

$1.50. A series of papers by Robert A. Wood, and other workers in the South End House in Boston, Ma.s.s.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] J. D. Whelpley, _The Problem of the Immigrant_, 2.

[2] Entrance Port for Immigrants at New York.

[3] The total immigration into the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906, was 1,100,735.

[4] For table showing immigration for each year from 1820 to 1905, see Appendix A.

[5] Now known as the Battery. See footnote 1, p. 54.

[6] _City Mission Monthly_, April, 1902.

[7] Those who are interested in this feature can trace--by examining the table in the Appendix which gives the immigration by years since 1820--the relation between prosperity and immigration. The effect of the panics of 1837, 1843, 1873, 1893, and the depression caused by the Civil War, will be seen clearly in the immigration totals. This subject is treated in _Immigration_, 17 ff.

[8] Published in _Baptist Home Mission Monthly_ for July, 1906.

[9] Hamilton Holt, _Undistinguished Americans._

[10] The Swedish _krone_ (kro-ne) has a value of about 27 cents.

[11] Broughton Brandenburg, _Imported Americans_, 37.

[12] Prescott F. Hall, _Immigration_, 3, 4.

[13] The park and piers at the southern end of New York City, formerly known as Castle Garden.

[14] Samuel E. Moffett, _Review of Reviews_, July, 1903.

[15] It is good to know that the reception conditions, so far as the Government is concerned, have been made as favorable as present accommodations will allow, and enlargement is already projected. Since the Federal Government finally took charge of immigration in 1882, great improvement has been made in method and administration. The inspection is humane, prompt, and on the whole kindly, although entrance examinations are as much dreaded by the average immigrant as by the average student. Commissioner Watchorn, an admirable man for his place, insists upon kindness, and want of it in an employee is cause for dismissal. Ellis Island affords an excellent example of carefully adjusted details and thorough system, whereby with least possible friction thousands of aliens are examined in a day, and p.r.o.nounced fit or unfit to enter the country. The process is too rapid, however, to give each case the attention which the best interests of the country demand.

[16] Under the Act of 1903, this manifest has to state: The full name, age and s.e.x; whether married or single; the calling or occupation; whether able to read or write; the nationality; the race; the last residence; the seaport landing in the United States; the final destination, if any, beyond the port of landing; whether having a ticket through to such final destination; whether the alien has paid his own pa.s.sage or whether it has been paid by any other person or by any corporation, society, munic.i.p.ality, or government, and if so, by whom; whether in possession of thirty dollars, and if less, how much; whether going to join a relative or friend and if so, what relative or friend, and his name and complete address; whether ever before in the United States, and if so, when and where; whether ever in prison or almshouse or an inst.i.tution or hospital for the care and treatment of the insane or supported by charity; whether a polygamist; whether an anarchist; whether coming by reason of any offer, solicitation, promise, or agreement, expressed or implied, to perform labor in the United States, and what is the alien's condition of health, mental and physical, and whether deformed or crippled, and if so, for how long and from what cause.

[17] Broughton Brandenburg, _Imported Americans_, 208.

[18] This imaginary sketch adheres in every detail to the facts. The medical examiners and inspectors become exceedingly expert in detecting disease, disability, or deception. If an overcoat is carried over the shoulder, they look for a false or stiff arm. The gait and general appearance indicate health or want of it to them, and all who do not appear normal are turned aside for further examination, which is thorough. The women have a special inspection by the matrons, who have to be both expert and alert to detect and reject the unworthy. The chief difficulty lies in too small a force to handle such large numbers, which have reached as high as 45,000 in five days.

[19] The present regulations were pa.s.sed in 1882, and if lived up to, as by trustworthy testimony they are not, would prevent serious overcrowding, although the conditions as to air, sanitation, and morals would still be most unsatisfactory. For protective laws, see Appendix B.

[20] Broughton Brandenburg, _Imported Americans_, chap. XIV.

[21] This Act of 1824 required of vessel-masters a report giving name, birthplace, age, and occupation of each immigrant, and a bond to secure the city against public charges.

[22] _Immigration_, chap. X.

[23] The main provisions are: 1. Head tax of $2. 2. Excluded cla.s.ses numbering 17. 3. Criminal offenses against the Immigration Acts, enumerating 12 crimes. 4. Rejection of the diseased aliens. 5. Manifest, required of vessel-masters, with answers to 19 questions. 6. Examination of immigrants. 7. Detention and return of aliens. 8. Bonds and guaranties. The law may be found in full in the Appendix to _Immigration_, and in _The Problem of the Immigrant_, chap. VI., where the rules and regulations for its enforcement are also given. A list of the excluded cla.s.ses and criminal offenses will be found in Appendix B of this volume.

[24] Joseph H. Adams, in _Home Missionary_, for April, 1905.

[25] The Immigration Bureau has 1,214 inspectors and special agents. The Commissioner-General says of them: They are spread throughout the country from Maine to southern California. They are

[26] thoroughly organized under competent chiefs, many of them working regardless of hours, whether breaking the seals of freight cars on the southern border to prevent the smuggling of Chinese, or watching the countless routes of ingress from Canada, ever alert and willing, equally efficient in detecting the inadmissible alien and the pretended citizen.

The Bureau a.s.serts with confidence that, excepting a very few, the government of this country has no more able and faithful servants in its employ, either civil or military, than the immigration officers.

[27] Commissioner-General's Report for 1905, p. 41.

[28] _Immigration Report_ for 1905, p.56.

[29] Broughton Brandenburg, _Imported Americans_, 33.

[30] _Immigration Report_ for 1905, p. 48.

[31] Prof. H. H. Boyesen.

[32] Frederick Austin Ogg, in _Outlook_ for May 5, 1906.

[33] A synopsis of these recommendations will be found in Appendix B.