place where they can remain in safety for a few days, these societies furnish such aid and permit them to come to the homes which have been established for that purpose. These societies and homes have usually been founded by and are under the direction of societies connected with some religious body. In a number of instances they receive subventions from foreign governments, inasmuch as they care for the immigrants of the countries concerned.

As the welfare of the immigrants, especially young women, might be materially affected by the care exercised by the representatives of these homes, it seemed wise to investigate their methods of work and the conditions of the homes. The results were surprising. While in a number of cases the societies were doing excellent work and the homes were giving due attention to the welfare of the young women placed in their charge, securing them positions and ascertaining that the positions were those suitable for the girls, in a number of instances it was found that the managers of the homes had apparently deceived the directors and supporters of the societies and were making of the homes mere money-making establishments for themselves. In a few cases, in order to promote their own financial advantage, the managers overcharged the immigrants, permitted the immigrant homes to remain in a filthy condition from lack of care, and even were ready to furnish to keepers of disreputable houses young girls as servants in such houses. The Commission called the attention of the immigration commissioner at Ellis Island and of the authorities at Washington to these abuses. In a number of cases vigorous action was taken, and representatives of seven societies were forbidden access to the immigrant station until a complete change in the management had been brought about. Under the vigorous action of the immigration authorities the worst abuses have been stopped and care is taken to prevent their recurrence. The homes in some places are now inspected to prevent a relapse into the former conditions. In New York escorts from Ellis Island to their destination in the city are furnished by the immigration authorities at nominal rates to those needing them. The immigration authorities need to maintain constant vigilance and make frequent inspections in order to prevent abuses. It is believed that the societies and homes can be adequately controlled by the immigration authorities without additional legislation.

IMMIGRANT BANKS.

"Immigrant banks" are important factors in the life of southern and eastern European immigrants during their earlier years in the United States. The term "bank " as applied in most cases is a misnomer, for the bankers are usually steamship ticket agents, small merchants, saloon keepers, or labor agents, who, because of superior intelligence and a better knowledge of conditions in this country, become the general advisers of newly arrived immigrants of the same race. A great amount of money is annually placed in the hands of these so-called bankers for safe-keeping or for transmission abroad. Except in three or four States they are entirely unregulated by law," and in the past, through failure and defalcation, they have often been responsible for heavy losses on the part of the new immigrant population. In two or three States more or less effective measures

a See Vol. II, pp. 434-436.

have been adopted for the regulation of these "banks," and it is desirable for the protection of the immigrant that strict control be exercised over such institutions in all States where they are located.

BOARDS OF SPECIAL INQUIRY.

Boards of special inquiry are one of the most, if not the most, important factors in the administration of the immigration law. To them are referred for decision all cases held by the examining surgeon because of disease or mental or physical defects, and also every alien who may not appear to the examining immigrant inspector to be clearly and beyond doubt entitled to land. In the case of aliens certified by the examining surgeon as being afflicted with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, tuberculosis, or pronounced mental defects, the board has no alternative but to exclude, and from its decision in such cases there is no appeal. In the case of persons held as contract laborers or because of the likelihood that they may become a public charge, and in other cases, the board exercises discretionary power as to the admission or rejection of the alien, in which cases, however, there lies the right of appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The boards exercise a power which if not properly used may result in injustice to the immigrant or, through the admission of undesirable aliens, in harm to the country. It is important, therefore, that these boards should be composed of unprejudiced men of ability, training, and good judgment. Under the present law these boards are appointed by the commissioners of immigration at the various ports, from such of the immigrant officials in the service as the Commissioner-General of Immigration, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, shall from time to time designate as qualified to serve. At ports where there are fewer than three immigrant inspectors other United States officials may be designated for service on such boards.

All hearings before boards are required to be separate and apart from the public, but a complete permanent record of the proceedings, including all testimony produced, is kept. The decision of any two members of the board shall prevail, but either the alien, or any dissenting member of the board, may take an appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and the taking of such appeal shall operate to stay any action in regard to final disposal of the case until it has been passed upon by the Secretary. At all the important ports the boards of special inquiry are composed of immigrant inspectors, who generally are without judicial or legal training. This, together with the fact that they are selected by the commissioners of immigration at the ports where they serve, tends to impair the judicial character of the board and to influence its members in a greater or less degree to reflect in their decisions the attitude of the commissioner in determining the cases. The character of their decisions is indicated somewhat by the fact that nearly 50 per cent of the cases appealed are reversed by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, whose decision, under the law, must be based solely upon the evidence adduced before the board. This record of reversals on appeal suggests that their decisions which are not reviewed may be equally wrong.

In justice to the immigrant, and to the country as well, the character of these boards should be improved. They should be composed of men whose ability and training fit them for the judicial functions performed, and the provision compelling their hearings to be separate and apart from the public should be repealed.

In view of the number and importance of these appeals from the boards of special inquiry, and the amount of time and labor demanded of the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Labor, an additional assistant secretary should be authorized by Congress.

IMMIGRATION AND CRIME.

It is impossible from existing data to determine whether the immigrant population in this country is relatively more or less criminal than the native-born population. Statistics show that the proportion of convictions for crimes according to the population is greater among the foreign-born than among the native-born. It must be remembered, however, that the proportion of persons of what may be termed the criminal age is greater among the foreign-born than among natives, and when due allowance is made for this fact it appears that criminality, judged by convictions, is about equally prevalent in each class. It is obviously impossible to determine whether the proportion of unpunished criminals is relatively greater among the foreign or among the native born. It is sometimes stated that the detection and conviction of criminals, especially for higher crimes, is more difficult in the case of the foreign-born. Probably this is true of certain localities and perhaps generally true in the case of certain nationalities, but there is no proof that this condition applies to the foreignborn element as a whole in the country at large. It is possible that in some localities prejudice against or sympathy for foreigners influences convictions or acquittals. In large cities a part of the apparent crisinality of the foreign-born consists merely of violations of ordinances, which are offenses only because the persons who commit them are not naturalized. Prominent in this class of offenses is street peddling without a license in cities where such licenses are granted only to citizens.

The proportion of the more serious crimes of homicide, blackmail, and robbery, as well as the least serious offenses, is greater among the foreign-born. The disproportion in this regard is due principally to the prevalence of homicides and other crimes of personal violence among Italians and to the violation of city ordinances previously mentioned.

The United States immigration law provides for the exclusion of persons who have been convicted of or who admit having committed a crime involving moral turpitude, but notwithstanding this a considerable number of aliens of the following classes succeed in entering the United States:

1. Those who have been convicted of crime abroad and have served out their sentence.

2. Those who have been convicted of crime by foreign courts during their absence from the place of trial, having escaped arrest and fled the country.

a See Vol. II, p. 732.

Besides these our law does not exclude those who are regarded at home as dangerous or suspicious persons or probable criminals. There are two fundamental defects in the law relative to the immigration of criminal aliens. In the first place no adequate provision is made for securing a knowledge of the criminal record of aliens in other countries, and the inspection at United States ports that is largely depended upon for the detection of arriving aliens of the criminal class is in the nature of the case entirely inadequate to control the movement. As previously explained, in the case of Italy, advantage is not taken of the only instance in which arriving immigrants bring with them any written evidence as to their moral character at home.

The other serious, and in the opinion of the Commission inexcusable, defect is the fact that aliens admitted to this country, unless it appears that such admission was in violation of law, may pursue a criminal career without danger of deportation. To deport an alien of any class is entirely within the rights of any Government, and provision should be made for ridding the United States of aliens who, within a relatively short time after arrival, become criminals. It seems entirely reasonable and just that this country should not harbor dangerous criminals of another country, especially when their residence in the United States has been so brief that their tendency to crime can not be attributed to conditions arising subsequent to their entry into this country. Under the Canadian immigration law aliens who become a charge upon the public, by reason of crime or any other cause, within three years after their arrival may be, and in considerable numbers are, deported to the countries whence they came. Under the British aliens act the right to deport criminals is exercised, and the Commission emphatically believes that the same principle should be applied in the United States. It is not believed that the practice of deportation should be sufficiently extended to include minor offenses, nor that the period of time within which deportation could be made should be longer than the period required for naturalization.

IMMIGRATION AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

The effective administration of the present immigration law insures the admission to the United States of physically healthy immigrants, so that there is no adequate cause for concern in this regard. While it is true that a large part of the present-day immigration is drawn from countries where certain dangerous and loathsome contagious diseases are prevalent among the immigrating classes, the medical inspection conducted by the steamship companies at foreign ports of embarkation and elsewhere in Europe prevents the coming to this country of great numbers of diseased aliens, and the inspection here by officers of the United States Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service effectively supplements the examination abroad.

It is doubtless true that some cases of contagious or infectious disease are introduced, and to a limited extent spread, in this country because of immigration, but there is no cause for serious alarm in this regard. From investigations of the Commission in industrial localities and from other investigations that have been made it seems probable that a considerable number of persons afflicted with vene

real diseases are admitted to this country and that such diseases have been spread in many communities as a result of immigration. It is difficult always to detect the existence of such diseases by means of a medical inspection as it is now conducted at United States ports, and it would seem impracticable to make the medical examination more thorough in this regard than it is at the present time.

The Commission included within the scope of the investigation the study of cases admitted to Bellevue and Allied Hospitals in New York City. These hospitals are public charitable institutions, and a sufficient number of persons are treated there to warrant some conclusions relative to the existence of disease among the poorer classes of the foreign-born. While it appears that a considerable number of immigrants are treated at these hospitals for various causes within a comparatively short time after their admission to the United States, it does not appear that the number is sufficiently large or the diseases for which they are treated are sufficiently serious to warrant the conclusion that diseased persons are being admitted in any considerable numbers. A study of these cases, however, permits an interesting and significant comparison between immigrants of the old and the new class with regard to alcoholism. Of the 23,758 cases treated at Bellevue and Allied Hospitals during the period covered by the Commission's inquiry, 25.5 per cent of the native-born and 18.2 per cent of the foreign-born persons involved were treated for alcoholism. Among the foreign-born this treatment was confined almost entirely to the races of old immigration, such as the Irish, Scotch, English, and Germans, while relatively very few southern and eastern Europeans were treated for that cause. A striking difference between the old and new immigration in this regard was also apparent to a greater or less degree in many industrial communities included in the Commission's general investigation. Some complaint was made that drunkenness interfered with the industrial efficiency of some southern and eastern Europeans, but these cases were comparatively rare.

IMMIGRATION AND PAUPERISM.

In the earlier days of unregulated immigration pauperism among newly admitted immigrants was one of the most serious phases of the problem. In New York, Massachusetts, and other States which received immigrants in large numbers the care of those who either were paupers on arrival or became paupers soon afterwards so taxed the public resources that various attempts were made to levy a duty on arriving immigrants for the purpose of supporting the large number of those who became charges upon the public. It is recorded that in some cases a considerable part of the immigrants arriving on a ship would be so destitute of means of support that it was necessary to transport them immediately to almshouses, and the earlier poorhouse records show that there were constantly being cared for large numbers of newly arrived foreign-born. At the present time, however, pauperism among newly admitted immigrants is relatively at a minimum, owing to the fact that the present immigration law provides for the admission only of the able-bodied, or dependents whose support by relatives is assured.

a See Vol. II, pp. 253–290.