TABLE 1. Passengers landed at Castle Garden, New York, from sailing vessels 2. Cubic air space per steerage passenger allowed by laws specified, on Page. 589 590 591 592 593 594 594 596 596 597 600 602 595 601 STEERAGE LEGISLATION, 1819 TO 1908. The Immigration Commission's review of steerage legislation, of which the following is an abstract, deals with steerage conditions and the laws of the United States and other countries regulating the carriage of steerage passengers at sea since 1819, when the first United States law upon the subject was enacted. Three distinct periods of time are covered, as follows: The period of the sailing vessel, 1819 to 1855. The period of transition from sail to steam, 1856 to 1872. In addition to the text and a discussion of the various United States steerage laws enacted from 1819 to 1908, the review shows briefly the development of passenger legislation in other countries, together with the present laws of Great Britain, Germany, and Italy upon the subject. PERIOD OF THE SAILING VESSEL, 1819 TO 1855. Prior to the year 1819 there were no United States laws governing or regulating in any manner ocean passenger traffic, either going from or coming to American ports. As a result abuses were permitted and practiced on transporting vessels that caused distress, disease, and death, especially among emigrants bound for America. From the beginning of the movement of population from Europe to the New World, suffering and death were common on emigrant ships. Among the earlier instances recorded was that of 3,000 Palatines forwarded in 1710 by England to New York, 470 of whom died on the voyage, and 250 soon after their arrival, of ship fever. There is also a gruesome account given by a Moravian missionary to the Indians of experiences on a ship which sailed in 1731 for America from Rotterdam with 156 emigrants. She was bound for Philadelphia via Falmouth. After delaying her departure from the first port for three weeks, she stayed for an equal period at Falmouth, and although victualed in the beginning of her voyage for only twelve weeks, no fresh supplies were taken on board. When she had been at sea eight weeks, the passengers were put on short allowance, and during the last four weeks of their journey they were unable to obtain bread. Finally, they were paying 18 pence for a rat, and 6 pence for a mouse, to such extremities had they been reduced. In the earlier days of the Republic the emigration movement from Europe to the United States was small. It is estimated that from 1784 to 1794 the yearly immigration averaged about 4,000, and that from 1794 to 1810 it was not more than 6,000. Unfriendly relations existing between the United States and Great Britain greatly decreased the movement from 1810 to 1816, but soon after the declaration of peace an unprecedented emigration from Europe to the United States occurred. It is estimated that no less than 20,000 persons arrived in 1817. It was this great and sudden increase, coming upon a class of vessels totally unfit for such service under normal conditions and completely unrestricted by any law on this side, that was responsible for the indescribable suffering and mortality. Upon the increased demand for transportation to the United States following the close of the second war with England, many vessels which had originally been constructed solely for the purpose of transporting freight were hurriedly transformed into emigrant passenger vessels, that they might enjoy some of the profits of a business that had become lucrative. This, together with the fact that excessive overcrowding was practiced on all vessels, rendered the condition of emigrants at sea almost unbearable. It was hardly to be expected that these vessels would be voluntarily transformed in such a way as to sacrifice carrying capacity for the sake of making them reasonably habitable. ACT OF 1819.⚫ Probably the immediate cause of the legislative interference of 1819 was the reports of the suffering and privation to which emigrants had been subjected on board ship during the years following the close of the second war with Great Britain, and especially during 1817 and 1818. The law which was approved March 2, 1819, contained provisions intended to regulate the number of passengers to be carried on each vessel and to provide for the sufficient and proper victualing of each vessel. By this act each ship was limited to carry only two passengers to every 5 tons" of such ship or vessel's weight; " but the ship's crew was not included in this count. Each ship or vessel leaving an American port was to have on board for each passenger carried 60 gallons of water, 1 gallon of vinegar, 100 pounds of salted provisions, and 100 pounds of wholesome ship bread. At the port of landing in the United States a full and complete report or manifest was to be made to the customs authorities by the ship's officer, giving the number of passengers carried, together with their names, sexes, ages, and occupations. This provision of the law marked the beginning of statistics relative to immigration to the United States. For twenty-seven years this law was in effect, but just how much good resulted from its operation and what real benefits it conferred on the emigrant passenger are matters of doubt. Certain it is that the chief object sought by its advocates in Congress, namely, "a security of comfort and convenience," was not realized in any appreciable degree. Eliminating for the time being such vessels as left United States ports with passengers for Europe, and considering only such as brought passengers to this country, it will be seen that the benefit to the individual emigrant resulting from the operation of the law amounted to little. By the limiting of the number of passengers according to the total tonnage of the ship rather than according to the tonnage capacity of the steerage, the emigrant was left as badly off in • United States Bureau of Statistics. 1820 to 1903," p. 1. "Immigration into the United States, |