New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-12-12
DESTITUTE IuuiGR.iYTS.

Every few days the daily papers of this
CITY report he arrival at Ca tie Garden of
numbers OF immigrants from Europe who are
absolutely without means OF support, and have
no relatives 10 depend mon in thus country,
and 10 prospect Of obtaining employment.
These poor people are deposited upon Oul
shores by the foreign steam iD companies
wittou money enough IN ger pockets to pay
for meal Of yictuals. They become necessarily
objects OF public charity lie moment they set
foot upon our soil. II they are ablc-bodicd,
industriou, unmarried mon or women the
Castle Garden officials are not long bur
drued by them, but IN the cases
of families dependent upon single
brcad-winncr the difficulty of di,posing of
them is very great. Oitcn the head OF the
family knows no trade and - lifted for no
employment save Tia of common laborcr.
Arriving in the winter season, when there -
no demand for teamwork and when such
outdoor work as the building Of roads and
railroads. the erection Of buildings and the
clearing of land comes TO a standsti!l, such
persons find the market for unskllled labor
fullv stocked, and their trouble is increased
in most cases by their ignorance of the lam
guage of the country. They remain for days
and sometimes weeks upon the hands of the
emigration authorities, and when got rid OF
they too often begin life in the New World
by begging in the city streets.
Why should not the Government take steps
TO prevent the importation of such paupers
Even the most stubborn advocates of the weak
government theory will hardly claim that we
are bound to keep poorhouse FOR the whole
tl.t h..ra 10 nttrar
enough in the Federal machinery to prevent
foreign ships from landing diseased cattle at
our ports, and parity OF reasoning will COM
vince them that the same power properly ex-
tends to the exclusion of human beings who
must either beg, steal, or starve as soon as
they are set ashore. a practicable method Of
exercising this power without keeping out any
cmigrants who give promise of becoming self
sustaining citizens Ought not to be diff
tcult to discover. Consul Byers, IN his
recent letter to TIE TRIBUNE, suggested
consular inspection mt the foreign ports where
the emigrants embark. and requirement chat
the steamship companies shall land no emf
grants in this country not furnished with GER
tificates that they have passed such iDspcc-
ton and have the means to support themselves
here, or o reasonable prospect OF speedily earn
ing livelihood. Such plan might be OPP
pressive to few worthy persons desiring to
cmigrate, but it must be borne i'll mind that
the absence of all restrictions is oppressive to
equally worthy persons in our OWN country,
who have to pay taxes to support asylums,
poorhouses and jails filed with the refuse of
European society. Our charity should begin
at home. We are under no moral obligation
10 undertake the support of the people whom
the monarchica systems and standing armies
of Europe have impoverished or brutalized.
1t may be objected that it would be impos-
sible to draw n dividing line between the
emgrants likely to form valuable addition
TO the population Of the United States and
those likely to become public burdens or ,ub-
lie pests. If the benefit of doubt were
given TO the intending emigrant, the difficulty
need not be very great. 1t might fairly be
taken for granted that crippled and diseased
persons with 10 relatives or friends in this
country are proper subjects for exclusion,
and that families that propose to embark
without dollar to pay for q DAYS food when
they arrive, and with no prospect Of employ
meut. should also be detained. little