Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31
ITALIANS WILL COME.
In Spite Of the New Orleans Affair
They Insist Upon Emigrating
TO AMERICA, LAND OF THE FREE.
Talk of q New Bridge Across the Allegheny
at Sharpsburg.
DECORATION DAY INDUSTRIAL NOTES

grants has increased rather than decreased,
showing that the italian still has more con-
fdence in this people and government than
he has in his own. Within the last SIX
months more Italians than ever have entered
this country, and I have ceased to be sur
prised when encounter such a preponder-
ance of the Italian element as I did one day
this week, when, out of a party OF 1oS I'M
migrants at the Union station, SO were from
Italy, and chiefly from the country
south of Rome and also Sicily. Whle
the immigration from Italy and
Southeastern Europe generally has been
increasing, that from Great Britain, Ger
many and Scandinavia has been falling off,
As to the cause of the former phenomenon
believe that it was the general belief that
a war was impending that impelled so many
Italians to leave their native land, in order
to escape conscription.
"Do you think the amended immigration
law of March 8, 1890, has had good results?'
The New Law Quite an Acquisition.
eyes; have no doubt that the new law,
which bars out the insane, paupers and
criminals, and those liable to become
charge upon this country, as well as con-
tract labor, has kept out great many un-
desirable immigrants. 1t is being strictly
enforced, and this has made the steamship
companies more careful about the class of
steerage passengers they bring over. Apd
right here would like to say that a very
efficient check upon immigration could be
obtained by compelling the steamship COM
panies entering our ports to give more space
4hA rkA % thn IrhIT II
immigrant. The space allotted to each
passenger in the steerage is regulated by
law now, but it is not, I know by experience
and close inquiry, sufficient to protect
health and morality. If the space per
passenger were enlarged fewer immigrants
could be carried across the Atlantic in each
vessel, and this would force the steamship
companies to increase their charges, thus
making another check upon immigration, as
well as promoting the best interests of the
immigrants themselves. We are not wont
to realize how largely we ourselves are re-
sposible for the enormous immigration, but
it is fact that nearly if not quite 30 per
cent of the immigration comes here upon
prepaid tickets-tickets, that is, that are
bought in this country and sent to the other
side. I have been inquiring into this phase
of the question and find the following
features of immigration for the year 1890:
Immigration Figures for Year.
'The Inman Steamship Company has
81, 900 agents in this country, and last year
80 per cent of her steerage passengers were
carried upon prepaid tickets bought in
America. The Hamburg-American Steam
ship Company has ], 258 agents in the United
States, and over 40 per cent of the steerage
passengers carried last year were prepaid.
The Anchor line has $500 agents here, and
over 50per cent of the steerage passengers car
ried were prepaid. The North German Lloyd
has 2,2O0 agents here, and 40 per cent of the
steerage passengers carried were prepaid.
The National line has 900 agents here, and
% per cent of the steerage passengers carried
were prepaid, The Guion line has !, 800
agents, and % per cent Of the steerage was
prepaid. The Fabre line has 1000 agents
here, and 80 per cent of the steerage passen-
gers wert prepaid. The Cunard line has $50
agents, iand 10 per cent of the steer
age passengers were prepaid. These
are enough figures to convey an
idea of the magnitude of
the prepaid steerage business. This branch
of the steamship passenger business is fos-
tered by the practice of the companies of is
suing books of tickets, on which commits
sion of So per ticket is paid to the agent or
broker. The average cost of the prepaid
ticket last year was from S23 to $26. The
agencies by which immigration is promoted
from this side, you can see, are numerous
and powerful enough, but there are more
and stronger ones in Europe. For num-
ber of years this country has permitted
itself to be used as dumping ground for
the refuse of Europe, the pauper and GRIM
inal surplus of the Old World.
How the Stream Was Turned This Way.
"Great Britain, till 1883, found Australia
q convenient recepticle for undesirable citi-
zens, but in that year Australia refused to
take any more convict immigrants. Then
the poor law authorities, the charitable
societies and steamship agents in
Great Britain turned such stream of
unwholesome emigrants upon the United
States that our Government notified Her
Majesty's that paupers, ETC.. were not
wanted here, and the wholesale deportation
of them to America must be stopped
Canada likewise kicked about the same
time, when it was revealed that between
1851 and 1886 over 10000 of poor people and
paupers had been deported to our northern
neighbor's shores at a cost of e152, 952. The
amount of money used in Ireland for assist
ing emigrants has been very great. As
early as 1889 the poor law authorities were
empowered to borrow money to assist emf
grafton, and by the land act of 1881 they
were again authorized to borrow not more
than G2OO, 900 for the purpose, of which not
more than one-third was to be spent in
anv one year. In the arrears act of
1882 sum not to exceed e1OO, 900 was
appropriated from the Irish Church
Temporalities fund to assist emigration, at
the rate of e5 per emigrant, and the appro-
priation was increased in 1883 to e200, 900.
The tide of immigration which this assist
ance started contained such undesirable ele-
ments that the United States Government
protested, and as result immigrants had to
produce letters showing that they had
friends in this country. But in spite of all
protests and all regulations, the paupers and
criminals kept on coming from all parts of
the Old World, and no satisfactory remedy
was found till the present law went into
operation.
Impossible to Keep All Out.
'It is impossible, think, to exc lude al
undesirable elements, but the law as now
enforced certainly keeps out great many
that would under the old regula-
tions have got in. and become
burden upon us. The ,criminal class
is naturally the hardest to exclude. An i'm
migrant can't be expected to confess his
criminal character, and the police authori-
ties of his native land are glad enough to
aid him in concealing it if thereby they can
get rid of him. In Sweden, for example,
there were several socities until quite re-
Gently that openly paid the passage of lib
! y