Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-19
IMMIGRATION
A Bill to Do That to Be Offered
in Parliament.
THE CAUSES FOR 1T
UNDESIRABLE FOREIGNERS HAVE
REMAINED IN ENGLAND.
They Compete With the British Work
men-Law Will Initiate Those of
the United States.
THE CAUSES FOR 1T
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

| Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
/ LLONDON. March - 1904
| bill restricting immigration will shortly
| receive the attention of the British paria-
| ment. For generations England has been a
| highway for the people of northern Europe
! emigrating to foreign countries. She has
| derived enormous benefit from this move
| ment in the matter of furnishing business
| for her great steamship lines, extending, as
| they do, to all parts Of the world There
| has been penalty to pay, however, for
| certain percentage of these emigrants,
| mostly of the undesirable class, have re-
manned in Great Britain. Coming they
| do from the ignorant and clannsh races of
| the north, they have esta blished them
selves in communities in London, which
constitute distinct cities. almost as foreign
| in their characteristics as the places of
original habitation.
To London have come the Polish and Rus
| sian Jews in such numbers to give rise
| to grave municipal problems. The most
| serious competition encountered by the
| British working man is from these alien
communities. There are found the sweat
shops and all the cheapest forms of labor.
"A large part OF the cost OF city government
| is incurred in restraining these people and
| in enforcing sanitary and housing meas
ures necessary to the safety of the entire
country.
| Free trade in merchandise has naturally
been accompanied by sediment favoring
| no restriction upon commerce or industry,
| whether it meant the coming or going of
| goods or humanity. With the movement
| for a restriction of foreign competition in
! industrial lines has come = revolution in
| the sentiment toward the unrestricted adj
| mission of any and all kinds Of people.
| The Jewish quarters i'll Stepney and Beth
| nal Green in London are responsible for
the present acute stage of the movement in
| favor of protecting the people of Great
| Britain and Ireland from alien competition
| in labor channels.
Competition With Home Labor.
| London is such a big city that growth
| is no longer considered desirable. To re-
| strict the concentration of humanity, to
minimize the evils of city life. is more inn
portant than to increase the population and
weight of the local industries. The idea
| of questioning the right of any human be-
| ing to land in Great Britain is obnoxious to
! conservative English sentiment, but 1t has
become matter of preservation, and
with an almost universal suffrage the prob
| lem is now in the hands of the wage-earn-
ing classes, who feel most keenly the crowd
ing of the labor mart. Any measure which
can now become law the first step
In this direction will be extremely moderate
in It's provisions and contain no clauses
calculated to decrease the business of the
great English steamship companies which
derive fundamental part of their earn
ings from transporting the migratory mil
lions
Compared to the problem presented in
! the United States. this matter of immigra-
ton into England does not seem considera-
ble for while nearly million people came
to America in the past twelve months, the
total permanent immigration into Great
Britain and Ireland less than a hum
dred thousand Twice this number passed
through England en- route to foreign coun-
tries in the same period of time, the United
States receiving the bulk of them.
England is already overcrowded by fea-
son of the fact that her population seeks
the cities and apparently avoids the coun-
try as a plague. With the agricultural
industry at it's lowest ebb, and the general
industrial situation throughout the coun-
try In a most dscouraging condition.
steady increase, however small, in the
wage-demanding element emphasizes the
distress already felt.
The English government now proposes
that no immigrant shall be allowed perma-
nent footing upon English soil except under
certain conditions the fulfllment of which
would imply more or less desirability. The
bill is not yet drawn but its general lines
are fairly well determined.
OF each newcomer will be demanded a
passport from the country of origin, on
which is to be recorded the bearers past
history as certified ia by competent au-
thority. Intending immigrants with a bad
record will be excluded. Shipping COM
panies landing such undesirable aliens will
be compelled to return them to the port of
embarkation at their own. expense Immi-
grants who are finally allowed to land will
be subject TO registration and police sur
veillance during the first three or possibly
five years of their residence in Great Britain,
and will be required to report themselves
from time to time TO the registrars of births
and deaths in the districts in which they
live. This regulation will he for the pur-
pose of deportation in case the person adj
IL, l.It
the population of his adopted country.
The English government will under this
proposed law receive authority from parlia-
ment to prohibit the admission of any ad-
ditional aliens to any district which appears
to have become congested with foreign
population. This latter feature is consid-
cred most important, and is an attempt to
remedy the serious evils now existing in
some parts of the city of London which
have arisen through the clannishness of
certain classes of immigrants.
Not to Restrict Aliens in Transit.
There will probably be no attempt made
in the new bill to restrict any movement of
aliens through England en- route to foreign
countries To do this would be considered
an infringement upon the rights of the
Transportation companies, though it may
he that system of bonding will be insti-
tinted thus placing the responsibility for
the safe conduct of all Objectionable per-
sons through British territory upon the
common carrier.
The proposition to legalize the restric-
lions upon additional population in con-
gested districts would appeal strongly to
the interest of city authorities in the
United States if such scheme was feast
ble under the American form OF govern
ment The great problem in connection
with immigration into America is the dis
tribution of the new arrivals. There is no
law or regulation to prevent these peo-
pie from stopping in New York or any
other city which may be their port of
first arrival. Many parts of the United
States are suffering from shortage OF
labor supply and lack of desirable popu-
Iation, but so far no practical plan has
been suggested whereby the immigrants
can be distributed according to the needs
of different localities. The increase in the
population of New York city is largely
due to imni grafton from foreign coun-
tries and the most serious problems
which have faced the government of the
CITY arise from the resulting congestion
in the poorer section.
Under the American form of govern
ment it would be impossible or impracti-
cal, at least to prohibit the free ingress
of any person coming within the mean
ing of the law as desirable citizen. At the
best it could only be a state or municipal