Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-20
All TIE cardinal virtues In . private soldier
for thirteen dollars o month
Pa.ssngsrs sometims at Fault.

for thirteen dollars . MONTH
Passengers Sometime at Fault.
Passengers landing from steamships On
the docks at New York might save them
selves and the inspectors q great deal OF
annoyance IL they would remember that
Congress makes the laws and the inspec-
tors are sworn to enforce them. II they
do not enforce them they are liable to dis
nsissal On the dock Of the American line.
when landed q few weeks ago. heard q
woman.she was not q lady. although she
was richly dressed and travelled with q
mafd-abuse one of the inspectors in q most
vulgar manner. She either had been de-
tected In smuggling something valuable, or
assumed that he had been sent there to an
which requires an inspection OF baggage.
Her language and har Indignation would
have been unreasonable under the most
provoking circumstances. but she was evil
IDENTIFY looking for trouble and she found
It, The inspector was very pa..ent and
made no reply, but proceeded to perform
his duty Ia gentlemanly manner. When
she refused to give him her keya. or un-
lock her trunk he went for his superior Of
ncer. who endeavored to explain why her
trunks must be examined. ana. Of course
she finally had to yield. I wondered what
sh:; was trying to conceal for It was very
| evident that she hoped and expected to get
through without any inspection, and she
took pains to inform the boarding officers
and everybody else she talked with that she
was an intimate fris q of a very high Of
fetal. BY long experience the inspectors
have learned to examine the baggage OF
such people very carefully. and 1t Is pretty
certain that In this case 'miiady do pro-
test too much"
Obnoxious Head Tax.
There are many annoyances apout the
customs inspection and the immigration
regulations that might be abolished with
out doing harm to anybody. One of the
most provoking and unreasonable Is that
which requires the collection of two dol
lars from every foreign passenger who
crosses the Mexican or the Canadian houn-
dairy. This head money" tax was i'm
posed by Congress to pay the expense OF
maintaining Ellis Island at New York. and
other landing stations for immigrants, hut
Canadian boundaries. where the attempt to
collect II provokes almost daily disa gree
able controversies and bad temper on the
part OF the inspectors as well as the pas
sengers- The tax does not apply to Mex
leans or Canadians crossing their own
boundar!es. nor to citizens of the United
States. but every German. every French
man: every Englishman. that crosses the
Mexican border into the United States IS
held up at the frontier and required to pay
| towo dollars or get of the train. If they do
not happen to be residents OF Mexico 1t is
! necessary for the immigration officer to
| has To call the conductor and the Pull man
people to confirm his statements because
an experienced traveller is always aston
| ished when the demand is mace. He has
never heard Of such q thing in Europe,
Asia or Africa. and he cannot realize why
a great, enlightened nation, like the United
| States. should impose such penalty upon
friendly neighbors who visit this country.
Passengers who arrive by sea are not an
moved that way, because the tax is paid by
| the steamship companies and added to the
price OF the tickets.
| The amount collected on the Mexican and
cecding ten or twelve dollars day, and 1t
| has already cost the merchants of San An
tonic, ST. Louis, Chicago and other jobbing
| centers In the west millions OF dollars in
| trade. The retail business of Mexico Is al
most entirely In the hands of Germans and
Frenchmen and many of the largest enter
prises are under the management of En-
glishmen. who were formerly in the habit
Of coming to the United States to buy their
goods and supplies. But since this head
tax was imposed by Congress In the act of
1903 many of them have suffered expert
ences that were very annoying and will
cross the ocean. to buy their stock rather
than submit again to what they consider an
insult.
Proposed Increase Of Tax.
There is a bill pending in the House of
Representatives. having already passed the
] Senate. which raises this head tax to So,
and that, Of course. means more controver-
sizes and more trouble. and Is really a seri-
Gus assault obstacle to trade. Commits
sioner Sargent Of the immigration bureau
has repeatedly recommended that the tax
on travellers from Mexico and Canada who
are not immigrants be abolished, or at
least, that 1t should not be imposed upon
any traveller a second time, because many
foreigners living in Mexico and Canada are
compelled to cross the border several times
a year, but Congress will not --sten to him;
and the commercial organizations of Chi
cago. st. Louis and other places have never
taken it up because they do not know any
thing about 1t.
The chairman of the immigration commit
tee is Benjamin Howell of New Jersey. but
Joseph G. Cannon of Danville, ILL.,, is still
a member Of the House of Representatives
and whatever he says goes. II the mer-
chants of Chicago and st. Louis were to
get Uncle joe in a corner and make him
promise to have the immigration bill now
pending in the House amended so as to re-
lfeve the merchants of Mexico and Canada
from this odious head-money tax, a great
deal Of trouble would be saved, and our
trade with those countries would be pro-
NOTED.