Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-13
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS

'COpyFlgnt, lJoi. by joseph Is. bOWIes.l
NEW YORK, October 12.-Call it hospi-
taity. call it missions, call it patriotism,
call 1t self-p election, or call it plain, or
binary, unspeclaliZed religion, but by
whatever name it is designated the work
of the Ellis Island representatives of the
various religious bodies is one of the
most interesting phases of contemporary
Christianity.
1t is the church at the nations gate,
giving tho clear evidence of kindly deeds
that this is Christian land To be the
first to touch the life of the incoming
stranger. making him aware, in this su-
preme houc of his experience, that re-
ligion is an active, aggressive and hos
pitable force in the aliens land of prom
ise is the newly awakened and laudaple
ambition of organized Christianity.
The news of this lies not in the novelt.
of The missionarys presence at Ellis Is
land, for that is no novelty The extra
ordinary aspect of the case is that Just
now all the large Christian bodies of
America are showing an alert interest in
the immigrant and are inging their
powerful forces to bear upon him. SO that
they are becoming one of the mUst potent
actors in the immigration problem. The
recent report of Chief Powderly to the
Secretary OF Commerce and Labor, point
ing out what industrial opportunities
await the newcomers and whe. e has nat
urally provoked wide discussion; yet what
the churches propose and have under
taken is probably OF far greater moment.
Time was when the mission1ry at
Ellis Island had hard job OF it. with
all sorts of graft leagued against the
fno q
sought to serve. There were crooked
inspectors and other crooked officials
graft in the immigrants restaurant,
graft in the money changing, graft in
the steamship and railroad agencies,
graft in the boarding house runners,
and worse than graft in the enterpris
ing efforts of the white slave mer-
chants. Long before religion awoke to
anything like an adequate conception
of tile opportunities presented at Ellis
Island the forces of evil We're reaping
rich harvest there. The years during
which these harpies. almost unnolested,
plucked the stranger at the gate do not
make an attractive chapter of America
history.
Now there are two-score missionaries
at Ellis Island, and the commissioner of
immigration, Robert Watchorn, the
man at the gate, is himself an earnest
Methodist and in close sympathy with
every effort to serve the immigrant S
strongly upon this newly awakened
religious consciousness of America to
support him in his rigorous dealings
with steamship and railway companies
to compel them to give the alien a
square deal. 1t has been the rule, rather
than the exception. until very lately,
for these transportation companies to
treat immigrants worse than they treat
four-footed cattle. In an address to the
Ellis Island missionaries one day Com
missioner Watchorn gave them these
words of encouragement and admoni-
ton:
Your work as missionaries, has al
WAYS commended itself to me. | know
of no fellow mortal who stands more
In need of such kindly ministrations than
one who having left his native home,
finds himself barred at the threshold of
the country in which he hopes to acquire
a domicile During the period of uncer-
tainty, as to whether he is to be admitted
or deported, he certainly does stand in
need of sympathetic aid. 1t is my pur-
pose and my desire-consistent as com
missioner of immigration-to see to it
that such consolation as you may bring
shall not be denied him; ! shall, however.
insist that each one of you will respect
the law and conform to the regulations.
The sworn officers of the law must be the
sole Judges as to who shall enter tn
United States, and as to those who may
not enter; and their judgment and Their