The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-06-18
LATIMER DISCUSSES
IMMIGRATION SITUATION
WRITES A LETTER ON THE SUB
=. JEOT WHILE AT SEA.
Gathering Valuable Information
While Abroad With Special
-: Commission.

very interesting letter from Senator
Latimer, in which he tells of the
voyage of the immigration commits
sion, of which he is q member, from
Boston to mid-ocean, where the let
ter was written, and Of the plans Of
the party after reaching Gibraltar,
where the letter was mailed. The let
ter will be read by everybody In
South Carolina, and the subsequent
epistles promised by Senator Lati-
mer will be waited with interest. 1t
appears that while the party is, as
was to be anticipated, enjoying the
trip, Senator Latimer has, as was al
so to have been expected, lost no time
in getting to work himself and max
ing the other commissioners get to
work too.
Senator Latimer's Letter.
To the Editor Of The News and
Courier-Perhaps a few words con-
cerning the immigration commission
and its trip abroad will be Of interest
to the readers Of your paper. AS most
OF them already know, this commits
sion was created at the last session
OF Congress, and its creation grew out
Of the discussion of the immigration
question, which was given a great
deal of attention during the session.
This was emphasized by the number
Of arnnnlD,nnic fh,{ s,f,
OF conflicting kinds. Some wanted
our present immigration laws made
more lax, while others wanted them
made more stringent. Congress was
slow in agreeing to any particular
measure, and there was much uncer-
tainty as to what should be done for
the best interests of the country. Fin
ally it was decided to appoint COM
mission to investigate the whole mat
ter in NIL Of its phases and to report
its findings to Congress. The com
mission consists Of three Senators,
three Representatives and three lay
m'n appointed by the President. The
Senators are Mcssrs. Dillingham;,
Lodge and myself, members of the
Senate committee Oh immigration.
The Representative are Messrs How
ell, Bennett and Burnett. members of
the House committee on immigration
The President appointces are
Messrs. Charles p. Neill, j. w. jerks
and w. R. Wheeler. Senator Lodge
and Messrs Neill and jerks were I'M
able to take the European trip for
different reasons and they will be
studying immigration questions in
the United States this summer while
we are abroad. Each member Of the
commission taking the trip has his
wife along. Among others along
with the party are Miss Wheeler, a
neice Of Commissioner Wheeler; Mr..
Burnett, son Of Congressman Bur-
nett; Miss Olive Latimcr and Mr.. A.
NJ. Carpenter, editor of the Ander-
sou Daily Mail.
The commission sailed from Boston
{" Saturday, May Is, Oh the steamer
Canopic, Of the White Star Line, end
yesterday we passed he Azores, si"p-
pin" for a few hours at Ponta Dclya-
da. on the Island of st. Michael. We
are due Monday at Gibraltar and the
steamer then goes on to Naples, where
the party will land. The weather has
been ideal so far and the trip has
been delightful. There has been little
if any seasickness.
Studying the Steerage.
The commission has already start
ed its work. There are about 400
steerage passengers ON board, which
class embraces the immigrants, who
are returning to their native hAmes.
We have gone among them and made
Investigations as to their reasons for
returning. About 33 per cent are re-
turning on account Of sickness, many
are going home to visit their relatives,
and others are going over to bring
relatives back with them. The general
condition Of the stcerage passengers
is good; they have fair accommodate
tions and the legal requirements of
our Government with regard to space
on board the ship and sanitary condi-
tions are complied with.
A close inuuiry among the Dassen-