The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-09-04
Commissioner of Immigra-
ton Passes Away After
a Long Illness.
PARALYTIC STROKE
GIVEN AS CAUSE
Had Been Kept TO His Home in
Washington for Some Time as
Result Of Fall.

/ frank Pierce Sargent. commissioners
general Of the Bureau Of Immigration.
department OF Commerce ana Labor.
one OF the best-knoWn immigration ex-
+ peris Ia the world. died at his home.
the manor house. at o'clock this morn
/ ing, as the result Of 2. paralytic stroke.
Wnicn followed fan Several weeks ago
IN spite OF the stroke OF parslvsis
which Mr.. Sargent suffered after his
taH down stairs while visiting mar
/ shepardstown, " Va, in July. be bad
! been recovering. II was believed. and
/ even his close friends in the Iramfgra-
ton Bureau were taken entirely bv z,Ir-
prise, when they learned Of his death
4 this morning.
! The death Of the commissioner gen
eral cast the bureau into gloom for
/ ne had been one Of the. best-liked men
about the Department OF Commerce. and
Labor and had for years been noted
for his sunny disposition and his cheer
fuI nature.
| Mr. Sargent was one of those COM
paratiyely young. active. and forceful
men with whom President Roosevelt de-
/ lighted 70 surround hiaselL Efs was
/ born nfty-iour years ego AT East Or
ange, Vt, and through ali his early
years ne had only the education OF the
| common schools OF his native town and
/ his own sturdy character 10 helm him
II the tight
Works With Determination.
| But with the determination that seems
| to have been one Of his chief charac-
teristies he made his battle and made
| = so well that for seventeen years he
was head of the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Engineers and Firemen. q post
| than which there are few greater in the
world OF union organization
He had not only an aptitude for the
control OF such an organization through
Z his many Commanding qualities. but he
had nve years OF practical experience
nrlng on the Southern Pacific railway,
his work lying mostly IN the country
near Tucson. Ariz., where shortly before
1851 ne removed Tor the sake of his
declining health.
His personality soon showed Itself in
the WOTk or his local lodge OF the
Brotherhood, and, in 1855. he was sent
as a delegate TO the convention OF the
order il Philadelphia Here he was
elected head Of the union and he kept
the post through successive years BY the
ability which he displayed
II was SAID OF him by men who knew
him and his work as head of this most
powerful OF organizations, that never,
during all the time he was its presi-
dent, had a railroad president or gen
eral manager refused TO see Frank P
Sargent. when card bearing that
name was sent in
Did Not Approve Strikes.
He did not believe in strikes and made
IT his business to see that none were
needed. He commanded the respect Of
the men whom he represented and the
men who owned the roads for which
these men worked. 1t was rumored. not
long ago that the railroad organization
was anxious 10 place Mr.. Sargent once
again at the head Of the fremen, but
If such was the desire of the union il
had not reached the stage OF action
before his death.
According 10 those who knew him
best, Mr. Sargent was not possessed of
the theory that the immigrant is
creature TO be lightly tossed about from
one nation to another He Ditie1 the
thousands of poor men and women.
who. coming 10 this free country in the
hope OF better and more prosperous
existence, were forced TO leave before
they had gone further than an immi-
grant stations uninvitiHg rooms
He had done all that he could do
and his friends are certain that he
would have done much more had he
lived to protect the stranger who de-
sired to settle IN America
Improves Service.
lie had already done much to bring
the immigration service into such shape
that immigrants would not come to the
gates Of TIE country and then be turned
back penniless and friendIess. He had a..
entered into what arrangements were
possible with foreign governments TO
guard the helpless traveller from the
crooks of his own land. who wished only
to get his money and cared not whether
he ever landed in the United States.
Mr., SargentS personal attention to
the work under his direction sent him
into all parts Of the land, and within
the last few years he had visited every
post which comes under his furisdic-
tion-and he tried TO improve conditions
in most Of them.
It is due largely to his work that the
surreptitious entrance OF foreigners. who
should be excluded, into this country
over the Mexican and Canadian bound
aries. has been made almost impossible
He had thrown safeguards about the
posts on both these dividing lines which
have done much TO keep out undesir-
of Chinese.
After the anarchists episodes In New
York and Chicago a few months age,
Mr. Sargent was more than ever n
terested in the exclusion Of the criminal
class OF immigrants, and the bureau
under his direction, is known TO have
been taking steps for such exclusion.
Large Man Physically.
Mr.. Sargent was a large man. weigh
ing close to go pounds, and looking not
unlike Judge Taft He POSSESSED the
jolly disposition which men of his build
usually possess, and his heart was built
in proportion 20 his body he never
became so much a part % the big ma
chine which he directed and which
handles q million human beings year,
that he forgot the human equation
which lies at the bottom OF ali these
little items of life
Whenever possible he exercised
clemenCy and remembered the human
conditions. while ne stroVe &c discard
the more cold hard facts.
Mr. Sargent was the fourth man 10
occupy the position Of commissioner
general Of the Bureau of Immigration
The first commissioners general was.
Ns-lII.a1.. ID Owen. the 1919 49,. ). 8