New-York tribune., 1909-03-01
DR. FERRIS ANSWERED
HIS COMPLAINTS CALLED
UNFOUNDED.
.gtraus 4sbs President TO Refer Cor
rsspondence Concerning Insane
Aliens 10 GoCeruor.

Aliens 10 COCernOr.
washington. Feb 2S-Complaints made TO
President Roosevelt by DR.. Albert Warren Fer
=, president OF the New York State Commits
.soa IN Lunacy. OF the manner in which the inn
migration laws In relation TO the admission of
,r.ene aliens at the port of New York are be-
,ns administered are regarded by the President
:. being without foundation This statement
xss made by Secretary Loeb for President
1oozeyeit In forwarding TO DR.. Ferris the
,uer which Oscar 5. Straus, Secretary of Com
-7ercs and Labor, submitted to the President
after investigating the complaints which Com
missioner Ferris had made to the Executive in z
ietter Of February 16. Referring to his answer.
secretary Loeb's letter says: The President
regards the answer as complete, and as showing
that your accusations against the Secretary are
.rholly without foundation"
The matters regarding which DR.. Ferris COM
nlsined are set forth in extenso in Secretary
strsusas reply DR. Ferris is quoted stating
that z5z z-1O per cent OF the insane in the New
York state hospitals were of foreign birth.
--bereas only B $40 per cent of the total popu-
Iztion Of the state was OF foreign birth in 1900.
Secretary Straus states that he fails TO see how
that state Of affairs concerns the Department of
s-orrnerce and Labor As TO an accusation
made by Dr. Ferris and his associate. Dr. VIII
u1s I'm an earlier statement to the President,
,bat g large number Of insane aliens had been
admitted during the last two years. contrary to
she immigration law, Secretary Straus says
that Dr. Ferris was only able in his letter to
cite three cases Of insane aliens 'to support his
rrevious wholesale accusations" II all of these
cases the Secretary declares. the aliens had
been admitted TO the United States before ii
rss discovered that they were mentally al
57icted Their landing had been approved by Dr.
Ferris's board Of alienists. says the Secretary
and the question was as 10 their deportatohs
7rhicb was denied on decision of the Assistant
Secretary Of Commerce and Labor. who Gus
tou1ariIy disposes Of deportation matters
s.It is significant says Secretary Straus in his
letter, that during my entire administration u
the department Dr.. Ferris can only refer TO three
cases TO support his charges. and neither OF
these ca es is in point During the last fiscal
xe.- o26 aliens were arrested for the purpose
o< deportation OF these zoos were deported
During the same year applications for the ar
rest with a view TO deportation were mace III
III cases, on the alleged ground either that the
alien was insane at the time OF landing or that
he was a public charge because OF previously
existing insanity. In eighteen or these cases q
,.-rsn+ Of arrest was refused because the evil
6ence vas insufficient and IN thIrty-elstt OF
,be-e cases 8 warrant of arrest was issued and
x,,tse1uently cancelled for the same reason, and
I, eleven cases the alien absconded or died be-
fore the warrant could be served In oSo cases
he aliens were deported, and in six cases only
!n the whole country the allen was released
under bond conditioned that he should not be-
come = public charge The facts in these six
cases were exceptional and the circumstances
sufficiently extraordinary 10 Justify the depart
rnent in taking the action that it did
BASED On MISUNDERSTANDING
A con,laint by Dr.. Ferris that a certain rule
of the department facilitated the landing Of in
sane aliens is the Secretary states, based on
complete misunderstanding OF the rule IN ques-
ton This rule, Rule Of the immigration reg
,Ilations Secretary Straus declares, was framed
after much deIiberation. and, he believes. fulls
its purpose in carrying out the tTue intent OF the
Law.
Dr.. Ferris's intination that the presence in
the public institutions OF New York OF large
cs7ota Of insane aliens is due to the failure OF
the Department Of Commerce and Labor TO ex-
eclte the law is declared by Secretary StTaus TO
ne without warrant Nearly half the insane for
eign t.orn in New York hospitals are natu-sIized
,lizeaz % the Unite5 States. the Secretary says
The reir aiming hall" continues his statement,
''r-use have resided u the United States for
more than three year. 1r had neither been in
AZ the time Of their entry OF at any time
pr5OT fheFetO OtheFNlSe Il eE VNOliu now Dt SUD
jest TO deportation For the entry OF those who
arrived more thar three years ago, the depart
ment under NY administration in no way
bs held responsible. For the admission OF those
who were neither insane at the time Of entry
Tor 1T any time previous thereto certainly the
department cannot be criticised. for they could
neither be excluded nor deported that ground
under the law.
~In conclusion Mr. President says the Secre-
tszy's letter. Il desire to submit to you the ad-
visibility Of referring this entire correspondence
70 the Governor Of the State OF New York, so
nat he may take such action in regard to his
sabordinates. Drs. Ferris and WiIgus members
of the State Commission in Lunacy he may
deem proper especially he has now a com
mission appointed by him at work to investigate
The entire subject OF immigration in the State
Of New York, and It may be of Importance for
-hin 70 know what reliability can be placed upon
-tne statements and reports made by the official
named an moved the more TO make this
suggestion IN consideration Of the fact that dur
1ng the period Of my incumbency nearly 100 per
cent more insane aliens have been excluded, as
vel as arrested and deported, than in any cor
responding period Of time since the creation OF
the department"
WIFE MURDERER DIES FROM WOUNDS.
Nr-Tb rrFeI