The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-07-31
THE PROTECTION OF
 IMMIGRANTS IN CHICAGO
Their Welcome to the City Guarding Contract La borers = Saving Young Girls.

(By Grace Abbott, Immigrants Pro
 tective League, Chicago)
 Exclusive Service The Survey Pres
 Bureau)
 Not long ago a sanitary enginee stated that most typhoid epidemic: start among our foreign colonies ana spread to other sections This, he explained, is because the foreigne] mas been accustomed to a pure water susceptible to typhoid than the Am erican. Instead of urging this as ar additional reason for giving us all de- cent water, he concluded that some new basis for exclusion must be adop- ted
 In this way most discussions of the immigrant leave the fundamental we adopt literacy and physique test and increase the head tax, thousands Of immigrants will come every year. The legal control of immigration be- longs to the national government, but the great economic and social uues- tlons resulting are local problems. Our cltles have become great labor mar quite unscientif1cally, the additional men needed as one industry after an- other passes from dull to a rush season In the future even more than now economic necessity will add the immigrant to our urban rather than to our rural population.
 Though the immigrants because of the entrance tests and the fact that only the more ambitious undertake me journey, 'are a rather selected group, their simple honesty and thrift Ire not an adequate protection for he conditions they encounter in our ities. If during his first days in ms country the immigrant is trick d and defrauded his future useful | less is much impaired. With inc Vomen there is always the danger 1 f moral as we'll as financial exploi- | at1on. From the beginning the Im- nigrant's Protective League has re- elved from the various ports of en- ry the names and addresses of the iris and women bound for Chicago. At present it is practically impos- ible to trace the girls who leave New ork and never reach their friends in 11s city. Two Polish girls were omlng to their cousin, who lived ack of the stock yards in Chicago. 'hen visitor called at the house 1e found the cousin much alarmed ecause the girls had not arrived. By lquiring of others who came on the ame boat We found that the girls ad becope acquainted with man om Rochester on the way over and lat he was looking out for them m'' ne only information the commission at Tllis Island could give was that ey had left there and that one tick
 had been sold to Rochester and two
 Chicago had been used as far as ochester. The girls had complete
 disappeared and no one was res. 'nsible. Usually the girls we find e the ones to whom nothing did lppen Cne seventeen-vear-o1d Fl was put off the train at South c l1cago by mistake and wandered I out TOT several hours at night Fin ( " man offered to take her to her i ends. He proved worthy of con- a ence. {, National and even international at- ltion has been drawn to the prose- i, tion of so-called white slavers' in f. lcago. But in prosecutions, we D ISL, or necessity, wait until the girl f, been ruined and no fine or peni- u ltlary sentence can undo the dam Y ?. Preventive measures should be 1ertaken. First should be the guar. tee to every immigrant girl of a 0 e arrival at her destination. even ID It can be done only by making in- : "a cities like Chicago ports of ar al TOT immigrants just as they are
 
 6.
 t the railroad stations there is need the greatest caution. Friends and at1ves often find it impossible Id ct them because Immigrant trains
 sidetracked for other traffic. IJp their arrival they have been turned r to private expressmen and cab re n who overcharged and misdelfver- H; them. I remember one little Irish tr.
 who started on wagon with gr up of other immigrants for the mt tn side. After going some dis jul ce the expressman discovered she an
 a north side address. After Tn rging her four dollars he put her wa the wagon and left her. We have sw eral cases of men and women who wa e abandoned by drivers and the I resses of their friends not returns tw to them, so that they were abso- to ly stranded Ta
 order to prevent this, the Immi- the 1ts Protective League in co-op- aft ion with the Chicago and Western for