The Elbert County tribune., 1911-02-10


Europe, catching up and heaving back
loads of emigrants collected from every
corner of the eastern hemisphere by the
tireless efforts of no less than $4,000
steamship agents and their canvassers.
The fuel which energizes this colossal
structure is an equally colossal greed for
yearly dividends, and the combined in
tellects controlling our greatest steam
ship and railroad companies may be said
to represent the engineer The pivot
upon which the entire mechanism turns
is fraud and evasion of the United States
immigration law.
No large city In the United States is
without its element of foreign-born pur-
chasable voters, criminal cliques, black
handlers" anarchists. paupers, its cheap
labor" supply controlled by foreign-b born
contractors. its overcrowded tenements
breeding disease; furthermore, a careful
estimate shows that about 80 per cent
Of the unaccompanied immigrant male
adults who enter our country are legally
ineligible
Our laws are therefore an ever recur-
rent subject Of controversy. Yet de-
spite all discussion, no person will dis
pute but that an immigrant is desirable
from every sane standpoint, II he has a
reasonable amount of intelligence, Is
physically sound and of good moral char
acter, is possessed of sufficient money
earned by himself to cover the expense
Of his Journey and comes here of his
own initiative. capable for work. but not
under contract to work at wage which
will lower the American standard But
this in plain language is precisely what
our present immigration law requires;
desirability.
To understand the real evil underly-
ing the present condition of immigration
we must take into consideration that
while our dilettante theorists are con-
suming reams of paper with interesting
reflections upon the problem" while
our country is in its chronic state of op-
timism over present conditions, whatever
they are-and while our Legislators are
engaged in the passage of new, unneces-
sary and often impractical laws-thou-
sands of foreigners excludable under the
laws already passed are being yearly
dumped upon our shores by various In
terests which work together as one ma
chine. 1t is well known that. the fabu-
lous profits derived from an artificially
stimulated immigration are participated
in by the allied interests of the trans
atlantic steamship companies, the Ellis
Island railroad pool and the Atlantic
coastwise steamship lines. Cooperating,
as they do, they run automatically of
their own weight, practically without
friction, and thrive by reason of contin-
uing abnormal immigrant supply. They
all combine upon single instrument
namely, the European steamship agent
to solicit a trade in immigrants that will
appreciably increase passenger fares. He
It Is who, actuated by prospective fees
which are dependent upon sales made
gives impulse to the machine" by sell
ing its through tickets" In every Euro
pean town and hamlet.
The several affiliated steamship lines,
having created their zones of influence,
enjoy what is practically monopoly
upon the sale OF steerage tickets, and by
spreading their field agents over the en-
tire European territory from which I'M
migrants are drawn they effectively sup
press competition.
At the immigrant gateway of Ameri-
ca, all these lines converge to hand over
their immigrant cargoes to the other par
ticipants in the machine"
From the vantage point at Ellis Island
the railroad "pool"-known as the I'm
migrant Clearing House." which is a
combination of thirteen of our largest
railroads, together with one of tho consoI-
idated steamship ccmpanies-takes the
immigrants in hand to tag and forward
them to every point In the country at
special third-class rates.
The railroad pool" finds 1t profitable
to pay to the United States an annual
rental of $4,000 for its headquarters on
government ground, where it sells spe-
cial tickets 'for the benefit of ship i'm
migrants only" for rail transportation
from New York. Boston, Philadelphia and
Baltimore to about 1000 selected places
in the interior of the United States Since
these tickets, sold either in Europe or at
Ellis Island, are cheaper in price than
can be obtained by our citizens, the
plain intent of congress to close every
avenue against railroad rate discrimina-
ton. as expressed in the laws relating to
interstate commerce, is clearly defled.
Further the Committee by which this
pool" is managed restricts its private
rate book-"Joint Tariff No. 13"-to the
use of the European steamship agents
and the pools" Joint agents" here, and
1t is said that the Individual companies
of the pool" share in succession in tho
lucrative profits.
1t is also said that the railroad com