New Britain herald., 1918-04-03
lllON HI7 bI VAR CONDITIONS
Ellis Island Officials Work Now
 Chiefly to Bar Spies

w ApTll O.-W Illl0 war has stemmed the tide of immigration, it has not entirely stopped it. And, as the flow of immigrants from Flu rope has been cut down to compar- atively nothing, it has increased at the Canadian, Mexican and Pacific stations.
 annual influx approximated a million a year. From July to December last year the number fell to so,222 More over, the decreasing stream of new corners is being offset to a remark able degree by the exodus from America of those desiring to return to their native lands. Tn fact, the departures outnumbered the admit tances in November and December.
 A great many of those leaving the country since the beginning of the war have been allied reservists who have gone back to answer the call to the colors
 Effort to Keep Out Spies. ! While war conditions have cur. tailed the usual duties of the imIni- grafton service, a new field has been i opened that requires even more in- ] tensive application and effort. Be- ginning with the seizure of the Ger 1 man ships, the service has been | called upon to assist other agencies 1 of the government in many import l ant lines of work. Especially have 1 the inspectors been active in pro- hibiting the entrance or departure of enemy aliens, in the detection of 1 spies, the surveillance and appre- l hension of suspects and in capturing draft law invaders.
 A great part of the facilities of the immigration stations, especially along 1 the Atlantic coast, have been turned 1 over to other lines of war work. The I great receiving depot at Ellis Island i now is devottng only 25 or 30 per cent of it's space to handling immi- ; grafton and somewhat similar condt- tions exist at other Atlantic ports. As ever, the service is employed &C., lively in preventing surreptitious en- try into the country of objectionable : aliens, chiefly Chinese coolies. AL , though the traffic has been cut down i materially by vigilance, the great financial inducements offered those who successfully can run the block ade prevent a complete curtailm ent of the practice.
 StOwaways Increase. The number of stowaways on ships was twice as many in the last half of 1917 as In the preceding 12 months --93 altogether having been detected 1 and debarred. Included in the num- ber were several German soldiers i who deserted, fled to neutral coun- ! tries, then sought to find a safe haven by hiding on America-bound vessels.
 ] Although the tide of immigration dropped from a million to 300, 900 the first year of the war and has since , steadily been on the decline, there Is every prospect that the flow will not resume its pre-war proportions for @ decade or more after the treaty of peace.
 ! America, practically since It's dis i covery, has been the land of promise : for the ambitious, the adventuresome, . or the oppressed people of other lands Beginning with the Argonauts of the early seventeenth century who established colonies along the Allan tic seaboard, the tide steadily had in creased until the first part of the present century saw millions eagerly setting their faces toward the new world.
 They came principally in the steer age of the great ocean liners, ever with determination to win fortune and enjoy liberty. The immigrants still come from Europe, but in small scat tered groups, mostly of women or children joining relatives here. The ravages of war have made 1t an abso- lute necessity for the belligerents to retain within their own borders all useful manpower-not alone for act i've fighting or imperative non-com- batant tasks behind the lines, but for the great work of rehabilitation that must start when hostilities cease.
 Even the neutrals-Norway. Swe- den, Denmark and Holland--are dis couraging emigration, recognizing that the loss of even small portions of their populations may prove a ma terial after-war economic loss.
 With the great stream of immlgra- ton curtailed for 8 while, the na- tion, even in the rush of war, VII! find additional time to break up, edu- cate and Americanize the polyglo' groups in the larger cities. There are many of these elements which, it Is asserted, have not yet begun to be as' simulated in American national life Their language. customs and Ideals remain practically unchanged in the1l new surroundings.
 Americanization of an emlgrant o' this class offers great problems anc greater rewards for the social worker