Year: 1867

The Commissioners Of Emigration and the


An,irs mt Castle Garden.


The Commissioners of Emigration owe it to
themselves and to the public to put stop at
once to the indecent and suspicious squabbles
that have been going on for some months past
between their General Superintendent at Cas-
tie Garden and the agents of the several rail
road companies, who have heretofore been
admitted to the Garden for the purpose Of sell
ing tickets to the emigrants and forwarding
them to their destination without subjecting
them to the danger of going outside and find
ing their way to the several railroad offices in
the city. 1t appears, from some unaccountable
motive, that the Superintendent has taken 1t
upon himself, or has induced the Commissioners,
the New York Central, and the emigrants have,
in consequence, been driven to purchase tick
cts over that line or to obtain them outside.
The agents of the Erie and Pennsylvania Gen.
trail railroads have thereupon obtained
mandamus to compel the Commissioners to
admit them to the Garden, and the whole thing
will probably result in all the roads withdraw
ing their agencies from the depot, and selling
no emigrant tickets except at their outside
Offices.


Under their present management the Com
missioners of Emigration appear to be studying
how not to protect the emigrants. Last year
they prevailed upon the State Legislature to
authorize them to collect an additional amount
of Communication tax, and they now receive two
dollars and half for every emigrant who
lands at Castle Garden. They have an enor-
nous balance of money on hand, which does
not appear to be Of any advantage either to the
emigrant or to the public, and, with every facil-
ity for doing great deal Of good, they seem only
to multiply abuses and causes Of complaint by
their inefi cient and extraordinary manage
ment Every day we hear Of some case Of
neglect Of or imposition upon emigrants in
the institution especially established for their
protection and yet the time Of the Commis-
sioners or their employees Is so wholly occu-
pied in squabbling and fighting over the rail-
road commission business that they suffer
these daily outra.es to pass unnoticed and
make no attempt to apply remedy.


1t Is clear that there il something radically
wrong at the bottom Of all this business. The
Commissioners Of Emigration, Is public body
have two plain duties to perform-to foster
the interests Of the port Of New York, and to
extend information and protection to the emil
grants. AT present they do neither the one
nor the other. They should at once set about
reforming their management, and their first
step should be to clear out each inefficient or
incompetent officer In their employ and I'LL his
place with q competent man. They have some
thing else to do than waste thoir time In dis
graceful squabbles over railroad matters II
they fail to make these necessary reforms, the
general government should take the emigrant
business into its own hands, and law of Con-
gress should be passed giving the whole con-
troll over emigration 10 the United States
officers connected with that bureau. AT
present the State Commission aud the affairs
of Castle Garden are little better than a farce,
and the whole business Is disgraceful to the
State and an injury rather than q benefit to the
emgrant.