Immigration.
When the French dominion in America was ended, the causes for war dismissed thereby, and the Indian tribes on the frontiers were quieted, emigration began to spread westward in New England, and also from the middle colonies over the mountains westward. Many went from the other colonies into South Carolina, where immigration was encouraged, because the white people were alarmed by the preponderance of the slave population. Bounties were offered to immigrants, and many Irish and Germans settled in the upper districts of that province. Enriched by the labor of numerous slaves, South Carolina was regarded as the wealthiest of the colonies. Settlers also passed into the new province of east Florida. A body of emigrants from the Roanoke settled in west Florida, about Baton Rouge; and some Canadians went into Louisiana, for they were unwilling to live under English rule. A colony of Greeks from the shores of the Mediterranean settled at what is still known as the inlet of New Smyrna, in Florida. And while these movements were going on there were evidences of a rapid advance in wealth and civilization in the older communities. At that time the population and production of Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina had unprecedented increase, and it was called their golden age. [6] Commerce rapidly became more diffused. Boston, which almost engrossed trade in navigation, now began to find rivals in New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, and little seaports on the New England coasts; and its progress, which had been arrested by these causes twenty-five years before, stood still twenty-five years longer.The leading political parties in recent years have made almost identical declarations in their national platforms. At the beginning of the campaign of 1896 the Democratic National Convention, which nominated Mr. Bryan, ignored the subject; but the Free-Silver wing of the party, in convention in Chicago, declared: “We hold that the most efficient way of protecting American labor is to prevent the importation of foreign pauper labor to compete with it in the home market, and that the value of the home market to our American farmers and artisans is greatly reduced by a vicious monetary system which depresses the prices of their products below the cost of production, and thus deprives them of the means of purchasing the products of our home manufactories; and as labor creates the wealth of the country, we demand the passage of such laws as may be necessary to protect it in all its rights;” and the Republican National Convention declared: “For the protection of the quality of our American citizenship, and of the wages of our workingmen against the fatal competition of low-priced labor, we demand that the immigration laws be thoroughly enforced, and so extended as to exclude from entrance to the United States those who can neither read nor write.” In the campaign of 1900 the Democratic National Convention called for the strict enforcement of the Chinese exclusion act and its application to the same classes of all Asiatic races; the Republican National Convention pronounced: “In the further interest of American workmen we favor a more effective restriction of the immigration of cheap labor from foreign lands, the extension of opportunities of education for working children, the raising of the age limit for child labor, the protection of free labor as against contract convict labor, and an effective system of labor insurance;” the People's party (Fusion wing) inserted this declaration in its platform: “The importation of Japanese and other laborers under contract to serve monopolistic corporations is a notorious and flagrant violation of the immigration laws. We demand that the federal government shall take cognizance of this menacing evil and repress it under existing laws. We further pledge ourselves to strive for the enactment of more stringent laws for the exclusion of Mongolian and Malayan immigration;” and the Silver Republican party declared: “We are opposed to the importation of Asiatic laborers in competition with American labor, and favor a more rigid enforcement of the laws relating thereto.”
Immigration statistics.
During the period 1789-1820, when no thorough oversight was exercised, it is estimated that the number of immigrants into the United States aggregated 250,000; and during the period 1820-1900 the aggregate was 19,765,155. The nationality of immigrants in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, was as follows: Austria-Hungary, 114,847; German Empire, 18,507; Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia, 100,135; Norway, 9,575; Sweden, 18,650; Rumania, 6,459; Russian Empire and Finland, 90,787; England, 9,951; Ireland, 35,730; Scotland, 1,792; Wales, 764; Japan, 12,635; Turkey in Asia, 3,962; West Indies, 4,656; all other countries, 20,122; total, 448,572.High-water mark was reached in 1882, when the immigrants numbered 788,992. In 1892 the steady decline was checked, with a total of 623,084. The lowest number of arrivals in the period of 1867-1900 was 141,857 in 1877, and in the period 1880-1900, 229,299 in 1898.
Immigration act of 1891.
This measure, “in amendment of the various acts relative to immigration and the importation of aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor,” was introduced in the House by Mr. Owen, of Indiana, and referred to the committee on immigration and naturalization. It was reported back, discussed, and amended, and passed the House Feb. 25, 1891, as follows:Be it enacted, etc., that the following classes of aliens shall be excluded from admission into the United States, [7] in accordance with the existing acts regulating immigration, other than those concerning Chinese laborers: All idiots, insane persons, paupers or persons likely to become a public charge, persons suffering from a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, persons who have been convicted of a felony or other infamous crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, polygamists, and also any person whose ticket or passage is paid for with money of another or who is assisted by others to come, unless it is affirmatively and satisfactorily shown on special inquiry that such person does not belong to one of the foregoing excluded classes, or to the class of contract laborers excluded by the act of Feb. 26, 1885. But this section shall not be held to exclude persons living in the United States from sending for a relative or friend who is not of the excluded classes, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe; Provided, that nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to exclude persons convicted of a political offence, notwithstanding said political offence may be designated as a “felony, crime, infamous crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude” by the laws of the land whence he came or by the court convicting.
Sec. 2. That no suit or proceeding for violations of said act of Feb. 26, 1885, prohibiting the importation and migration of foreigners under contract or agreement to perform labor, shall be settled, compromised, or discontinued without the consent of the court entered of record with reasons therefor.
Sec. 3. That it shall be deemed a violation of said act of Feb. 26, 1885, to assist or encourage the importation or migration of any alien by promise of employment through advertisements printed and published in any foreign country; and any alien coming to this country in consequence of such an advertisement shall be treated as coming under a contract as contemplated by such act; and the penalties by said act imposed shall be applicable in such a case; Provided, this section shall not apply to States, and immigration bureaus of States, advertising the inducements they offer for immigration to such States.
Sec. 4. That no steamship or transportation company or owners of vessels shall, directly, or through agents, either by writing, printing, or oral representations, solicit, invite, or encourage the immigration of any alien into the United States except by ordinary commercial letters, circulars, advertisements, or oral representations, stating the sailings of their vessels and the terms and facilities of transportation therein; and for a violation of this provision any such steamship or transportation company, and any such owners of vessels, and the agents by them employed, shall be subjected to the penalties imposed by the third section of said act of Feb. 26, 1885, for violations of the provisions of the first section of said act.
Sec. 5. That section 5 of said act of Feb. 26, 1885, shall be, and hereby is, amended by adding to the second proviso in said section the words “nor to ministers of any religious denomination, nor persons belonging to any recognized profession, nor professors for colleges and seminaries,” and by excluding from the second proviso of said section the words “or any relative or personal friend.”
Sec. 6. That any person who shall bring into or land in the United States by vessel or otherwise, or who shall aid to bring into or land in the United States by vessel or otherwise, any alien not lawfully entitled to enter the United States, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Sec. 7. That the office of superintendent of immigration is hereby created and established, and the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, is authorized and directed to appoint such officer, whose salary shall be $4,000 per annum, payable monthly. The superintendent of immigration shall be an officer in the Treasury Department, under the control and supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom he shall make annual reports in writing of the transactions of his office, together with such special reports, in writing, as the Secretary of the Treasury shall require. The [8] Secretary shall provide the superintendent with a suitably furnished office in the city of Washington, and with such books of record and facilities for the discharge of the duties of his office as may be necessary. He shall have a chief clerk, at a salary of $2,000 per annum, and two first-class clerks.
Sec. 8. That upon the arrival by water at any place within the United States of any alien immigrants it shall be the duty of the commanding officer and the agent of the steam or sailing vessel by which they came to report the name, nationality, last residence, and destination of every such alien, before any of them are landed, to the proper inspection officers, who shall thereupon go or send competent assistants on board such vessel and there inspect all such aliens, or the inspection officer may order a temporary removal of such aliens for examination at a designated time and place, and then and there detain them until a thorough inspection is made. But such removal shall not be considered a landing during the pendency of such examination.
The medical examination shall be made by surgeons of the marine hospital service. In cases where the services of a marine hospital surgeon cannot be obtained without causing unreasonable delay, the inspector may cause an alien to be examined by a civil surgeon, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall fix the compensation for such examinations.
The inspection officers and their assistants shall have power to administer oaths, and to take and consider testimony touching the right of any such aliens to enter the United States, all of which shall be entered of record. During such inspection after temporary removal the superintendent shall cause such aliens to be properly housed, fed, and cared for, and also, in his discretion, such as are delayed in proceeding to their destination after inspection.
All decisions made by the inspection officers or their assistants touching the right of any alien to land, when adverse to such right, shall be final unless appeal be taken to the superintendent of immigration, whose action shall be subject to review by the Secretary of the Treasury. It shall be the duty of the aforesaid officers and agents of such vessel to adopt due precautions to prevent the landing of any alien immigrant at any place or time other than that designated by the inspection officers, and any such officer or agent or person in charge of such vessel who shall either knowingly or negligently land or permit to land any alien immigrant at any place or time other than that designated by the inspection officers, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
That the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe rules for inspection along the borders of Canada, British Columbia, and Mexico so as not to obstruct, or unnecessarily delay, impede, or annoy passengers in ordinary travel between said countries: Provided, that not exceeding one inspector shall be appointed for each customs district, and whose salary shall not exceed $1,200 per year.
All duties imposed and powers conferred by the second section of the act of Aug. 3, 1882, upon State commissioners, boards, or officers acting under contract with the Secretary of the Treasury shall be performed and exercised, as occasion may arise, by the inspection officers of the United States.
Sec. 9. That for the preservation of the peace and in order that arrest may be made for crimes under the laws of the States where the various United States immigrant stations are located, the officials in charge of such stations, as occasion may require, shall admit therein the proper State and municipal officers charged with the enforcement of such laws, and for the purposes of this section the jurisdiction of such officers and of the local courts shall extend over such stations.
Sec. 10. That all aliens who may unlawfully come to the United States shall, if practicable, be immediately sent back on the vessel by which they were brought in. The cost of their maintenance while on land, as well as the expense of the return of such aliens, shall be borne by the owner or owners of the vessel on which such aliens came; and if any master, agent, consignee, or owner of such vessel shall refuse to receive back on board the [9] vessel such aliens, or shall neglect to detain them thereon, or shall refuse or neglect to return them to the port from which they came, or to pay the cost of their maintenance while on land, such master, agent, consignee, or owner shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine not less than $300 for each and every offence; and any such vessel shall not have clearance from any port of the United States while any such fine is unpaid.
Sec. 11. That any alien who shall come into the United States in violation of law may be returned, as by law provided, at any time within one year thereafter, at the expense of the person or persons, vessel, transportation company or corporation bringing such alien into the United States, and if that cannot be done, then at the expense of the United States; and any alien who becomes a public charge within one year after his arrival in the United States from causes existing prior to his landing therein shall be deemed to have come in violation of law and shall be returned as aforesaid.
Sec. 12. That nothing contained in this act shall be construed to affect any prosecution or other proceeding, criminal or civil, begun under any existing act or acts hereby amended, but such prosecution or other proceeding, criminal or civil, shall proceed as if this act had not been passed.
Sec. 13. That the circuit and district courts of the United States are hereby invested with full and concurrent jurisdiction of all causes, civil and criminal, arising under any of the provisions of this act; and this act shall go into effect on the first day of April, 1891.
The measure passed the Senate Feb. 27, and was approved by the President March 3, 1891.
