336 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Algerian Aeabs at Ellis Island. 



three years which was not apparent at entrance. Or, especially in the 

 cabin examination on board ship, a feeble-minded person may entirely 

 escape detection. These instances illustrate both the need for the law 

 and its effectiveness. It is the second line of defence against unsound 

 aliens, augmenting and reenforcing the first line of defence at the immi- 

 gration station. 



Unfortunately the effect of this deportation law is nullified in many 

 cases by decisions of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. 1 Certain of 

 these decisions should have the widest publicity and will be a surprise 

 to many persons. 



Decision No. 120 of the solicitor of the Department of Commerce 

 and Labor was published on February 8, 1912, for the guidance of immi- 

 gration officials and others concerned. Within the legal three-year limit, 

 Yittel Goklfarb, a sixteen-year-old Russian Jewess, was certified to be 

 suffering from manic-depressive insanity by a member of the New York 

 State Board of Alienists, an officer of the Public Health Service, and 

 officials of the Manhattan State Hospital for the Insane where she was 

 confined. The unanimous medical opinion was that, while the insanity 

 had developed after the girl had landed, it resulted from causes in ex- 

 istence before landing. These causes were stated to be constitutional 

 psychopathic tendencies and mental instability. It is held by competent 

 alienists that manic-depressive insanity is always based on hereditary 

 tendencies and mental instability. The apparent or immediately pre- 



1 The newly established Department of Labor, with Secretary William B. 

 Wilson at its head, now includes the Bureau of Immigration, and it is probable 

 that this policy will not continue. 



