i4 The National Geographic Magazine 



and giving medical attention to the in- 

 coming hosts, as many as 7,000 having 

 arrived in one day. 



We are fortunate in having associated 

 with us a large number of earnest and 

 hard-working missionaries, representing 

 every race and religious denomination, 

 whose constant presence not only brings 

 comfort and help to the arriving alien, 

 but also acts as a powerful protection 

 against extortion or abuse of any char- 

 acter. Every year since coming under 

 federal control the conditions surround- 

 ing the immigrant have improved, until 

 today he is absolutely free from organ- 

 ized plunder. 



In former days, as one of the state 

 commissioners said in 1869, they were 

 robbed and plundered from the day of 

 their departure to the moment of their 

 arrival at their new homes, by almost 

 every one with whom they came in con- 

 tact. They were treated worse than 

 beasts and less cared for than slaves, 

 who, whatever their condition may be 

 in other respects, represented a smaller 

 or larger amount of capital, and as val- 

 uable chattels received from the owners 

 some help and protection. 



There seemed to be a secret league, a 

 tacit conspiracy on the part of all parties 

 dealing with immigrants, to fleece and 

 pluck them without mercy, and hand 

 them from hand to hand as long as any- 

 thing could be made out of them. The 

 thousands who died from ill treatment 

 on the voyage were thrown into the 

 ocean with as little ceremony as old 

 sacks or broken tools. If crosses and 

 tombstones could be erected on the 

 water as on the western deserts, the 

 routes of the immigrant vessels from 

 Europe to America would long since 

 have assumed the appearance of crowded 

 cemeteries. 



While every means is employed by the 

 federal government to provide precau- 

 tionary measures, petty extortion from 

 immigrants will exist as long as credu- 

 lity and ignorance exist on one side and 



human depravity on the other; but I can 

 confidently assert that every legitimate 

 means, almost amounting to paternal- 

 ism, is exercised by the immigration 

 service to give the arriving immigrant 

 that first impression of our laws and 

 form of government that will place him 

 on the road to good citizenship, while 

 at the same time strictly carrying out 

 the present defective laws. 



In every other kind of function which 

 comes within the purview of govern- 

 ment officials, the thing to be dealt with 

 is merchandise or finances, while in the 

 immigration service we have to deal 

 with people. No two persons will look 

 alike, nor can any rule be established 

 that will make human beings equal ; 

 therefore the result of inspection must 

 depend, in a large measure, on the dis- 

 cretion of the examining official. The 

 best law in the world, with poor offi- 

 cials, would be of little protection to 

 the country, while the present law, in- 

 sufficient as it is in many respects, has 

 done wonders in keeping out undesira- 

 bles. Immigration inspection should 

 be considered just as much a patriotic 

 duty as is fighting for the honor of the 

 flag. 



By our present system of selection, 

 the officers charged with this delicate, 

 responsible, and most important duty 

 are chosen for their positions under the 

 same methods and with the same test 

 as would be applied to men whose duty 

 is to weigh coal, merchandise, or add 

 up accounts. Under the present con- 

 ditions, the authority to pass immi- 

 grants is mainly in the control of the 

 officers who were originally appointed, 

 not because of their zeal or sympathy 

 with the spirit which prompted immi- 

 gration legislation, but because they 

 had knowledge of foreign languages, 

 which enabled them to converse with 

 the incoming aliens. Special induce- 

 ments should be given to natives of the 

 United States who will fit themselves 

 linguistically, in addition to the other 



