The Alien Invasion

The unrestricted influx of destitute aliens into the United Kingdom is a matter which has for some time past attracted a considerable amount of public attention. Within the last few years a Select Committee of the House of Commons has inquired into this question, and has published a report acknowledging its extent and recognizing some of its evils. The Sweating Committee of the House of Lords has dealt with it indirectly, so far as it concerned the subject in hand.

Trades Unions and Labour Congresses have passed resolutions condemning, in a more or less general way, the present system of unchecked and unsifted immigration. But it is only quite recently that it has advanced to a place within the realm of practical politics. Few public questions have ripened so quickly as this has done. Last year[1] it was discussed, it is true, but only in an academic way, as one of those matters which loom among "the dim and distant visions of the future." To-day it is emphatically one of the questions of the hour. The Electorate is considering it, the Press-that sure reflex of public opinion-is discussing it, and the leaders of political parties, forced by the growing pressure from beneath, are making up their minds about it.

The reasons for this are not very far to seek. Two great causes have tended to bring this question to the front at the present time. One, the recent edicts promulgated by the Czar against his Jewish subjects in Russia, edicts with which no right-thinking man can have any possible sympathy, and which necessarily have the result of driving many thousands of Russian Jews to seek their fortunes anew in other lands; the other, the action this year[2] of the United States Government, in passing a law which has had the effect of practically closing the Atlantic ports to the poorer class of aliens altogether. Now since the inevitable tendency in the movement of peoples is from East to West, and since Great Britain, after America, is admittedly the country to which the greatest portion of these Eastern immigrants come, it follows, as a matter of course, that the action of the American Government in thus shutting their doors to the refuse population of the Old World, cannot fail to have the effect of greatly intensifying the evil here. Our little overcrowded island is really the only place left for them to come-the only country among all the nations of Europe, with one insignificant exception, which has not seen fit to protect its own people against the influx of the destitute and unfit of other lands. These are the two principal causes which have forced this question to the front. There is another also which will prevent its ever again sinking into the background. It is this. The working-classes of this country, with whom rests the balance of political power, have taken the matter up, and, having once taken it up, they will not let it drop. On this I shall dwell more fully later on. I merely allude to it now, as one of the factors which will have to be considered in dealing with this problem.

In taking a general survey of the situation, the first thing that strikes one is the isolated action of England in this matter, when compared with other nations. It may be laid down as an axiom admitting of no cavil, that it is the duty of every State to deal with its own paupers and undesirable citizens; and moreover it is obvious that this desirable state of affairs can only be brought about by other countries refusing to admit them. This common-sense view has been adopted by all other European countries, except Portugal, which has practically no immigration at all, and can scarcely, therefore, be said to count; by all our principal colonies, notably, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Canada; by the great Republic of the United States, and in a general sense by nearly every civilized nation throughout the world. Those of our colonies which have not prohibitory statutes, have the power, and use it too, of passing restraining laws from time to time as need requires, which effectually meet the purpose for which they are enacted. All through Europe there are either laws prohibiting the admission of undesirable aliens, or the police regulations and local customs render their continued residence impossible. Even the well-to-do Englishman who goes abroad, for no other purpose than to spend his money, finds himself compelled, should he remain in one place for any length of time, to contribute, in all sorts of ways, to the taxes of the country in which he resides. Rightly so too, since he enjoys the benefit of the protection which the State affords to him. In particular instances this rule may seem to press hardly on individuals, since in Germany, for instance, even an Englishwoman who gives a few lessons in her native tongue is compelled to pay a tax upon her earnings, a tax in some cases so large as to make the pittance she obtains hardly worth the earning. Yet those aliens who are sent to us from other countries-I speak now of the destitute and unfit-contribute nothing to our taxes, nothing to our national welfare, nothing to our national defence; they take everything and give nothing in return, even worse than nothing, since their habits and their customs exercise a most injurious effect upon the English community with whom they come in contact.

What then can be urged against England following the example of other countries in this matter? Nothing but a mere sentiment that she is a country free and open to all, and that all who will should find a refuge upon her hospitable shores. This is a sentiment worthy of all honour, but hospitality may be carried too far, and in this instance it is not a question of its exercise, but of its abuse. There is a homely maxim that "Charity begins at home," and if this be true of individuals it is no less true of nations. The first duty of the father of a household is towards his own family. He must not give bread to others while his own children are starving. He must not give shelter to the stranger, and drive his sons and daughters out into the cold. In the same way, the first duty of a nation is to its own kith and kin. It must not open its arms to the surplus population of other lands, while its own people are clamouring in vain for work. Yet this is the case, and while every day destitute aliens are pouring in, Englishmen are driven from the land of their birth to make room for them. Speaking last year at Liverpool, upon the subject of our rapidly-increasing population, Lord Derby is reported to have said that "Emigration is the only palliative." On all subjects connected with population Lord Derby is a great authority; but of what avail, I would ask him, is it to recommend emigration as a panacea for our social ills, when for every hundred of our people taken away, a leak remains behind by which thousands more of an immeasurably inferior calibre come pouring in, by whom the conditions of existence are made harder than before, and the standard of comfort and decency in the home-life of our people is infinitely lowered? As illustrative of this it may be mentioned that at Leeds, where there is a very large and increasing foreign colony, some ￡500 was spent in 1887 in emigrating English children to Canada; and evidence was given before the Sweating Committee to the effect that one day a party of 500 emigrants, mostly young men in the full prime of their health and vigour, sailed out of Tilbury Docks, and at the same time another vessel, having on board 700 foreigners, came in. Truly, we are an eccentric nation!

It was George Cruikshank who in allegory drew a map of England with a board on a pole stuck in the centre, and on it the following notice to Europe, "Rubbish may be shot here." It was a caricature, and like all caricatures subject to exaggeration, but it contained within it the germs of a great truth. But even Cruikshank little dreamed that these people would ever arrive here at the rate of 40,000 and 50,000 per annum. Had he done so the notice would rather have run, "No admittance." "Oh," but I hear some say, "you would check this influx, but what of the people we emigrate to other countries?" I would answer that there is no just or fair comparison to be drawn between the people we send away, chiefly young and able-bodied men, and the wretched, under-sized, destitute immigrants we gain in exchange. As things are at present all schemes of emigration and colonization, however well-meaning, are beside the mark. We are drawing out of the barrel and pouring in at the top. More than that, we are drawing out good wine and pouring in bad. It is idle to talk of reprisals, because, as I have already pointed out, other countries have taken steps to guard against this evil. No other civilized nation will take our paupers, our criminals, our lunatics, our outcasts. Why then, in the name of common sense, should we be compelled to take theirs?

Many attempts have been made to confuse this simple issue. Many red herrings have been drawn across the track. It has been said, without one jot or tittle of evidence, that this demand for some moderate measure of restriction, veils behind it a desire to check foreign immigration altogether. Nothing could be farther from the truth. No objection can be urged against foreign immigration as a whole, but only that part of it which exercises an injurious effect upon our own people. There are, for instance, at the present time many foreigners in England employed in different professions and vocations, as teachers of languages, clerks, waiters, cooks, artisans, and so forth. These are in no sense an evil, for they supply a felt want, and are decent and cleanly in their habits and mode of living. Many of them are gradually absorbed into our national life, and become good and useful members of the community. The skilled labourer, the decent artisan, the man with brains to work, or with money to spend, is always welcome to our shores.

Such were the Huguenots. They had not much money, perhaps, but they brought with them something more precious than mere wealth,-the brain, the bone, the muscle, and the manufacturing talent of France. They introduced into England arts and manufactures hitherto unknown, and they added to the lustre of their adopted country by contributing to the science and the literature of the day. They were in fact the fine fleur of the French nation.

A similar influx was that of the Flemings, which took place at an earlier period of England's history. The Flemings, who introduced into our country the finer kind of weaving, first came to England during the reign of Edward III. The weavers of England were then unable to produce any of the better kinds of cloth, and the difficulties and expense of having to send abroad whenever any material was required superior to the coarse home-made product were necessarily great. Under these circumstances, it was obviously a wise policy of the English king to induce the Flemish weavers to come over to England, and to bring their looms with them. The high wages offered, and the prospect held out of ample employment, soon brought large numbers. A like policy was pursued by several of the other English kings who reigned during the period which elapsed between the death of Edward III. and the accession of Edward VI., and there was from time to time a considerable influx of skilled artisans of all classes. In the reign of Edward VI. it appears however that public opinion had veered round. The influx of Flemings and of foreigners generally had become so considerable, that there was a general agreement on the part of the native-born population that it was no longer necessary to hold out inducements to foreign craftsmen, since their presence in large numbers destroyed the demand for good English work, and acted detrimentally upon the interests of English tradesmen. Accordingly we find the citizens of London petitioning the Privy Council to put a stop to this foreign influx, but the only result appears to have been that an estimate, or census, was taken of all the foreigners then resident in London.

One must not infer, however, from the case of the Flemings that the advent of the foreigner was always welcome, or that the outcry against him in the reign of Edward VI. was a new thing. The history of the alien in Great Britain has yet to be written, and space does not permit of its being dwelt upon to any great extent here. Yet in looking back upon the legislative enactments of the Plantagenets and early Tudor kings, which have been briefly referred to elsewhere,[3] one cannot but be struck at the way in which popular opinion-of which these acts were doubtless the outcome-wavered on this subject. The generous treatment accorded to the Flemings and other skilled foreign craftsmen who came to England from time to time contrasts strangely with the harshness with which foreigners were treated at other times. In 1155, for instance, there was an anti-foreign outcry, and many foreigners-in fact all that could be found-were first plundered of their worldly goods, and then banished from the kingdom. Later on they were allowed to return, though still compelled to suffer certain disabilities. At one time the popular prejudice against foreigners was so great that their lives and property were always in danger, and they suffered much unfair treatment. The wise policy of Edward III. removed many of these disabilities, and a special Act was passed in the reign of Richard II. by which they were relieved still more. These Acts were those rather of the king and the upper classes than of the common people, among whom the animus against the foreigner was still so strong that that bulwark of English liberty, trial by jury, was to the alien of no avail, since any charge brought against him, whether true or false, almost invariably resulted in his conviction by a British jury. To do away with this injustice the Enactment of 1430 was passed, which provided that an alien, if he so wished, might be tried by a mixed jury, of whom half were to be Englishmen and the other half foreigners. This singular Statute remained in force until 1870, when the Naturalization Act of that year abolished the privilege of the alien to claim a mixed jury. This Act also repealed all previous Acts except the now well-known Act of 6 & 7 William IV. cap. II., which provides for the registration of aliens, and to which further allusion will be made later on.

Harsh and unnecessary as some of the enactments which were directed against aliens during the reigns of the Plantagenet kings appear to us now, we may congratulate ourselves on the fact that even in the reigns of the Plantagenet kings our Statute Book was never disgraced by such an unjust measure as the French Droit d'Aubaine, which confiscated to the Crown the whole of the property of an alien, thus leaving him destitute in a foreign country. This Statute was repealed in 1791. It was revived by the Code Napoleon, but only for a brief space, and was finally abolished the year after Napoleon's downfall at Waterloo. The Droit d'Aubaine was of considerable antiquity, having been doubtless modelled on the alien laws of ancient Athens, under which similar confiscations of the property of an alien took place, though, in spite of the severity of their laws, the Athenians always welcomed the foreign craftsmen and the artists and skilled workmen of other nationalities. In Rome under the Republic somewhat similar laws to those of Athens existed against the alien, but with the Empire all disabilities were swept away, and Rome gladly welcomed all who ministered to her luxuries and to her pleasures.

It is hardly necessary to say that no unprejudiced person would desire England to revert to the harsh measures of the Plantagenet and Tudor kings, still less to stain her Statute Book by such a measure as the Droit d'Aubaine, however great might be the provocation. Yet the memory of those acts need not prevent us from considering dispassionately, and with due regard to the changed circumstances of our age and country, the advisability of passing some wise and judicious measure for the sifting of alien immigration at the present time. The objection to all the measures to which allusion has been made is, that they were directed against foreigners simply because they were foreigners, and not for the reason their presence militated to any considerable extent against the well-being of the English community, and certainly not because they added to overcrowding, to destitution, or to disease. The Flemings and the Huguenots have their parallels to-day in the foreign teachers of languages, in the French cooks and milliners, in the German clerks, cabinet-makers, and waiters; in the Italian cooks, manufacturers of Venetian glass, &c.; in the skilled craftsmen of whatever nationality who arrive upon our shores. Against these no reasonable objection can be urged. They are useful members of the community, we gain by their presence among us, and their advent is a welcome one. But it cannot be seriously contended that the Flemings and the Huguenots have their parallel in the destitute and degraded immigrants from East of Europe, or the vagrant and vicious aliens from the South. Whatever our sympathies towards these people may be, there is every reason why we should not welcome them here. As things are, these new arrivals add in a manner altogether out of proportion to their numbers to the miseries of our poor in the congested districts of our great towns, to which they invariably drift. There are many practical ways in which we can show our sympathy with the persecuted Russian Jews if we wish to do so, notably by combining to divert the stream of immigration from our own densely populated little island, and by helping the would-be immigrants to move on to some new land beyond the seas. This we may do; but for their own sake, and for the sake of our people, we should try to prevent them from coming here.

With an imperfect knowledge of the facts we are hardly in a position to judge of the action which the Russian Government has seen fit to take against its Jewish subjects. On the surface it certainly appears that a great wrong has been done, a wrong which is also a blunder, but we must remember that we have not yet heard what there is to be urged on the other side. We can scarcely be expected to credit without adequate proof all the hearsay tales of Russian oppression. Isolated instances do not suffice. If a Russian were to make a collection of all the instances of murder, outrage, and misery which unhappily still stain the annals of our law-courts, he would hardly present to his compatriots a faithful picture of English life. Is there not just a possibility that we may be condemning Russia on somewhat similar evidence? It is said,-one cannot say how truly,-that the system of usury and extortion practised by many of the Russian Jews upon the peasantry has, in a large measure, tended to bring about the present state of things. Again we are told that the increase of Russian Jews has of late been so rapid that there is a danger, if things go on at the present rate, of the orthodox Slavs being swamped by a section of the population little in sympathy with the Government under which they live. These are some of the reasons, we are informed, which have led to the adoption of harsh measures against the Russian Jews. On the surface such reasons seem very inadequate, and with the measures which are said to flow from them no right-thinking man can have sympathy. For her difficulties with her Jewish population Russia has only herself to thank. The long years of oppression to which they have been subjected have degraded them, until their ignorance and dislike of their masters have become a danger to the State. Anything which savours of a religious persecution is abhorrent to all liberal-minded men; and if it be true, as alleged, that the present sufferings of the Russian Jews are inflicted upon them because of their faith, then our sympathies with the victims of such an unholy persecution cannot be too great. At the same time we are not in a position to dictate to Russia. Some zealous and well-meaning people tried the experiment at a meeting at the Mansion House last year, with the result that they were virtually told to mind their own business. The "protest," however, had one unfortunate consequence. The repressive measures were made more drastic than before, and the unfortunate Hebrews, naturally interpreting the sympathy shown to them as an inducement to come here, have since arrived upon our hospitable shores in greater numbers than before. In support of this opinion may be quoted the following paragraph which appeared in the supplement of the St. Petersburger Zeitung last June.

"We hear that a charitable association has been formed, with the praiseworthy object of assisting the Russian Jews out of their present miserable situation. An opportunity is to be given them of emigrating to those countries where sympathy has been publicly expressed for them. The first thing this association intends doing is to send the Jews by Libau and Riga to London, where public opinion has clearly enough shown itself to be on their side. For this purpose four steamers are to be chartered to carry these Jews to the banks of the Thames at the lowest possible rates, and it is expected that it will take the whole of the summer to carry out this plan. The philanthropists in St. Petersburg hope that the friends of the Jews in England will give them their hearty support, and help to provide for these poor creatures when they arrive in London."

This is taking us at our word with a vengeance! Surely for the sake of these poor immigrants themselves it is high time that some means should be found to prevent their arriving here in such numbers. The miseries which many of the Russian Jews undergo in the East End of London and some of our large provincial cities must be as bad as those which they have endured in the inhospitable land from whence they came. In some cases their lot here must be even worse. Quite recently an instance of the sufferings which these poor creatures undergo came to light in Whitechapel. Adolphe Cashneer, a Russo-Jewish immigrant, was summoned before the coroner of East London[4] to give evidence as to the death of his infant child. The man, who was unable to speak a word of English, stated that he had been out of work for six weeks-he worked in the cheap tailoring trade-that the mother had received no medical attention except a midwife at confinement, no food but three-halfpennyworth of milk a day, and a share of a fowl which lasted them five days, and for which the husband had pawned his trousers. The deceased child had no clothes but a napkin to cover it. It lived only one week and then died of starvation! The doctor in describing the wretched room where these poor people lived, said there were no sheets or blankets on the bed, the mother had no proper clothing, and there was no food beyond some sour milk in a dirty glass, quite unfit for human consumption. A more impressive object-lesson of the evils of our present system of unchecked and pauper immigration than that unfolded in this tale of sordid misery it would be impossible to conceive. And yet this is by no means an isolated case. Dr. Dukes stated that he continually came across such cases. He went on to say in his evidence at the inquest:-"I continually come across such cases as this.... The poverty in the East End is terrible." Instances like this cannot but strengthen the argument against admitting destitute aliens here. Strangers in a strange land, these miserable new-comers find themselves worse off than they were before. They are not themselves benefited, and the only result is that they intensify the awful struggle for existence which is going on daily and hourly among the poor in our large cities.

It has been said that to limit this influx would be to endanger that right of asylum which has ever been one of England's boasts and glories. It is not so. Were a careful and judicious measure passed for the sifting of alien immigration, it would be quite possible to insert a clause, similar to that which has been inserted in the new American Act, which runs as follows:-"That nothing in this Act shall be construed to apply to or exclude persons convicted of a political offence, notwithstanding the said political offence may be designated as a 'felony, crime, infamous crime, or misdemeanour involving moral turpitude,' by the laws of the land whence he came, or by the court convicting."

Such is the law in the "land of the free." England, no less than America, is the home of civil and religious liberty She has great and glorious traditions; they are illustrated by her treatment of the Walloons, the Huguenots, the slave-traffic, and all political refugees from time immemorial. Yet in the past she has not hesitated from time to time to pass such laws as need and occasion required. To this the Statute Book is a witness,[5] and her traditions would not be reversed because in the present day she found it necessary, in the interests of her own people, to adopt some means for checking this latter-day invasion. What is asked for is not an offensive but a defensive measure.

England has gained much in the past by her generous treatment of political refugees. But it must be apparent to every thoughtful man that the question assumes a very different aspect when we have to deal not with the influx of a few thousands of skilled workmen at isolated periods of our history, but with the invasion of some thirty or forty thousand every year of the class which under ordinary circumstances would go to fill the poor-houses and penitentiaries of Eastern Europe. Such a constant pouring in of unskilled labour of necessity disorganizes the labour market, and compels the displacement of English workmen who are unable to compete on equal terms with rivals such as these. The results are plainly shown in the trades and districts chiefly affected. These immigrants undo by their presence in our midst all the good which our philanthropists and social reformers have been labouring for ages to create. It may be true that in the strictly legal sense of the word comparatively few of them are paupers, since, as Lord Derby has recently expressed it, "they are quite able to make their own living." But what a "living" is it? The living of a savage or a dog, and certainly not one which we like to see Englishmen or Englishwomen degraded to, or forced into competition with, in the land that gave them birth. Boast as we may of the succour which we are ever ready to afford to the oppressed ones of the earth, it is obvious that we must first look to the interests of our own people. Our supineness in this matter has allowed the evil to grow to a magnitude it ought never to have reached, and thus the difficulties surrounding it have been greatly increased. The Government of the day will incur a grave responsibility if they do not speedily devote their earnest attention to this matter.

There are signs all around us that before long something will have to be done. At a time when the country is being convulsed with conflicts of labour against capital, and when thousands of our wage-earning classes are looking in vain for work; at a time when the condition of the poor in our great cities is engaging the active attention of our philanthropists, and the columns of the press teem with appeals for the aid of the homeless and suffering; this ever-increasing addition to the ranks of our unemployed, with its inevitable tendency to aggravate our social evils, is calculated to inspire feelings of alarm and dismay among all those who have the welfare of our people seriously at heart.

* * *

That the immigration of destitute and undesirable aliens takes place on a large and increasing scale, is a fact placed beyond the reach of controversy or denial. The Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the subject, reported that the immigration of aliens into this country had been greater since the date of the last Census (1881) than at any recent period of our history; an opinion which they arrived at from the evidence of a number of eminent authorities. Mr.

John Burnett, Labour Correspondent of the Board of Trade, who was specially deputed in August 1887 to make inquiries into the Sweating System in the East End of London, reported that matters were much worse there of late years, because of "the enormous influx of pauper foreigners," an opinion which he arrived at from his own personal observation, and from the statements of the people themselves. Mr. Burnett's report was corroborated in its main features by Dr. Ogle, whose work it is to prepare the statistical part of the Census, and whose opinion on all such matters stands deservedly high.

Let us also take the opinion of people who have lived in the invaded districts, and who can therefore speak from practical experience. Mr. Henry Dejonge, a cigar-maker, who had lived in the East End for fifty years, said before the Immigration Committee:-"The increase has taken place since the Russian War of 1856. Since then it has been gradual, but sure; there has been a very large increase the last eight years.... In a certain street in Whitechapel the shops are mostly kept by foreigners. In Wentworth Street, out of eighty-five shops, there are forty-eight in the hands of Russian and Polish Jews." Mr. Simmons, a dress-trimming maker, said that he was born in Spitalfields, and could date back in his recollection, "and where there were then two Jews, there are forty now, or even more-say sixty. I know a street which when I was a boy there was not a Jew in, and now it is completely full of them." The agent to the Whitechapel Committee of the Charity Organization Society (Mr. Thurston) was of opinion that the population in the district of Whitechapel would be half foreign and half British. "Some of the streets that were occupied by British workpeople have been entirely cleared, and are now occupied by Jews." The Rev. H. A. Mason, Vicar of All Saints, Stepney, a well-known and devoted clergyman, who has laboured for the last eighteen years among the lowest of the London poor, reckons that there has been an increase of 1000 foreign Jews in his parish during the last seven years, and this at the sacrifice of the British population. He also testified to the ill-feeling existing between them and the British part of the population who found themselves being thus ousted. The Bishop of Bedford, Dr. Billing, referring to Spitalfields, where he had laboured for twenty years, said:-"I know that during the last four years whole streets have become entirely occupied by Jews, foreign Jews, where there was not a Jew before." The Report of the Committee of Guardians of the Whitechapel Union stated in 1887:-"There can be no doubt that the number of foreign residents-chiefly very poor-in the Whitechapel Union and adjacent districts, is largely on the increase, and that each year sees some new locality, or localities, invaded by the foreigner and abandoned by the English poor. No statistics are needed in support of this statement, since it is obvious to every one who knows the East End. It is not a mere redistribution of poor, and the substitution of one class for another in a certain locality; it is the immigration into the district of a class of foreign poor, who seem heretofore to have existed on the mere border-land of civilization, who are content with any shelter, and to share that shelter with as many of their class as can be crowded into it."

A mass of similar evidence might be given by experts whose opinions are above contradiction or cavil. But it is unnecessary to multiply witnesses. A visit to East London will give one the best of all possible evidence-that of one's own eyes. In Whitechapel, the increase during the last ten years has been enormous. Whole streets are now filled with foreign Jews, notably Old Montague Street, Chicksand Street, Booth Street, Hanbury Street, and the teeming courts and alleys adjoining. It is easy to imagine oneself to be in a foreign city. Strange habits and customs, and foreign faces surround one; and a foreign language is heard on every side. There are multitudes of little eating-houses with Hebrew letters on the windows, signifying thus "Kosher"-meat prepared in the Jewish fashion-is there supplied. There are foreign Jewish tradesmen who drive a thriving trade in catering to the peculiar wants of this foreign population, supplying every need, even down to "smoked beef and sausages from Warsaw," a delicacy which the Polish and Russian Jew especially affects. There is even a foreign newspaper half printed in "Yiddish," and the sentiments expressed therein are often of the most dangerous order. On the walls and other available spaces, one sees advertisements in Yiddish, and enterprising tradesmen go in for Yiddish handbills. There are Yiddish clubs and gambling-hells, and little Jewish lodging-houses without end. In fact everywhere the signs of this foreign invasion are dominant, to the complete-or almost complete-exclusion of the English element. That particular quarter of London is like the Ghetto of a continental city.

The Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police stated in his last Report that "a growing number of such passengers (viz. destitute foreigners) arrive in London, chiefly on board vessels running under the German flag." After noticing that by one line plying between Hamburg and Tilbury, no less than 4000 such passengers, 80 per cent. of whom appeared to be quite destitute, arrived in 1890, as compared with 2390 in 1889, the Chief Commissioner notices that "from 4000 to 5000 additional arrived in London in 1890," and adds, "Though some of these only pass through London on their way to America, it may be taken that the majority of them settle there." His conclusion is:-"The police reports unanimously state that there has been a marked increase of late in the number of arrivals in this country." This report is dated 17th January, 1891.

The increase is by no means confined to London alone. The Chief Constable at Manchester reported (29th December, 1890), as the result of inquiries of several shopkeepers and housekeepers from Poland and Russia who have resided in Manchester for some years, that "all are unanimously of opinion that the numbers of their countrymen who have immigrated into the city have increased during the last few months." He reports farther (10th January, 1891), "that there are said to be 15,000 to 16,000 Jews in Manchester, and of their number it has been estimated that at least 70 per cent. are said to be Russian Poles. No correct information can be obtained as to the proportionate number of the whole who are in destitute circumstances, or of the total increase in the numbers of these classes which has actually taken place in the year 1890; but there can be no doubt that the Jewish people have very largely increased in numbers in this city during the last few years."

The Liverpool Chief Constable reported (January 1891):-"There is no doubt, as far as can be ascertained, that the immigration of destitute Polish and Russian Jews into this city has somewhat increased during the past twelve months." The Chief Constable at Glasgow reports, on the authority of the honorary treasurer of the Jewish Board of Guardians, that about 200 poor Polish immigrants arrive in that city yearly. There are a good many foreign Jews settled in Glasgow.

In Leeds, the Chief Constable reported (December 1890), that there is a continuous immigration of destitute aliens-Polish and Russian Jews. A member of the Jewish Board of Guardians informed him "that the number of Jewish immigrants arriving in Leeds during the last twelve months would, in his opinion, be about 2000 persons"; but on this there appears to be a difference of opinion.

Leeds is a place which calls for more than a mere passing notice, since it is probably more directly interested in the question of alien immigration than any other provincial town in England. The incoming tide flows on unchecked, and helps to swell the poorer population of Leeds to an alarming extent. In a Report of the Sweating System at Leeds, Mr. Burnett, Labour Correspondent to the Board of Trade, wrote:-"As elsewhere these people (the Jews) may be almost said to form a foreign colony in the heart of an English town, and Leeds has now its Jewish quarter just as the East End of London has. They have settled down in a district called the Leylands, and they have taken such complete possession of it, that in the Board School of the locality, 75 per cent. of the children are Jews. The streets in the Leylands are beginning to assume distinctly foreign characteristics. The names above the shops are foreign, and the notices in the windows are printed in Hebrew characters. The words spoken are unintelligible to English ears, and about the race of the children in the streets and the people at the doors there can be no mistake."

More recent evidence is afforded by the Yorkshire Post "The great majority of the arrivals," writes this journal,[6] "are Russian and Polish Jews, who on landing upon English soil, at once move to the centre of the clothing industry, most of them with little or no money in their pockets, many of them without a trade in their hands, and not a few of them trusting for safe dealings to their English vocabulary, which is limited to one word, 'Leeds.' ... It is quite evident that there has been an increase during the present year. The persecution of the Semitic race in Russia has driven immense numbers to seek in this country the hospitable shelter that is denied them in the land of their birth, and a not inconsiderable proportion of them having heard of Leeds as an earthly Paradise for outcasts and wanderers, direct their steps towards the West Riding capital immediately the Hamburg boat lands them at Hull."

Among the evidences of the greater influx into the Jewish colony of Leeds is the increased number of applications for help that are being received almost every week by the Jewish Board of Guardians, and by those who have the control of the relief funds connected with the various Hebrew congregations of the town.

No official return is kept of the number of foreign Jews who come into Leeds, or of those who leave it; absolutely accurate information as to the exact number of the foreign colony in Leeds is therefore not to be obtained. But the Report of the Board of Trade, issued in the spring of 1891, estimates the Jewish population at 10,000. There are those, however, who put the number higher than that, the estimate going up as high as 15,000, or even beyond it. Be that as it may, it is certain that there has been a very large increase in 1891. How great is this increase is shown by the following quotation from a circular recently issued to the subscribers of the Leylands Gospel Temperance Mission, signed by the Superintendent of the Mission. The Leylands is a district of Leeds. The circular says:-"Careful inquiries have been made into the great changes rapidly taking place in the Leylands, owing to the enormously increased proportion of Jews settling there. As a result of this, the Byron Street Wesleyan Chapel has been given up and sold to the Jews, the Roman Catholic Chapel is also given up, and the English and Irish portion of the district is removing. A carefully-prepared estimate has been given of the changes during the past two years, as follows:-In 1889 there were in the Leylands 1300 houses. Of these 621 were occupied by Jews. In 1890, 765 were occupied by Jews, an increase in one year of 144 houses taken by Jews. At present, out of 1300 houses, 900 are occupied by Jews (between 30 and 40 of them as workshops), only leaving about 400 houses in the district occupied by English and Irish."

To return to London. In addition to the facts already quoted, we have the evidence of the Jewish Board of Guardians, evidence surely above suspicion, since that body is by no means prone to exaggerate the evil of destitute immigration. In the Annual Report of the Board for 1890, it is stated that the total number of cases of foreign Jews "entertained" during that year amounted to 3534. Taking ten years, we find that in 1880, 2588 cases were relieved, exclusive of Loan and Industrial Departments, at a cost of ￡18,354; in 1890, 3351 cases were relieved, exclusive of Loan and Industrial Departments, at a cost of ￡21,648. The total of absolute gifts in 1880 was ￡5528; in 1890, it had run up to ￡10,776, or nearly double. Moreover, the Emigration Committee of the Board testify to a decrease in the number of people assisted to emigrate in 1890. They admit that, owing to the United States Immigration Laws, they have to use the greatest circumspection to prevent any cases being assisted that are likely to be refused admission on the other side. The Russian Relief Fund Committee also admit that owing to persecution in Russia they no longer assist Eastern immigrants to return home even in cases where it is desirable to send men back to look after their families. They state that a "large number" of refugees have been assisted by them to settle here since 1882, and that they succeed in gaining a livelihood in London.

From special inquiries which have been instituted by the Association for preventing the Immigration of Destitute Aliens, it is computed that during the spring, summer, and autumn months of the present year (1891) some 500 a week of these alien immigrants have arrived at the port of London alone. Of these nearly 80 per cent. appeared to be in a destitute condition. It is to be noted that these figures do not include those who are stated to be provided with through tickets to other countries; and though some may possibly return again to the land from whence they came, the probability is that most of them remain to glut the already overcrowded labour market in the East of London. A few, generally of the least destitute class, drift on to the manufacturing centres in the North of England; but the alien population of the provincial cities is mainly recruited from other ports-Hull, Leith, Grimsby, and Southampton.

We now come to the last link in this chain of evidence as to the increase and extent of alien immigration-the official returns of the Board of Trade. I have purposely delayed considering these returns until the last, as they are in many ways incomplete and unsatisfactory. Still as they are so frequently appealed to by those who seek to minimize this evil, one must refer to them also. As an instance of the way in which they have been kept, it may be stated at the outset that, excepting as to London and Hull, the information has only been obtained from the various ports since the 1st of May 1890, and only as to London and Hull is a comparison possible with the previous year. Still even on this unsatisfactory basis we find that 29,885 aliens arrived from the Continent, at twenty-one British ports, between May and December 1890, and at two others in the whole year, not intending to proceed to America; whilst the arrivals in London were 4400 more in 1890 than in 1889, and in Hull 1320 higher.[7] And this in spite of the fact that nearly 1,000,000 persons were maintained under the Poor Law in Great Britain during 1890! The returns issued by the Board of Trade for 1891 are even more alarming. The total of aliens "not stated to be en route to America" who arrived in the United Kingdom during the ten months ending the 31st of October, 1891, amounted to no less than 32,877.

These figures appear upon the showing of the official returns, and taking them as they stand, how people, however optimistic, can derive any consolation from them, it is not easy to imagine. But there is no doubt that were these returns actually complete, carefully prepared, and accurately checked, it would be found that the number of aliens who arrived upon our shores would be very much in excess of the number given.

The actual numerical work of compiling the returns is done at the Board of Trade; but the collection of material is directed and superintended by the Commissioners of Customs; and the efficiency of the work turns upon the way in which the Alien Act of William IV. is administered.

Summing up briefly the chief provisions of that Act, which are given in extenso elsewhere,[8] it will be seen that-(a) The master of a vessel arriving from a foreign port is to declare in writing to the chief officer of the Customs at the port of arrival, the number of the aliens who are on board, or have landed from his vessel; and to give the names, rank, occupations, and description of such aliens, so far as he shall be informed thereof; and if a master omits to make such declaration, or wilfully makes a false one, he is liable to a penalty. (b) Every alien on arrival is to declare in writing to the chief officer of Customs at the port of debarkation, his name, description, etc., and every such officer is to register the declaration, and deliver to the alien a certificate, which is to be given up to the chief officer of customs at the port of departure, when the alien leaves the country. (c) The chief officer of Customs at every port is to transmit to one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State-in practice the Home Secretary-a copy of the master's declaration, a copy of the certificate given to the alien, and the certificate which the alien gives up on leaving the country.

This sounds all very well in theory, and there is no doubt that if the provisions of the Act were carried out to the letter, we should be in possession of what we have not now-actual statistics, which must precede legislation. But the question is, what about the practice? Mr. Lindsey, the chief of the Long-room at the London Custom-house, told the Immigration Committee in 1888 that the Act had long since fallen into desuetude; and that only at the ports of London and Hull did the masters of vessels, at that date, report the number of aliens on board, or make any declaration whatever, while no means at all existed for checking the lists supplied. Indeed, it would be quite possible, he considered, for vessels to land "thousands of aliens" without the Customs authorities being able to find it out. No declarations were made or certificates given to aliens on arrival, or received from them on departure, as directed by sec. vi. of the Alien Act of William IV. It is evident, therefore, that up to that date the Act had been allowed to become practically obsolete.

After the Immigration Committee had used their Report in 1889, in which they recommended that measures should be taken to secure with more frequency and greater accuracy an estimate of the amount of alien immigration into the United Kingdom, tardy steps were taken to obtain certain statistics; but it was not till May 1890, and after questions had been frequently asked in either House of Parliament, that alien lists were taken at ports other than London and Hull. Even now, though an attempt has been made to procure lists of aliens from a considerable number of ports, yet on the face of the monthly returns the lists are, admittedly, very imperfect. The lists received from Dover, Folkestone, and Harwich are only partial; while other ports of considerable importance, such as Lynn, Newhaven, Southampton, and many of the western ports, are omitted altogether. In all cases the masters of the vessels are perfectly able to shirk their duties if so inclined; so that not only are the returns very incomplete, but even the statistics given are very untrustworthy.

I have the best authority for making this charge as to the untrustworthy nature of the statistics given, which is so strenuously denied by those who put their faith in the official returns. My authority is a letter written to me on the 23rd April, 1891, by the Secretary of the Customs, in which he says:-"I am directed to acquaint you that the Department does not undertake in any way to check the returns of aliens made by the captains of the vessels, under the requirements of the Act of William IV.; and that the Customs Boarding Staff, as at present arranged, could not undertake such a duty without additional expense to the public, even if directions to that effect should be received from the Government."

This is perfectly natural and reasonable as coming from the Customs. The letter is merely quoted here to show that it is impossible to place faith in the present returns. It practically admits the whole contention: the alien lists are unchecked, and therefore unsatisfactory. A glance at the way in which they are prepared will show how unsatisfactory they are.

As we have already seen, the provisions of the Alien Act of William IV. have been allowed to fall into disuse, and the penalties for neglect of carrying them out are never enforced. Hitherto even such returns as have been sent in, have been loosely and carelessly prepared. In some cases masters of ships have neglected to render any returns of the aliens on board their vessels; in others, the duty, instead of being performed by the captain or master of the vessel, as the Act requires, has been delegated to some inferior officer, with the result that the work has been performed in a hasty and perfunctory manner. But, however carelessly these lists are prepared, the Custom House authorities accept them just as they are, and no provision has been made for checking them. It is obvious that statistics prepared in such a manner are of no great value. Yet it is upon the authority of such returns as these that we are asked to disbelieve the evidence of our own eyes, and to admit that the matter is not of sufficient urgency to claim the attention of the Government.

With regard to the steps which the Board of Trade are said to be taking to ensure more accurate statistics, it was stated by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach last session that in future the number of aliens on board the incoming vessels would be every now and then counted, and comparisons made with the master's returns. "Every now and then" is very vague; and until a check is systematically and regularly imposed upon the number of alien passengers on every ship arriving at all the ports, we cannot be sure of obtaining accurate returns. This vague promise on the part of the President of the Board of Trade was made-it should be noted-after a prolonged correspondence had taken place between that Department and the Association for Preventing the Immigration of Destitute Aliens. The Association, on the strength of the letter from the Secretary of the Customs, already quoted, had asked the permission of the Board of Trade-as the returns were admittedly unchecked-for its agent to be allowed, at the Association's expense, to go on board the incoming vessels for the purpose of checking the returns rendered by the masters. This request was met by non possumus[9]; and the Board of Trade wrote to say that though they had "no reason to believe that the returns hitherto received have been in fact inaccurate, arrangements have been made for a further check to be applied to the returns in future by the officers of the Customs when on board the ships." How far these vague promises given on the part of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach in the House of Commons, and by the Department in the letter quoted, have been redeemed, it is impossible to say. The promise of a "further check" is not more reassuring, than Sir Michael Hicks-Beach's "every now and then," especially when we bear in mind that it had been admitted that hitherto there had been absolutely no check at all. All that one knows for certain is that up to the present no action has been taken against the masters or owners of any ships, if the lists have been found to be incorrect.

Such then is a sketch of the way in which the Government figures are obtained, and of the efforts which have been made to secure their greater accuracy.

In compiling the alien lists in the future, some more definite information should also be forthcoming as to the means, nationality, and destination of the immigrants. The distinction "en route to America" is altogether inadequate for practical purposes. As matters stand, it is the only clue afforded us for judging which of the immigrants are merely birds of passage, or which come to settle here. Of course some of those who are "not stated to be en route to America" return again to the Continent; but against that unknown and altogether hypothetical number, may fairly be set the incomplete nature of the returns, and the practice so generally followed in preparing the alien lists of counting two children as one adult. As most of the immigrants against whom complaint is chiefly made do not come here alone, but with their families-and often large families-this is a point to be noted in considering the actual numerical value of the Board of Trade returns. Therefore, in making a rough estimate, I do not think I shall be far wrong if I consider the number of aliens classed in the Board of Trade returns as "not being en route to America," as practically representing about the number of those who remain here.

As matters stand, it is of course at present impossible to give the exact number; but such an estimate would be approximately correct. Nevertheless, in a letter to the Times in the month of August last, an official of the Board of Trade, writing under the nom de guerre of "Facts," did not hesitate to charge me with "attempted misrepresentation," and "an intention to create prejudice," because I estimated that the number of aliens quoted in the official returns as "not being en route to America," would probably represent about the number of those who come here to settle. The animus displayed in this letter was doubtless engendered by the remembrance of a previous epistolary duel. Opinions may differ as to the importance to be attached to this question of alien immigration; they may differ also as to the value of the Board of Trade returns; but however this may be, to write letters under a feigned name to the papers, deliberately accusing one's opponent of bad faith, is a method of conducting or prolonging a controversy happily rare. Though you may disagree with another man's views, you have no right to accuse him of dishonesty because he happens to differ from you.

After the correspondence in the Times took place, a note was appended to the monthly returns issued by the Board of Trade, to the effect that it was not implied "that the aliens not stated to be en route to America, come to this country for settlement; there being in fact a large emigration of foreigners from this country, while many of the aliens arriving from continental ports return again to the Continent." This clears the ground a little, and so far the correspondence cannot be said to have been altogether barren of results. The announcement that there is a large emigration of foreigners from this country is quite gratuitous, however, since we know that the number of aliens who came here en route to America, in the ten months ending 31st October, 1891, amounted to no less than 88,617. That does not affect the matter under consideration in the slightest. But the statement that "many of the aliens arriving from continental ports return again to the Continent" cannot be allowed to pass so easily. How is this conclusion arrived at? No account of foreigners leaving this country for European ports is taken. Of course many return, but who are they? Principally tourists, business men, and the better class of foreigners, against whom no complaint is made. But the great bulk of these are not included in the official returns at all, for the alien lists received from Dover, Folkestone, and Harwich, the three ports to which that class of foreigner generally comes, "show only deck passengers, and persons who on landing proceed by train as third-class passengers."[10] In making a fair estimate, therefore, the better class of foreigner can hardly be taken into consideration at all. This reduces the number of those included in the official returns "who return again to the Continent" to a minimum. Those against whom complaint is made-the residuum, the worthless, and the unfit-remain with us. They could not return to the Continent even if they wished to do so, for the simple reason that they would not be received back again. The law, for instance, in Hamburg is to the effect that no person without means is to land at that port. Hamburg is the great port from which the destitute aliens take ship to England; and therefore it is apparent that though steamship companies may land upon our shores any number of destitute or semi-destitute passengers they please, they dare not take back these same passengers to Hamburg, even if they should wish to go.

Hence, it may be fairly said that this "immigrant emigration," upon which the Board of Trade appears to lay so much stress, is inconsiderable, and at any rate does not touch the class against which complaint is chiefly made. Against it, is to be set the incomplete nature of the lists actually rendered; the fact that the returns are not received from all the ports of the United Kingdom; the untrustworthiness of such as are received; and the practice in preparing them of counting two children to one adult. If all these considerations be balanced against the unknown number of aliens "who return again to the Continent" or move on elsewhere, it certainly cannot be said, that, in estimating the number of those who are stated to be "not en route to America," as the approximate number of those who remain here, one is guilty of exaggeration. If anything, one under-estimates rather than overstates the case.

The fact of the matter is, that all attempts to bolster up the official returns, so long as they are compiled in the present manner, is foredoomed to failure. They are about as unsatisfactory and as inadequate as they can well be, and the distrust with which they are viewed is widespread. The importance of trustworthy official statistics upon this matter can hardly be overrated. So long as they are wanting, there will always be a tendency to exaggerate the evil on the one hand, and to minimize it on the other. Things are bad enough as they are, and there is nothing to be gained by exaggeration. It is greatly to be hoped that the present Government, which has done much in the way of good and useful reform, will take steps to wipe away this reproach-for it is nothing less than a reproach-that, while we have such admirable statistics as to the imports of merchandise, the returns as to the importation of human beings should remain in their present imperfect state.

* * *

In this chapter I propose to consider the nature of the immigration. At the outset of this particular aspect of the question, it is necessary to make it clear that one is animated by no sentiments of racial or religious animosity. Nothing could be more undesirable than to treat this question as a sectarian question, or to cast any slur upon the Hebrew faith.

Nothing would harm the movement more than to create a Judenhetze in England, the home of religious liberty; and therefore whenever the term "Jew" is used throughout this volume, it is used merely to distinguish between other races and nationalities, and from no desire to arouse the odium theologicum. This disclaimer may seem unnecessary to some, but it is important to emphasize it, because if there is one thing hateful to the people of this country, it is religious intolerance; if there is one thing dear to them, it is that liberality which in matters of this kind recognizes no distinctions of faith or creed. It is perfectly true that a large proportion of these undesirable visitors are Jewish by race and religion. But that has nothing to do with the objection to them; it would be just the same if they were Christians, Mahommedans, Buddhists, or sun-worshippers. The objection to them is simply this, that by coming into certain trades and industries in this country, they subject our own people to a constant and unfair competition, which renders it impossible for them to obtain a decent livelihood, and tends directly to militate against their physical, financial, social, and moral well-being. In this matter there is nothing of race, nothing of religion, except so far as this, that we recognize that our first duty should be towards our own nation, our own flesh and blood. Nor is this objection by any means confined to destitute foreign Jews; it holds equally good with regard to vagrant and vicious Italians, idle Hungarians, degraded Chinese, and all the other undesirable specimens of those nationalities which go to make up the motley horde. Still it is idle to deny, in dealing with this question, that though the immigrants are of all nationalities, by far the greater part of those objected to is composed of Russian, Roumanian, and Polish Jews, drawn from the class which goes to swell the poor-houses and penitentiaries of Eastern Europe.

In the previous chapter I have dwelt upon the numbers of this particular class of alien immigrants. It is not necessary, therefore, to go over the same ground again. It suffices to point out that this increase, which would be undoubtedly serious if it were distributed impartially throughout the United Kingdom, assumes a far more formidable aspect when we consider its distribution in particular localities and particular trades. The invading hordes of destitute Jews appear to flock chiefly to our great centres of population, such as the East End of London, and to the great manufacturing cities of the North-Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and some other Scotch towns. Now it is evident that thickly-populated districts do not require immigration, but emigration. It is evident also that the Jew in England is not pastoral, but gregarious. Experts, whose opinions must be listened to with all deference, tell us that many of the foreign Jews have in them the making of good colonists and admirable agriculturalists. It may be so; but those who come here appear to show a marked distaste for agricultural and all pastoral pursuits. No one in England ever comes across a Jewish farmer, or a Jewish agricultural labourer. These immigrants invariably turn their backs on thinly-populated districts; and wherever our people are most closely huddled together, wherever the struggle for existence is keenest, there will the greatest number of foreign Jews be found, with the inevitable result that the conditions of life become even harder than before. It is very necessary to consider the distribution of this unlimited immigration, if we are to form an adequate idea of the injury it works upon our own people.

It is impossible not to feel compassion for these poor Jewish immigrants, when we consider the condition in which the great majority of them land upon our shores. They are often of poor physique, and always scantily clad. In most instances, they are without money at all; others have a few thalers, or roubles, or marks, as the case may be; and of these they are quickly eased by the loafers, touts, and rascals of all descriptions who hang about the docks waiting their arrival, and professing to show them where to lodge for the night, or where to find employment.

One ceases to wonder at the destitute condition in which these unfortunate people arrive on our shores, when we consider the discomforts and miseries which they have to undergo before they arrive at our ports. So far as the Jewish immigrants are concerned, it may be said that fully 70 per cent. of those who have arrived at the port of London during the present year have come from Russia or Poland. The edict in Russia has gone forth for their departure, but before departing it is necessary for them to obtain a passport and other official documents, which have to be paid for at the time of application, and are subsequently required to be shown to the Russian officials before crossing the frontier. I believe that some negotiations are now pending with regard to relaxing the severity of the passport regulations; but at present the possession of a passport is a sine qua non. To avoid the expense and trouble of obtaining these documents, many subterfuges are resorted to, to enable the Jews to leave unnoticed; but on arriving at the frontier en route to Hamburg, and being found without these documents, many of the emigrants are subjected to the grossest maltreatment and robbery. It is said that many of them have been robbed of every coin, and almost every article they possess, and are sent across the frontier in an absolute state of beggary and destitution. Many cases are known to the officials of the Jewish Charitable Institutions in London, where whole families have had, in consequence of being thus robbed, to tramp on foot through Germany ten or sixteen days, in order to reach Hamburg en route to London. When once they arrive at Hamburg, the departure of these persons is by some mysterious means, which I have been unable to ascertain, directly provided for. It is not an expensive journey, the passage to London from Hamburg being about sixteen shillings English money per head for the adults, and the children come half-price. These are approximately the fares charged by Messrs Perlbach, who do a thriving trade in bringing these people across. I say "approximately," for Messrs Perlbach have met all my requests for information with a non possumus. Of course such a cheap rate does not admit of many comforts. The emigrant has to find himself all food and bedding. In most cases the boats are entirely devoid of sufficient accommodation for passengers; and being under a foreign flag, they do not come under our Board of Trade regulations here.

The accommodation on board the boats plying between Hamburg and London is miserably insufficient; and doubtless it is no better between Hamburg and other English ports. The voyage from Hamburg to London usually occupies from forty to sixty hours, according to the weather; and during the whole of this time these poor people are herded together rather like cattle than human beings. Men, women, and children are crowded together in the stifling atmosphere between the decks; some lying on bundles of foul and dirty rags, others squatting on the bare deck itself. It is a terrible picture of famished and suffering humanity. No one thinks of taking off his clothes during the passage, and few have either the inclination, or the opportunity, to wash themselves or their children. The sanitary arrangements are simply abominable. The following account, given by the special commissioner of a London evening journal, which has done much to bring this evil prominently before the public, and to which I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness, may with advantage be quoted here. The special commissioner travelled over from Hamburg as a "destitute alien" on board Messrs. Perlbach and Co.'s steamship Minerva. In his report he describes his experience as follows[11]-

"By the time I got on deck darkness had set in, and nearly all my fellow-aliens had stowed away the pocket-handkerchiefs or canvas-bags containing their belongings in one or other of the two holds, which were to form their place of residence for the next two nights at any rate. I saw some scores of eyes peering at me for the first minute or two; then when curiosity as to the new arrival had abated, I sat down in a dark corner and quietly examined my surroundings. The greater portion of the deck was taken up by large boxes covered with sheets of canvas, and extending to a height in some places of perhaps eight or ten feet. On the top of these, and in the narrow passages between them, the emigrants sat or stood, breaking the stillness of the evening with the hollow laugh or clamorous chatter. Most of them were young women, wearing shawls on their heads, and clad in soiled, faded, and torn finery. Some of them were men, young or middle-aged, but so enfeebled and spiritless that one might have fixed their age at nearer seventy than thirty. A few were old women, bent, emaciated, and almost lifeless. All, with few exceptions, were yellow with dirt, and smelt foully.... I thought it to be about time to go and look after my sleeping quarters. There were two places from which to choose. One of these, according to the inscription on the entrance, was constructed to hold thirty-four persons, the other twenty-nine. The German ships are subject to practically no regulations as to space; and I inferred there must be on board about one hundred deck passengers.... I made my way to the larger of the two steerage cabins. When I got to the top of the gangway, the stench which issued from the semi-darkness beneath was pretty nearly unendurable, and it was even worse down-stairs, when blended with the heat from the bodies of the emigrants. But the scene which the place presented was still more disgusting. The apartment was about the breadth of the ship near the narrow end in width, and scarcely so long. In the centre a single oil-lamp was hanging, which threw out a feeble, flickering light. On each side a couple of platforms were erected, one over the other, with about two and a half feet between them, divided into spaces in some places a little over two feet broad, and not divided at all in others. Here men, women, and children were lying on the bare boards partly undressed, some in one direction, some in another. Young men lay abreast of young unmarried women, chatting jocularly, and acting indecently, and young children were witnesses of all that passed. The greater portion of the floor was taken up with boxes, on which such of the emigrants of both sexes as had not been able to obtain the ordinary sleeping accommodation were reclining as best they might."

That was the first night of the voyage; the second is described by the commissioner as follows:-

"My second night's experience in the hold I need say little about; the horrors of the place were increased by the accumulation of filth, which had taken place by the ever-increasing indisposition of the passengers the longer we were at sea.... Through the long weary hours I sat there sleepless, I was only too glad when the light of morning made a promenade possible on deck."

Such are some of the miseries of the journey. It is small wonder then that under such circumstances, when the vessels reach London, these unfortunate people present a most squalid, dirty, and uninviting appearance. The journey is a wretched one; and at the end of it things are no better; for when London is reached, these poor creatures are cast adrift to fight for themselves, in a population already teeming with starving, dying thousands.

The steamers that bring these aliens to London always land them at one of three places-Tilbury Docks, the Upper Pool, or St. Katherine's Docks. Wapping is the worst of the three places of landing. Here the steamers lie out in the middle of the Thames; the passengers are bundled into boats, the watermen in charge of which will endeavour before landing to get as much out of them as they possibly can. They are landed in different places, their luggage is thrown out of the boat, and they find themselves alone in a strange land unable to make known where they wish to go. But they are not left long in their loneliness. A number of human sharks, generally foreign Jews also, surround them, anxious to see in what way they can take advantage of their ignorance and friendlessness. The worst foes that have to be contended against are some of the East End boarding-house keepers. These men will meet the new-comers, address them in "Yiddish," say that they are connected with some of the Jewish charities, and tell them that they must allow their luggage to be collected. When this is done, they get together as many as possible before being stopped by the real agents of the Jewish Homes, and march them off, not to where the unfortunates think they are going, but to some of the boarding-houses in Spitalfields. Arrived there, the aliens undergo a process of sifting. Those who are absolutely destitute, and without money or baggage, from whom there is nothing to be got, are quickly dismissed, and sent in charge of a child to the Poor Jews' Temporary Shelter in Leman Street. But those who have money and baggage are advised to stay a day or two until they can "look about them." Then the fleecing commences. A charge is made of from two shillings to five shillings a week for a wretched shake-down bed; but the lodger has to pay the full week if he only stays one night. Food is charged in proportion. The next morning, as soon as the lodger has finished his breakfast, a man is deputed to go with him in search of employment. This man will tramp his victim all round London, it need scarcely be said with no success; in the evening he will bring him back to the boarding-house, saying they must try again the next day. The following morning the same routine is gone through, and with the same result. For each day's service a charge of five shillings is made. These gross charges are made day after day until the unfortunate individual has nothing left but his luggage. The boarding-house keeper sympathizes with his dupe; he tells him he is not an unkindly man, and will lend him a trifle on his luggage. This little is soon swallowed up in the cost of living, and when it is all gone the boarding-house keeper informs him he is very sorry, but he must have his room for some one else. The man is turned into the street, friendless, penniless, and homeless, and finds himself in very truth a "destitute alien."

Thus such an one becomes in a few weeks precisely in the same plight as those who arrive with literally nothing at all. Of those, said the Bishop of Bedford in his evidence before the House of Lords' Committee, "They almost stand in the market after arrival with barely any clothes to cover them, and without a penny in their pockets." In this veritable slave-market they hang about in droves, waiting for the sweater to come and hire them, which he does sometimes in person, sometimes by means of an agent, and sometimes by means of his wife. (What a terrible type of womanhood must be a sweater's wife!) Of course these poor creatures are at the sweater's mercy. They are ignorant of the country, of its language, of its laws, and are compelled to take any terms he may offer.

To call the place where these transactions are carried on a "slave-market" is perhaps an abuse of terms, since, in a strictly literal sense, nobody buys and nobody sells; but that it is a traffic in human beings cannot be denied. Almost any Sunday morning during the spring, summer, and autumn months, at the corner of Goulston Street, Whitechapel, for instance, may be seen a varying number of men drawn up in a line against the wall. In front of them stands a man who engages-I will not say sells-them to the sweater, who gets his victims to sign a paper, binding them to work for so many weeks and at so much money in the sweating dens. It is a pitiful sight. Most of these men are newly-arrived foreign paupers, chiefly Polish Jews. The boat from Hamburg arrives every Saturday at the docks, and the agent who meets them conveys them to some Jewish shelter where they remain until Sunday morning, when he leads them to this place. Most of them as they stand there have the high boots and fur cap distinctive of the Russian peasant. Want and long service are plainly written on their emaciated forms, and along with these a certain patient and dogged intention of purpose. Often the sweater will give them at first only their food and lodgings, such as it is. The salary given them varies from two to three shillings per week; their food is horrible, so is their lodging. They will work fourteen, sixteen, and eighteen hours a day, and they will sleep in the den in which the work is done. They suffer hunger, cold, heat, and vermin. They are without the help of relations, acquaintances, or protection. They agree to pay back a certain sum if they break their engagement; and as this is impossible for them to do, they remain practically slaves, working for nothing, or next to nothing.

Most of them have to learn a trade at first, during which period they earn nothing, and are glad to submit to any terms the sweater may think fit to impose. The slang term for such persons is "greener," and in many respects the condition of a "greener" is worse than that of a slave. By and by when he has learnt his business, which in the cheap tailoring trade, for instance, would be the machine work, he receives a small wage, from six to seven shillings a week, barely sufficient to maintain existence. As a rule the "greeners" are very quick to learn, and as they progress they earn a little more; but their position is precarious, being liable to be discharged at a moment's notice. The work is precarious too, and the wages are irregularly paid. Sometimes there is nothing to do for weeks and weeks. Their food is of the scantiest, the refuse of fish and a little bread being the principal articles of diet. The length of hours for which they work-I speak now of the cheap tailoring trade-averages from fourteen to fifteen hours a day, or 100 hours a week. The Bishop of Bedford said:-"I have myself seen these poor creatures at work up till two in the morning, and I have found that they were again at work, the same people in the same room, at seven o'clock in the morning." Again he said:-"You can tell work is being done on the Sabbath, by the blinds being drawn. There is no holiday at all." Moreover, the surroundings amid which they work are deplorable and filthy in the extreme. That, however, will be touched upon more fully in a subsequent chapter.

Again, in the cheap boot trade, the "greener" is at first put to work as a "sew-round hand." If he does well at this, in a short time he will proceed to "finishing," and he is advanced to other branches of the work as his proficiency may warrant. The master bootmaker, who in nine cases out of ten was once a "greener" himself, is called a "boot-slosher." The "greener" will generally lodge at the house of the "slosher" who employs him; and as many as sixteen or seventeen of these "greeners" have been known to lodge in his house at the same time. The daily food, as a rule, consists of a piece of hard stale bread, dipped in salad oil. The bread is bought from a barrow in the street, and consists of the stale unsaleable loaves collected from various bakers' shops in the neighbourhood. The "greener" may supplement this possibly with a little weak coffee or cocoa; or, if he wishes to indulge in an unusual extravagance, he will invest in a piece of dried cucumber, pickled in salt and water; or perhaps two or three "greeners," by way of a treat, will go shares in a few Dutch herrings, also pickled in salt. The dried pickled cucumber is known as "Wally-Wally," and a herring is known as a "Deütcher." These articles are sold in large quantities in the East End.

It must not be supposed, however, that these men remain always in this position. When they have learned to speak the language and to know their way about, they will make better terms for themselves. By degrees they gradually get on. After being in the "slosher's" shop for six or eight months, they learn sufficient to enable them to go into the boot manufactories kept by foreigners, and to apply for work to take out in large quantities. By a process of gradual development, the "greener" becomes a "slosher" himself, and in the fulness of time he may be seen walking about the East End, accosting and offering employment to the first batch of recently-arrived immigrants he sees. More probably he will meet them at the railway-station and waterside; or if in a more extensive way of business, he will write to Hamburg to some of the agencies there, stating that he can find work for so many men. When he gets them into his clutches he treats them in precisely the same way as that in which he himself has been treated. Thus does this evil system go on and flourish.

After a time the foreign Jew begins to accumulate money; and though he still continues his frugal diet of "Wally-Wally" and "Deütcher," he launches forth a little in other ways. The long Russian coat is discarded, and with it the Hessian boots and fur cap. He bedizens himself out with a quantity of cheap flashy jewellery, and possibly goes in for mild theatrical amusements. There is a small theatre in a certain small court in Whitechapel, where well-known English plays are acted in "Yiddish." Here may be seen the smart young foreign Jews and Jewesses, arrayed in all their glory, on every night of the week except Friday, when the Hebrew Sabbath, which nearly all Hebrews outwardly respect, commences. He may also perhaps join the "Chovevi Zion"-Hebrew for "lovers of Zion"-a society which sprang into existence in the East End of London about twelve months ago; or he may possibly-very probably-join one of the many little gambling-hells so greatly affected by the foreign Jew. Worst of all, he may drift into one of the secret socialistic or foreign revolutionary societies which abound in that part of the metropolis. That such societies exist cannot be doubted. They are formed of the class of men who marched to Hyde Park the other day, with a banner inscribed "Down with the Czar." These societies have papers of their own circulated among themselves, written in "Yiddish," breathing the vilest of political sentiments-Nihilism of the most outrageous description.

Thus whole districts in the East of London are as foreign as in Warsaw, or the Ghetto-when there was a Ghetto-in Rome.

In considering the nature of Jewish immigration, allusion should also be made to a species of infamy which, I am credibly informed, has been carried on for some time past at the London Docks. Many of the immigrants are young women, Jewesses of considerable personal attractions. Men-sharks, and female harpies of all descriptions, are on the look-out for them as soon as they disembark. The young women are approached, and asked in "Yiddish" whether they are in want of work. The answer of course is in the affirmative, especially as many of these young Jewesses arrive in a friendless condition. "Then," comes the suggestion, "you had better come and stay with me until you get it," or "I can put you in the way of obtaining it." Of course this dodge does not always succeed, for many young Jewesses are by no means so guileless as they appear to be. But in two cases out of three it does. The girl, friendless and unprotected, goes off with her interlocutor, and then the old shameful story is repeated. She stays in the house until the little she has is more than due for board; her efforts to earn an honest living are in vain; and when she is destitute, she is told she must either leave the place, minus even her little baggage, or earn money at the expense of her virtue. Such a dilemma, in nine cases out of ten, presents only one means of escape; and the girl goes to swell the number of the lost and degraded of our great cities. One of the worst features of this system is, that the decoy is largely carried on by Englishmen and Englishwomen, and by no means confined to foreigners alone. Happily, a Jewish Ladies' Rescue Society has been recently formed, and its efforts have done something to mitigate the evil. An official from this society goes down to the docks for the purpose of warning female immigrants, and advising them where to find employment. But the difficulty still remains, and a very serious one it is.

When we come to inquire into the causes which bring so many of these foreign Jews to our shores, we find that in addition to the two principal reasons-the persecutions in Russia, and the American Immigration Laws, which render their admission to that country impracticable-there are other agencies at work as well. The existence of these agencies is a disputed question; but from inquiries which have been made, there is every reason to believe that many of the East End sweaters have agents abroad working on their behalf. The victims are caught by advertisements in the obscure Continental papers inserted by the "greener slave-agent," who sends batch after batch of poor Jews to this country, and they soon find their way into the sweaters' dens by means of the addresses given them. This method of advertisement is perhaps not so extensively carried on as formerly, but it still exists. Again, there is also the suspicion, which deepens almost into a certainty, of the existence of what is known in America as "steamship-solicitation." It is highly probable that some of the steamship companies principally concerned in bringing these people to England, have agents on the Continent engaged in persuading poor Jews, and poor foreigners generally, to come to this country with the delusive idea that they will find plenty of employment, and plenty of pecuniary assistance here. The notices which the Government have recently caused to be posted up at some of the European ports, may do something to nullify this; but the fact remains that there are several German steamship lines doing an enormous business in bringing these Jewish immigrants to our shores, and there are owners of British vessels also engaged in the same traffic. In America, where it had reached a very great extent, this "steamship-solicitation" has been declared illegal. How far the steamship agencies act in collusion with the sweaters' agents in England, it is not possible to say-or, indeed, if they are in collusion at all. One can only notice that all things work together in a very remarkable manner. A slight clue to the puzzle is afforded by the fact that in Leeds (according to the Report of the Chief Commissioner of Police) there exists a firm of money-lenders who advance money to Jewish applicants having friends in Russia and Poland, which is employed for the purpose of bringing them to this country. This will explain how some, at any rate, of these destitute immigrants manage to pay their passage-money to England.

There is another cause also, which is more controversial, but which must be touched upon all the same, since it is a very potent one in attracting destitute Jews to England. I allude to the well-known munificence of the wealthy English Jews, who are ever ready to help their poorer brethren. The admirably organized system of benevolence which they have gradually built up by means of charitable organizations, shelters, and similar institutions, constitutes nothing less than an open advertisement to the poor Jews all over Europe to come to England and have their wants supplied. I admit that these institutions are not intended to have that effect, and that many leading English Jews endeavour to discourage this immigration; but all the same they tend to have the result of drawing people here.

In Leeds, for example, the Jewish Board of Guardians give the new arrivals a small grant until they have obtained work, and if they know no trade, and are willing to learn one, the Jewish Board will make them an allowance until they are able to earn something for themselves. In London, as I have before stated, the number of cases relieved by the Jewish Board of Guardians in 1890, exclusive of Loan and Industrial Departments, was 3351, representing with dependent families 12,047 individuals, and this at a cost of ￡21,648. Of course, this refers to the resident Jewish population as well, the operations of the Russian and Board Conjoint Committee not being included in this statement. In fairness it should be stated that the Jewish Board of Guardians also assist many to emigrate, and generally endeavour to reduce the mischievous effects of charitable agencies to a minimum. But there are other institutions whose philanthropic activity assumes a more questionable shape. Such, for instance, is the "Poor Jews' Temporary Shelter," which it can hardly be doubted attracts many destitute Jews to this country, since in 1888 it provided board and lodging for a period of from one to fourteen days to 1322 homeless immigrants.

A similar charge has been brought against the "London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews." I have gone very carefully into this charge, and find that it is a groundless one. Not only is the Society opposed to the wholesale influx of foreign Jews, but the number of Jews converted through its influence is incredibly small. For instance, we learn from the last Annual Report that only 145 "young Hebrew Christians" were presented to the Bishop for Confirmation by the Chaplain during the ten years of his chaplaincy, or an average of about five a year. The annual income of the Society is ￡35,000!

I write of what I know. There are agitators in the East End of London who could arouse a Judenhetze to-morrow by merely holding up a finger. It is only the moderating influence of others which restrains them. But this influence, already strained to its utmost, will not avail for ever. If the ceaseless immigration of Russian and Polish outcasts is not brought to an end, there will be an anti-Jewish movement in Whitechapel, in Leeds, and the other centres of population affected by this evil. The irritation will develop. This would be a great social calamity, and one above all others to be avoided.

These are the principal considerations which occur to one in writing on the subject of Jewish immigration. Again let me repeat, in endeavouring to sift this apparently endless influx, there need be no anti-Semitic feeling in the matter. There is a German proverb, "Every nation has the Jew it deserves." We have these our native-born English Jews, of whom we are all proud. Sober, thrifty, industrious, law-abiding and patriotic, they are a valuable and an integral portion of our community. But with these destitute foreigners it is widely different. They bring bound up with them all the vices and habits generated by centuries of oppression and degradation. Something must be done to divert this stream before it swells into an overwhelming flood. How long is this invasion to go on? Until Russia has emptied half-the worst half-of her Jewish population on our shores? The question is one for English Jews themselves. If an anti-Semitic feeling breaks out in this country, it will be because of this Russian influx, which apparently is being allowed to go on unchecked. What are the wealthy and powerful English Jews doing to check it, to focus public opinion upon it, to urge the intervention of Parliament? Apparently nothing. Surely it is not too much to expect that a movement for judiciously restricting and diverting this alien influx, should have the support of the wealthy English Jews; and this not only because of their poor co-religionists who come here to find only fresh misery awaiting them, but also in gratitude to the country under whose enlightened rule they have amassed their wealth, and attained their present influence. There is another reason also for urgency. No one who has had any practical experience in this matter can be blind to the growing dislike and antagonism with which these destitute immigrants are viewed by the native working population with whom they come in contact. This feeling is gathering in intensity day by day.

An outbreak of this nature would be a disgrace and a reproach to our vaunted civilization, and it would be almost certain to be followed by that most dangerous phase of popular excitement-panic legislation. Surely it would be wiser statesmanship to do something now, while the matter can be considered reasonably and dispassionately, than to wait until the smouldering embers of discontent burst into a blaze, the flames of which it may be difficult to check.

* * *