THE INCREASE AND EXTENT.
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.