ALIEN IMMIGRATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 86, 11 April 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

ALIEN IMMIGRATION.

A" PROBLEM FOR ENGLISH POLITI

CIANS.

LONDON, February 27*. '

Probably in moving his Alien Immigration Amendment to the Address-in-Reply to the King's speech, Sir Howard Vincent knew full well that he had no chance of getting it carried, for the matter of the influx of Continental riff-raff into England is under the leisurely consideration of a Royal Commission, and until that body lias made its report ib is hopeless to expect that the supporters of the Government will embarrass the Ministry by insisting on immediate legislation on the subject. But, though he withdrew his amendment calling for "the immediate fulfilment of the repeated promises of legislation upon the subject on behalf of His Majesty's Government, and notably of that of February 10, 1897, declaring that not only individual members, but the Government as a whole, were pledged to some legislation on the subject," he did well.to bring the mat« ter forward in the House, for by so doing he showed most clearly that strong pressure will have to be brought upon the Government if any serious legislative effort to deal with the evil cf alien pauper immigration is to be made. Mr Gerald Balfour, the president of the Board of Trade, in his reply to Sir Howard Vincent, gave us an inkling of tha Ministerial attitude toward the subject. He said the mover of the amendment! had alluded to burglaries committed byj aliens, but a burglar's equipment was supposed to "cost £100. How could men with so muoh capital as that at command be possibly kept out as paupers, and how could larceny iby German waiters be prevented by any restriction on the admission of pauper aliens? The lion, gentleman had pointed out evils of alien immigration, but he had not suggested any remedy. Did he suggest alien immigration should be absolutely prohibited? . i

Of course, no one lias ever suggested the absolute prohibition., of alien immigration, and it is totally untrue that; remedies have not been suggested. And to talk of £ 100 burglar kits and petty, larcenies by foreign waiters, in the face of facts disclosed every week in police court and session house is simply "blithering nonsense." In any case, a modest, "fiver" would give any man an outfit good enough to "crack any crib" not specially built with a view to baulking Bill Sykes, and a "jemmy," a cold chisel, and the paraphernalia of the ordinary, housebreaker can be picked up in Far-ringdon-road for a few shillings. But the Balfour family in politics never will look facts squarely in the face, and optimism is their principal Parliamentary stock-in-trade. The evidence given before the Government's own Royal Commission yesterday is surely convincing enough to show that something must be done, and done'swiftly, to cHeek the tide of undesirable immigration. Mr McConnell, chairman of the County of London Sessions, said that of 2300 cases ,' dealt with, 249 were foreigners. Mr Haden Corser, the magistrate of the Worship-street Poi|c(? ; Court, produced figures showing much'|the same'percentage. Now, the number of aliens in London relatively to ttie native population is inconsiderable, and it is certainly remarkable that one in every nine or ten cases should involve an alien. Formerly, said Mr McConnell, the crimes of aliens consisted mainly of petty .larcenies among themselves. But from preying up- > on each other they have proceeded in an increasing degree to prey upon the natives. Aliens are now formidable com-, petitors in. the burglary business, as also,. it seems, in another very old and not more reputable profession. We have no cause to give ourselves airs this matter, for not all the aliens come to our, shores with criminal intent. London, said Mr McConnell, is a great school of crime, and the question is whether likely, pupils for that school cannot be ex* eluded. It is not easy to devise a completely satisfactory test, for aliens with! money may be extremely undesirable, whilst those with the proverbial halfcrown in their. pockets may turn out' most desiraMe citizens. However. England may have benefited in times gone by through her "open door policy ," it is quite clear that to-day a very high percentage indeed of the Continentals who come to our shores are either "bad eggs" to begin with, or soon become "victims of environment" by reason, of their ignorance and poverty. Without countenancing any narrow policy of exclusion, we may at least follow the poflqjj; of the United States. Mr Sydney Buxton, in yesterday's debate, "objected to" the refuse of Europe being dumped on our shores. They reduced wages," he said, "lengthened hours, and worsened! the conditions under which labour ought to be carried on." There is some exaggeration perhaps in such statements, but behind Mr Buxton's remark may, detect the principle upon which United States' legislation is based. The principle is not so much that of exclusion: as of an entrance standard. The United States otfexs free competition with a preliminary pass examination. A certaifl standard of civilisation has established itself, and everyone v/ho is up to that standard is free to benefit by it, but nes must prove that he is up to it. Many competitors fail to pass, and, as one Ok the speakers said yesterday, they fall back upon England, where no such entrance examination is imposed. Is this state of things desirable? Does Great. Britain gain by constituting itself a sort of international Alsatia? There was a case in one of the police courts the other day of a confirmed criminal who, having been banished from his own country, found a happy hunting ground in ours. What do we gain by immigration of that kind? The magistrate who had the case before him could see no possible chance of benefit accruing to the Old Country, and arranged for the transhipment of the immigrant. It may be asked what is to happen if all ports are closed to "undesirables"? Each country will have to deal with its own unless all countries combine to found settlements, on the model of the international island which Bismarck one*! proposed for-anarchists,,