THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1923. AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18459, 24 July 1923, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1923. AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.

Unexpected results followed the! new American Immigration Act, which became law on May 19, 1921. Consequences carrying hardship to people who have in no way deserved ill at the hands of the United States are reported from time to time. First it was general ignorance of the working of' the Act which caused trouble; now it tends rather to be a frenzied effort to avoid the penalties it imposes. The desire to reach the promised land before the monthly or yearly quota is full, causes a flood tide which banks up at the pcints of entry. The results which can follow are described in a message dealing with Ellis Island, published to-day. Migration to America received a considerable check during the war. Many causes, too obvious to need recapitulation, contributed to produce that result. When hostilities ceased, there was a prospect of resumption on an unprecedented scale. To meet the situation there was passed an Act stipulating that not more than three per cent, of the number of foreign born persons of any given nationality in the United States, according to the 1910 census, should bo admitted in any fiscal year. The monthly rate of entry, it was stipulated, should not exceed 20 per cent, of the annual total permissible nationalities must be determined by countries of birth; children aver -18 years of ago must count in the quota; the alien relatives of American citizens or residents alto must be counted, with certain exceptions'; aliens resident in, but temporarily absent from, the United States must also be counted in the quota, without being denied the right of entry when it was exhausted. These are the main provisions of the ' Act, which is a short and fairly simple measure. A little more elaboration would probably have been an improvement as some developments have shown. American citizens have not been backward in denouncing some of its effects, this being quite apart from the protests of business interests concerned in the labour market.

The right of the United States to regulate immigration need no I be questioned. The principle of control has been firmly adopted by many portions of the British Empire, where the example of some disadvantages inherent in the old American principle .of the virtual open door carried a certain amount of weight. Even with that reservation, it can be seen that the methods employed in the United States carried inherent ; dangers, which reliable evidence proves to have been realised in greater or less degree. The • general hardship of arriving after a particular quota is full, and being left stranded at the gateway has often enough been described. There are particular casualties, not so well known, which may occur and often have occurred. Nationalities, for instance, are determined by countries of birth. ' Thus different members of the same family, if born in different countries, -would not all be counted in the same quota. There have been actual cases of hardship from this cause. . y Again, it is contended that a law based on the 1910 census is ill adapted for application to the Europe of 1923. Boundaries have been radically altered and many new States created in the meantime. Considerable difficulty in computing quotas has been experienced because of this. People have had to face more than simple disappointment. Would-be migrants, with few resources at their disposal, have found, after sacrificing their original ' homes!, that entry to America has been denied ' them. Many who have not passed the borders of their native land have suffered . severe privations by finding a full quota making it impossible for them to prooeed.Some European countries have had to deal with a serious problem made for them by the American immigration law. The fundamental difficulty has been shown to be lack of control at the point of embarkation. With an arbitrary figure set for each nationality, it is easily seen that each quota should be compiled and filled in the home country of the migrant if the danger of a fruitless journey, arid rejection at the very gates, was to be avoided. Here the very simplicity of the law adds to its complexity. America has a fairly complete consular organisation, world-wide in scope, but it is difficult, as experience has shown, to keep consular offices fully advised of the state of the different quotas. Consuls endeavoured when . giving the necessary visa to passports. to limit departures to the quota, but they were compelled to announce that the American visa > gave no assurance of admission. There were other complications. If a consul in Italy was asked for a visa by, say, a Rumanian wishing to settle in America, he would have little

chance of ascertaining readily how. the Rumanian quota stood, or the i number of • passports already approved by the consuls in that : country. ' The steamship lines tried, to regulate the position, to escape the liability of returning ; to the embarkation port those people denied entry. There has .been a certain amount of co-operation by the authorities with them, but all steamship companies have not/joined in with the system.. The best that American critics can say is that the confusion and hardships incidental to its inception have been in part removed from the system ; in part but not in all. The intention behind the Act is quite legitimate. It aims first at preventing an inrush of immigrants who could not readily be assimilated, and second, at securing a greater proportion from Northern Europe, more nearly accustomed to American standards, modes of thought, and habits than .those of the southern and eastern countries. That its operation has caused hardships, not desired by America, • to innocent people, and resentment against the United States not beneficial to anybody is a consequence outside the intentions of the lawmakers. The principal mora] is the seriousness of undertaking legislation which may affect a world-wide community.