All these transmigrants, with the exception of 1,647, who are dealt with below, are known to have proceeded to their intended destinations either during 1906 or the first three months of 1907-143,362 proceeding to the United States, 19,591 to British North America, 3,831 to South America, 1,436 to South Africa, and 54 to other destinations. But as will be seen later, 995 were. rejected at foreign or colonial ports and brought back to the United Kingdom. As to the nationality of those who proceeded to their destinations, 86,333 were Russians and Poles, 47,056 Norwegians, Swedes and Danes, 16,705 Austrians,, Hungarians and Bohemians, 4,919 Americans (U.S.), 2,655 Germans, 2,497 Italians, 1,810 Belgians, 829 Dutch, 808 Swiss, 307 French, 123 Spaniards. and Portuguese, and 4,232 belonged to other nationalities. Of the 1,647 who are stated not to have proceeded to their intended destinations, 1,494 returned to the Continent, 14 died in the United Kingdom, and 32 had not left this country on March 1st, 1907, leaving a balance of 107 unaccounted for out of the 169,921 who arrived in 1906. There is little doubt, however, that the majority of these 107 have left the United Kingdom, and that their departure has not been traced owing either to a change of name or to transference to another line than the one specified in the original advice. One of the conditions of the statutory transmigrant bond given by the shipping companies is that transmigrants shall not remain in the United Kingdom, or, having been rejected in another country, re-enter the United Kingdom, except for the purposes of transit, or in other circumsuances approved by the Secretary of State. Transmigrants for the United States, British North America, South America and South Africa are liable to be rejected as undesirable both by the shipping companies at the ports of departure in the United Kingdom and by the immigration authorities at the ports of arrival in those countries. Table VIIIA. gives particulars of the transmigrants so rejected by the shipping companies during the year, omitting 41 who, though so rejected, were allowed to remain in the United Kingdom in circumstances approved by the Secretary of State after consideration of each case and who, for statistical purposes, are included in the 38,527 aliens in column 18 of Table II. The total was 1,432 of whom 1,419 were rejected on medical grounds, the cause in nearly every case being trachoma. All of these 1,432 are known to have left the United Kingdom under the terms of the transmigrant bond, and are included in the 1,494 who are mentioned above as having returned to the Continent. 2 Table VIIIB. gives particulars of the transmigrants rejected by the immigration authorities on arrival in the United States, British North America, South America, or South Africa and brought back to the United Kingdom. Of the 995 persons so rejected, all except 35 are known to have left the United Kingdom, and 13 of the 35 were allowed to remain with the express approval of the Secretary of State. Over 150 of the 186 who were rejected under the labour laws of the United States were Macedonians who simply passed through the United Kingdom on their way back to their own. country. (IV.)-Other Alien Passengers. Particulars of these passengers appear in Table II. They numbered 64,313 during the year and are the alien steerage passengers liable to inspection under the Act; but as 20,030 arrived on non-immigrant ships, the number actually subjected to inspection was 44,283. Of these 64,313 passengers, 7,991 were found to be proceeding to a destination outside the United Kingdom, and consequently under section 8 (1) not immigrants within the meaning of the Act; 6,138 held return tickets to a foreign country; 11,165 were seamen, of whom 8,121 were under actual contract to join ships in British waters; and 492 were refused leave to land, thus leaving a balance of 38,527 alien passengers as to whose intentions or movements after their arrival in this country no definite information is available, but with regard to whom the following further details can be given. As to inspection under the Act, 27,639 arrived on immigrant ships and were consequently inspected, while 10,888 arrived on non-immigrant ships and so were not subject to the provisions of section 1. Newhaven with 10,615 passengers and London with 10,289 were the principal ports of arrival, but whereas all the passengers at the former port with the exception of 94 arrived on immigrant ships, at London 4,636 passengers, or nearly half of the total, arrived on non-immigrant ships. Folkestone came third with 6,472 passengers, the great majority of whom came on immigrant ships, and Dover, Grimsby, and Hull had each over 2,000 passengers. The principal ports of departure from the Continent were Dieppe (10,618), Boulogne (6,482), Rotterdam (4,395), Hamburg (4,389), Bremen (3,164), Russian Baltic ports other than Finnish (2,170), and Calais (1,583). The Dieppe, Boulogne, and Calais figures represent, of course, the cross channel traffic to Newhaven, Folkestone, and Dover; the great majority of the passengers from Bremen, Rotterdam, and Russian Baltic ports arrived in London; and the passengers from Hamburg were for the most part divided between that port and Grimsby. Table IV. gives particulars of nationality and port of arrival, distinguishing males, females, and children, and showing how many of each nationality arrived on immigrant and non-immigrant ships respectively. Of the 38,527, 22,986 were males, 11,049 females, and 4,492 children. Russians and Poles numbered 12,832, French 10,116, Italians 5,360, Germans 3,186, Norwegians, Swedes and Danes 1,295, Austrians, Hungarians and Bohemians 1,223, Swiss 983, Dutch 798, Spaniards and Portuguese 572, Americans (U.S.) 552, Belgians 380, and other nationalities 1,230. Of the Russians and Poles, considerably over one-half (7,626) arrived at the port of London. The great majority of the French and Italians landed at cross-channel ports. Taking the four chief nationalities, it will be seen that of the Russians and Poles, 3,938, of the French 2,313, of the Italians 458, and of the Germans 1,464, arrived on non-immigant ships, and were consequently not subject to inspection. Table V. gives further details as to those arriving at the port of London, showing nationality, ports of departure, and males, females and children, and -distinguishing those arriving from each port of departure on immigrant and non-immigrant ships. Of the total of 10,289 passengers during the year, 7,626 were Russians and Poles, of whom 2,285 came from Bremen, 1,962 from Rotterdam, 1,636 from Russian Baltic ports other than Finnish, and 1,509 from Hamburg; 896 were Germans; 605 Dutch, and 556 Austrians, Hungarians and Bohemians. 5,653, of whom 4,647 were Russians and Poles, were inspected under the Act, and 4,636, of whom 2,979 were Russians and Poles, arrived on non-immigrant ships. Of the total who landed from non-immigrant ships 2,163 came from Rotterdam, 1,109 from Bremen, 751 from Hamburg, 280 from Amsterdam, 250 from Scandinavian ports, and 33 from Russian Baltic ports other than Finnish. CASES IN WHICH LEAVE TO LAND WAS WITHHELD. By section 1 the Immigration Officer is required to withhold leave to land in the case of any immigrant who appears to him to be undesirable within the meaning of the section, and it is provided that an immigrant shall be considered undesirable "(a) If he cannot show that he has in his possession or is in a position "to obtain the means of decently supporting himself and his dependents. ." (if any); or 66 "(b) If he is a lunatic or an idiot, or owing to any disease or infirmity appears likely to become a charge upon the rates or otherwise a detriment to "the public; or 66 (c) If he has been sentenced in a foreign country with which there is an "extradition treaty for a crime, not being an offence of a political character, "which is, as respects that country, an extradition crime within the meaning of "the Extradition Act, 1870; or "(d) If an expulsion order under this Act has been made in his case.' It is further provided that leave to land shall not be withheld (1) "in the case of an immigrant who shows to the satisfaction of the Immigration Officer "or board concerned with the case that, having taken his ticket in the United "Kingdom and embarked direct therefrom for some other country immediately "after a period of residence in the United Kingdom of not less than six months, "he has been refused admission in that country and returned direct therefrom to a port in the United Kingdom"; (2) merely on the ground of want of means, in the case of an immigrant "who satisfies the Immigration Officer or "board concerned with the case that he was born in the United Kingdom, "his father being a British subject"; and (3) merely on the ground of want of means or the probability of his becoming a charge upon the rates, “in the "case of an immigrant who proves that he is seeking admission to this country solely to avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political grounds or "for an offence of a political character, or persecution, involving danger of "imprisonment or danger to life or limb, on acount of religious belief." Under section 1 (2), when leave to land is withheld in the case of any immigrant, the master, owner, or agent of the ship, or the immigrant himself, can appeal to the Immigration Board of the port. Table VIIA. gives particulars of all cases in which leave to land was withheld during 1906, including the cases of passengers arriving from extraEuropean ports. The Immigration Officers refused leave to land to 935 persons in all, to 733 on the ground of want of means, and to 202 on medical grounds. Of the former 635 appealed, and of the latter 161, making a total of 796 appeals. Of these appeals 442 were successful and 354 were unsuccessful. Adding the unsuccessful appeals to the number of cases in which no appeal was made we get a total of 493 persons, 382 males, 69 females, and 42 dependents, to whom leave to land was finally refused, divided among the following nationalities: Russians and Poles, 262; Italians, 63; French, 54; Spaniards and Portuguese, 26; Germans, 17; Austrians, Hungarians and Bohemians, 16; Norwegians, Swedes and Danes, 11; Swiss, 8; Roumanians, 4; Dutch, 2; Americans (U.S.) 2; other nationalities, 28. Of these final rejections 360 were for want of means, and 133 (including 5 dependents) on medical grounds, the cause in 52 cases being trachoma. In Table VIIB. and c. appear details as to the nationality of the persons. from whom leave to land was withheld, either by the Immigration Officers, or, on appeal, by the Immigration Boards, according to the ports at which leave to land was in each case so withheld. CONDITIONS OF INSPECTION. Under section 1 (1) the inspection of immigrants is to take place on board ship unless they are conditionally disembarked for the purpose, and by section 2 (2) the Secretary of State is empowered to provide for the security to be given in the case of immigrants conditionally disembarked. At Cardiff, Grangemouth, Harwich, Leith, Liverpool, London, Southampton and the Tyne Ports, all the inspections during 1906 took place on board ship, but at Folkestone, Grimsby and Newhaven nearly all the immigrants were conditionally disembarked and inspected in a receiving house. At Dover and Hull the practice varied, some of the immigrants being inspected on board ship and others in a receiving house. ALIEN PASSENGERS AT NON-IMMIGRATION PORTS. Table I. shows that the alien passengers arriving at non-immigration ports from European and Mediterranean ports numbered 4,214 during the year, of whom 1,250 were stated to be proceeding to a destination outside the United Kingdom, and 1,200 were seamen. (Table III. P.) ALIEN PASSENGERS TO AND FROM EXTRA-EUROPEAN PORTS. With regard to the extra-European traffic, the only figures that can be given for the whole year are those of transmigrants outwards (Table VI.), which have already been dealt with. Other figures of extra-European traffic both inwards and outwards, are collected in returns which have only gradually been getting into working order during the year, and it is not possible to show any complete results for 1906. The provisions of Section 1 of the Act as to inspection apply to the inward portion of this traffic as well as to that of the European traffic, but as regards the vast majority of the alien steerage passengers they operate in a different manner. The power of the Secretary of State to exempt immigrant ships from inspection upon certain conditions has already been referred to. In pursuance of this provision total exemption from section 1 of the Act has been granted to certain shipping companies as regards such of their ships as are immigrant ships within the meaning of the Act, upon bond being given that no undesirable immigrants will be landed in the United Kingdom from those ships except for the purposes of transit. Under the obligation thus imposed a number of aliens deported on warrant during 1906 as undesirable from the United States and Canada-including 21 deported as insane and 22 on other medical grounds-and brought to this country were not allowed to remain in the United Kingdom. The companies to which total exemption has been granted include almost all the great passenger lines to and from the United States, British North America, South Africa, and Australia, and the result is that as regards the bulk of the alien steerage passenger movement from extra-European ports, the Act operates by means of the bond above mentioned. ALIEN PASSENGERS OUTWARDS AT CROSS-CHANNEL PORTS. The returns which deal with the outward European traffic could not be brought into operation until about the middle of last year, and were not fully furnished until a later period, except at the cross-channel ports. Table IX. gives for the period July 1st to December 31st, the number of alien passengers outwards at the cross-channel ports of Dover, Folkestone, Harwich, Newhaven, Queenborough and Southampton, divided into classes. The ports of destination on the Continent were Calais, Ostend, Boulogne, Hook of Holland, Antwerp, Dieppe, Flushing, Havre, Cherbourg, and St. Malo. The total number of such passengers was 130,209, of whom 66,906 were firstclass, 45,406 second-class, and 19,897 third-class. 47,224 embarked at Dover, 23,671 at Newhaven, 19,187 at Harwich, 17,754 at Folkestone, 15,070 at Queenborough, and 7,303 at Southampton. Owing to the conditions under which this traffic is carried on, it is impossible to procure any further information with regard to the alien passengers than that embodied in the table. PROSECUTIONS UNDER SECTION 1 (5) OF THE ACT. The masters of two ships which arrived in the Port of London were prosecuted in January and April respectively for allowing immigrants to land who had been refused leave to land. In one case a fine of £10, with £10 10s. costs, was imposed, and in the other case a fine of 1s. 27343 B POOR LAW AND OTHER RELIEF GRANTED TO ALIENS. Appendix II. shows the number and nationality of aliens who received Poor Law relief during 1906 in London and certain provincial unions. The total number relieved was 6,050, of whom 2,039 received in-door relief, 3,101 out-door relief, and 548 were vagrants. The number of aliens sent to lunatic asylums was 266. Of the total number who received relief, including vagrants, 3,231 were Russians and Poles, 898 Germans, 298 Italians, 241 Norwegians, Swedes and Danes, 188 Austrians, Hungarians and Bohemians, and 856 belonged to other nationalities. Appendix III. contains particulars of the relief granted to aliens by certain charitable organizations. It was not possible to obtain statements for the year from certain other societies, but these will, I hope, be embodied in the Report for 1907. In conclusion, I desire to express my deep obligation to Mr. Robert Henderson, C.B., Secretary to the Board of Customs, and to Mr. J. L. Mackie, of that department, for the great assistance they have rendered during the year, and to all the Collectors of Customs at the immigration ports for their invariable courtesy and consideration. My thanks are also due to Mr. Norman Hill, Secretary of the Liverpool Steamship Owners' Association, who has never failed to give me the advantage of his great experience and knowledge. April 10th, 1907. I am, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, W. HALDANE PORTER. |