Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the state of New York/Appendix/3
III. The Inland Voyage,
AND BOOKING OF PASSENGERS IN EUROPE
THE Legislature of the State of New York, admonished by the rapid increase of immigration at the port of New York, and considering the important interests connected therewith, has established a Board of Commissioners, acting under the authority of the State, and entrusted with the general care and supervision of the subject. The protection of the emigrant against the tricks and dishonesty of persons with whom he must necessarily come in contact immediately on his arrival, is one of the principal objects of the Commission; and, in furtherance of this object, the undersigned have been appointed a committee to notice a great and frequent abuse, which is practised upon the emigrant even before he leaves the Old World.
The number of passengers arrived at this port since the beginning of this year is nearly 160,000; and it may be assumed that at least 130,000 thereof have proceeded to the distant parts of the country at the West, and that the money paid here for their passage amounts to more than half a million of dollars. As may be supposed, there are many people engaged in the business of forwarding these emigrants, and the individuals or companies thus engaged employ a host of clerks or servants, called "runners," who try to meet the new-comer on board the ship that brings him, or immediately after he puts his foot on shore, for the purpose of carrying him to the forwarding offices for which they respectively act. The tricks resorted to, in order to forestall a competitor and secure the emigrant, would be amusing, if they were not at the cost of the inexperienced and unsuspecting stranger; and it is but too true that an enormous sum of money is annually lost to the emigrants by the wiles and false statements of the emigrant runners, many of them originally from their own country, and speaking their native language.
Of late the field of operation of these "emigrant runners" is no longer confined to this city; it extends to Europe. Some have appeared there sent from here by forwarding offices, others have been engaged on the spot, and again others have commenced and are carrying on the business on their own account and responsibility; but all have the same object in view, namely, to make money out of the emigrant. They generally call themselves agents of some transportation or forwarding bureau, and endeavor to impress the emigrant who intends going farther than New York with the belief that it is for his benefit, and in the highest degree desirable, to secure his passage hence to the place of his destination before he leaves Europe.
It is well known that emigrants frequently arrive at the seaports in Europe, without having engaged their passage across the ocean, and not finding a vessel ready to take them on board, they are compelled to stop, at a considerable expense, until an opportunity offers to proceed on their voyage; and it also happens that, even when they have secured a passage before going to the port of embarkation, they are delayed, and subject to perplexities and charges which they did not anticipate. This circumstance is taken advantage of by the so-called agents of New York transportation and forwarding houses, to induce the emigrant to take his passage from this port to his ulterior destination, before leaving Europe. He is told that, unless he does so, he runs great risk of being detained, or having to pay exorbitant prices.
These statements, and all similar ones which may be used for the purpose, are not true, and whoever believes them, and acts upon such belief, is sure to be deceived.
There are but two routes hence to the West; the one is by way of Albany and Buffalo, the other by way of Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and to these places there is no more than one conveyance daily, all the year through. There is never any difficulty in getting away from New York, and so numerous are the establishments engaged in the business of forwarding passengers, that exorbitant or high prices of passage are entirely prevented by the competition among said establishments, and the traveller will never be exposed to them, if he will only be careful not to make an arrangement with the first comer, but will take some pains to find out which is the safest and cheapest office to apply to.
It is invariably the case, that those who in Europe take passage tickets for inland places in America pay more, generally considerably more, than others, who wait until they are here. The agents in Europe who sell such tickets must have a compensation therefor, and this compensation, be it much or little, is added to the regular price of passage, and the emigrant has to pay it. Instances have come to the knowledge of the Commissioners, where the difference amounted to three dollars a person! But this is not all. The cases are by no means rare in which the tickets prove entirely worthless. They bear the name of offices which never existed, and then, of course are nowhere respected; or the offices whose name they bear will be found shut up, and are not likely ever to reopen; or the emigrants are directed to parties refusing to acknowledge the agent who issued the tickets, and in all these cases the emigrant loses the money paid for them.
It is to be hoped that this publication will receive the attention it deserves. It would be gratifying to the Commissioners, and entirely for the interest of the emigrants, if the respective Governments in Europe would prohibit the business alluded to; in any event, the Commissioners trust that emigrants will heed this warning, and henceforward will not pay or arrange for passage to the interior of America until they are here.
On their arrival here, they should not give ear to any representations, nor enter into any engagements, without obtaining first the advice and counsel of either the Commissioners of Emigration, or the Emigrant Society of the nation to which they belong, or its consul; and in enquiring for the office of the society, or consul, or the commissioners, they should be careful not to be carried to the wrong place. There are many individuals sufficiently unscrupulous intentionally to mislead the stranger. If the latter, for instance, enquire after the agency of the German Society, the person applied to will say that he is the agent, or that he will take the stranger to the office of the German Society, but, instead of doing so, will take him to a place where he is almost sure to be defrauded. As a general rule, if the emigrant is urged to take passage, or has to pay for the advice he asks, he may take it for granted that he is not at the place where he wishes to be; and he should bear in mind to look for the names of the persons or office he is in search of, at the door of the houses into which he is shown. All the foreign consuls, and the emigrant societies, as well as the Commissioners of Emigration, have signs over the doors of their offices. The office of the German Society is No. 95 Greenwich Street, of the Irish Emigrant Society at 22 Spruce Street, and of the Commissioners of Emigration in one of the public edifices of the city, in the Park.
Finally, we would remark that, if the emigrant be so situated as to render his immediate departure hence necessary, without having an opportunity to apply for advice to any of the places indicated, he should be careful not to take his passage for the whole distance he has to go, but should do so only to the first station of the route, say to Albany or Philadelphia. He should bear in mind that the passage hence to Albany is fifty cents, and to Philadelphia two dollars and twenty-five cents a person, and no more.
The Commissioners trust that this advice will be received and acted upon with that confidence to which it is entitled, from being given by persons who have no interest but that of the welfare of the emigrant, whose duties make them perfectly familiar with the subject, and who act not as private citizens, but under the authority and supervision of the Government of the State.
- In behalf of the Commissioners of Emigration,
| GULIAN C. VERPLANCK, | President of the Board. | ||
| LEOPOLD BIERWIRTH, | President of the German Society. | Committee | |
| JOHN H. GRISCOM, | General Agent. |
Hon. James Buchanan, Secretary of State:
Sir: I have the honor to address you on behalf of the Board of Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York.
This Board (as you may perhaps be already informed) is a commission appointed by the authorities of this State, for the assistance and protection of foreign emigrants arriving in this State, by providing for the sick and destitute, and protecting all from imposition while here, and aiding them to their ultimate destination. We have lately learned from unquestionable authority (among others from the United States Consul at Havre) that an organized system of imposition exists at the principal points of emigration from Europe, in the ports of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as those of the Continent, by which great and frequent frauds are committed in relation to the passages of emigrants to the interior of the United States. A circular has been accordingly prepared, under the authority of this Board, with the design of exposing these frauds, thus setting the emigrants on their guard against them. (A printed copy is herewith enclosed.) It has occurred to the Commissioners that this communication would be far more likely to promote its objects if it received the aid and sanction of the Government of the United States.
This being a subject strictly relating to our intercourse with foreign nations, and in which other States must feel as much interest as that which first receives the emigrant; it appears to be legitimately within the constitutional sphere of the General Government. It is, therefore, respectfully suggested that copies of the enclosed circular should be transmitted to the several consuls of the United States, at all the points of great emigration to this country, with a note from the Department of State, recommending the subject to their especial attention, and requesting them to give publicity to the information and advice of the Commissioners.
Should this suggestion meet your approval, printed copies of the circular will be furnished and forwarded as the Department may direct.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
G. C. VERPLANCK, Pres't of Comm'rs of Emigration.
Hon. G. C. Verplanck, New York:
Sir: I have received your letter of the 2d inst., addressed to me on behalf of the Board of Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York, referring to the existence of "an organized system of imposition at the principal points of emigration from Europe, in the ports of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as those of the Continent, by which great and frequent frauds are committed in relation to the passages of emigrants to the interior of the United States, together with a printed copy of a circular, prepared under the authority of the Board, with the design of exposing these frauds, thus setting the emigrants on their guard against them."
In the promotion of an object so honorable and benevolent, your Board may fully rely upon all the aid and support which this Department can properly afford.
In reply to your suggestion that copies of this circular be transmitted to the several consuls of the United States, at all the points of great emigration to this country, and your offer to furnish them for that purpose, I have to state that I will, with great pleasure, cause them to be so addressed, with such instructions as may be best calculated to ensure the results you have in view.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obt. servant,
MEMORIAL.
THE present respectful address to the august Governments of those European states from which a regular annual emigration takes place purposes to invoke their powerful assistance in the philanthropic work of protecting emigrants landing upon these shores, for which the memorializing Commission was constituted by a law passed by the Legislature of the State of New York, in the year 1847.
This law creates a fund by the payment of $1 50 a head (since raised to $2 50), in lieu of special bonds for the support of persons likely to become a public charge, on all passengers landing at the port of New York, such fund to be applied for the relief of immigrants who should become unable to support themselves within the first five years after landing, by sickness, want of employment, or other causes, and to be administered by a board of Commissioners of Emigration, consisting of six Commissioners appointed by the Governor of the State, of the Mayors of the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and of the Presidents of the Irish and German Societies of the city of New York.
Under this law the memorialists have erected extensive hospitals and houses of refuge, and disbursed vast sums of money for temporary relief, during a period of eight years, securing the immigrant against distress, and the State at large against the charge of a great number of paupers, by healing the sick, sheltering the houseless, and finding employment for thousands of people able to earn their living, but unable to find employment for themselves, by means of extensive and well organized intelligence offices, where labor is provided without charge to the seeker.
But the efforts of the Commissioners of Emigration have not been limited to the work of relief alone. Their attention has also, from the beginning of their activity, been directed towards the prevention of suffering among immigrants, and they have from time to time suggested the passage of laws by the Legislature for the protection of immigrants against systematic fraud, to which they were exposed, from persons profiting by their ignorance of the condition of things in this country, or of its laws or language, and subjecting them to heavy losses of money or property, thereby reducing them to a condition calling for relief.
The most fruitful source of misery among immigrants has ever been the lawless action of a numerous class of people engaged directly or indirectly in the business of forwarding immigrants landing at this port to their destination in the interior. The schemes resorted to by this class for practising fraud and extortion upon the newly arrived immigrant beggar the liveliest imagination, and a variety of remedies for this evil, tried by this Commission and various benevolent societies, invariably called forth renewed efforts of invention on the part of the offenders, which again baffled the intentions and exertions of the friend of the immigrant for his protection.
The growing evil has finally led to the adoption of means for a radical cure, by placing the landing of the entire immigration under the direct supervision of the Commissioners of Emigration. A law was passed by the Legislature of the State, in April, 1855, compelling all vessels bringing emigrant passengers to this port to land them at one wharf, to be designated by the Commissioners of Emigration, and imposing a heavy fine for any deviation from the rule thus established.
The object of this law is to break up the system of barter and sale of passengers which prevailed to a large extent, by rendering it impossible for captains of vessels to sell their cargo of passengers to one or other gang of passenger brokers, known as runners, who were employed at an enormous expense by hotel-keepers, forwarding agents, and railroad and steamboat companies, for the purpose of securing to them respectively the largest possible share of the profits to be made out of the unsuspecting immigrant.
Under this law, the memorialists selected and designated as the only landing place for emigrants the wharf adjoining the extensive old fort situated at the Battery, on the southern part of the city, and known as Castle Garden, and fitted up the fort itself as an "Emigrant Landing Depot" affording ample accommodations for landing and forwarding several thousand emigrants in a day, and for the safe-keeping of their baggage until forwarded. They surrounded the whole ground with a high and strong fence, shutting out effectually the class of persons whose depredations against the property of emigrants had, for years, been a source of a great deal of misery among emigrants landing in New York.
They also induced the directors of the principal railroad and steamboat lines to the West to organize at Castle Garden a central and joint ticket office for the sale—at the regular published prices—of passage tickets for emigrants to their several places of destination in the interior, and to place such office, and the entire business of forwarding persons or property, under their own immediate supervision.
Under this arrangement the passenger is landed with his baggage, as security for which checks are issued acknowledging responsibility for its safety. He finds in Castle Garden a vast hall, well ventilated and comfortably warmed, when the season requires it, in which he can rest and refresh himself; large bath-rooms, whose use is free of charge; frugal meals at cost price; responsible and disinterested officials, speaking his own language, to give him advice as to the best mode of travelling, or the easiest and quickest way of finding employment; he can there buy his ticket for the line of travel by railroad or steamboat which he may choose, and have his baggage labelled and numbered, receiving therefore a receipted check which calls for the baggage therein described at the place of destination, and he is finally transported with his baggage by water, free of charge, to the starting place of the line he has chosen. He is thus entirely guarded against the necessity of going into the streets of the city, and of exposing himself to the dangerous snares which the runner has in readiness for him, as soon as he comes in contact with him. Even the collection of his bills of exchange on merchants in the city may, if he choses, be done for him through the cashier's office, and the money is then paid over to him under the supervision of one of the Commissioners of Emigration. He can thus proceed to his Western destination without being exposed to the least danger of loss from imposition.
Desperate efforts are being made by the runners and their backers to break down this beneficent institution. No calumny is left untried in order to excite public opinion against it. But all this has proved of no avail, for the immense benefit which the immigrant derives from the protection afforded him by this institution is too clearly demonstrable to admit of a doubt in any observing and unbiassed mind.
The clamorers finding themselves unable to prove the Emigrant Landing Depot at Castle Garden a nuisance, endangering the health and prosperity of the city, and equally unable to make their usual iniquitous profits out of the emigrants protected by its walls, have resorted to a means which threatens in a measure to paralyze the beneficial action of this institution, by circumventing its protective operation.
The means alluded to is the system of contracting with emigrants in Europe for their inland passage from New York to their places of destination in the interior of the United States or in Canada. This system has been lately revived to a considerable extent. Runners and forwarding agents of this city, finding their occupation gone by the establishment of the Emigrant Landing Depot of Castle Garden, have removed to European ports, and even inland towns, or have there revived or established agencies for booking passengers to places in the interior previous to their leaving the European ports, or even their inland homes, and for receiving part or the whole of the price of such inland tickets in advance.
It is self-evident that these agencies, carried on at considerable expense, are not content to charge a legitimate commission on the net prices of tickets merely. Overcharges on the personal tickets are the rule, pretty generally varying from 25 to 50 per cent. above the established rates of transportation companies, and very often being fully double the proper charge; whilst full and unlimited facilities are left open for the consignees in this country, their runners and baggagemen, to defraud the passenger on the charges for his baggage after he arrives here. False representations, amounting almost to coercion, are not unfrequently resorted to, in order to induce emigrants to contract for inland passage before leaving Europe. Assertions of the most absurd description are made to the emigrant, such for instance as that it would be impossible to travel inland unless on tickets issued by the agent making the assertion, and such assertions are conveyed in such language, and with such a show of apparently corroborative evidence, as to inspire confidence, and to mislead the inexperienced emigrant. Some of these agencies, more especially in England, have gone so far as to represent themselves as agents for the Commissioners of Emigration, and have grossly defrauded passengers under the shelter of the name of the memorialists, thus endeavoring indirectly to shake public faith in the Commissioners of Emigration.
The effect of this system is calculated to destroy the protection which Castle Garden throws around the immigrant, for the passenger landing with a contract in his pocket, on which he has made payment, in part or in full, at once leaves Castle Garden for the city, to find the consignee who is to fulfil the contract made in Europe. He thus passes by the institution planned and arranged by the Legislature of the State for his protection, and falls into the very hands against whom he would have been effectually protected. He has to pay heavy cartage for the transportation of his baggage, for whose safety, moreover, his own vigilance will be the only guarantee. He will again be detained, on various pretences, in the taverns until his last dollar is expended, and a small debt incurred, which furnishes a pretext for seizing part or the whole of his luggage, and, thus plucked, he will again be turned heartlessly into the street, to become a charge to benevolence, instead of going directly into an independent and useful activity, as he would if he had proceeded at once from the Landing Depot to his final place of destination, without being robbed of his means and of his property by useless and fraudulent delays, caused by interested parties taking advantage of his ignorance.
It is to prevent this dangerous system of "booking in Europe," that the memorialists most respectfully ask for the assistance and co-operation of the Governments of Europe. The care which the European Governments have evinced for the protection of their individual subjects, by stringent laws regulating, superintending, or forbidding every species of business, calculated to offer scope to the swindler, inspires the memorialists with the hope that their representations will be favorably considered, and that the Governments addressed will be pleased to assist them in their efforts to protect the landing emigrants, by adopting such measures as will render it impossible for the reckless speculator upon the property of the emigrant to frustrate, in the manner indicated, the desire of the Legislature of the State of New York to extend to him, through the memorialists, a complete protection against fraud and imposition when he lands in this port?
The memorialists, being aware of the accomplished business-tact, and of the easy, insinuating, and gentlemanly address of the more prominent among the passenger agents who have gone to Europe, and are now travelling or residing there, engaged in forwarding the interests of the concerns of this city with which they are connected, would respectfully caution the Governments of Europe against the plausible statements which such men are in the habit of making to further their own ends, and would respectfully solicit a thorough investigation of the protective establishment under the charge of the memorialists, by the representatives in this country of the European Governments, envoys, ministers, consuls, or commercial agents.
Recommending their memorial to the favorable consideration of the august Governments, the undersigned have the honor to subscribe themselves most respectfully,
- New York, November, 1855.
The Board of Commissioners of Emigration,
| Gulian C. Verplanck, President, | ||
| John A. Kennedy, James Kelly, | ||
| Elijah F. Purdy, E. D. Morgan, | Commissioners | |
| John P. Cumming, | ||
| Fernando Wood, Mayor of New York. | ||
| Geo. Hall, Mayor of Brooklyn. | ||
| Andrew Carrigan, President Irish Society. | ||
| Rud. Garrigue, President German Society. |
Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, Secretary of State, Washington City:
Sir: At the last meeting of the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York, I was instructed to communicate to you their request that an other effort should be made to induce the Governments of those countries of Europe whence emigration to this port chiefly flows, to prohibit altogether the booking of passengers for inland passages or transportation in the United States, or selling abroad passage tickets or contracts for passage tickets to be used on this side of the Atlantic.
On this subject, permit me to refer you to a letter from a Committee of this Board to yourself, of October 12, 1855, to your reply thereto, and to the printed circulars issued in consequence thereof, and circulated abroad through the facilities afforded by the Department of State.
The apprehensions expressed in the letter of the Committee, that the seat of depredation on the emigrant would be changed from this port to the port of embarkation, have been more than realized.
The chief operators in this system of fraud have not only opened offices in the several seaports where emigrants to this country usually embark, but have also established agencies in towns in the interior of those countries, and in the very villages whence families are likely to emigrate.
The effect of these agencies has been to renew, and even increase, the evils which have been checked by the establishment of an exclusive landing-place for emigrants at Castle Garden.
The more remote the place where the emigrant is induced to purchase a ticket for inland transportation in this country, the greater is the opportunity for imposition and fraud, and this is seldom suffered to pass unused.
The efforts made by our Government heretofore for protecting emigrants from such frauds abroad, have hitherto had little effect on the European Governments, with the exception only of Hamburg and Bremen. Not only is the privilege of booking passengers for distant inland points in the United States continued, but in some places it has been aided (it is hoped not intentionally) by means of government licenses, giving an official character to the business, well calculated to mislead the ignorant. These are grossly over charged for real tickets, or as often imposed on by fraudulent ones. After which, they are consigned to continued depredations by other confederates in this city and elsewhere in the United States.
These are facts of daily occurrence, which our official position brings constantly to our notice, but seldom enables us to arrest or remedy.
There is a marked contrast in passengers coming by way of Hamburg and Bremen and those by other European ports. It rarely occurs that passengers from either Hamburg or Bremen are unable, on their arrival here, to pay their way to their destination in the interior, or to secure all proper comforts and conveniences on the way. Very many of those from other ports are first defrauded of their means, by being induced to purchase tickets for railroad and water travel in this country, at high prices, which, when presented here, are found to be either quite worthless, or to carry the holders only to some point in the interior far short of their destination, where they are left destitute.
Other tickets are genuine, but are found to have been paid for at prices very far above the actual cost at the offices here.
It appears to us that the claims of humanity and justice and the comity of nations require and authorize our Government to invoke the aid of other Governments in protecting their own subjects during their pilgrimage from an overcrowded home to a region where vacant acres invite and reward the hand of industry.
To show the manner in which the business of the emigrant landing-place at Castle Garden, New York, under the exclusive control of this Commission, and established in pursuance of a special enactment of our Legislature, has been conducted, I enclose copies of a presentment[1] by a recent grand jury of this county. It will probably speak for us better than we can for ourselves on one of the most important points of our administration of the trust confided to us by the State of New York.
am, with much respect, your obedient servant,
Hon. G. C. Verplanck, President Board of Commissioners of Emigration:
Sir: I have received your communication of the 23d inst., with its enclosures, calling the attention of this department to the impositions practised upon emigrants to the United States in the countries from which they depart, and suggesting that the aid of those Governments should be invoked to protect their subjects from the arts of designing and unprincipled individuals.
The motives which led to the establishment of the Board of Commissioners by the State of New York are in the highest degree philanthropic and praise worthy, and, accordingly, to further the objects which you have in view, I have addressed a circular letter, of which a copy is herewith enclosed, to the diplomatic and consular agents of the United States in those countries of Europe from which emigrants chiefly proceed, and instructed them to bring the subject of your communication to the notice of the Governments to which they are respectively accredited, or of the authorities of the places where they reside, and to ask for the adoption of such measures on their part as may be required by the claims of humanity and the comity of nations.
I have likewise had the pleasure of conferring with Mr. Murray, the agent of the Board, and have furnished him with facilities for the accomplishment of the purposes of the Commissioners in his proposed visit to Europe.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
CIRCULAR.
No. 17.
Sir: The attention of this department having been recently called to the abuses to which emigrants are subjected in the countries from which they proceed, and on their arrival at certain seaports in the United States, it has been deemed advisable to bring the subject to your notice. I accordingly herewith transmit, in a printed form, a copy of a communication addressed to this department, on the 23d instant, by the President of the Board of Commissioners of Emigration at New York, in which a mode of correcting the existing evils is suggested.
You are instructed to bring this subject, which is fully set forth in the annexed letter of Mr. Verplanck and its accompaniment, to the notice of the Government to which you are accredited, or of the authorities of the place where you reside, and to ask for the adoption of such measures on their part as may be considered necessary for the protection of those intending to emigrate to this country. A step in this direction would no doubt be of service in correcting the evils complained of, and a regard for the interests of humanity demands that it should be taken.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
- ↑ For presentment, see page 196.