Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the state of New York/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
BONDING AND COMMUTING—PRIVATE HOSPITALS FOR IMMIGRANTS.
A NEW era in emigration began after the great Napoleonic wars. It may be said to have formally opened with the year 1819, which witnessed the passage of the first United States law on the subject.
Up to that time no precise and connected information concerning any phase of immigration was obtainable in this country. No systematic effort had been made where to gather reliable facts and figures, and the scanty data anterior to the year named that have descended to us are obtained from a variety of sources. With the law of 1819 a regular supply of statistics on the subject was assured.
The history of immigration after 1819 may be divided into Immigration after 1819two periods: the first opening in the year named and ending in 1847, the year of the creation of the Board of the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York; the second beginning with 1847 and coming down to our days. The former period will be first considered.
In 1817, no less than 22,240 persons, including Americans Sale of two shiploads of emigrants in 1817.from abroad, arrived at ports of the United States from foreign countries. In no previous year had one-half as many foreign passengers reached this country. In December, 1817, two shiploads, bound for Philadelphia, were sold into the slave State Delaware. The transaction was shocking in the extreme, and created a painful sensation all over the country; but there were no laws of the United States either limiting the number of persons which a passenger ship or vessel was allowed to carry, or providing in any way for the health or comfort of the passengers. The subject attracted the immediate attention of Congress. On March 10, 1818, Louis McLane, of Delaware, reported to the House of Representatives a bill "regulating passenger ships and vessels," which was read twice and referred. In December of the following session, it was called up by Thomas Newton, of Virginia, who explained the necessity of its passage. It was read a third time, and passed the House. After receiving amendments from both the Senate and House, it was finally passed and approved March 2, 1819.
Act of March 2, 1819This act fixed the space allotted to the emigrants to five tons, Custom House measurement, for every two passengers, and in case of contravention punished the captain with a fine of $150 for each passenger. It declared the ship to be forfeited to the United States, if the number of passengers carried exceeded the said proportion of two to every five tons. It further specified the amount of water and provisions to be taken on board by emigrant vessels, and exacted a fine of three dollars for every day that any passenger was put on short allowance. Finally, it required the collectors of customs to report quarterly to the Secretary of State the number of passengers arriving in their collection districts, by sea, from foreign countries; also the sex, age, and occupation of such passengers, and the country in which they were born. Annual reports embracing that information have, in conformity with this act, been made to Congress by the Secretary of State ever since. Although, in some parts, incorrect and meagre, they form the only reliable statistical basis of the history of emigration during the period from 1819 to 1847.
Meagreness of immigration statisticsIn all other respects, our sources of information are rather imperfect and superficial. The emigrant is not a subject, but an object—not an active, but a passive, force in this international movement. We would probably never have heard of his history, and of his sufferings, except in legendary tales and indistinct family traditions, had not the rapacity of agents and ship-owners compelled the several governments to interfere in his behalf, and to protect him against the grossest imposition. Even as it is, emigrants are considered as an aggregate of human beings only, with no characteristic distinction except that of nationalities. Emigrants regarded as numerical quantitiesThey appear simply as a numerical quantity; they seem to have no individual existence, and the student of contemporary history does not take the trouble to study their individual motives, misfortunes, and aspirations. He contemplates the emigration of large bodies only from the stand-point of wholesale changes in the condition of nations, of social and political short-comings and disturbances. The poor peasant of the inland village who seeks to be an independent land-owner across the ocean, and the noble patriot who valiantly but unsuccessfully fought for human rights; the mechanic and the scholar; the rich and the destitute; the reckless swindler and the honest man—all represent but so many figures. They are looked upon as mere quantities added to the total wealth and strength of the land. And all this, although, as a whole, they emigrate with an intelligent and firm purpose to take up anew the battle of life, and to fight it through valiantly and honorably. Although the most lucrative article of import, emigrants were treated with the least possible care, with the utmost disregard of decency and humanity. With rare exceptions, they were robbed and plundered, from the day of their departure to the moment of their arrival in their new homes, by almost every one with whom they came in contact. They received less consideration on the voyage than even trees in course of transplantation. They were treated worse than beasts, and less cared for than slaves, who, whatever their condition may be in other respects, represent more or less capital, and, as valuable chattels, are sure to receive protection and assistance in case of danger or sickness. There seemed to be a secret league, a tacit conspiracy, on the part of all concerned in dealing with emigrants, to fleece and pluck them without mercy, and pass them from hand to hand as long as anything could be made out of them. The poor foreigners were virtually helpless against any sort of imposition and fraud. The thousands who died, or were killed, on the voyage, were thrown into the ocean with as little ceremony as old sacks or broken tools. If crosses and tomb stones could be erected, on the water as on the Western deserts, where they indicate the resting-places of white men killed by savages or by the elements, the whole route of the emigrant vessel from Europe to America would long since have assumed the appearance of crowded cemeteries. And, what is still worse, the sufferings of the emigrants seem destined to last for ever. The experience of one does not help the other, for the emigrants, after their arrival in America, disperse into all parts of the great continent. They seldom bring charges or make complaints, being satisfied that they will not be heard, or being eager to reach their new homes. Only here and there some victims tell of their ill-treatment, and it is almost exclusively upon their recitals, and upon the meagre official data, that we have to rely for a history of later emigration.
Immigration to New York, 1819-29During the ten years after the passage of the Act of 1819, the immigration to New York was very small. In the first five years, viz., from 1819 to 1824, it amounted to a little more than 4,000 per annum; while from 1825 to 1829, it rose to an average of 12,328 per year.
Poverty of emigrantsA large majority were very poor. While their influx contributed to the general prosperity of the country, it injured the domestic poor, as it necessarily imposed heavier expenses on the city government in providing for those who from any cause became sick or destitute.
Comptroller Ewen relative to provision for support of foreign poor."Prior to 1817," says Comptroller John Ewen, in his report for 1846, "when the foreign poor did not amount to one-fourth of the present number, the Corporation (of the city of New York) received from the State one-third of the auction duties collected in this city on the sale of foreign goods, as an indemnity for their support. This provision, amounting annually to upwards of $70,000, was subsequently withdrawn, and an annual payment of $10,000 substituted instead; since then the State has received over six millions of dollars from auctions in this city, and only $53,000 from other parts of the State. This annual payment, however, proved insufficient, in consequence of the arrival of foreign paupers, who, in some instances, within a day or two after landing, where taken from the wharves in large numbers, in a state of destitution, and sent to the Almshouse. To protect the city against such extraordinary expenditures, the Legislature Passenger Act of 1824, New Yorkof the State, on February 11, 1824, passed an act 'Concerning passengers in vessels coming to the port of New York'. This act, commonly called the 'Passenger Act', required every master or commander of any ship, or other vessel, arriving at the port of New York, from any country out of the United States, or from any other of the United States than the State of New York, to make, within twenty-four hours after the arrival of such ship or vessel, a report in writing, on oath or affirmation, to the Mayor of the city of New York, or, in case of his sickness or absence, to the Recorder of the said city, of the name, place of birth, and last legal settlement, age, and occupation, of every person who shall have been brought as a passenger in such ship or vessel on her last voyage'. Said act also authorized the Mayor 'to require, by a short endorsement on the aforesaid report, every such master or commander of any ship or vessel to be bound with two sufficient sureties (to be approved of by the said Mayor or Recorder) to the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the city of New York, in such sum as the Mayor or Recorder might think proper, not exceeding three hundred dollars for each passenger, not being a citizen of the United States, to indemnify and keep harmless the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty and the Overseers of the Poor of the said city, and their successors, from all and every expense or charge which shall or may be incurred by them, for the maintenance and support of every such person, and for the maintenance and support of the child or children of any such person, which may be born after such importation, in case such person or any such child or children shall, at any time within two years from the date of such bond, become chargeable to the said city."
This act worked tolerably well so long as emigration was small, Insufficiency of the actand the bondsmen, and the passengers landed by them, could be controlled. Consequently, we do not hear of any serious complaints during the first ten years of its operation; but, as soon as emigration assumed greater proportions, the law became susceptible of the most flagrant abuses, which were actually practised under it, and it did not afford the slightest indemnity for the maintenance of those who became chargeable to the city. As the brokers engaged in the bond business were only expected to pay for the bonded passengers in case of their sickness or destitution, a large field for the exercise of fraud and deception was opened to these shrewd speculators. The ship-owners preferred the system of bonding to any other, as by the payment of a trifle it exonerated them from all liability, and as they, of course, received from each passenger one dollar, which was included in the price of the passage, while the brokers assumed their liability at prices varying from one dollar to ten cents for each passenger, or still cheaper, as, for instance, between the years 1828 and 1836, when the sum paid for bonding was only two dollars per vessel, whether the number of passengers was great or small. In some cases, however, it was found to be very convenient to the passenger-carriers, and advantageous to the city, to commute for alien passengers instead of requiring bonds, or, in other words, to accept a specific sum of no less than one and no more than ten Amendment to Passenger act by city of New York, 1839, authorizing commutationdollars for each, and to waive the execution of bonds. For this reason, the Corporation of the city of New York, in 1839, passed an amendment to the Passenger Act, which authorized the Mayor to commute. Consequently, when the agent or master desired to commute, the Commissioners of the Almshouse directed an examination of the passengers, and reported their condition, when the Mayor fixed and received the commutation, and the master was discharged from all liability. While the State law required that bonds should be given, the Corporation ordinance merely conferred authority on the Mayor to commute in such cases, and in such manner, as might be mutually agreed upon, the right of bonding being reserved specially to the master.
Abuses practisedThus the city did not gain much, and the old abuses were continued with the same impunity. In fact, the entire business became a private traffic between a set of low and subordinate city officials, on the one hand, and a band of greedy and unscrupulous brokers, on the other. It was a sort of legalized robbery, the headquarters of which was at the City Hall.
An ordinance of the city prescribed that the Clerk of the Common Council should receive all sums paid for commutation by alien passengers, account monthly for them, and thereupon pay over the money received by him to the Chamberlain of the Irresponsibility of clerks whom commutation money was paidcity. But there never has been any check upon, or system of examination of, the accounts of the Clerk of the Common Council, and of receipts of such moneys, either to detect dishonest practices or to correct unintentional error.
It seems that, from the first day of the application of the Passenger Act of 1824 down to 1842, all the moneys for commuted alien passengers were received by a certain John Ahern, a defaulter to the city in a very large amount, who first was private clerk to General Morton, the Clerk of the Common Council or a subordinate in his office. Said Ahern kept no regular books of John Ahernaccount, or vouchers, but made entries, or omitted to make them, as he saw fit. In 1834, the Common Council created the office of Clerk to the Major, and appointed this man, Ahern, to that office, General Morton still remaining Clerk to the Common Council. Ahern continued under him to perform the same services as when a private clerk, or subordinate, in Morton's office, and attended to the returns of captains of vessels, the receipt of commutation moneys, and other fees receivable by the Clerk of the Common Council. The moneys were paid by Ahern to the Clerk of the Common Council, and by that officer, under his own name, returned to the Comptroller.
Under the successors of General Morton, who died in 1836, Ahern continued to perform the same duties, made similar returns, which, without being first examined, were made a part of the County Clerk's returns to the Comptroller. During all these different clerkships, until December, 1842, the returns of captains of vessels, and the bonds taken, were sent to the office of the Commissioners of the Almshouse, to enable them to ascertain, when persons applied to them at that office for assistance, whether such persons had been bonded, so that the sureties might be called upon for their support; or whether they had been commuted for, and were to be supported at the expense of the city. No account or memorandum has been kept in the office of the Clerk of the Common Council of the number of passengers commuted for, or the amount of moneys received for the commutation of passengers.
This utter neglect of supervision or control existed for about eighteen years, without even exciting any suspicion. At last, in 1842, the impropriety of this course became so apparent that Mr. Underwood, Alderman of the Third Ward, at the meeting Investigations by Committee of Board of Aldermen, 1842of September 12, offered a resolution appointing a committee of three, to examine into and report upon the subjects of reporting, bonding, and commuting of passengers, and the course pursued in relation to aliens and others who had made application to the Commissioners of the Almshouse for relief.
This committee, consisting of Messrs. John A. Underwood, H. W. Bonnel, and Hobert Jones, thoroughly performed their arduous duties, and, after carefully comparing the books and returns of the shipping merchants, the health officer, and the Custom House with the statements kept in the City Hall, on March 11, 1843, reported to the Board of Aldermen. It would lead us beyond the limits of this essay to enter into the particulars of their investigation, but a few of the facts, corroborated by the fullest evidence, will show how business was managed in the County Clerk's Office.
Report of same"All the accounts," says the report just mentioned, "from December, 1836, to July, 1842, contain the names of vessels in which passengers arrived, whether commuted for or bonded; but the whole business previous to June, 1837, was conducted without regard to detail, perspicuity, or regularity in the Mayor s Office, the office of the Clerk of the Common Council, and the Comptroller's Office, and it was impossible to ascertain what amount of money was or should have been paid previous to the dates last mentioned. It has, however, been discovered that moneys were received for commuting and bonding passengers previous to June, 1837, which were never paid into the city treasury, but it would be useless to ascertain what amount of such moneys was withheld, or by whom they were misapplied.
"From June 1, 1837, to July 2, 1842, the deficiencies for bonds and commutations, in accounts rendered to the Comptroller, amounted to $8,019 25. The number of passengers who were reported to the Comptroller as having been commuted for sums less than were recommended by the agent of the Commissioners of the Almshouse, but in relation to which neither receipts nor accounts had been obtained, was 8,965; and the passengers who had arrived from foreign countries, in vessels bringing ten or more passengers, none of whom had been accounted for, were 1,846."
Result of investigation and reportThe investigations of this committee, and the changes proposed by them in the supervision of the subordinate officers, effected a reform in the execution of the acts bearing upon immigration, but, nevertheless, the city was not greatly benefited by the change. With the daily increasing immigration, the profits growing out of the bonding system to the brokers became larger, and, with keen attention to pecuniary gain, these unscrupulous men appropriated to themselves what, of right, belonged to the city. They received, as before stated, from the ship-owners the sum of one dollar for each bonded passenger.
"These persons," says Comptroller John Ewen, in his report Comptroller Ewen on worthlessness of bondsfor 1845, "although worth the amount for which they may become liable for passengers in each particular case, afford but little indemnity to the Corporation for any considerable number of the bonded passengers, should they from any unforeseen calamity be thrown upon the city for support, several individuals being bondsmen for over $1,000,000 each. The aggregate of the bonds taken for the average number annually bonded during the last three years amounted to $16,149,600, and for the number bonded last year to $21,320,400. Some of those bonded are so disguised in the description rendered as scarcely to be identified six months after landing, and become inmates of the Almshouse, or are committed by the magistrates as vagrants, and in some shape maintained by the city. A bonded passenger, over fifty years of age, applied at the Mayor's Office some time since for relief, whose age was set down in the list of passengers at twenty years.
"The Mayor is authorized, by an ordinance of the Corporation, to receive not less than one nor more than ten dollars for each passenger as a commutation of such bonds; but, as this is entirely optional with the party, the greater number are bonded. The number of foreign passengers arriving annually at this port, within the last three years, has averaged 60,539; the number annually bonded within the same period, 53,832; and the number annually commuted in the same time, 6,707, or about one-ninth of the whole number.
"It would be more advantageous to the city to receive the sum of one dollar for each passenger, now paid to individuals, than to take the bonds. A large amount would then be annually received by the Corporation towards the support of foreign poor; and in case any of the passengers arriving at this port should, upon examination, prove to be paupers sent here from the parishes of Europe, they could, with the avails of this fund, be sent back to the places from whence they were brought; which would have a strong tendency to discourage a repetition of such practices.
| "The number of passengers arriving at this port during the last three years amounted to 181,615, of which 20,119 were commuted . . . . . | $21,452 17 |
| Received on account of passengers bonded the sum of . . . . | 19,939 28 |
| Making a total receipt from these passengers of . . . . | $41,391 45 |
| The whole number of passengers which arrived, at one dollar each, would have amounted to . . . . . | 181,615 00 |
| Whereby the city would have received in addition the sum of | $140,223 55 |
| or $46,744 51 per annum paid to individuals, as before stated." |
During all that time, those who became chargeable were sent to the Almshouse, and the bondsmen paid the expenses of their board to the city authorities.
Private hosptals for emigrant sickEven this arrangement, though pecuniarily advantageous, only excited cupidity, and the bondsmen concluded to support the sick and indigent at private poor-houses and hospitals, where they could sustain them at rates lower than those charged by the Almshouse department. Experience having proved the plan feasible and profitable, these establishments soon became numerous, some being conducted by the passenger-shippers and others maintained by individuals, whose profits and business were confined alone to the medical care or temporary maintenance of the pauper or unfortunate emigrant. To this latter class of establishments, on account of their cheapness, many merchants and passenger agents transferred the destitute; but this system was associated Their abuseswith many grave and flagrant abuses. These evils gradually attracted public attention, and the various emigrant societies urged the necessity of a prompt and radical change.
On February 2, 1846, the Board of Assistant Aldermen of the city of New York appointed a committee, consisting of Messrs. Purser, Gilbert, and Candee, relative to the treatment of investigation of certain emigrants in a place designated "Tapscott Poor-House and Hospital." Investigation of "Tapscott Poor-House and Hospital" by Committee of Board of AldermenThis institution was established by the firm of W. & J. T. Tapscott, passenger-brokers in South Street, New York, and situated in North Sixth Street, in the then town of Williamsburg.
The preamble and resolution read as follows:
"Whereas, The affidavits of William Long and others, relative to the unwholesome food furnished to destitute and unfortunate emigrants at a place denominated 'Tapscott's Poor-House and Hospital,' reveal a system of flagrant outrage and cupidity, and demand the instant investigation of the Common Council;
"And whereas, The present mode of landing alien passengers has pastured a class of unprincipled brokers, who, apparently irresponsible to any authority, continue to realize fortunes by inflicting inhuman wrongs upon the alien stranger; therefore,
"Resolved, That a special committee be appointed to investigate the case of the unfortunate emigrants, and that the committee be requested to report at the next meeting."
The affidavits referred to above of William Long, Thomas Farrell, Daniel Kelleher, John Egan, Thomas Judge, Owny Hogan, and Henry Mulholland, sworn to on January 30, 1846, say, that the deponents were induced to emigrate to this country upon the representations of ship-brokers and their runners; that upon arriving in this country they found it impossible to obtain work, and applied to the agents of these ships, and offered to work for their board; that these agents sent them to Tapscott's Poor-House and Hospital, where they were obliged to do laboring work, digging, and wheeling.
"And we further depose and say that the bread furnished us was totally unfit for use, and that the black biscuit shown the Mayor is a fair sample of the bread which we were compelled to eat; that the breakfast furnished us was composed of a species of meal so black as to be unfit for use, and to that was added molasses and made into a pottage; that our dinner was at times salt fish and the before-mentioned bread, and at other times of refuse grease with other mixtures collected from the ships during their trips across the Atlantic: 'the crumbs that fell from the rich men's table.
"And we do further depose and say that there are inmates of the above establishment who are lying sick and in the most pitiful and wretched condition of suffering, quite unable to help themselves, and compelled to eat the food above described; that from the effects of eating such food we have been reduced to such a state of health as to be unable to work, and in consequence orders were given to stop our supplies, and we have been without food since yesterday morning."
Visit of committee of citizens of Williamsburg to Tapscott's Hospital and their reportIn consequence of these statements, the citizens of Williamsburg, on February 2, 1846, called a public meeting, and appointed a committee, consisting of Messrs. H. Fitzgerald, A. P. Moon, and Michael McCaffrey, for the purpose of enquiring as to the mode of treatment carried out in the establishment of Messrs. Tapscott & Co. On February 3, at the request and solicitation of the same Messrs. Tapscott, they visited the said establishment, which visit they describe as follows: "To our utter astonishment, even horror, we found it, if possible, even worse than represented, exhibiting a state of misery and wretchedness not to be borne or countenanced by any civilized community; the situation, fare, etc., of the occupants being worse, infinitely worse, if we may be allowed the term, than that of those in similar institutions (by name) attached to or connected with our common prisons. We have, therefore, come to the conclusion, and hesitate not to say, that we firmly believe the statements made in the affidavits of William Long and others in every particular literally true; and that the deplorable condition of the unfortunate (women particularly) dupes of the Messrs. Tapscott in this same establishment demands and requires the earliest possible attention from the friends of suffering humanity. Since we have visited this 'poor house' the committee procured comfortable situations and homes for those of the female residents of this modern but altogether novel prison-house. We now boldly—yes, publicly—challenge and defy the Messrs. Tapscott, or any of their friends, to an investigation, proof, or conviction. Dare they accept?"
Visit of Committee of Board of Assistant AldermenA few days later, the Committee of the New York Board of Assistant Aldermen likewise personally inspected the premises in question, when every reasonable facility of examination was afforded by Mr. and Mrs. Miller, the superintendents. Though the visit must have been anticipated, the condition of the building appeared very unsatisfactory, both as regarded cleanliness and comfort. The number of persons in the institution appeared to to be from twenty-five to thirty, but it occasionally contained a larger number. The superintendent spoke favorably of the diet and treatment, in which opinion some of the inmates concurred, though in a manner evidently constrained. A female witness, indeed, who was examined at this interview, acknowledged to the Chairman of the Committee, who had an opportunity of speaking to her privately, "that, if she had told the truth, she would have seen the road mighty soon." The Committee of the citizens of Williamsburg, above referred to, obtained from the inmates a direct acknowledgment of the facts sworn to in the affidavits of Long and others. These gentlemen, from personal and prompt inspection, convinced of the treatment and suffering of the inmates, forwarded them articles of food.
The comprehensive testimony fully confirmed the complaints. Quality of food furnishedIn relation to the food, some twenty witnesses distinctly swore that the biscuit was generally "blue moulded," and offensive to "taste and smell;" and the samples, though sworn to be of the best description distributed, were dark and hard, and unsuited for the support of the females and children at the "Poor-House and Hospital."
It appeared, under oath, that the biscuit was frequently given to the hogs the inmates preferring to go hungry and supperless to bed. The fish was represented to have been bad, and to have fallen to pieces when put into water to boil; and all affirmed, who were beyond the influence of the establishment, that the food supplied was equally deficient in quantity and quality. The soup was usually innutritious, and manufactured from grease or mutton tallow, which was kept in the superintendent's store-room to be employed for that purpose. The meat used is stated to have been musty and dark, and the bread "distributed twice a week in slices (to use the language of a witness) as big as your hand, and not enough for a child."
These statements were corroborated partly by the admissions of Tapscott and his employees, as well as by about fifty affidavits, the most important of which may find place here.
Margaret Bertram, an inmate for nearly twelve months in the Affidavits of inmatesinstitution, "recollects that two children died there. The mother of one died at sea; no particular nurse took charge of it; several of us had milk, perhaps four or five, and each took it by turns; it died of summer complaint. The other infant died five weeks since; it was brought here by a woman not its mother; it was a weakly child; we suckled it turn and turn about; no particular person attended to it; several now in the New York Almshouse nursed it."
Fannie Mitchell, an intelligent young married woman, now at Bellevue, stated under oath the following facts: "That the child referred to by Margaret Bertram was sent over from Tapscott's office, and lived about a fortnight afterwards; that it came on Saturday, and Mr. Tapscott called on the Sunday following, and, an objection being made to nurse the infant, declared that any one who refused should be turned right out of doors. Under such circumstances the women consented, and took it turn and turn about."
Ann Doyle: "While I was there, some of the women induced a man who was cutting up some meat to give them a few slices, one of the women alleging that she wanted it for a sick child. They obtained about a pound, and Miller (the superintendent) discovered it in the evening, and went and informed Tapscott, who came the next morning and turned the women out; one had the sick child before mentioned."
"Another transaction, sustained under oath, we introduce," says the Committee, "as a further illustration of the disregard manifested for the health of the inmates, and the sanitary usages observed even by uncivilized communities. It appears that, of the pigs during the summer, a sow became sick and nearly dead," and that in this condition the superintendent directed it to be killed by one Lavendel; that the sow was afterwards scalded, cut up, and on the following day served at table, but it was so "unpleasant to the taste that the witnesses were unable to eat it."
Said Lavendel, an emigrant from Ireland, and for some time after his arrival an inmate of the house, further states, on oath, that a quantity of mutton-hams were brought there (to the hospital), and served up for dinner, which stunk and were unfit for use; oatmeal porridge was also served up for breakfast, which was bitter to the taste, and smelled bad; also rice for dinner which was unfit for use, and smelled bad. Deponent was compelled to eat what was put on the table or go without food. He further states that the allowance of meat for one week, including bone, was about one pound; that he was sick, and kept his bed about five days before he received any medical attendance, although he requested it previously; and that the sleeping apartments were filthy, uncomfortable, and filled with vermin.
Dr. E. L. Cooke, the attending physician, says: "The cleanliness Testimony of attending physicianthere is not remarkable; have observed this, and required them to keep it cleaner; but the matron has answered that it was difficult to get the inmates to perform such labor. In other institutions of a public character, better discipline would prevail; but the inmates do not feel themselves under sufficient restriction. The general want of cleanliness observable, he presumes, might be attributed to this cause and the laziness of the inmates. Thinks the inmates are not examined when they enter, or aware that there are any specific regulations with regard to cleanliness. No wearing apparel has, to his knowledge, been distributed among the sick. With reference to diet, what he directed for the patients he believed was supplied. The matron informed him so; have never enquired of the patients; never observed any peculiar appearance of disease among those who had been long inmates. The institution, as regards diet, general comfort, and medical treatment, can not be compared with similar public institutions."
"Your Committee conceive"—we give here again their own Report of Committee—Impolicy of permitting private poor-houseswords—"that the evidence before them is sufficient to convince the Common Council and the Legislature that poor-houses and hospitals should not be continued by passenger carriers. The proprietors are certainly not likely to provide liberally for the necessities, much less the comforts, of a household which is a constant source of individual trouble and expense. The same selfishness that would induce them to evade relieving the applicants would dictate the reduction of their fare, when admitted to the work-house, to the lowest standard, both of quality and quantity. Neither the Common Council nor the Legislature could feel disposed to permit these irresponsible establishments to multiply, a result which must occur, however, unless the law is amended. The unwholesome nature of the food, and the treatment of the helpless infants, is in evidence before you. No wearing apparel appears to have been distributed among the sick or well, with some trifling unimportant exception; and Margaret Bertram, an inmate nearly a year, and very destitute, acknowledged that she never received, with the exception of an order for a pair of shoes, any clothing whatever. Even on the confinement of any of the women, the other women have to provide the requisite articles of clothing for the infants. No attention is paid to the education of children who become chargeable to these brokers, and the only boy at Tapscott's work-house, the superintendent, Mr. Miller, stated, was held back from school for want of clothing, and the proprietor himself acknowledged that he did not know whether he went to school or not.
Immorality of same"The accommodation and arrangements of the house preclude the proper separation of the sexes, and the moral habits of the unfortunate inmates must deteriorate. The sick and destitute, the vicious and the innocent, are gathered together promiscuously, without any of the ordinary restraints to which, perhaps, in a distant country, they have been subjected, while they are denied the salutary influence of even police regulations.
"These facts, which rest upon sworn testimony, must command attention. It cannot be disputed that the heavy responsibilities connected with a poor-house and hospital should be transferred to the municipal authorities. The health and character of our city, and humanity to the alien stranger, are involved in this measure.
Frauds practised to gain admission to City Hospitals"The great acknowledged inferiority of such an establishment to Bellevue is a strong incentive to the destitute to obtain admission to our Almshouse by deception. Aware that their reception and continuance in the Almshouse depends on suppressing the fact of being chargeable to any particular passenger broker, they manufacture facts to secure better fare and treatment. Indeed, it is not improbable, though no direct evidence exists before the Committee, that they have co-operated with the pauper in the practice of these frauds. It is unquestionably true that thousands are annually relieved from the city treasury, which are properly chargeable to the bondsmen. Intentional inaccuracies frequently appear on the passenger list regarding the ages, occupations, and names of the passengers, with the view of transferring legal responsibility from the carriers. In the event of establishing the system of commutation, the duty of examining the emigrant passengers will require the exercise of vigilance and honesty. To deceive the Quarantine officers, and obtain permission to proceed immediately to the city, the captains of vessels dress up their sick, and similar artifice will be employed to evade the provisions of the proposed law.
"The German and other emigrants not familiar with our language are liable to even more than ordinary imposition and suffering. To secure the assistance from the bondsmen, without which in the winter months they would perish, constantly requires the co-operation of the officers of their national benevolent institutions; and many remarkable instances of deception and cruelty have become known to your Committee.
"Agents are sent to the principal cities and ports of Germany with the view of securing passengers for some particular line of vessels, and from three to six Rix dollars is imposed as 'head' or commutation money, though, even if the law we recommend was adopted, $1 25 (25 cents for hospital fee) would be the actual outlay.
"It is maintained among some, if not all, of the passenger Bonds annulled by crimebrokers that they are released from the obligation of sustaining the persons bonded whenever convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment. Though we must dissent from this opinion, it appears to have been formerly acquiesced in by the authorities, or to have escaped their examination. The commission of crime, committals for misdemeanor or vagrancy, serve the selfish interests of passenger agents, though we are unwilling to believe that the practice is resorted to ordinarily. Occasionally, however, the inmates of these private work-houses and hospitals are unwarrantably consigned to the Penitentiary on Blackwell's Island. Hugh Graham, who was a sick man, was sent with eight others to be disgraced and contaminated in one of our worst prisons for insubordination. He, with his companions, purchased bread, and even ate it, without permission of the officials. He was taken before a magistrate, and committed without even being made acquainted with his crime or called upon for defence.
"Another illustration of the feelings governing some of the O'Connor's casepassenger carriers is to be found in the following anecdote, communicated by the President of the Irish Emigrant Society: A man named O'Connor, with his wife and three children, arrived in this country, and, having contracted a fever on board the vessel, was detained in the city till his money was exhausted, and the bondsmen were applied to for relief. Recovering sooner than the other members of the family, he set out for St. Louis, where his father was comfortably settled, and, securing the necessary funds, returned with the fond expectation of accompanying his wife and children to their new home. He found, however, on reaching New York that his wife was dead and his children shipped to Liverpool, where they had neither friends nor relatives. One of the children died on the passage, and of the others no tidings have been obtained, though diligent enquiries have been instituted. Messrs. Tapscott were the agents and bondsmen in this case.
"With the gradual but certain increase of immigration, these evils must extend. The cupidity of the proprietors of these private establishments threatens even the health of our city, not only from uncleanliness, but the introduction of cases of ship-fever.
"With these views, your Committee respectfully submit the following resolution for adoption:
Resolution"Resolved, That the condition of Tapscott's Poor-House and Hospital, and the evidence relative to the general treatment of the inmates, strongly demand a change in the present system of bonding and commuting alien passengers."
Second committee of Investigation of Board of Assistant AldermenDuring the summer of 1846, another committee of investigation was appointed from the same Board, relative to the management of an emigrant hospital on Manhattan Island, which resulted in confirming the opinion that such irresponsible institutions were equally disastrous to the morals, health, and happiness of those compelled to seek a temporary asylum in them.
ReportThe report expressed strong disapprobation of the "want of comfort, cleanliness, and health prevailing," and the necessity of the employment of some means to remove the evils. After the interference of the committee, some improvement occurred in the treatment of patients, and the number of inmates in the two-story building, about 46 feet square, was reduced from 120 to 80.
The extreme heat of the summer, and the want of cleanliness, Investigation by Board of Healthneglect of ventilation, and poor diet at this hospital, induced the Mayor to summon the Board of Health. A committee of that body examined the establishment, and reported strongly in favor of remedying the evils connected with these private hospitals and poor-houses, and, by a change in the law, urged the propriety of confiding in the city authorities the charge of the sick and destitute emigrants.
"The system now existing," says the report of Alderman Report of Alderman Purser, recommending a change in the systemPurser, from which we have quoted the above, "is disgraceful to the city, and unparalleled in Europe. The municipal authorities are divested actually of the power of investigating and relieving cases of severe suffering and destitution. A ship arrives in our port with five hundred emigrants; a broker, irresponsible in every point of view, after examination, agrees to assume the responsibility of supporting those that may become chargeable within two years, at the rate of forty or fifty cents a head. Should any apply, as thousands do, annually, to the Almshouse Commissioners for relief, they are referred, however emergent and pitiable the case, to this broker, and his personal and pecuniary interest dictates refusal or delay. If compelled to provide for the unfortunate a temporary shelter, the treatment to which they are exposed is calculated to break their spirits and smooth the path of degradation and crime.
"A proper separation of the sexes is wholly neglected, and the young and innocent female is exposed to temptation, and her mind, at least, corrupted by infamous association. The destitution of the healthy emigrant is usually only temporary, and their future destiny governed, to a great extent, by the circumstances into which they are thrown at their arrival. With this view of the subject, your Committee are impressed with the conviction that legislative interference is imperatively demanded in justice to the tax-payer and humanity to the emigrant."
"Your Committee have before them a memorial in favor of Memorial of Emigrant Societies in favor of samethe proposed alteration of the laws, signed by the acting Presidents of the Irish, German, British, Welsh, and Scotch emigrant societies, which states that the change would increase the revenue of the city and secure the emigrants from the frauds now practised upon them.
"Within the last month, nearly five hundred emigrants from Paupers, care of refused by bondmenGermany were sent directly from the ship to the Almshouse, where a large proportion now remain, being utterly destitute of means, and sent out at the expense of the property-owners in their immediate neighborhood.[1] The bondsmen refuse to pay the expenses in this instance, on some wholly insufficient pretence, and the city will be most probably compelled to commence suits for the recovery. It must have been known to the foreign agents shipping such passengers that they principally consisted of paupers. When compelled to leave the ship, they took refuge on the pier, where they continued until the city authorities removed them to Bellevue. Utterly destitute, and strangers to our language and country, sick from the effects of a long voyage and indifferent diet and accommodation, these people became an immediate charge upon the city, and yet the bondsmen refuse to indemnify the Corporation. A lighter was sent by the agents to take off the whole of these passengers, with the view of sending them to Albany; but, many of them being sick, and all being penniless and without means of supporting themselves for that journey, they refused.
"In the event of the bondsmen sustaining the decrepit or aged for the full period of two years required by law, on its expiration they are thrown upon the county for support. Such a class of persons for many reasons usually remain in our city; and, if a proper system of commutation prevailed, a fund would be raised adequate for their maintenance."
Establishment of Emigration BoardThe change so long desired by all disinterested parties was effected a year later by the establishment of the Board of the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York.
- ↑ The emigrants referred to were poor people from the Odenwald, who, however, had not been sent out by the property-owners in their immediate neighborhood, but at the expense of the grand ducal government of Baden. F. K.