Speech #670011390

Tle steamship companies had booking agents. there is no question about that. Going a step further and showing how thoroughly the immigration to this country was guardedthat is. in respect to their physical conditionlet me call attention to this fact: There was a period of 13 months from December 31. 1907. when the immigration to this country was very large and when there were more rejections in Europe. three times over. than there were in the ports of the United States. that is to say. when the immigrants reached the United States. We have placed upon our statute books a law which holds the steamship companies absolutely responsible for the physical condition of every person brought over by them. in other words. we require the steamship companies at the port of embarkation to make a physical examination of every proposed immigrant. and if they bring an immigrant to this countryand this is the law at the present timewho has any disease that might have been discovered by a competent medical examination at the port of embarkation they are compelled to take that immigrant back to the country from which he came free of expense. That has had a marvelous effect upon the character of our immigration. Now. what has been the effect? So many were rejected at the port of embarkation at Bremen and other great ports in Germany that the German Government becamie alarmed. the people from Russia and countries north and west of Germany who entered that country to take the German vessels and who were rejected at the ports of embarkation became a burden to those cities. - The German Government therefore compelled the steamship companies to establish control stations at different places on the borders of Germany at such companies sole expense. During 13 months 27.799 immigrants were rejected at thp German border. They never even reached the ports of embarkation. At the ports of embarkation there were 11.882 rejected by the steamship companies. making a total of 39.681 rejected in Germany. while during the same 13 months there were only 13.064 rejected at the American ports. In other words. by this legislation alone through medical examination at foreign ports nearly 40.000 intended immigrants were rejected in a single year. while we rejected only 13.000 at our own ports.