IV. Excluding the Unfit
Intelligence of Inspectors
At Ellis Island one may see what is aptly termed "the tragedy of the excluded."[24] The enforcement of the laws comes into operation at the ports of entry. Practically everything depends upon the intelligence and faithfulness of the inspectors, who are charged with grave responsibility. Immigrant and country are equally at their mercy. Necessarily a large margin must be left to their judgment when it comes to the question, Will the applicant now before me probably become a public charge—that is, fall into the pauper or criminal class—or is he of the right stuff to make a respectable and desirable American citizen? In cases of plain insanity or idiocy or disease the decision is easy; but when it comes to the moral and economic sphere an expert opinion is required.Trickeries Attempted Then, the inspectors have to be constantly on the lookout for deception and fraud. Immigrants who belong to the excluded classes have been carefully coached by agents interested in getting them through the examination. Diseased eyes have been doctored up for the occasion; lame persons have been trained to avoid the fatal limp during that walk between the two surgeons. Lies have been put into innocent mouths and the beginnings of falsehood into the heart. Mr. Adams gives this instance showing how the mind of the inspector works. The line is passing steadily, ceaselessly. A flashily dressed French girl has plenty of money but unsatisfactory references and destination, and back she is turned.
Detained for Special Examination
Discretion
"Next comes a bookkeeper, so he says. His father gave him money and he was coming here to make his fortune. The inspector is not satisfied and he is turned over to the 'S. I.' Board. But his papers, money, and statements are clear and he is admitted; they give him the benefit of the doubt as they always do. But next in line comes a well built stocky Pole, with nothing in the world but a carpet bag, a few bundles, and a small showing of money. Ambition is written all over his face and he is admitted. 'Now,' says the recorder, pausing for a moment, 'see the difference between these two gents. The first duffer will look around for a job, spend time and money to get something to suit him, and keep his job for a short time; then he will give it up, run through his money, borrow from his friends, and then give them all the cold hand. He won't wear well, and his dad knew it when he sent him over, but he was glad to get rid of him. So lots of them are.Picking the Winning Man Now look at the difference between him and that Pole. He knows nothing but work. Look at his eyes, mild but good. He has been brought up next to mother earth; turn him loose from the train when he reaches his destination and he will dig. He won't hang around looking for a job, but he will till the soil and before you or I know it he will have crops and that is what he will live on. He comes from a hard country, is tough, and when you and I are going around shivering in an overcoat, he will be going around in his shirt sleeves. That is the stuff we want here, not the first kind, with flabby hands and sapped vitality.' Sure enough the bookkeeper did not wear well, and falling into the hands of the police, some months later, he was deported under the three-year limitation law, and the country was better for it."
Wise Partiality, and Work Praised
The inspectors are wise in showing partiality to the men who have plenty of days' work in them, even if they have less money. It is not at all safe to judge the immigrants as desirable or otherwise according to the amount of money per capita they bring. It is the head and not the head-money that should be looked at. Think of the responsibility. More than 300,000 women passed through the "moral wicket" at Ellis Island last year. Of course many of bad quality, men and women both, get through, for inspectors on too meager salaries are not omniscient, but a good word should be said for these public servants, who in the main are conscientiously performing a delicate and difficult task.[25] Let us see some of the results of their work. This will give an idea of the large numbers who ought never to have been allowed to leave home.