for them. It is again recommended that the new station be constructed as speedily as possible, that it may be ready for occupancy coincident with the commencement of increased immigration which probably will take place upon the conclusion of the conflict abroad. The Ellis Island Station was seriously damaged in connection with the explosion which took place at Black Tom Peninsula, about a mile distant, on the night of July 30, 1916. The damage exceeded $400,000 in money value for replacements and repairs; but it is impossible to say that this completely covers the destruction, since the fabric of the buildings sustained injuries which may never be corrected and probably will manifest themselves for many years to come. An initial appropriation of $150,000 was granted by Congress to begin the work of restoration, and this was afterwards supplemented by an additional fund of $246,995, which is expected to be sufficient to complete the work. This catastrophe had the effect of delaying several important improvements for which appropriations had been made, but these could not go forward amid the destruction that visited every part of the station. Fortunately there was no loss of human life, the several hundred persons in detention at the time being transferred to places of safety until the damaged structures were prepared for reoccupancy. This is the second explosion near Ellis Island which has wrought great injury to the physical property of the station, the cost of repairs in this case amounting to sixteen times that incurred on the former occasion. The necessity of legislation to permit the Federal authorities to regulate the handling of explosives in New York Harbor, and particularly near the Government establishments therein, is clearly indicated, and it is recommended that the department put forth additional efforts to secure the enactment of such a measure. It is gratifying to mention that the sundry civil appropriation act approved June 12, 1917, carried appropriations aggregating $321,000 for some of the most urgent items of improvement at Ellis Island, particularly new boilers in the power house and an extension of the granite sea wall about the island. With the $200,000 already allowed for the latter item, the total appropriation is $416,000 out of a total limit of cost primarily fixed at $787,170. It appears certain that the work can be completed within the original limit. The forthcoming estimates will contain a number of items for the Ellis Island Station, and I wish to renew what was stated in the 1916 report as to the urgent necessity for providing detention accommodations for cabin passengers. Complaints not only from passengers but from representatives of foreign governments affecting treatment of their nationals have at times accentuated the necessity for quarters for cabin passengers at Ellis Island. The new immigration law is certain to increase the number of detentions in the first and second cabins; and as time is required to make extensive building improvements, it would be particularly gratifying to have this item allowed without further delay, so that the work may be completed before the resumption of normal immigration is actually taking place. There has been no change in the conditions at Philadelphia since a year ago, and the recommendations contained in the 1916 report with reference to the station at Gloucester City, N. J., are renewed. The recent allowance by Congress of $2,300 for an underground wiring system at this establishment will eliminate one of the existing sources of danger at the Philadelphia Station. The construction of the Baltimore Station, which is being performed under the direction of the Treasury Department, shows progress toward completion and it is expected that the buildings will be ready for occupancy within the next few months. A number of plans have been suggested for the utilization of these buildings pending the resumption of general immigration through the port of Baltimore, but definite recommendations are withheld until the structures are actually completed and turned over for occupancy. It was mentioned in the last report that the Naval Militia of South Carolina was expected to occupy the station at Charleston, S. C., pursuant to legislative authority to that end which had then been recently granted. Plans to thus dispose of the property could not be perfected, and it has since been found desirable to permit the Navy Department to occupy the building, which is well situated for naval purposes. The New Orleans Station was visited by fire on June 5, 1917, with the result that the large wharf constructed and turned over to the Government by the New Orleans Board of Harbor Commissioners was almost completely destroyed. It was not definitely determined what caused the conflagration, but for the present no recommendation will be submitted looking to replacement of this wharf. The Galveston Station is still occupied by the Coast Guard, and there appears to be no reason why that service should not have the property indefinitely, as immigration via Galveston has been very light for some time and the Coast Guard lost its building during the hurricane of August, 1915. The failure to secure an appropriation to commence operations at San Francisco by constructing the first units of a mainland station has left the Immigration Service badly handicapped by being compelled to remain in the existing structures at Angel Island, the unsuitability of which has been pointed out in several previous annual reports. The postponement of this project undoubtedly will make it necessary to increase the estimate of $175,000 previously submitted, which was based upon building costs of three years ago. Economy and efficiency can not be attained by continuing the station at such a remote point as at present, and a strong centralized system of administration can be attained only by placing the station at a point where the maintenance of branch offices in the city may be dispensed with and all of the work brought directly under the supervision of the commissioner of immigration and his immediate assistants. During the past year there has been another development which points to the need for early action in this matter, as the immigration of Caucasians to San Francisco via Asiatic ports has been markedly increasing and, once established, is not likely to cease, even with the resumption of normal traffic across the Atlantic Ocean. This situation adds a strong reason to support the improvement recommendations hitherto made, which are hereby renewed. LAND BORDER IMMIGRATION STATIONS. The provision in the act of February 5, 1917, which requires transportation lines operating across the land boundaries to provide suitable and approved quarters for the Immigration Service has solved many of the problems which formerly existed on the Canadian border, over which the larger portion of the traffic is by rail or steamer; but on the Mexican border, where entry on foot or by stage is the most prevalent method, the Immigration Service must continue to provide its own stations or else close the border ports, which as a practical matter could not be done. In the last annual report there was set forth a statement of a joint building program to meet the needs of the service on the Mexican border, and the course therein described is again recommended for favorable consideration. INVESTIGATION AT SAN FRANCISCO AND ELSEWHERE OF CONSPIRACIES TO ACCOMPLISH THE ILLEGAL LANDING OF CHINESE. Acting on information concerning conspiracies to accomplish the illegal landing of Chinese, the bureau, observing the caution necessary in such work, took steps from time to time to unearth sufficient evidence on which to proceed to punish guilty parties in and out of the service. At the beginning of this year evidence had accumulated which indicated an extensive corrupt organization and the necessity, in order to succeed in apprehending the guilty parties, of a thorough and painstaking investigation by competent officers. The bureau thereupon recommended to the department that the solicitor, Hon. John B. Densmore, be detailed for the purpose. His investigations have disclosed that for some time certain inspectors, clerks, interpreters, watchmen, and even some of those employed at the station in the capacity of laborers, were engaged in criminal attempts to secure the landing of inadmissible Chinese. The means employed included the substitution of photographs, alterations of testimony, concealment of references to related cases in which damaging testimony appeared, and other shrewd devices. The investigation had been under way for several months prior to the close of the fiscal year, and, although then far from complete, 14 employees at the station had been summarily dismissed. The evidence thus far obtained gives promise of ultimate success in the prosecution of all the parties involved in the conspiracies unearthed. At this time, for prudential reasons, no further details are given of the results of Solicitor Densmore's services. He has secured great results and has accomplished a most difficult feat. It required time, energy, and ability, and, possessing all of these, his achievements are as creditable to him as an officer as they are beneficial to the service and the department. INTERNMENT STATION. Upon the entry of the United States into the European war there were turned over to the Immigration Service about 1,800 officers and crew men from the German merchant ships which had been interned in American ports since August, 1914. The detention of these persons was required under sections 4067, 4068, and 4069 of the Revised Statutes, and the problem of housing and subsisting them presented different problems than those which would have been involved in the detention of a like number of alien immigrants. The latter usually come and go within a brief space of time and the immigration stations have been designed, built, and maintained to meet that condition of affairs; yet it was necessary to house the interned German ships' crews in these detention stations until other and more suitable accom modations could be provided for them. This was accomplished by renting a hotel building at Hot Springs, N. C., and making such changes therein as were necessary to equip the plant for the purposes to be met. Plans to use the labor of the men themselves to provide additional dormitory accommodations have been fully developed, and it is anticipated that by the middle of October the interned men will be concentrated at this station, where they can be maintained in plain but suitable quarters adapted to their condition. As the war progresses the establishment of other internment camps may perhaps be necessary, but this is to be taken care of when the occasion arises; it has seemed desirable to centralize this internment at one point, so far as possible, thus eliminating duplication of the overhead expenses which would be inseparable from the maintenance of a number of such establishments. It is recommended that the law be so amended as to permit the executive officer and the force necessary to conduct the executive offices connected with the internment of alien enemies to be located in the District of Columbia. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF ADMINISTRATION. Another year's experiences have further evidenced the great need for improvements along many lines in the administration of the immigration law, to all of which I directed particular notice in my report for 1915 (pp. 41-46). Those suggestions were renewed in my last report, and it would be merely a work of supererogation to state them again here. Such success as has attended the bureau's endeavors during the past year has been due to a combination of two happy circumstances. In the first place the bureau has proceeded, as heretofore, with an earnest desire to enforce the law in accordance with its spirit and intent and has devoted all of its energies to that end; and secondly, the bureau has been guided at every juncture by the wise counsel and advice of the Secretary himself and encouraged at every step by the confidence reposed in it by the head of the department. In its endeavors, moreover, the bureau has been aided by the cooperation and indefatigable industry of its employees both at Washington and in the field, and it affords me pleasure here to make due acknowledgement of the bureau's indebtedness in these regards. Hon. W. B. WILSON, A. CAMINETTI, Commissioner General. |