Government that incentives to fraudulent entry should be made as slight as possible consistent with effective control. The establishment of commissioners of immigration as suggested above, at points which would not require very long journeys, or great expense, would reduce this temptation to avoid any United States examination, and in my opinion, would be no injury to the interests of anyone and would somewhat soften the appearance of harshness which is inevitable in any execution of the immigration laws.

I am informed that at Buffalo or Niagara Falls and at Sault Ste. Marie there will be, under your present plan, a sufficient number of immigration and medical officers to constitute a board without the employment of extra officers.

For the foregoing reasons I believe the general policy outlined in section 7 should be adopted and the plan of the Canadian transportation companies denied.

* * *

Section 9: This section seems to be copied literally from a former agreement with the Canadian lines. My objections to this clause in the former agreement were pointed out to your assistant secretary.

The Canadian transportation companies should promise not to sell a ticket at any place in Canada to any part of the United States to any person that they might have reason to suspect was an immigrant residing in Canada less than a year, without having first by inquiry satisfied themselves as to whether the person is such an immigrant or holds a certificate of admission. This will not require that the railroad agents at interior points should understand the United States laws, and it could be easily ascertained in a general way whether they had certificates or were likely to be stopped at the border. It would be a reasonable precaution for the railroad companies to take for their own protection.

I think it only reasonable that the changes I have suggested, which will make the administration of these laws less severe upon the Canadian lines, should be made upon the condition that the latter shall agree to all of the provisions asked of them, and shall earnestly endeavor to secure the legislation by the Canadian government as suggested.

While it is manifestly impossible that immigration laws should be enforced without bearing hardly upon some persons or interests, I do not believe that a single United States line has any desire to injure a Canadian transportation company, or to have the execution of these laws made more onerous than is absolutely necessary in order to secure an effective control, and even with the strictest control that is possible the United States lines will always be at a disadvantage, in many respects, as compared with the Canadian lines.

All of which is respectively submitted.

* * *

A. S. ANDERSON.

Notwithstanding numerous exchanges of opinions as well as frequent interviews the negotiations dragged along. On August 30, 1901, formal notice was given the parties in interest, terminating, after sixty

days, the agreements of 1893 and 1896. On the submission of a new form of agreement in September, 1901, the following letter was addressed to the Commissioner-General of Immigration:

Hon. T. V. POWDERLY,

SEPTEMBER 24, 1901.

Commissioner-General of Immigration, Washington, D. C.

DEAR SIR: Your favor of September 23 inclosing amended draft of proposed regulations governing immigration via Canada has been received, and I note that it differs from the original draft of July 16 in sections 1, 4, 7 and 12.

I am satisfied that the Canadian transportation companies will not make any agreement with the United States Government which will in any way bind them to a serious observance of the United States immigration or contract-labor laws until this Government has convinced them, by an actual control of the Canadian border, that it is in

earnest.

I have become convinced that both the Canadian steamship companies and railroads have from the beginning intentionally and systematically used every means possible to them to avoid the effects of these laws. The evidences of this are perhaps as familiar to you as to me. You are aware of the reports of the marine-hospital surgeon at Liverpool, who examines passengers embarking for Canadian ports, and the efforts of the Canadian steamship companies to avoid the intended result of these examinations. I have been informed that the Canadian railways have employed people regularly to pilot passengers who would be obnoxious to the United States laws, so that they should find an easy entrance by devious ways into this country. The reports from your immigrant inspector along the Canadian border must have convinced you of their determination to avoid the inspectors whom you have recently appointed on the border.

With all this information it would seem to be immaterial, so far as it affects border control, whether the United States Government has an agreement with the Canadian transportation companies or not. They can not rely in any measure upon such an agreement to make their control effective. If, however, it will be of advantage to the Government to make such an agreement (until new legislation can be had) in order that they may collect head tax, I see no objection to it, provided

(1) That it does not in anyway cause a relaxation of the efforts of control at the border stations, or

(2) That too long a notice is not required for the termination of the agreement, so that it will embarrass the Government if they want to rescind it.

It seems to me, however, that if you have an agreement at all, it would be well to endeavor to embody in it something more than you have named. For instance, in section 11, you provide for the return from some port of the United States "such aliens as having been brought into Canada upon their respective lines, have become public charges in the United States within one year thereafter, from causes existing prior thereto."

In the amendment to the alien contract-labor law, contained in the deficiency bill, approved October 19, 1888, the contract-labor law is "so amended as to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury in case

that he shall be satisfied that an immigrant has been allowed to land contrary to the prohibition of that law, to cause such immigrant within a period of one year after landing or entry to be taken into custody and returned to the country whence he came at the expense of the owner of the importing vessel."

* * *

Section 11 of the act of 1891 says: "That any alien who shall come into the United States in violation of law may be returned as by law provided at any time within one year thereafter, and any alien who becomes a public charge within one year after his arrival in the United States from causes existing prior to his landing therein shall be deemed to have come in violation of law, and shall be returned as aforesaid."

These laws I understand to cover all cases of contagious diseases, contract laborers, as well as paupers, and other alien immigrants who come into the United States contrary to law, and not merely those who have become public charges in the United States after having so arrived. Under your proposed regulations you could not ask them to take back any such persons who may be arrested in the United States with contagious diseases.

Why not make section 11 of your regulations cover all persons who may be found to have come into the United States contrary to law via Canada, having been landed in Canada by a Canadian steamship line?

Finally, on November 1, 1901, the following agreement was signed: Relating to the inspection of aliens landed at the ports of the Dominion of Canada.

[1901. Department circular No. 97. Bureau of Immigration.]

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., November 1, 1901.

In view of the agreement between the various steamship and railroad companies in the Dominion of Canada and the CommissionerGeneral of Immigration of the United States of America, the following rules and regulations governing the inspection and entry of aliens into the United States through foreign contiguous territory are prescribed in accordance with section 8 of the act approved March 3, 1891, entitled "An act in amendment to the various acts relative to immigration and the importation of aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor" and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto:

1. That all aliens arriving in Canada, destined to the United States, shall be inspected at any one of the following ports: Halifax, Nova Scotia; Quebec, Point Levis, Vancouver, St. John, New Brunswick, and Victoria, British Columbia; and the holders of certificates, duly signed by the United States commissioner of immigration at any one of the said ports, shall be entitled to admittance to the United States without further examination by the United States immigration officers at any one of the places of entry to the United States along the border

as to their right to enter, except upon their identification, and their surrender of said certificates to such officials, and the said certificates must be in the following form:

per steamship

1901.

sex,

on the

who arrived at the port of 19-, has been duly inspected and registered, and will be admitted into the United States upon presentation and proper identification and surrender of this certificate to any immigration officer at the frontier. The description of the holder of this certificate is as follows:

Age, color of eyes,

-; height,

; weight,

; color of hair,

Remarks (indicating special features, such as blemishes, deformities, destination, etc.).

Surrendered at

of

190-. 9

2. That the examination at Canadian ports of aliens destined to the United States shall be in all respects similar to that now conducted at ports of this country, such of them as are not clearly entitled in the opinion of the examining inspector to admission to be taken before a board of special inquiry, whose decision shall be final, unless reversed upon appeal, as provided for in section 5 of the act of March 3, 1893.

3. That all aliens arriving at said Canadian ports who are adjudged inadmissible to enter the United States shall be refused the certificates herein called for, and the steamship company bringing such aliens shall be required to return them to the countries from which they respectively came.

4. That the masters or owners or agents of vessels bringing aliens destined to the United States to said Canadian ports shall be required to furnish to the United States commissioners of immigration at said ports access to complete manifests of all alien passengers crossing upon vessels of their respective lines, and in addition thereto complete manifests of all alien passengers destined to the United States, such as are now required by law in the cases of vessels bringing aliens to the ports of the United States, and that said masters, owners, or agents shall pay the sum of $1 for each and every alien brought to a Canadian port, and destined to the United States, to the United States commissioner of immigration at said port.

5. All such moneys collected as provided in the foregoing regulations shall be transmitted by said United States commissioner to an assistant treasurer of the United States to be deposited to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States on account of "immigrant fund," in the same manner as other miscellaneous collections are

reported by collectors of customs of the United States. Statement of such receipts under this agreement must be rendered monthly to the Secretary of the Treasury on forms to be furnished by the Government for that purpose.

6. Said United States commissioners of immigration shall give bond to the United States in the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars with sureties approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties and the remittance of above collections. They shall make monthly reports to the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration, and such other reports from time to time as he may require, upon blanks to be furnished by the Treasury Department, of all aliens arriving at their stations destined to the United States. They shall have charge of all immigration officers at their respective stations, and shall utilize their services in all matters pertaining to immigration.

7. That all aliens not provided with certificates as required, who shall apply at the border line between Canada and the United States within one year after arriving at a Canadian port, shall be required to return to such port or any port designated under sections 1 and 7 of these regulations for payment of head tax, examination, and certificate described in rule 1 herein before; provided

That immigrants destined in good faith for Canada who shall apply as above for admission to the United States within one year after arrival in Canada, who shall have settled at a point west of Quebec, shall be held for investigation by the board of special inquiry at Montreal, Canada; Buffalo and Suspension Bridge, N. Y.; Detroit, Port Huron, and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.; Pembina, N. Dak., and Sumas, Wash. The decision of said boards of special inquiry shall have the same effect as the decisions of boards of special inquiry at United States ocean ports.

8. That all facilities in the way of accommodations, access to aliens, and the keeping of aliens apart from the public until after inspection shall be afforded to the immigrant inspectors of the United States at the ports of landing to enable them to make such inspection as is required by the laws of the United States.

9. It is expected that the railway and other transportation companies in the Dominion of Canada will not sell to any aliens en route to any part of the United States tickets for their transportation, or transport them in cars or vessels from the port of entry until after they have exhibited their certificates as herein provided, and will not knowingly transport any rejected or undesirable aliens, or those who are by law prohibited from entering the United States into its territory, but will return the rejected aliens to the port at which they arrived. 10. United States officers charged with the execution of the immigration laws and regulations along the Canadian border will, at the end of each month, and from time to time as may be required, report in writing to the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration, upon blanks to be prescribed by him, the number of immigrants passing through their respective districts, and the foreign ports at which they landed.

11. That the various steamship lines, parties to this agreement, shall return from some port of the United States at their own cost and expense such aliens as, having been brought into Canada upon their respective lines, have become public charges in the United States within