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ENGLANDS ALIEN POPULATION.

However admirable the policy of the "open door" may be in theory, England is beginning to find out that, as applied to alien nnmigratkm, it may not be quite so desirable. London, tho Mecca of. the paupers of Continental capitals, the Promised Land of the Ghetto- of Europe, has turned to the serious consideration of the problems raised by the increasing inflow of povertystricken foreigners. Of these, according to a cable _M_sag- we published a few days ago, 66,365 arrived in England last year, an increase of ten thousand over the number in 1901. With the idea of gaining some information as to these immigrants,, their habits, and manner of life, and the effect of their presence in such large numbers in the community, a Royal Commis-ion, under the presidency of Lord James of Hereford, is now sitting in London. The evidence of clergymen, municipal and' other officials, and others, hag all tended to -how that the alien immigrant is making life harder for the English residents. They have a much lower standard of living, and will work for much lower wages, hence their competition in the labour market renders it uiereasmgly difficult for the Englishman to gain a livelihood. Knowing little or no English, andthe majority having no sympathy with English habits, nor any intention of remaining longer in the country than is necessary for the acquisition of the most modest competence, they crowd together until street after street in the poorer quarters of the metropolis, such as Spitalfield-, has no English resid-nls at all, while in other quarters there are large areas in which it would be almost impossible to find an Englishman This congestion has the inevitable effect of raising rents, not only to alien bub to English tenants, for it is imperative \hat the poorer classes should live near their work, or the places where they may find work. The average population per acre in London is 67, but in Spitalfields 335 persons are clustered together in each acre, and overcrowding and sub-letting are the prevailing conditio--. Some of the _i_clc__res of th« rector of Spitalfields in his evidence betore the Coi-__fi-ion were emphatic proof of the evils of alien immigration as at present permitted. He knew of ten booses in his parish, containing 51 email rooms, wbioa were tenanted by 254 people. Another block of thirty-two rooms was occupied by 84 people, and one house of eight rooms sheltered forty-five persons". The rector of Betbaal Green de-cribed the steady deterioration of the parish during _t_e last five years, a deterioration which had been accompanied by a great influx of foreigners and displacenie-t of English people. The houses and street- were mare squalid than used to be the case, and rents had greatly i_-rea_ed. The earne tale was told of Stepney and Whitechapel. Most of the witnesses concurred as to the. extreme unde_nliness of the aliens, but that was about the worst thing that could be urged against them personally. The rector of Spitalfields, Who has 15,000 Jews in his,parish, declared that only.once in thirteen years had he seen a Jew drunk in I/radon. "They "were extremely thrifty, good oitirens, "law-abiding, good h_sba_.de, and good " fathers, paid their own way, and showed "a spirit, of independence." Neither had he anything to say against them on the score of cleanliness. Another witness agreed that the aliens were most moral and temperate, and a third _aid thai in the alien quarter of Stepney several p_blichouses had been closed, simply because they were starved out. A Customs official, however, asserted that the illicit manufacture of spirits was an active industry among the East End aliens, and forgeries of bank notes and' foreign postage stamps were not uncommon, wKTie it appears that 20 per cent. of the persona charged at the Mansion Ho-so are foreigners. It was urged that every head of an alien family arriving in England should be made to show that he possessed at least £10 on landing, and that no immigrants should be allowed to enter the oountry who are not physically and mentally fit. These suggested regulationare on the lines of those enforced in the United States. Whether England adopts them or not, it seems desirable that some steps should be taken to control the influx of "undesirable immigrant-."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19030122.2.16

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11488, 22 January 1903, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
717

ENGLANDS ALIEN POPULATION. Press, Volume LX, Issue 11488, 22 January 1903, Page 4

ENGLANDS ALIEN POPULATION. Press, Volume LX, Issue 11488, 22 January 1903, Page 4

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