RESPECTABLE AMERICA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 610, 13 September 1909, Page 9

RESPECTABLE AMERICA.

A CURIOUS DOCUMENT. „ QUESTIONS FOR THE ALIEN. ' • nit«d i: Sta teal j ij.pja "doscpbcd.ropeatcdly as :a-.;great' country,-a; freo country,- ■£ .wdaltJly cduntry," a' religious country, 'but "s»' judge front (^•/d^um«p€*',ipJhjch.^liM.''Ae< s, i" i 'shown-to a Dominion. rcprcsontativ^,Amcr 7 •ioa must be, bcforo. all else,- a. respectable county.Ndbbdy~may',iand upon its shores, without 'oxposing his past, present, and ■ future to'.the.cold official gaze of the immigra-: , tion'officers.' ,Ho'must answer' no fewer than; 23 questions-about; himselff Neither 'wealth, r.or fame, it appears, may avail to e*cus<i; bim. The printed form.asserts, with'reiterativo'emphasis, that thti .questions 'ifiust. bo .answered even by first-'clasljxiSsougers,and readers of .Mr. H;-G. Wells a [-"The . Future, in "America" will remember .that his literary : reputation .did not shield liini from, the or-, deal 'of these searching interrogations. .What , worried'llira . most, apparently,", was . the. 'neccesity'of coming to a decision on what, to him, ; were.'.'tha (theoretically) 'open; questions .raised'by;.the. two. inquiries,. Aro.' you- a polygamist?"'and '"Aro;yqu. an anarchist P" He remarked that ; thc. qbestions seemed.im ; , portmcntj '.but what' shall be sajd.of ;No.' : .22; a "personal description," including' height, complexion, - colour of hair and' eyes," and "marks'..'-.or identification" ? One wonders; why fin'gerrprmts aro not required.' : . Tho Republic also wants to know whether the traveller (even the saloon passenger) pan read, and write. .Questions,3, 4, and' 5. relato to aige; sex,, and condition as to ■ marriage, and 110 matter which' of the two possiblo an-! swors is given to No. 4,. there is no'indication that will -.bo gallant enough: to forbear to press No. 3. Be is v;cry particular about one's name.' It is not enough' to give all the Christian names with which <jno is'.', burdened, ..the; - surname -also,■ --it. seems.', . must . v.ba: ; given ;: ','in full." If William Penn had been catephiscd in thin way, and had spelt his name with only one ; f'n;" as he probably did sometimes, he might have been faced with the threat of the lootBoto —"If it is found •: upon; the arrival-of ■ the-passenger .in the-United States that ..tho - questions have not been, correctly answered,', tho. passenger may 'bo returned." " Ah excel-', lent'phirase, this, "may. be returned"—as rif the' oiling, and unsuccessful aspirant* for ad-.. :'mission:,to the one truly respeotablo on -earth, had forfeited every, claim to be re- ... garded; as something superior to. a halo of wool .or a ' box of' butter. .'Thus does tho. country * whoso-,' "newspaper nro. taught -to expaild an objurgatory "Get out I" into a!two^lumn.;intervlow';;'show"its disapproval of unveracity—.trheh. practised by the foreigner. ; There is. an'; alternative to being, "returned,", but .the' choice does'' abt , lio with : th«. passenger.'V The Commissioner. of Immigration at the port of arrival ;may •require him .'to 'swearto tho; ;truth ;6f" tho '. answers). and a false oath will subject bim to fine or imprisonment... . , Other things which the Great Republic ... "wants' to know, you, know," aro tho passenger's .final destination and full.prospective ;• addrtes; whether ho is going jojn' a rela--1 tiyi,' andlwhether he has a.ticket for. she ' journey ; who paid his passage" to Amorica; whether 'lib has fifty dollars with him; and; if less, how "much"; -, whether -. ho is ' going thrdugh- to Canada or any other country, I and ,tbo full address to wbioh he is- going, 7 and whether .lie will, go -at once; whether i' ho has been in tho States before, : arid if • so when and 'where. All these questions, j'. and a few; more about ono's heaJfch '.and ' nationality, must be answered beforo one can sot an-alien foot on the respectable shores of America. Nay, it scom3 that they must bo answered before one can begin to go thithor. Tho - form is headed: "White Star Lino. Questions to bo answered bv_ first-class passengers before bookiiig." The" shipping companies evidently, liavo to protect themselves in this wav against tho risk 'of having to. "return" tne undesirable or ui'.vcracioiis passenger. Thus, while Britannia rules tho 'waves,- -.Colurijbia makes a; specialty' of keeping them as rcspectablo as possible. ' There is another form to be filled in and sworn to by "aliens claiming to bo passing in transit through the United States," and tho steamship companies havo to deposit a sum of nioney.on account-of siiohalions. '