Page:Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the state of New York.djvu/100

86 impressed with the necessity of a radical change and a more liberal legislation for the benefit of the emigrant, were opposed to the action of the city officials. Among the latter, Comptroller Ewen, Assistant Alderman Purser, and the Almshouse Commissioners were the most active, while, among the citizens at large, Messrs. Leopold Bierwirth, Robert B. Minturn, Thurlow Weed, Andrew Carrigan, and Archbishop Hughes labored with untiring zeal and energy.

The efforts of both parties finally led to the Act of May 5, 1847, creating the Board of the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York. This result, however, was just the reverse of what had been intended at the beginning by the city authorities. In order to enable the reader to properly understand the operations of the conflicting interests, it is necessary to give a short statement of the means by which the Legislature was induced to pass the above act.

The Common Council, at the conclusion of their investigation of the frauds committed by the Clerk of the Mayor, became fully convinced of the pecuniary importance of the subject of emigration. Since 1842, not a year passed without some effort on their part to correct the most flagrant of the abuses practised on the emigrants, and to extend to them more effectual protection; but, however well-meaning; some members of the Common Council were, the influence of those who lived by fleecing the poor aliens was sufficient to, and did, control the majority, and thus repressed every attempt to effect the much-needed reform.

From 1845 to 1847, all the efforts of the city officials were exclusively directed towards having the Mayor vested with the power of bonding and commuting alien passengers.

Thus, in his Report for 1845, the Comptroller, General John Ewen, recommended application to the Legislature for an amendment of the law, so as to authorize the Mayor to require the payment of one dollar for each of the alien steerage passengers in lieu of bonding them, in all cases where he should deem it for the public interest to do so. He prepared the draft of a law to effect this object, and submitted it to the Common Council, which advocated its adoption during the session of the Legislature in 1846.

On September 29, 1846, Mr. G. H. Purser, then an Alderman,