Page:Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the state of New York.djvu/228



AND BOOKING OF PASSENGERS IN EUROPE

New York, November, 1848.

THE Legislature of the State of New York, admonished by the rapid increase of immigration at the port of New York, and considering the important interests connected therewith, has established a Board of Commissioners, acting under the authority of the State, and entrusted with the general care and supervision of the subject. The protection of the emigrant against the tricks and dishonesty of persons with whom he must necessarily come in contact immediately on his arrival, is one of the principal objects of the Commission; and, in furtherance of this object, the undersigned have been appointed a committee to notice a great and frequent abuse, which is practised upon the emigrant even before he leaves the Old World.

The number of passengers arrived at this port since the beginning of this year is nearly 160,000; and it may be assumed that at least 130,000 thereof have proceeded to the distant parts of the country at the West, and that the money paid here for their passage amounts to more than half a million of dollars. As may be supposed, there are many people engaged in the business of forwarding these emigrants, and the individuals or companies thus engaged employ a host of clerks or servants, called "runners," who try to meet the new-comer on board the ship that brings him, or immediately after he puts his foot on shore, for the purpose of carrying him to the forwarding offices for which they respectively act. The tricks resorted to, in order to forestall a competitor and secure the emigrant, would be amusing, if they were not at the cost of the inexperienced and unsuspecting stranger; and it is but too true that an enormous sum of money is annually lost to the emigrants by the wiles and false statements of the emigrant runners, many of them originally from their own country, and speaking their native language.

Of late the field of operation of these "emigrant runners" is no longer confined to this city; it extends to Europe. Some have appeared there sent from here by forwarding offices, others have been engaged on the spot, and again others have commenced and are carrying on the business on their own account and responsibility; but all have the same object in view, namely, to make money out of the emigrant. They generally call themselves agents of some transportation or forwarding bureau, and endeavor to impress the emigrant who intends going farther than New York with the belief that it is for his benefit, and in the highest degree desirable, to secure his passage hence to the place of his destination before he leaves Europe.