Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 15.pdf/283

 246

the country which it gives toits own subjects. He may not vote, it is true, or hold any offi cial position, but neither of these privileges are coveted by the average alien. If he is a man of rank and education, any profession is open to him, be it church, bar or medi cine, without naturalization; if he is in a lower rank of society, he may enter any busi ness freely. If he is in the very lowest rank of the social scale he may and does compete with-the English criminal. No questions are asked of him when he enters the country. He may be a pauper or an habitual criminal, a man of means or an honest workman, he can come in just the same. If he is an habit ual criminal and engages in his profession at once, and in consequence falls into the hands of the police, the government has no power to deport him. Another government, if he came as a pauper or a criminal, would send him back to his own country and wash its hands' of him, but in England there is no power to do that except, of course, in extra dition cases, when the offence has been com mitted out of the country—and then only when his rendition is asked for. It has lately been estimated that more than 3 per cent. of the prisoners undergoing sentence in this country are aliens. This means that, putting the lowest cost of maintaining a prisoner at about eight shillings, or say $2 per week, the government is spending £30,000 a year on the maintenance of alien convicts. In the course of a debate on alien immigration in the House of Commons on February 20th of

this year, some interesting facts and figures were brought to light. Sir Howard Vincent, a former director of criminal investigation in the Metropolitan Police, moved an amend ment to the address representing that the great increase of destitute aliens in the East End of London and the considerable num ber of them who become a charge on the criminal law constitute a grave national dan ger. In the year 1891 the proportion of for eigners to the total of persons charged with crimes in London North of the Thames was only 7 per cent., but in 1900 it had grown to ii per cent., and in 1902 to 13 per cent. In the last mentioned year 81,402 aliens settled in the United Kingdom—an increase of II,ooo over the figures for 1901. In Januaiy, 1903, 5,443 arrived, an increase of 1,300 over the same month in 1902. Seventy per cent. of them settled in the East End of London. In twelve months, ending October 3ist last, 4,930 aliens were arrested by the Metropoli tan Police. To realize what these figures mean the size of these islands must be con sidered. Were they applied to the United States of America they would seem almost infinitesimal, but to the British Isles it means a practical increase of one alien to every one and one-half square, miles per annum accord ing to last year's figures. It can only be hoped that something will soon be done to regulate such an unfortun ate state of things. STUFF GOWN.