Irish and German Immigration

Part lI Social LW in a New Nation, 178b1-877

DOCUMENTS

Irish lmmigrants: A Sympathetic Viezo, c. 1833

One of the greatest works now in progress here, is the canal planned to con- nect Lac Pontchartrain with the city [New Orleans]. Lr the month of Febru- ary it was completed to within three miles of the lake; and as it was a pleasant ride to the point where the digging was in progress, I two or three times visited the scene, after its bearings had been explained by the two in- telligent persons under whose guidance I first penetrated the swamp.

I only wish that the wise men at home who coolly charge the present condition of Ireland upon the inherent laziness of her populatiory could be transported to this spot, to look upon the hundreds of fine fellows labouring here beneath a sun that at this winter season was at times insufferably fierce, and amidst a pestilential swamp whose exhalations were foetid to i degree scarcely endurable even for a few moments; wading amongst stumps of trees, mid-deep inblack mud, clearing the spaces pumped outby powerful steam-engines; wheeling, digging, hewing, or bearing burdens it

sonncu: Tyrone Power, Intpressians of America During the Years 1833, L834, and 7835 2 (Lon- don: R. Bentley, 1836):238*2M.

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made one's shoulders ache to look upon; exPosed meantime to every change of temperature, in log-huts, laid down in the very swamP/ on a foundation of newly-felled trees, having the water lying stagnant between the floor-logs, whose interstices, together with those of the side-walls, are opery pervious alike to sun or wind, or snow. Here they subsist on the coarsest fare, holding life on a tenure as uncertain as does the leader of a forlorn hope; excluded from all the advantages of civilization; often at the mercy of a hard contractor, who wrings his profits from their blood; and all this for a pittance that merely enables them to exist, with little power to save/ or a hope beyond the continuance of the like exertion.

Such are the labourers I have seen here, and have still found them civil and courteous, with a ready greeting for the stranger inquiring into their condition, and a quick jest on their own equipment, which is frequently, it must be admitted, of a whimsical kind.

Here too were many poor women with their husbands; and when I con- templated their wasted forms and haggard sickly looks, together with the close swamp whose stagnant air they were doomed to breathe, whose as- pect drangeless and deathlike alone met their eyes, and fancied them, in some hour of leisure, calling to memory the green valley and the pure river, or the rocky glen and sparkling brook of their distant home, with all the warmth of colouring the imaginative spirit of the Irish peasant can so well supply, my heart has swelled and my eyes have filled with tears.

I cannot hope to inspire the reader with my feelings upon a mere sketch like this; but if I could set the scene of these poor labourers' exile fairly forth, with all the sad accompaniments detailed; could I show the course of the hardy, healthy pair, just landed, to seek fortune on these long-sighed'for shores, with spirits newly lifted by hope and brighter prospects from the apathy into which compulsory idleness and consequent recklessness had re- duced them at home; and then paint the spirit-sinking felt on a first view of the scene of their future labour,-paint the wild revel designed to drown re- membrance, and give heart to the newcomers; describe the nature of the toil where exertion is taxed to the uttermost, and the weary frame stimulated by the worst alcohol, supplied by the contractor, at a cheap rate for the purpose of exciting a rivalry of exertion amongst these simple men.

Next comes disease, either a sweeping pestilence that deals, wholesale on its victims, or else a gradual sinking of mind and body; finally, the abode in the hospital, if any comrade is interested enough for the sufferer to bear him to i! else, the solitary log-hut and quicker death. Could these things with their true colours be set forth in detail before the veriest grinder of the poor that ever drove the peasant to curse and quit the soil of his birth, he would cover his eyes from the light of heavery and feel that he yet pos- sessed a heart and human sympathy.

At such works all over this continent the Irish are the labourers chiefly employed, and the mortality amongst them is enormous/-a mortality I feel

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certain might be vastly lessened by a little consideration being given to their condition by those who employ them. At present they are. where I have seen them working here, worse lodged than the cattle of the field; in fact, the only thought bestowed upon them appears to be, by what expedient the greatest qua4tity of labour may be extracted from them at the cheapest rate to the contractor. I think, however, that a better spirit is in progress amongst qp co_mpTies requiring this class of labourers; in fact it becomes necessary this should be so, since, prolific as is the country from whence they are drawry the supply would in a little time cease to keep pace with the de- mand, and slave labour cannot be substifuted to any extent, being much too expensive; a good slave costs at this time two hundred pounds sterling, and to have a thousand such swept off a line of canal in one season/ would call for prompt consideration.

Independent of interest, christian charity and justice should alike sug- gest that the labourers ought to be provided with decent quarters, that sufficient medical aid should always be at hand, and above all, that the brutaLizing, accursed practice of extorting extra labour by the stimulus of corn spirit should be wholly forbidden.

Let it be remembered that, although rude and ignorant, these men are not insensible to good impressions, or incapable of distinguishing between a kindly and paternal care of their well-doing, and the mercenary cold- blooded bargain which exacts the last scruple of flesh it has paid for. . . .

At present the priest is the only stay and comfort of these men; the occa- sional presence of the minister of God alone reminds them that they are not forgotten of their kind: and but for this interference, they would grow in a short time wholly abandoned and become uncontrollable; unfortunately of these mery who conscientiously fulfill their holy functions, there are buttoo few,-the climate, and fatigue, soon ihcapacitates all but the very robust. Those who follow the ministry of God in the swamp and in the forest must have cast the pride of flesh indeed out from them, since they brave the mar- tyr's fate without a mart5rr's triumph. . . .

The gloomy picture of the labourer's conditioru which my mention of this canal has drawn from me, mayby some be considered overcharged; but I protest I have, on the contrary, withheld details of suffering from heat, and cold, and sickness, which my heart at this moment aches when I recall. . . .

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lmminent D angers, 1, 8 3 5

I have shown what are the Foreign materials imported into the country, with which the Jesuits can work to accomplish their designs. Let us examine this point a little more minutely. These materials are the oarieties of Foreigners of the same Creed, the Roman Catholic, over all of whom the Bishops or Vicars General hold, as a matter of course, ecclesiastical rule; and we well know what is the nature of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical rule,it is the double re- fined spirit of despotism, which, after arrogating to itself the prerogatives of Deity, and so claiming to bind or loose the soul etemally, makes it, in the comparison, but a mere trifle to exercise absolute sway in all that relates to the body. The notorious ignorance in which the great mass of these emi- grants have been all their lives sulk, until their minds are dead, makes them but senseless machines; they obey orders mechanically, for it is the habit of their educatiory in the despotic countries of their bfuth. And can it be for a moment supposed by *y one thatby the act of coming to this country, and being naturalued, their darkened intellects can suddenly be illuminated to discern the nice boundary where their ecclesiastical obedience to their priests ends, arrd their cioil indEmdence of them begins? The very supposition is ab- surd. They obey their priests as demigods, from the habit of their whole lives; they have been taught from infancy that their priests are inJallible in the greatest matters, and can they, by mere importation to this country, be suddenly imbued with the knowledge that in civil matters their priests may err, and that they are not in these also their infallible guides? . . . Must not the priests, as a matter almost ol certainty, control the opinions of their igno- rant flock in civil as well as religious matters? and do they not do it? . . .

That a change of some kind in the Naturalization Laws is required, seems to be conceded on all sides, but the nature and extent of this change are strange$ opposite in character. Whjle some/ and doubtless the greater part of the American population, would have them changed with the view of discouraging immigration, and of guarding our institutions from foreign interference, at the point where they are not only assailable, but where they are at this moment actually assailed and greatly endangered; others would have them changed so as to throw down all the barriers which protect us as an independent natiory and extend the right of suffrage, strange as it may seem, with such an unheard of universality of applicatiory as no advocate of the proper and just principles of universal suffrage ever before ventured to dream of; to the extent, in fact, virtually of giving the administration of our government to any and all nations of the world, no matter how barbarous, who choose to take the trouble to exercise it. Instead of guarding with

sor-rncr: Sarnuel F.B. Morse, lmminmt Dangers to the Llnited States Through Eoreign Immigra- floz. Document from Bibtiobase@, edited by Micheal Bellesiles. Copyright @ Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.

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greater vigilance and care our instifutions/ when attacked, by new defences, these pakiots would not only make no resistance, but would actually invite the enemy, by demolishing the fortresses already existing, and yield up the country into his uncontrolled possession.

Coming to the Aid of Immigrants, L857-L858

Annual Report of the Officials of the German Society in Chicago for the year from April 1857 to April1858

Our'attention has been focused on preventing the swindling of immi- grants by innkeepers and their runners* in and around the train stations. We had presented the crty council with recommendations for laws to this ef- fect and obtained their passage. One ordinance enacted inlune requires that a licensed German innkeeper or mnner present a business card when rec- ommending his irm to arriving passengers. The card must give the follow- ing information in both English and German: name of the innkeeper, name of the inn and the street where it is located, the cost of meals per day, the cost of a room per night and per week, and whether he transports his guests with or without charge to and from his inn.

In order to see if and how the police were enforcing the new ordinances, the agent and I made an inspection of the various train stations, during which we were insulted by the runners in the most vile manner; the police captain was at a loss and could only suggest that we too be deputized. Irr this new capacity we brought about the arrests of several transgressors of the above-mentioned ordinance, and this had the desired effect.

Each day, however, we were unpleasantly reminded that our effective- ness would have to remain one-sided and insufficient as long as we did not have access to financial resources. M*y families arriving from New York had been forced to ask for advances in Cast1e Garden using their baggage as collateral, and they subsequently pestered us with requests to retrieve their baggage for them. But this could only be done by payrng the freight and the outstanding debt in New York. Similarly, there were people who were still in possession of their baggage and wanted to continue on their way but had no more money to do so; mirny of them wanted to deposit their bags with us instead of with an immigrant innkeeper. Our means were unfortunately in-

soi-mcr: "Annual Report of the German Society for Apn7,1857-58,' (Chicago: Ctrg. Sonne, 1858) in Harhut Keil and John B. JenA, (eds.), Germnn Workers in Aticago: A Documentary His- tory of Working-Class Culture from 1850 to World War I (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illi- nois Press, 1988), 35-39.

*Runners were agents of boarding house operators. Their goal was to win the migrants' trus! and then proceed to bilk them of as much cash and property as possible in retum for ovelpriced travel tickets, baggage transport at exorbitant rates, and boarding house accommo- dations at highly unfair prices. (Eds.)

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sufficient to aid each person in this manner/ and it is possible that this led to frequent and considerable losses at the hands of the innkeepers. . . .

As mentioned above, since last sumner, together with the agent, I have taken over the surveillance of the train stations to see that the city ordi- nances are being enforced. But even if they had sufficient time, two officials would still be too few. I would therefore recommend that the president and agent be assigned to a committee of six to be elected for this purpose and to be called the Train Station Surveillance Committee.

These officials would likewise have to have police authorization. Their duty would not only entail being frequently present at the arrival of im- migrant trains, but also at their departure. Here they would ask their de- parting countrymen whether they were satisfied with the food, living conditions, and treatrnent at the inn where they stayed; in the case of com- plaints or accusations, the officials would either take notes or detain the people until the case could be looked into by the proper legal authorities.

After having collected information of this kind for a few months, this comrnittee would be in a position to draw up a list of those immigrant inns whidr are of good repute in our city. This list would then be sent to those German Societies in eastern port cities which could best make use of it. On the other hand, it would also be the duty of this committee to present the mayor with a list of those inns which have proven detrimental to the inter- ests of immigrants, and to petition for the revocation of their licenses. Here, too, the character of our highest municipal authorities guarantees us the necessarysupport....

Last winter some hones! upright craftsmen and their families, who were reluctant to ask strangers for help, were forced to bring beds, clothes, and household goods to the pawnbroker. For many, the payment or foreclo- sure date is at the door, and most of them still have neither work to earn the money nor friends from whom to borrow it. Several sudr families have fumed to me in the past few days to advance them the interest for one or two months in order to put off the due date. They all hope to thus redeem their hard-eamed possessions. I would like to recommend lending good families the interest needed to prolong foreclosure, while holding their pawn tickets as security. . . .

I still hear it said that the agent's wages are too high and that he has too little to do, that people would of course like to support the society, but that they don't want their entire contribution going to the preservation of the agent.

I am convinced that these people have not gone to the trouble to investi- gate what they maintain, and if they had, they would have found that the activities of this official fulfill the most important objectives of the German Society as it has efsted to date. These people have not been to the society's office, they haven't seen the throngs-<ften uninterrupted---of people com- ing and going.The one asks the agent to find relatives or friends, the agent

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sees to the relevant notice in the newspapers; the other has lost his baggage on the way from New York to Chicago, the agent writes off to Detroit and Dunkirk* a third would like to send money-safely and without cost-to a relative tiving somewhere or other, the agent takes care of this, too. Now immigrants come who want advances against their baggage so they can continue their trip; the agent accompanies them to the train station or to the inn, estimates the value of the baggage, pays the advances and has the things brought back to the office. O:r the way he picks up five letters, all ad- dressed to the same person. The first is not very flattering; "Mr. Agent, I've been waiting so long for my two suitcases, and you said you would see to them immediately. Send the checks back to me so I'11 know what's going on!" The good man is of the opinion that the lost things must still be where he last saw them on his trip. His bags, in the meantime, were either pilfered by corrupt railroad officiali or have-been sent on a grand tour without their owrrer/ but the latter suspects the agent of negtgence or even deceit. Next comes an entire family of immigrants, freshly arrived. They have lost one of their suitcases in the train station or have been cheated by an innkeeper; the agent goes along with them so that they, too, will be content. A local citizen wants to bring over a relative from his hometown in Germany. He requests a travel guide with exact directions for getting from his hometown to Chicago, as well as sure means of alerting the cousin of swindlers along the way; the agent, to the best of his ability, also tries to satisfy this request. News is received from an immigrant inn that the proprietor wants to throw out a sick immigrant. The agent goes to see the sick p-e.ror; gets medical as- sistance, calms the innkeeper or sees to it that the sick person is brought to a hospital. The agent is once again busy trying to finish a letter to somewhere or other when a man comes in and interrupts him with the words: olisten, the goy you sent me last time was even worse than the others. I told him to go to the devil! Do you have anyone good today?" Two years ago this same man with the charming manners-always on the lookout for slave labor- was a dues-paying member of the German Society; now, however, he'I1 not hear of supporting the societybecause he had the misfortune of havingbeen dissatisfied with the workers referred to him free of charge.

But what the agent has to suffer when he has evoked the righteous anger of a patroness by having secured her a good-for-nothing maid-it would be better if he told you himself. No one, i, *y case, would envy him this pleasure.

I will not tax your patience any longer. But I would again like to strongly recommend that eac-h member try to introduce at least one of his friends to the sociefy; membership is so easily acquired, as the minimum arurual contribution is only $1, and from then on upz absolutely no limits are imposed on generosify.

*A railroad junction in westem New York State, @ds.)

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