A step has been taken in Washington which, as we
explain elsewhere, probably marks an important change in the drift of American opinion. The House of Representatives recently appointed' a Committee to inquire into immigration, and this Committee obtained a remarkable mass of evidence, especially about the new immigration from Southern Europe. They have now proposed a Bill restricting immigration severely, by refusing entrance to paupers, idiots, diseased persons, anarchists, socialists, and convicts. Every immigrant must produce a certificate from the American Consul that he is duly qualified, and must on landing pay five dollars as an admission fee. He must not, moreover, be under any " con- tract to labour "—a rule specially levelled at Italians and Hungarians, who enslave themselves for years to pay their passage—and must not design " to labour for a limited time, with the intention of afterwards returning to his home," a very curious clause, intended, we believe, to prevent the defeat of strikes by the temporary importa- tion of workmen from foreign countries. The Bill is not to be passed this Session, but legislation in this direction is becoming probable, American workmen being convinced that foreign competition is reducing their wages, while American philanthropists are in despair over the condition of some of their cities.
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