Parliament adjourned on Tuesday for the Easter holidays, which are
to last till April 12th. Before doing so the Aliens Bill was introduced by Mr. Akers-Douglas. The Govern- ment, he explained, did not want to throw unnecessary obstacles in the way of foreigners who wished to come into this country, and they recognised-the good qualities of many of the immigrants. Still, the great increase in the influx of foreigners " was a serious matter. There were fifty-four thousand aliens with their families in Stepney alone. •Their presence constituted a menace to law and order, cOnsid.ering the Strained- relations between them " and the rest of the • population. Under the new Bill masters of ships would be obliged to give lists of alien passengers, and the authorities were to be -empowered to make searching inquiries as to character and antecedents, &c. When necessary, aliens would be prevented from landing., Among these would be persons convicted of extraditable crime within the past five years, women of -loose character, persons likely to become paupers, and diseased persons. The -Home Secretary could also expel
any undesirable alien who had been here for less than two years. Aliens convicted of offences might be called on to leave the kingdom after release from prison. Another pro- vision would enact that where immigration had caused over- crowding in a district, regulations might be issued to abate the evil. We are strongly against taking away the right of asylum from the victims of political and racial oppression on the Continent, but if this is carefully guarded against, and also if aliens are not excluded in obedience to the unworthy prejudice against foreign workers, the Bill should not be open to objection. Against its anti-criminal and pro-sanitary provisions, as long as they are fairly and wisely applied, we have nothing to say.
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