PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
THC.O. 885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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Free
Landing. think, the witnesses will tell you particularly attracted their attention.
Immigrants are carefully questioned and classed according to their working capacity and their destination; a list of those who decline the benefits of the law being drawn up, and their papers are stamped: Traveller only, and the passports of those so classed: Former resident. When the passports of those who claim the benefits of the immigration law have been vised and stamped, these immigrants are taken charge of by the immigration officers, who attend and direct them and put them into the special tramcars awaiting them for conveyance to the Immigrants Hotel. Their baggage is loaded on trucks by porters from the hotel itself. housing. On arrival at the hotel the immigrants are admitted, registered, and furnished with an admission ticket, valid for a five days' sojourn, which may be prolonged in case of illness. The immigrants are suitably housed, women and children in separate wards from those occupied by men, their baggage is taken to a depôt and there examined by a special branch of the Customs department." Then, Free board. First class rations are issued to the immigrants on the following scale." I need not read the scale, but the remark at the end is," The meals are well cooked by steam, and are served in a large dining hall by waiters." Then, "State Labour Bureau. Immediately on arrival, the immigrants are questioned as to where they "wish to go, and the labour exchange offers to provide them with employment accord- ing to the demands received, as set down in the originals, with the amount of wages "to be paid and other conditions, all of which are carefully entered in the books kept for the purpose. If there is no demand, for the time being, for the particular employment desired by the immigrant, the Bureau itself engages to find some other employment for him, either by sending him to some factory, company or workshop, "or by telegraphing to the interior of the Republic. The immigrant is warned of "the lack of any particular kind of employment, when such is the case, in any place " he may particularly wish to go to. The immigrant's mind is not influenced in any
way to go to any one place or another, that being left to his own judgment."
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Then
the other paragraphs deal with Free Forwarding or Travelling Expenses, Arrival in the Provinces and at Places of Destination, and Postal and Telegraph Office. Then follow those other provisions which were attached to the other pamphlet. On page 12 there is a paragraph which, I think, particularly attracted the attention of some of these applicants. The immigrants who arrived without any destination were easily placed and employed by the National Labour Office, according to their "abilities, as there is always an abundance of work to be had in all trades, and especially in the different branches of land cultivation, in creameries, building lines, public works, and industrial establishments." That paragraph appears to be "The of general application, and the next one appears to refer to the year 1908.
people who arrived in the year 1908 coincide, therefore, with the requirements of the country. They were not outcasts or people who were forced to leave their native country; on the contrary, they were sound and healthy people, honest workers, and "well disposed to establish themselves, especially up country." With regard to that presume my friend will rely upon the contention that that is a document which purports to have the authority of the Argentine Consulate in London. I desire only to say this: that, to a certain extent, it appears to be based upon the statute law of the country. If the document be taken as correct, we all know how difficult it may be, when a statute becomes no longer in accordance with the actual conditions It may well have been that when that prevailing, to adapt it to those conditions. document was first issued it was accurate. The evidence which I shall place before you will show, I think, conclusively that the statements in that pamphlet are not accurate now, and, moreover, that this defendant knew that they were not accurate, which, of course, is the vital point for you to consider when you come to decide There was one further docu- whether or not you can convict him on this summons.
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ment, which is rather an important one, included in this batch which was sent to this applicant. It purports to be a copy of a letter written by one Robert N. Green, of Dublin, to the editor of the " Irish Times." Sir, I have seen a paragraph in the "Irish Times,""&c., &c. (Reading down to the words "to read it.") As you will hear, that warning had been issued, or several warnings had been issued, by the Emi- grants' Information Office with regard to the question of emigration to the Argentine, In and it will doubtless appear that this letter purports to deal with one of those. "fairness to the Argentine Republic," &c., &c. (Reading the remainder of the letter). I do not intend to suggest, so far as agricultural payments and particular agricultural work on the part of any person who has capital and experience sufficient to take up a holding for himself are concerned, that the statements may not be perfectly true.
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The difficulty arises when they come to be applied, as they have been by this defendant, to skilled men engaged in skilled industrial methods in this country, to whom it is represented that they will find employment in their trade at very substantial wages, which representations, as you will hear, turned out to be entirely without foundation. In addition to forwarding these pamphlets, in several cases the applicants who called at the office had personal interviews with the defendant, and I must call your attention to one or two statements he made to them when they called. I am not at present giving the names of the applicants, except the one who has actually taken out this summons, because since they have returned to this country they have been endeavouring to find, and some, I hope, will shortly find, employment in their various vocations; but they are of opinion, possibly not without foundation, that the publicity of their names in these proceedings would injure them in that respect. Unless my friend insists upon their names being given, which I do not imagine he will do, I would ask you to allow them, at all events, not to give more particulars than are necessary to enable them to be identified.
The MAGISTRATE: It is more likely to call attention to them by suppressing their names than by giving their names.
Mr. COMYNS CARR: I do not suggest they should not give their names, but I do not want to call undue attention to them.
With regard to this applicant, in respect of whom this summons was taken out, Mr. Wright, who called at the defendant's office, Mr. Hetherington said, "I do not think you will have any difficulty in obtaining employment. It would be a help if you could speak Spanish, but not especially to get employment." He further said in this statement, to which I call your attention, "I have sent hundreds of people out
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to the Argentine, and they seem to have been getting on very well. I have received
no complaints." To another witness, Mr. Parsons, he said that the statement in the pamphlets were correct, and he further said, You have nothing to fear, and
no need to hesitate. The Argentine Government will find you employment." To another witness, Mr. Lovell, he handed the pamphlets and he said, "The Argentine is a splendid place for work. Although Spanish is spoken, it is unnecessary to learn the language, as you will find thousands of Englishmen out there."
By those representations these men were induced-and particularly Mr. Wright was induced-to book a passage through the defendant at the price of £7. It was a third-class steerage passage to go to the Argentine by the " Zeelandia," of the Royal I do not Holland Line. They left Dover on the 18th September by that vessel. propose to say anything about the incidents of the voyage. They arrived about the 10th October at Buenos Aires, in the Argentine, and on arrival this is what they found. First of all, there is a number of points in which their actual experience differed from the representation of these documents. The first is a small one perhaps, but it is one to which some of them attached importance: that was, instead of the adults being vaccinated if they desired it, they were vaccinated whether they desired The
it or not.
Mr. RAEBURN: I must object. This is not part of the charge against me. representation I am charged with making falsely is that in the Argentine Republic work is found for all. It has nothing to do with vaccination or the troubles they had to undergo out there.
The MAGISTRATE: The advertisement says that children are vaccinated.
Mr. COMYNS CARR: Yes; children are vaccinated, and adults who desire it. It is a small point, I agree, but I submit I am entitled to put it. May I come to the far more important points, the representations made with regard to the accommodation and with regard to the facilities for obtaining employment?
Mr. RAEBURN: There is no charge with regard to accommodation.
Mr. COMYNS CARR: I agree. The summons sets out the most material parts of
"Did induce
the false representations which are made.
The MAGISTRATE: The summons says,
to emigrate by
a certain false representation, to wit, that in the Argentine Republic work is to be The other is merely an auxiliary to it. found for all by the State Labour Bureau."
but still I do not think I ought to take that into consideration.
Mr. COMYNS CARR: No, but I submit, in relating to you the general history of the case, I cannot be excluded from giving the surrounding circumstances and the experiences of these men on arrival in the Argentine.
The MAGISTRATE: Why should it affect my mind, the point being: was work found for them by the Argentine Government? Whether they were vaccinated or not does not much matter.