In this chapter I propose to consider the nature of the immigration. At the outset of this particular aspect of the question, it is necessary to make it clear that one is animated by no sentiments of racial or religious animosity. Nothing could be more undesirable than to treat this question as a sectarian question, or to cast any slur upon the Hebrew faith. Nothing would harm the movement more than to create a Judenhetze in England, the home of religious liberty; and therefore whenever the term "Jew" is used throughout this volume, it is used merely to distinguish between other races and nationalities, and from no desire to arouse the odium theologicum. This disclaimer may seem unnecessary to some, but it is important to emphasize it, because if there is one thing hateful to the people of this country, it is religious intolerance; if there is one thing dear to them, it is that liberality which in matters of this kind recognizes no distinctions of faith or creed. It is perfectly true that a large proportion of these undesirable visitors are Jewish by race and religion. But that has nothing to do with the objection to them; it would be just the same if they were Christians, Mahommedans, Buddhists, or sun-worshippers. The objection to them is simply this, that by coming into certain trades and industries in this country, they subject our own people to a constant and unfair competition, which renders it impossible for them to obtain a decent livelihood, and tends directly to militate against their physical, financial, social, and moral well-being. In this matter there is nothing of race, nothing of religion, except so far as this, that we recognize that our first duty should be towards our own nation, our own flesh and blood. Nor is this objection by any means confined to destitute foreign Jews; it holds equally good with regard to vagrant and vicious Italians, idle Hungarians, degraded Chinese, and all the other undesirable specimens of those nationalities which go to make up the motley horde. Still it is idle to deny, in dealing with this question, that though the immigrants are of all nationalities, by far the greater part of those objected to is composed of Russian, Roumanian, and Polish Jews, drawn from the class which goes to swell the poor-houses and penitentiaries of Eastern Europe.

In the previous chapter I have dwelt upon the numbers of this particular class of alien immigrants. It is not necessary, therefore, to go over the same ground again. It suffices to point out that this increase, which would be undoubtedly serious if it were distributed impartially throughout the United Kingdom, assumes a far more formidable aspect when we consider its distribution in particular localities and particular trades. The invading hordes of destitute Jews appear to flock chiefly to our great centres of population, such as the East End of London, and to the great manufacturing cities of the North—Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and some other Scotch towns. Now it is evident that thickly-populated districts do not require immigration, but emigration. It is evident also that the Jew in England is not pastoral, but gregarious. Experts, whose opinions must be listened to with all deference, tell us that many of the foreign Jews have in them the making of good colonists and admirable agriculturalists. It may be so; but those who come here appear to show a marked distaste for agricultural and all pastoral pursuits. No one in England ever comes across a Jewish farmer, or a Jewish agricultural labourer. These immigrants invariably turn their backs on thinly-populated districts; and wherever our people are most closely huddled together, wherever the struggle for existence is keenest, there will the greatest number of foreign Jews be found, with the inevitable result that the conditions of life become even harder than before. It is very necessary to consider the distribution of this unlimited immigration, if we are to form an adequate idea of the injury it works upon our own people.

It is impossible not to feel compassion for these poor Jewish immigrants, when we consider the condition in which the great majority of them land upon our shores. They are often of poor physique, and always scantily clad. In most instances, they are without money at all; others have a few thalers, or roubles, or marks, as the case may be; and of these they are quickly eased by the loafers, touts, and rascals of all descriptions who hang about the docks waiting their arrival, and professing to show them where to lodge for the night, or where to find employment.

One ceases to wonder at the destitute condition in which these unfortunate people arrive on our shores, when we consider the discomforts and miseries which they have to undergo before they arrive at our ports. So far as the Jewish immigrants are concerned, it may be said that fully 70 per cent. of those who have arrived at the port of London during the present year have come from Russia or Poland. The edict in Russia has gone forth for their departure, but before departing it is necessary for them to obtain a passport and other official documents, which have to be paid for at the time of application, and are subsequently required to be shown to the Russian officials before crossing the frontier. I believe that some negotiations are now pending with regard to relaxing the severity of the passport regulations; but at present the possession of a passport is a sine qu non. To avoid the expense and trouble of obtaining these documents, many subterfuges are resorted to, to enable the Jews to leave unnoticed; but on arriving at the frontier en route to Hamburg, and being found without these documents, many of the emigrants are subjected to the grossest maltreatment and robbery. It is said that many of them have been robbed of every coin, and almost every article they possess, and are sent across the frontier in an absolute state of beggary and destitution. Many cases are known to the officials of the Jewish Charitable Institutions in London, where whole families have had, in consequence of being thus robbed, to tramp on foot through Germany ten or sixteen days, in order to reach Hamburg en route to London. When once they arrive at Hamburg, the departure of these persons is by some mysterious means, which I have been unable to ascertain, directly provided for. It is not an expensive journey, the passage to London from Hamburg being about sixteen shillings English money per head for the adults, and the children come half-price. These are approximately the fares charged by Messrs Perlbach, who do a thriving trade in bringing these people across. I say "approximately," for Messrs Perlbach have met all my requests for information with a non possumus. Of course such a cheap rate does not admit of many comforts. The emigrant has to find himself all food and bedding. In most cases the boats are entirely devoid of sufficient accommodation for passengers; and being under a foreign flag, they do not come under our Board of Trade regulations here.

The accommodation on board the boats plying between Hamburg and London is miserably insufficient; and doubtless it is no better between Hamburg and other English ports. The voyage from Hamburg to London usually occupies from forty to sixty hours, according to the weather; and during the whole of this time these poor people are herded together rather like cattle than human beings. Men, women, and children are crowded together in the stifling atmosphere between the decks; some lying on bundles of foul and dirty rags, others squatting on the bare deck itself. It is a terrible picture of famished and suffering humanity. No one thinks of taking off his clothes during the passage, and few have either the inclination, or the opportunity, to wash themselves or their children. The sanitary arrangements are simply abominable. The following account, given by the special commissioner of a London evening journal, which has done much to bring this evil prominently before the public, and to which I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness, may with advantage be quoted here. The special commissioner travelled over from Hamburg as a "destitute alien" on board Messrs. Perlbach and Co.'s steamship Minerva. In his report he describes his experience as follows[11]—

"By the time I got on deck darkness had set in, and nearly all my fellow-aliens had stowed away the pocket-handkerchiefs or canvas-bags containing their belongings in one or other of the two holds, which were to form their place of residence for the next two nights at any rate. I saw some scores of eyes peering at me for the first minute or two; then when curiosity as to the new arrival had abated, I sat down in a dark corner and quietly examined my surroundings. The greater portion of the deck was taken up by large boxes covered with sheets of canvas, and extending to a height in some places of perhaps eight or ten feet. On the top of these, and in the narrow passages between them, the emigrants sat or stood, breaking the stillness of the evening with the hollow laugh or clamorous chatter. Most of them were young women, wearing shawls on their heads, and clad in soiled, faded, and torn finery. Some of them were men, young or middle-aged, but so enfeebled and spiritless that one might have fixed their age at nearer seventy than thirty. A few were old women, bent, emaciated, and almost lifeless. All, with few exceptions, were yellow with dirt, and smelt foully.... I thought it to be about time to go and look after my sleeping quarters. There were two places from which to choose. One of these, according to the inscription on the entrance, was constructed to hold thirty-four persons, the other twenty-nine. The German ships are subject to practically no regulations as to space; and I inferred there must be on board about one hundred deck passengers.... I made my way to the larger of the two steerage cabins. When I got to the top of the gangway, the stench which issued from the semi-darkness beneath was pretty nearly unendurable, and it was even worse down-stairs, when blended with the heat from the bodies of the emigrants. But the scene which the place presented was still more disgusting. The apartment was about the breadth of the ship near the narrow end in width, and scarcely so long. In the centre a single oil-lamp was hanging, which threw out a feeble, flickering light. On each side a couple of platforms were erected, one over the other, with about two and a half feet between them, divided into spaces in some places a little over two feet broad, and not divided at all in others. Here men, women, and children were lying on the bare boards partly undressed, some in one direction, some in another. Young men lay abreast of young unmarried women, chatting jocularly, and acting indecently, and young children were witnesses of all that passed. The greater portion of the floor was taken up with boxes, on which such of the emigrants of both sexes as had not been able to obtain the ordinary sleeping accommodation were reclining as best they might."

That was the first night of the voyage; the second is described by the commissioner as follows:—

"My second night's experience in the hold I need say little about; the horrors of the place were increased by the accumulation of filth, which had taken place by the ever-increasing indisposition of the passengers the longer we were at sea.... Through the long weary hours I sat there sleepless, I was only too glad when the light of morning made a promenade possible on deck."

Such are some of the miseries of the journey. It is small wonder then that under such circumstances, when the vessels reach London, these unfortunate people present a most squalid, dirty, and uninviting appearance. The journey is a wretched one; and at the end of it things are no better; for when London is reached, these poor creatures are cast adrift to fight for themselves, in a population already teeming with starving, dying thousands.

The steamers that bring these aliens to London always land them at one of three places—Tilbury Docks, the Upper Pool, or St. Katherine's Docks. Wapping is the worst of the three places of landing. Here the steamers lie out in the middle of the Thames; the passengers are bundled into boats, the watermen in charge of which will endeavour before landing to get as much out of them as they possibly can. They are landed in different places, their luggage is thrown out of the boat, and they find themselves alone in a strange land unable to make known where they wish to go. But they are not left long in their loneliness. A number of human sharks, generally foreign Jews also, surround them, anxious to see in what way they can take advantage of their ignorance and friendlessness. The worst foes that have to be contended against are some of the East End boarding-house keepers. These men will meet the new-comers, address them in "Yiddish," say that they are connected with some of the Jewish charities, and tell them that they must allow their luggage to be collected. When this is done, they get together as many as possible before being stopped by the real agents of the Jewish Homes, and march them off, not to where the unfortunates think they are going, but to some of the boarding-houses in Spitalfields. Arrived there, the aliens undergo a process of sifting. Those who are absolutely destitute, and without money or baggage, from whom there is nothing to be got, are quickly dismissed, and sent in charge of a child to the Poor Jews' Temporary Shelter in Leman Street. But those who have money and baggage are advised to stay a day or two until they can "look about them." Then the fleecing commences. A charge is made of from two shillings to five shillings a week for a wretched shake-down bed; but the lodger has to pay the full week if he only stays one night. Food is charged in proportion. The next morning, as soon as the lodger has finished his breakfast, a man is deputed to go with him in search of employment. This man will tramp his victim all round London, it need scarcely be said with no success; in the evening he will bring him back to the boarding-house, saying they must try again the next day. The following morning the same routine is gone through, and with the same result. For each day's service a charge of five shillings is made. These gross charges are made day after day until the unfortunate individual has nothing left but his luggage. The boarding-house keeper sympathizes with his dupe; he tells him he is not an unkindly man, and will lend him a trifle on his luggage. This little is soon swallowed up in the cost of living, and when it is all gone the boarding-house keeper informs him he is very sorry, but he must have his room for some one else. The man is turned into the street, friendless, penniless, and homeless, and finds himself in very truth a "destitute alien."

Thus such an one becomes in a few weeks precisely in the same plight as those who arrive with literally nothing at all. Of those, said the Bishop of Bedford in his evidence before the House of Lords' Committee, "They almost stand in the market after arrival with barely any clothes to cover them, and without a penny in their pockets." In this veritable slave-market they hang about in droves, waiting for the sweater to come and hire them, which he does sometimes in person, sometimes by means of an agent, and sometimes by means of his wife. (What a terrible type of womanhood must be a sweater's wife!) Of course these poor creatures are at the sweater's mercy. They are ignorant of the country, of its language, of its laws, and are compelled to take any terms he may offer.

To call the place where these transactions are carried on a "slave-market" is perhaps an abuse of terms, since, in a strictly literal sense, nobody buys and nobody sells; but that it is a traffic in human beings cannot be denied. Almost any Sunday morning during the spring, summer, and autumn months, at the corner of Goulston Street, Whitechapel, for instance, may be seen a varying number of men drawn up in a line against the wall. In front of them stands a man who engages—I will not say sells—them to the sweater, who gets his victims to sign a paper, binding them to work for so many weeks and at so much money in the sweating dens. It is a pitiful sight. Most of these men are newly-arrived foreign paupers, chiefly Polish Jews. The boat from Hamburg arrives every Saturday at the docks, and the agent who meets them conveys them to some Jewish shelter where they remain until Sunday morning, when he leads them to this place. Most of them as they stand there have the high boots and fur cap distinctive of the Russian peasant. Want and long service are plainly written on their emaciated forms, and along with these a certain patient and dogged intention of purpose. Often the sweater will give them at first only their food and lodgings, such as it is. The salary given them varies from two to three shillings per week; their food is horrible, so is their lodging. They will work fourteen, sixteen, and eighteen hours a day, and they will sleep in the den in which the work is done. They suffer hunger, cold, heat, and vermin. They are without the help of relations, acquaintances, or protection. They agree to pay back a certain sum if they break their engagement; and as this is impossible for them to do, they remain practically slaves, working for nothing, or next to nothing.

Most of them have to learn a trade at first, during which period they earn nothing, and are glad to submit to any terms the sweater may think fit to impose. The slang term for such persons is "greener," and in many respects the condition of a "greener" is worse than that of a slave. By and by when he has learnt his business, which in the cheap tailoring trade, for instance, would be the machine work, he receives a small wage, from six to seven shillings a week, barely sufficient to maintain existence. As a rule the "greeners" are very quick to learn, and as they progress they earn a little more; but their position is precarious, being liable to be discharged at a moment's notice. The work is precarious too, and the wages are irregularly paid. Sometimes there is nothing to do for weeks and weeks. Their food is of the scantiest, the refuse of fish and a little bread being the principal articles of diet. The length of hours for which they work—I speak now of the cheap tailoring trade—averages from fourteen to fifteen hours a day, or 100 hours a week. The Bishop of Bedford said:—"I have myself seen these poor creatures at work up till two in the morning, and I have found that they were again at work, the same people in the same room, at seven o'clock in the morning." Again he said:—"You can tell work is being done on the Sabbath, by the blinds being drawn. There is no holiday at all." Moreover, the surroundings amid which they work are deplorable and filthy in the extreme. That, however, will be touched upon more fully in a subsequent chapter.

Again, in the cheap boot trade, the "greener" is at first put to work as a "sew-round hand." If he does well at this, in a short time he will proceed to "finishing," and he is advanced to other branches of the work as his proficiency may warrant. The master bootmaker, who in nine cases out of ten was once a "greener" himself, is called a "boot-slosher." The "greener" will generally lodge at the house of the "slosher" who employs him; and as many as sixteen or seventeen of these "greeners" have been known to lodge in his house at the same time. The daily food, as a rule, consists of a piece of hard stale bread, dipped in salad oil. The bread is bought from a barrow in the street, and consists of the stale unsaleable loaves collected from various bakers' shops in the neighbourhood. The "greener" may supplement this possibly with a little weak coffee or cocoa; or, if he wishes to indulge in an unusual extravagance, he will invest in a piece of dried cucumber, pickled in salt and water; or perhaps two or three "greeners," by way of a treat, will go shares in a few Dutch herrings, also pickled in salt. The dried pickled cucumber is known as "Wally-Wally," and a herring is known as a "DeÜtcher." These articles are sold in large quantities in the East End.

It must not be supposed, however, that these men remain always in this position. When they have learned to speak the language and to know their way about, they will make better terms for themselves. By degrees they gradually get on. After being in the "slosher's" shop for six or eight months, they learn sufficient to enable them to go into the boot manufactories kept by foreigners, and to apply for work to take out in large quantities. By a process of gradual development, the "greener" becomes a "slosher" himself, and in the fulness of time he may be seen walking about the East End, accosting and offering employment to the first batch of recently-arrived immigrants he sees. More probably he will meet them at the railway-station and waterside; or if in a more extensive way of business, he will write to Hamburg to some of the agencies there, stating that he can find work for so many men. When he gets them into his clutches he treats them in precisely the same way as that in which he himself has been treated. Thus does this evil system go on and flourish.

After a time the foreign Jew begins to accumulate money; and though he still continues his frugal diet of "Wally-Wally" and "DeÜtcher," he launches forth a little in other ways. The long Russian coat is discarded, and with it the Hessian boots and fur cap. He bedizens himself out with a quantity of cheap flashy jewellery, and possibly goes in for mild theatrical amusements. There is a small theatre in a certain small court in Whitechapel, where well-known English plays are acted in "Yiddish." Here may be seen the smart young foreign Jews and Jewesses, arrayed in all their glory, on every night of the week except Friday, when the Hebrew Sabbath, which nearly all Hebrews outwardly respect, commences. He may also perhaps join the "Chovevi Zion"—Hebrew for "lovers of Zion"—a society which sprang into existence in the East End of London about twelve months ago; or he may possibly—very probably—join one of the many little gambling-hells so greatly affected by the foreign Jew. Worst of all, he may drift into one of the secret socialistic or foreign revolutionary societies which abound in that part of the metropolis. That such societies exist cannot be doubted. They are formed of the class of men who marched to Hyde Park the other day, with a banner inscribed "Down with the Czar." These societies have papers of their own circulated among themselves, written in "Yiddish," breathing the vilest of political sentiments—Nihilism of the most outrageous description.

Thus whole districts in the East of London are as foreign as in Warsaw, or the Ghetto—when there was a Ghetto—in Rome.

In considering the nature of Jewish immigration, allusion should also be made to a species of infamy which, I am credibly informed, has been carried on for some time past at the London Docks. Many of the immigrants are young women, Jewesses of considerable personal attractions. Men-sharks, and female harpies of all descriptions, are on the look-out for them as soon as they disembark. The young women are approached, and asked in "Yiddish" whether they are in want of work. The answer of course is in the affirmative, especially as many of these young Jewesses arrive in a friendless condition. "Then," comes the suggestion, "you had better come and stay with me until you get it," or "I can put you in the way of obtaining it." Of course this dodge does not always succeed, for many young Jewesses are by no means so guileless as they appear to be. But in two cases out of three it does. The girl, friendless and unprotected, goes off with her interlocutor, and then the old shameful story is repeated. She stays in the house until the little she has is more than due for board; her efforts to earn an honest living are in vain; and when she is destitute, she is told she must either leave the place, minus even her little baggage, or earn money at the expense of her virtue. Such a dilemma, in nine cases out of ten, presents only one means of escape; and the girl goes to swell the number of the lost and degraded of our great cities. One of the worst features of this system is, that the decoy is largely carried on by Englishmen and Englishwomen, and by no means confined to foreigners alone. Happily, a Jewish Ladies' Rescue Society has been recently formed, and its efforts have done something to mitigate the evil. An official from this society goes down to the docks for the purpose of warning female immigrants, and advising them where to find employment. But the difficulty still remains, and a very serious one it is.

When we come to inquire into the causes which bring so many of these foreign Jews to our shores, we find that in addition to the two principal reasons—the persecutions in Russia, and the American Immigration Laws, which render their admission to that country impracticable—there are other agencies at work as well. The existence of these agencies is a disputed question; but from inquiries which have been made, there is every reason to believe that many of the East End sweaters have agents abroad working on their behalf. The victims are caught by advertisements in the obscure Continental papers inserted by the "greener slave-agent," who sends batch after batch of poor Jews to this country, and they soon find their way into the sweaters' dens by means of the addresses given them. This method of advertisement is perhaps not so extensively carried on as formerly, but it still exists. Again, there is also the suspicion, which deepens almost into a certainty, of the existence of what is known in America as "steamship-solicitation." It is highly probable that some of the steamship companies principally concerned in bringing these people to England, have agents on the Continent engaged in persuading poor Jews, and poor foreigners generally, to come to this country with the delusive idea that they will find plenty of employment, and plenty of pecuniary assistance here. The notices which the Government have recently caused to be posted up at some of the European ports, may do something to nullify this; but the fact remains that there are several German steamship lines doing an enormous business in bringing these Jewish immigrants to our shores, and there are owners of British vessels also engaged in the same traffic. In America, where it had reached a very great extent, this "steamship-solicitation" has been declared illegal. How far the steamship agencies act in collusion with the sweaters' agents in England, it is not possible to say—or, indeed, if they are in collusion at all. One can only notice that all things work together in a very remarkable manner. A slight clue to the puzzle is afforded by the fact that in Leeds (according to the Report of the Chief Commissioner of Police) there exists a firm of money-lenders who advance money to Jewish applicants having friends in Russia and Poland, which is employed for the purpose of bringing them to this country. This will explain how some, at any rate, of these destitute immigrants manage to pay their passage-money to England.

There is another cause also, which is more controversial, but which must be touched upon all the same, since it is a very potent one in attracting destitute Jews to England. I allude to the well-known munificence of the wealthy English Jews, who are ever ready to help their poorer brethren. The admirably organized system of benevolence which they have gradually built up by means of charitable organizations, shelters, and similar institutions, constitutes nothing less than an open advertisement to the poor Jews all over Europe to come to England and have their wants supplied. I admit that these institutions are not intended to have that effect, and that many leading English Jews endeavour to discourage this immigration; but all the same they tend to have the result of drawing people here.

In Leeds, for example, the Jewish Board of Guardians give the new arrivals a small grant until they have obtained work, and if they know no trade, and are willing to learn one, the Jewish Board will make them an allowance until they are able to earn something for themselves. In London, as I have before stated, the number of cases relieved by the Jewish Board of Guardians in 1890, exclusive of Loan and Industrial Departments, was 3351, representing with dependent families 12,047 individuals, and this at a cost of £21,648. Of course, this refers to the resident Jewish population as well, the operations of the Russian and Board Conjoint Committee not being included in this statement. In fairness it should be stated that the Jewish Board of Guardians also assist many to emigrate, and generally endeavour to reduce the mischievous effects of charitable agencies to a minimum. But there are other institutions whose philanthropic activity assumes a more questionable shape. Such, for instance, is the "Poor Jews' Temporary Shelter," which it can hardly be doubted attracts many destitute Jews to this country, since in 1888 it provided board and lodging for a period of from one to fourteen days to 1322 homeless immigrants.

A similar charge has been brought against the "London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews." I have gone very carefully into this charge, and find that it is a groundless one. Not only is the Society opposed to the wholesale influx of foreign Jews, but the number of Jews converted through its influence is incredibly small. For instance, we learn from the last Annual Report that only 145 "young Hebrew Christians" were presented to the Bishop for Confirmation by the Chaplain during the ten years of his chaplaincy, or an average of about five a year. The annual income of the Society is £35,000!

I write of what I know. There are agitators in the East End of London who could arouse a Judenhetze to-morrow by merely holding up a finger. It is only the moderating influence of others which restrains them. But this influence, already strained to its utmost, will not avail for ever. If the ceaseless immigration of Russian and Polish outcasts is not brought to an end, there will be an anti-Jewish movement in Whitechapel, in Leeds, and the other centres of population affected by this evil. The irritation will develop. This would be a great social calamity, and one above all others to be avoided.

These are the principal considerations which occur to one in writing on the subject of Jewish immigration. Again let me repeat, in endeavouring to sift this apparently endless influx, there need be no anti-Semitic feeling in the matter. There is a German proverb, "Every nation has the Jew it deserves." We have these our native-born English Jews, of whom we are all proud. Sober, thrifty, industrious, law-abiding and patriotic, they are a valuable and an integral portion of our community. But with these destitute foreigners it is widely different. They bring bound up with them all the vices and habits generated by centuries of oppression and degradation. Something must be done to divert this stream before it swells into an overwhelming flood. How long is this invasion to go on? Until Russia has emptied half—the worst half—of her Jewish population on our shores? The question is one for English Jews themselves. If an anti-Semitic feeling breaks out in this country, it will be because of this Russian influx, which apparently is being allowed to go on unchecked. What are the wealthy and powerful English Jews doing to check it, to focus public opinion upon it, to urge the intervention of Parliament? Apparently nothing. Surely it is not too much to expect that a movement for judiciously restricting and diverting this alien influx, should have the support of the wealthy English Jews; and this not only because of their poor co-religionists who come here to find only fresh misery awaiting them, but also in gratitude to the country under whose enlightened rule they have amassed their wealth, and attained their present influence. There is another reason also for urgency. No one who has had any practical experience in this matter can be blind to the growing dislike and antagonism with which these destitute immigrants are viewed by the native working population with whom they come in contact. This feeling is gathering in intensity day by day.

An outbreak of this nature would be a disgrace and a reproach to our vaunted civilization, and it would be almost certain to be followed by that most dangerous phase of popular excitement—panic legislation. Surely it would be wiser statesmanship to do something now, while the matter can be considered reasonably and dispassionately, than to wait until the smouldering embers of discontent burst into a blaze, the flames of which it may be difficult to check.