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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1907)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 13, ,1907. NEW YORK, Oct. 5. (Bpecial corres pondence of the Sunday Oregonlan.) Call It hospitality, call It missions, rail It patriotism, call it self-protection, or call It plain, ordinary, unspeclallsed religion: but by whatever name it Is des ignated, the work of the Ellis Island rep resentatives of the various religious bodies Is one of the most Interesting phases of contemporary Christianity. It Is the Church at the Nation's Gate, giving the clear evidence of kindly deeds that this Is a Christian land. To be the first to touch the life of the incoming stranger, making him aware. In this su preme hour of his experience, that re ligion Is an active, aggressive and hos pitable force in the alien's Land of Prom ise, is the nevrly-awakened and laudable ambition of organized Christianity. The news of this lies not in the novelty of the missionary's presence at Bills Is land, for that Is no novelty. Th8 extra ordinary aspect of the ease is that just now all the large Christian bodies of America are showing an alert interest In the Immigrant, and are bringing their powerful forces to bear upon him. so that they are becoming one of the most potent factors in the immigration problem. The recent report of Chief Powderly to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, point ing out what industrial opportunities await the newcomers, and where, has naturally provoked wide discussion; yet what the churches propose, and have un dertaken. Is probably of far greater mo ment. Crowding Oat the Crooks. Time was when the missionary at Ellis Island had a hard job of it, with all sorts of graft leagued against the unsophisti cated incomers whom ha sought to serve. There were crooked inspectors and other ! crooked officials; graft in the immi grants' restaurant, graft In the money changing, graft in the steamship and rail road agencies, graft in the boarding house runners, and worse than graft In the enterprising efforts of the white slave merchants. Long before religion awoke to anything like an adequate conception of the opportunities presented at Ellis Island, the forces of evil were reaping a rich harvest there. The years during which these harpies, almost unmolested, plucked the stranger at the gate do not make an attractive chapter of American history. Now there are two-score missionaries at Bills Island, and the Commissioner of Immigration, Robert Watchorn. "the Man at the Gate." Is himself an earnest Meth odist, and In close sympathy with every effort to serve the immigrant's material or spiritual needs. He relies strongly upon this newly-awakened religious con sciousness of America to support him In his rigorous dealings with steamship and railway companies to compel them to give the alien a square deal. It has been the rule, rather than the exception, until very lately, for these transportation com panies to treat immigrants worse than they treat four-footed cattle. In an ad dress to the Ellis Island missionaries one day Commissioner Watchorn gave them these words of encouragement and admo nition: "Your work, as missionaries, has al ways commended Itself to me. I know of no fellow mortal who stands more In need of such kindly ministrations than one who, having left his native home, finds himself barred at the threshold of the country In which he hopes to acquire a domicile. During the period of uncertainty as to wheth er he Is to be admitted or deported, he certainly does stand in need of sym pathetic aid. It is my purpose and my desire consistent as Commissioner of Immigration to see to it that such consolidation as you may bring shall not be denied him; I shall, however. Insist that each one of you will re spect the law and conform to the reg ulations. The sworn officers of the law must be the sole judges ns to who shall enter the United States, and as to those who may not enter; and their judgment and their actions must not be subjected to unofficial- influences." The Modern Good Samaritan. The seal of missionaries in behalf of rases In which they have become spe cially Interested doubtless evoked Those last words. There was the Greek priest, in his Imposing rubes and ponderous pendant cross, to whose skirts clung a boy and girl; doubtless he would do anything In his power to save them from the terror of deporta tion. And that cluster of Irish peas ants who were following to the barge, with beaming faces, a Roman Catholic priest, had evidently been extricated from some difficulty by him. Fifteen minutes later I saw a Jewish rabbi with a company of solemn and cadav erous man who might have been exiles from some Kishinev; evidently he was their protector, if not their deliverer. Kills Island is a kaleldoscpoe of such pictures. Every Immigrant is in necl of the friendly word of assurance, it nothing more. But the tragedies which are daily enacted there give the warm heated missionary abundant opportu nity to be an angel of mercy. These are pictures of a master's brush. Take that big-eyed, sweet-faced Swedish mother, whom" I saw standing at the entrance to the' woman's apartment. (Hr children, clung about her dress. li ' ntlllHimmiiiT v' riiix8.w .: x : .... . - i ..... t Let Al. KS.' "' :""V '! ' but her husband was not near. Per haps he had been sent to the detention den. for deportation; perhaps he had failed to arrive; probably, I judged It was that the great hour of mother hood had come to her again, in this time and place of tumult and uncer tainty. Whatever the reason, terror filled her eyes, and her gentle face was drawn in agony, as she leaned upon the little Baptist woman who spoke her own tongue, and was to her God's own angel. In that busy spot. there was one with leisure and skill 1 to befriend the friendless. Services such as these nil the days of the Ellis Island missionaries. They Bpeak most of the tongues in this modern Babel. Often they have op portunity for nothing but the giving of a greeting, a tract or a Bible, in the speech of the fatherland. Frequently, though, they can Introduce the stran ger to the friendly offices of some minister or church worker at the des tination to which she is bound. The aim is not only to show kindness to ine immigrant, ana to give nim a Christian welcome, but also, so far as possible, to keep the shaping, guiding hand of religion, and If possible, of his own church, upon him, in the new home which he is entering. Aside from the ministry to the unfor tunates in the detention pen the place into which there Is crowded, doubtless, more tragedy than In any other one spot in the world, for more than 1 per cent of all immigrants are sent back who await further examination or deporta tion, some of the missionaries are con nected with temporary homes for immi grants on the Battery. The Lutheran Church has been especially zealous in caring for its immigrants. The Meth odists and Roman Catlsolics HiVwlse have been alert to meet these special conditions- Another body, whose activ ity is marked at Ellis Island Is the Ital ian Society for the Aid of Immigrantsi which is supported in part by the Italian government, as well as by Italians In this country. This 4s not avowedly re ligious, but It is a powerful barrier be tween the untaught alien and the pow ers that prey. Stirring the Nation's Churches. The smashing of immigration records the year ending "in June. 1907. brought nearly a million and a half la in good part responsible for awakening of the churches of North America to a serious consideration of their part in the Na tional assimlllation of the immigrant. The theme is now to the fore In various religious gatherings, and In all the church papers. It has been made a spe cial subject of study with new text books, by tens of thousands of members of young people's societies and Sunday schools and missionary organizations. This Fall all the "Rally Kay" services held in at least one great denomination the Presbyterian, were directed to de vote their collections to the one object of home missionary work among the Im migrants. A numOTr of important recent publications, including Professor Edward A. Steiner's "On the Trail of the Immi grant." John R. Common's "Races and Immigrants in America," and Dr. H. B. Grose's "The Incoming Millions." have been designed chiefly for circulation among church people. Another tangible evidence of the wide spread increase of Interest In the immi grant is the growth of mission churches for foreign-speaking persona, and the great increase of colporteurs to" distri bute literature among such. At present i this is the most accented, Xe&tur of thej. , '' j haps he had been sent to the detention ' - ' - , - 4 I TW' i .., UT 111 III ljH den. for deportation; perhaps he had : ? -z - , , , '. . ' " - -'i-, J 1 ' " ' time and place of tumult' and uncer- j.-? - , , -' '' 'V-l "L W talnty. Whatever the reason, terror ' "i- ' ' f '; - ' - v S&?ZZz&&sz&:i. &Z00liiS filled her eyes, and her gentle face . N - g ' ' ''' s "' - ( llVwV'S'iS. fr was drawn in agony, as she leaned " ' ' " - " 'I s ff m OSi3S. fhy upon the little Baptist woman who : . . js - .Awssam, - : I I 'JtS-Jf' S spoke her own tongue, and was to her ; gT & ; IS?-" ' v i I -Z iS TSc y a' jezp TsJ3e home mission work now being carried on by the great denominations. The carefully organized agenciea of these de nominational boards are at work sys tematically stirring up interest in this theme. If the newcomer is not given a neighborly xwelcome. and assisted to be come a law-abiding American, the fault will not he with the officials of the churches. Undoubtedly it is tru,e that to some extent the churches are being scared Into this extraordinary activity. ' They see visions of the crowding out of the Christian Institutions, such as Sunday, even as scores of indilvdual churches have been crowded out to the downtown sections of the great cities by the tide of alien population. The question is being put In some quarters, not as "What shall we do with the immlgrantT" but as "What will the immigrant do with us?" The tendency to concentrate In the great cities (more than 80 per cent of the non-English-speaking Immigrants settie In IS per cent of ths territory of the United States), and the Increase of crime by aliens are subjects which press them selves upon the attention of the serious minded. The thousands of study classes in the churches of America which are now considering this question, are one of the important Influences beseathj - .. i ll . . ,sr. m wm-i .. . v .fc. .Baft; 1 w , . l-" l-;, .t ' r 7 "V .r. . M M J- A.7 1 l-u-"vir t - - "r -t .-.-, r ... "f'-"t . Mcwms ywrNG the surface of National life which yet powerfully affect destiny. Because th Christian sentiment, which still domi nates the country when , It 1s exerted, is concerned over the moral better ment of the Immigrants, there Is bound to be a steady lifting up at all the standards affecting them. Y. M. C. A. Experts at Work. Among the men and women who per sonify Christianity's welcome to the strangers at Ellis Island, and the other principal ports of entry into America, may be found representatives of the T. M. C. A.- This is a new departure for the Association. It is only the be ginning of a work from which a great deal will be heard later. Now these special secretaries busy themselves looking after the welfare of young men, citizens in embryo. They give them cards of introduction to the T. M. C A. in the towns to whlrh they are going. Then they inform the 'sec retary at the point of destination to be on the lookout. Ambitious plans, which contemplate the corrallng of a large proportion of the immigrants through the new work of associations scattered over the land, are being con sidered. The Association has had the fore jnost authority; vpon the immigration..! QAIE ssafl i sCs3JssAishAiJBBM5jaMjaaJw.vak.'.jA io-xm-. 'gittr:'jimjy'irMl "sf ss ' isTlTVi i i'i'ii i"i " n! : - " -v " V ... - ' ''-'-s ' ' " '' " MMiM.liisr..iiifiiiiMii r - x. carr zanpep. question. Professor Edward A. Stelner, at work during the past Summer mak ing a speaial investigation of the whole subject, in respect to Its possi bilities as a T. M. C. A. field. The in ternational committee has within the past few monthsput another expert. Dr. Peter Roberts, personally in charge of ' a department of Work among aliens. In Canada similar efforts are being put forth in behalf of the immigrants bound northwest. Trains and boats are met at Quebec and elsewhere, and refreshments supplied to the stran gers. During the rush of a few years ago, a Y. M. C- A. tent was established at Winnipeg, and it did a land-office business. In the coal regions of Penn sylvania associations have been opened for, the -foreign-speaking men, and be cause of their educational features these are regarded by the immigrants as an incalculable boon. Xhara ia abundant evidence that at tjese w gmzzs aks? rue last the Christian agencies of Amer ica have awakened to their peculiar responsibility for educating and Amer icanizing the increasing myriads of foreigners who annually come to these shores. The 40 representatives of re ligion at Ellis Island typify a move ment which .will bear watching. Skilled Dentists 2300 Years Ago. Berlin Cable. A German dentist named Galli has es tablished the fact that the Etruscans were accomplished dentists. He has ex amined numerous Etruscan skulls and found In some teeth which had been filled with wonderful skllL- Four are covered with gold capsules, two covering natural teeth, while the other two were arti ficial grinders, a real piece of bridge work. Galli remarks: "The Etruscans, like tbe Americans, f were not backward about showing their EXTBAOPDINABY DEVELOPMENT OF ONE PHASE OF THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION AT ELLIS ISLAND teeth incased in gold. The Etruscans must also have been acquainted with ou best modern fillings, as this piece of Etruscan dentistry lasted about 2300 years. Perhaps In details dentistry can show Improvements, but dentists now know nothing the old Etruscan 'tooth doctors' did not." Taken at His Word. Harper's. Master Walter, aged S, had .-eaten the soft portions of his toast at breakfast, and. piled the- crusts on his plate. , "When I was a little boy," remarked his father, who sat opposite him, "I al ways ate the crusts of my toast." "Did you like them?"- inquired his off spring, cheerfully. "Yes," replied the parent. "You may have these,"-said Mayer Walter, pushing his plate across til-table.
