No. 727.
Baron de Fava to Mr. Bayard.

[Translation.]

Mr. Secretary of State: The consul general of the King at New York has just addressed to me the report of which I herewith have the honor to forward to your excellency a copy in the Italian language, with the request that you will be kind enough to have its contents examined by the competent authority.

By this report it appears that the custom-house at New York gives too broad and inaccurate an interpretation to the direction contained in the second section of the American law “to regulate immigration,” in virtue of which “convicts” can not land in the United States.

The inconveniences set forth by the above-mentioned consul general seeming to me to be of a nature to attract the kind attention of the Federal Government, I take the liberty of bespeaking in advance the good offices of your excellency, in order that, if necessary, new instructions may be given to the custom house at New York to put an end to them.

In thanking you in advance I take this occasion to renew, etc.

Fava.
[Inclosure.]

Mr. Raffo to Baron de Fava.

Baron: I have the honor to call your attention to a matter which has been reported to me by the president of the Italian Emigration Society of this city.

It is the duty of the collector of customs, as you are aware, to prevent the landing of such emigrants as do not fullfill the requirements of the Federal law governing immigration; one of the cases in which he is under obligations to send back an immigrant in the same vessel in which he came is when proof is furnished that the person is a convict.

This word evidently means one who has in any way avoided serving out the penalty to which he has been sentenced, either by flight or by expulsion, or even by means of a pardon, or who has been temporarily released, but it has been interpreted by the collector of customs of this port as applicable to those who have served out a term of imprisonment.

The clause to which I have referred, which was inserted in the law, in my opinion, in order to prevent what had sometimes been done by European Governments, viz, the shipments of convicts to America for the purpose of getting rid of them, is now interpreted in the most illiberal sense; according to this interpretation, persons are allowed to land in these States who do not come as immigrants, that is, as steerage passengers, and who are wanted by the police authorities of their own country. That is to say, those who, having the means to do so, escape to this country in order [Page 1057] to avoid the grip of justice in their own—in other words, real criminals are permitted to land without molestation, while those who have served out their time and can no longer he considered as convicts are debarred from doing so.

Of the immigrants who recently arrived by the steamer Marthe, twenty-eight, together with five who had arrived by the Cachar, were for the above reason detained at Castle Garden; of these, twenty-four, who had served terms of not more than one month each, were allowed to land, owing to the representations made by our immigration society; the others are to be sent back to Italy.

Raffo.