The Acting Secretary of
State to Minister Jackson.
Department of State,
Washington
,
July 17,
1906
.
No. 112.]
Sir: I confirm the text of the department’s
telegram of the 13th instant to Mr. Wilson.a
I inclose herewith, in further response to your dispatches referred to in
the above-quoted telegram, copies of letters from the Secretary of
Commerce and Labor pointing out, for the information of the Greek
minister for foreign affairs, the provisions of law applicable to the
cases of deported Greek emigrants on which the minister’s inquiries are
based.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 1.]
The Secretary of Commerce and
Labor to the Secretary of
State.
Department of Commerce and Labor,
Washington
,
July 7, 1906
.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 5th instant (B–H) inclosing copy of a
dispatch from the American minister at Athens, in which he requests,
at the instance of the Greek minister of foreign affairs,
information relative to the immigration of Greeks into the United
States, with particular reference to a number coming by the
steamship Patricia, May 12, 1906, destined to
St. Louis, and who were deported.
In response to said communication, I beg to inclose, for transmittal
to the American minister, a copy of the immigration laws and
regulations, inviting especial attention to section 5 of the act
approved February 26, 1885; section 1 of the act of March 3, 1891;
and section 2 of the act of March 3, 1903, which provisions of law
relate to the exclusion from this country of aliens who have been
induced to migrate by reason of assurances of prearranged
employment. The party of Greeks to whom the minister’s dispatch
relates specifically, as well as several other large parties of
aliens of the same race, was not permitted to enter the United
States because an examination of their testimony, given before a
board of special inquiry, in conjunction with a careful
investigation conducted at and in the vicinity of St. Louis,
convinced this department that the said aliens were attempting to
enter this country with a view to accepting employment which had
been arranged for them prior to their leaving Greece, so that their
admission would constitute a violation of the provisions of law
above alluded to.
It is suggested that the American minister at Athens direct the
attention of the Greek minister of foreign affairs to the foregoing,
so that he may undertsand that the aliens were not rejected, as he
seems to believe, on the ground that if landed they would be likely
to become public charges, but for the reason above set forth.
Respectfully,
[Inclosure 2.]
The Secretary of Commerce and
Labor to the Secretary of
State.
Department of Commerce and Labor,
Washington
,
July 12, 1906
.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 9th instant (B–H), in which, alluding
to Department of State letter of the 5th, you inclose a copy of a
further dispatch from the American minister at Athens, regarding the
desire of the Greek minister for foreign affairs for information
concerning Greek immigration, from which copy it appears that the
said minister of foreign affairs is especially anxious to learn
whether there is any [Page 812]
particular objection on the part of this Government to the settling
of Greek immigrants at St. Louis, Mo.
In reply, I have the honor to invite your attention to my letter of
July 7, and to state further that there could be, of course, no
objection on the part of this Government to aliens settling in any
particular section of the United States. The difficulty with the
cases of those Greeks who have been recently deported, and who were
destined to St. Louis and vicinity, was not the fact that it was
their intention to settle in any particular locality, nor, as
pointed out in my former letter, any question of their being able to
sustain themselves in this country, or of their being afflicted with
disease; but they were excluded solely because an examination of
their testimony, in conjunction with a report of a careful
investigation conducted at St. Louis, convinced the department that
they were seeking admission to the United States in violation of the
alien contract labor laws.
Respectfully,
