n for London, and is met upon his
arrival at the station by an agent of the society. This agent ranks as a
servant, is usually an ex-prisoner and is always paid 21 shillings a
week. He pilots his man at a certain hour before the Reverend Secretary,
and here follows a verbatim report of the dialogue between the great
man and the poor, timid and dreadfully embarrassed ex-prisoner:

Great Man--Well, my man, what do you intend to do?

Ex-Prisoner--I want to go to America.

Great Man--Tut! tut! my man; you mean you want to go to sea.

Ex-Prisoner (taking the hint)--Yes, sir; I want to go to sea.

Great Man--Very well, my man. Go with this agent, who will fix it with
the ship captain so you can go to sea.

If a steamer of either line named is about to sail he is taken on board
at once goes to the steerage, and just before sailing the agent hands
him a ticket and the criminal is safely off for America. England is rid
of a bad subject, and the Royal Society has one more "reformed" man to
put in its report. In addition to the L3 gratuity the ex-prisoner has
been paid L1, L2 or L3 in addition, provided his sentence had been at
least five years. The society is not a cent out of pocket over him, and
forlorn and friendless he lands here with from $2 to $15 in his pocket.
He has got the cheap suit of clothes he wears, one handkerchief and one
pair of stockings extra. It is almost certain he will speedily drift
into crime, spending the remainder of his life in prison, and finally
dying there or in the poorhouse.

There is just one way this evil can be stopped--I might say two ways.
The first, and a method that would be effectual in stopping the influx
of criminals from all countries, is to let Congress put a tax of $30 or
$50 on the steamship companies for every passenger not an American
citizen whom they bring to America. Not one discharged criminal in a
thousand could meet the tax in addition to the fare. The only other way
possible would be for our Government to request the English Government
to furnish them with photographs, marks and measurements of all
discharged criminals. Then have them copied and sent to the
Immigration Commissioners of our ports. But that would involve a radical
change in these boards and their methods. Efficiency there under our
corrupt system is, I fear, hopeless.

I visited Ellis Island a few days ago and saw how they passed a shipload
of immigrants in a few minutes, and as I looked I felt it was