Fines

Just as the active bird catches the early worm, so the Government has apparently caught the Baltic-American, Ward, Fabre and Greek steamship lines. Each of these is owner of a ship which came into the U. S. territorial waters from six minutes to 15 seconds before Sept. 1. As a result the immigrants aboard the four ships arrived after the August quotas were filled and too "early" for September quotas (TIME, Sept. 10).

It was at first announced that these immigrants would be deported.

Instead, the immigration authorities decided to surprise the 1,800 immigrants by unexpected humaneness. Except for those who must be deported because of disease or illegal entry, all of the group will be admitted and charged to the quotas of September or later months.

Having thus visited mildness upon the immigrants, the officials were less inclined to be lenient with the companies. It was found that the companies could be fined $200 per immigrant plus the amount of their passage money (usually about $100), both sums to be given over to the immigrants. With 1,800 immigrants involved, the fines aggregated over half a million dollars. The lines, of course, protested, to no avail. Since the transgressing ships could not get clearance papers unless a large deposit were paid against the forthcoming fines, the lines had little choice. The Baltic-American line was the first to pay, depositing under protest $100,000 in order that the Estonia (which arrived 15 seconds early) might sail.

The press regarded the ruling with favor because hardship was removed from the immigrants. However, the condition of transatlantic shipping is not such as to make steamship lines inclined to pay large fines without passing on the hardship, in one form or another, to the passengers for whom it is incurred. A law which teaches ships to race for the first of the month, and then assesses fines of $100,000 or more for an error of 15 seconds in navigation, will doubtless react to the hardship of immigrants, no matter how administered.