NATIONAL ORIGINS PROVISION OF IMMIGRATION LAW 169
rensus of 1790 is the foundation of his report that this evidence places the
report in an indefensible position. There remains then (a) * Statistics of
immigration and emigration.”
RECORDS FROM 1819 TO 1896 BURNED
on April 4, 1924, page 5460, part 6, volume 65 of the Congressional Record,
[ find the statement made by the Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Reed:
“There was no official governmental record of immigration commenced until
the year 1820.” The immigration statistics provided for by law in the year
1819 were burned in the Ellis Island fire of 1896. As to the reliability of
these records, Dr. Edward Sweeney, former Commissioner of Immigration
said :
“In 1819 a law was passed making it necessary for the captains of all in-
coming ships, bringing passengers to the United States, to file a manifest of
the passengers but except to give the number of the passengers to the Gov-
ernment was never other than perfunctory and almost never used. These
accumulated. manifests were burned in the Ellis Island fire of 1896. The
first real attempt to gather immigration statistics was after the Immigration
Bureau wag established in the early nineties.”
Therefore the immigration statistics up until the early nineties were “ per-
functory and almost never used,” and what there was of them were destroyed
by the Ellis Island fire in 1896. The immigration statistics are therefore elimi-
nated not only by the provisions of the law on account of unreliability, but also
by the fire.
There remains then for the consideration of the committee “the rates of in-
wrease of population as shown by successive decennial United States censuses,
and such other data as may be found to be reliable.” It is hard to understand
what effect “the rate of increase of population as shown by successive decen-
nial United States censuses” can have upon the determination of the national
origin of the American population so long as no information bearing upon
national origin of the American population was gathered by the Census Bureau
until 1850 and the Census Bureau did not gather any statistics on the origin of
parents that were complete until 1890.
NO NATIONAL ORIGIN CENSUS RECORD UNTIL 1890
I desire to call the committee’s attention to Doctor Hill's testimony in Senate
locument designated as * Flearing before the Committee on Immigration,
United States Senate, Seventieth Congress, first session, March 15, on page 19:
“ Senator SmipsTEAD. Doctor, have we got the returns for 1800?
“Doctor Hrrr., Have we got them?
“Senator SurrstEAD. Yes.
“Doctor Hirn, There are some States missing still. States for which the
[800 census records are missing include Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New
Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia, and certain limited areas in some other
States; also Indiana Territory and Northwest Territory.
“ Senator SHIPSTRAD. There were six or seven missing out of 1790.
“ Senator WILLIS. I was wondering whether or not that might not be a check
worth while. Our committees made these computations on the basis of the cen-
sus of 1790. Suppose they should start an entirely independent inquiry, taking
the census of 1800 and 1810 and see where they come out. It would be a pretty
nxeful check, would it?
¥ Senator CorpLanD. Up as far as 1830 it would be, Doctor Hill. That would be
a very large undertaking, a very large task, especiaily as we would have to
work with manuscript records. We haven't nrinted these schedules as we have
‘hose of 1790.
“ Senator WILLIS. You say you have not any printed record for the census for.
‘he earlier periods? .
“Doctor HLL. I mean by that, the original records. Of course, we have
census reports giving statistics,
“ Senator WiLLis. 1790 was printed; 1800 was not or 1810?
“Doctor HirL. No; nor has any later census been printed.
“Senator SmIpsTEAD. Can you tell me the first census we
indertook to find out what country these people came from?
“Doctor Hin, 1830.
“Senator SmuipstEap. There was nothing dome up until that time by our
onumerators to determine where these people came from in Europe?
