Beating the Gun

The monthly immigration rush (TIME, Aug. 13) took place as usual on Sept. 1, but with more than usually unfortunate results. The official observer who stands at Fort Wadsworth at the entrance of New York harbor and sights along an imaginary line where the sea "ends " and the U. S. "begins" reported that five vessels crossed the line before midnight on August 31. They were: Esperanza (Mexican), 11:55 p. m. Braga (Italian), 11:56 p. m. Washington (Greek), 11:57 p. m. Byron (Greek), 11:59 p. m. Estonia (Danish), 11:59:45 p. m. Immigration Commissioner Curran at Ellis Island telegraphed Washington and was told that the immigrants on those ships must be counted as August entries. Since most of the August immigrant quotas were exhausted, about 1,800 of these newcomers must be deported-- some of them because they were only 15 seconds too early for the September quota. There was some criticism of this action on a "technicality"; and the captains of the vessels protested the official timekeeping, but to no avail. The immigration authorities held that some deadline must be observed in the execution of the law, the midnight rule must be strictly adhered to. The effect may be to decrease the haste of steamer captains in trying to cross the imaginary line, and thereby diminish the danger of collision in the narrow channel at the entrance of New York Harbor.