Galveston: Ellis Island of the West

CHAPTER 9. 1914: The End of a Movement

CHAPTER 9 1914: The End of a Movement Ever since the beginning of 1913, Henry Berman, manager of the Jewish Immigrants' Information Bureau, had expressed the desire to leave Galveston. l He had agreed to remain, however, until a suitable replacement could be found. It was only toward the end of the year that his successor, Maurice Epstein, was sent to Galveston. Berman remained until the year's end to help acquaint Epstein with his tasks. The new manager was undertaking his duties at a difficult time, for the Galveston Movement was about to have its final confrontation with the United States immigration authorities . During this period of transition, Berman took Epstein to see Dr. Bahrenburg, the United States marine surgeon for the Port of Galveston. Berman's main purpose in arranging the interview was not to introduce the new manager to the marine surgeon, but to confront Bahrenburg with a report implying that his medical examinations were unfair. The North German-Lloyd Steamship Company had asked three medical doctors at Bremen to reexamine fourteen Jewish immigrants who had arrived there after having been deported from Galveston. These physicians issued reports which flatly contradicted those of Dr. Bahrenburg and denied any grounds for deportation. With Epstein present, Berman now brought these reports to Bahrenburg's attention. Dr. Bahrenburg vehemently denied the implication that he unjustly excluded immigrants who deserved to be admitted. He reminded Berman that during several examinations of these very same immigrants he, Berman, had been present and, despite his 166 1914: THE END OF A MOVEMENT layman's limitations, had corroborated the fairness of Dr. Bahrenburg 's findings. To emphasize his point, Dr. Bahrenburg read to Berman and Epstein from a copy of a letter which he had recently sent to his superiors in Washington concerning the subject of deportations. Dr. Bahrenburg's letter seemed to have been written in a humanitarian spirit, making no special mention of Jews nor, for that matter, of any ethnic group, and declaring that his main intent was to safeguard the interests of the unfit immigrant. "I must confess," Berman wrote, "that I cannot, despite any searching of my memory over a considerable past, charge the Doctor with any prejudice. He is all thoughtfulness and patience in the handling of the immigrants, and he is most favorably interested in our work." Apparently, Berman concluded, Dr. Bahrenburg's only fault was that he took his job too seriously, not allowing any cases to slip through without a thorough examination.2 Deportation of the ostensibly carefully selected Jewish immigrants who arrived in Galveston was proportionately seven times higher than that at Boston, six times that at Philadelphia, and four times that at New York. From these figures, Bressler agreed "that greater rigor is being exercised at Galveston than at any other port. That this rigor. however, is unfair, it would be an exceedingly difficult thing to establish. The record of the marine surgeon, Dr. Bahrenburg, is absolutely against it."s In fact, while general deportation from Galveston was forty-three per thousand, deportation of Jews was only forty per thousand, thus precluding any possible charges of discrimination.4 These statistics were quoted in early November 1913. Over the next four months, however. more and more Jewish immigrants were deported from Galveston. By the end of February 1914, it could be pointed out that deportation of Jewish immigrants for medical reasons significantly exceeded that of non-Jewish immigrants . During a period in which 311 medical certificates of rejection had been issued against immigrants arriving in Galveston, it was noted that although Jews constituted only 41 percent of all the arrivals, they made up over 60 percent of the medical rejects. Ominously, these alarming statistics were compiled by the United States Immigration Bureau and were included in a letter to Simon Wolf by Acting Commissioner General ofImmigration F. H. Larned, a man who had, in the past, indicated intense hostility to the Galveston Movement.s In quoting these statistics, Larned meant to point out that, far from selecting medically sound specimens, the Galveston Movement was recruiting immigrants of doubtful physical 167 GALVESTON: ELLIS ISLAND OF THE WEST fitness. Wolf confidentially forwarded Larned's letter to Schiff, who brought it to the attention of the Galveston Committee in New York. The Galveston Committee understood the letter of the acting commissioner general of Immigration as a vindication of the harsh policy of exclusions being carried...