Immigration through the ages

IN A RECENT CNN commentary Ruben Navarrette Jr. complained about the "hypocrisy" of American immigration policy. "We have two signs on the Mexican border: 'Keep Out' and 'Help Wanted.' "

The dilemma is hardly new. Before the Constitution, even before the American Revolution, similar issues arose in colonial Massachusetts. Skills were needed but there were fears about the crime and disease that newcomers might bring.

In the mid-18th century, the Province of Massachusetts Bay recruited German immigrants to work as printers and glassmakers. A lottery was established to finance the project, and skilled workers were exempted from military service.

It was hoped that the Germans would "prove honest and reasonable" and provide "Books for Churches and Schools and to promote a Christian life." An elite group of immigrants would even benefit Harvard College, that "ancient and renowned University of Cambridge."

Although some Germans were welcome, authorities worried about others who came uninvited and the merchants who brought them. According to a German document at the Massachusetts Archives, the merchants "take all sorts of Beggars they find on the Road. . . Should every one be inspected, I dare say, a great many would be found to carry the Mark of Infamy on their backs or to be mark'd with an hot Iron for having committed infamous Crimes."

In 1750, the Massachusetts General Court crafted an immigration reform measure: "An Act to prevent the Importation of Germans and other Foreign Passengers in too Great a Number in one Vessel." It reflected a fear of disease. "Through want of necessary room and Accommodations," aboard ships, "they may often Contract Mortal and Contagious Distempers [and infect others] on their arrival."

According to the legislation, accommodations for passengers over the age of 14 should be "at least six feet in length and one foot and six inches in breadth." For those under 14 "the same length and breadth for every two."

If the legislation was intended to control the flow of immigration, there was a surprising response from Rotterdam agents. They were quick to exploit the rules in advertisements. One promised "Fixed Bed-Rooms or Cabins are to be made in the Ship six Foot long and one and a half broad for every whole Freight." Each "whole Freight" (or passenger) would enjoy a range of amenities.

"The Ship is to be purified thrice a-Day with Vinegar and Juniper Berries to cause fresh Air." "Whoever desires Brandy shall receive the same every Morning, and such as love Tobacco shall have one Pound for their Journey at their setting out." The ad featured an enticing daily menu including, "Barley and Syrup" on Monday, "One Pound of Flour of Wheat" on Tuesday, and comparable delicacies throughout the week.

Frequent complaints suggest that the immigrant experience was difficult. In 1748, a group of Palatine Germans had petitioned the Massachusetts government for relief. They were lured to Maine, then part of Massachusetts, through advertisements placed by Samuel Waldo. Waldo promised "to Build and Finish at his own Expense . . . two houses of thirty five feet Square two stories high and Also a Church."

In fact the Palatines "Sailed to the Eastward an Inhospitable Shore and a Waste Wilderness." They requested assistance, reporting "There not so much as anything done towards building either of the houses to Shelter your unhappy Petitioners . . . at the most inclement Season of the Year the Winter."

A German commissary, writing from Frankfort in 1752, criticized the practices of unscrupulous agents that promise "golden Mountains, and after having deliver'd them in to the Hands of the Dutch Merchants, often times stay behind or leave them to their Fate, or if they Conduct them to the Place of their Destination, ridicule these poor people on Account of their Simplicity and Credulity." Another document criticizes agents as "Rogues and Sellers of Souls" who rely on "falsehood and smoke."

Today, records of this German immigration remain in the Massachusetts Archives. During the Great Depression they were taped into notebooks as part of a WPA project. A grant from the National Foundation for the Humanities funded their conservation, preserving them from the corrosive effects of brown, oozing tape and iron gall ink.

Although Germans never became a large segment of the Massachusetts population, the current immigration debate mirrors the past in striking ways. Should America recruit skilled immigrants only, or welcome the poor and uneducated? Do immigrants bring vitality, or crime and disease?

In a nation of immigrants, history should inform the discussion.

Stephen Kenney is director of the Commonwealth Museum at the Massachusetts Archives.