[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.–Editor.]
The report of John S. Kennedy of the New York State Prison Commission declaring that 23 per cent of the prison population of New York State is composed of aliens, is regarded by the “Forward,” the “Day” and the “World” as misleading and calculated to prejudice Congress which is about to take up the immigration bills.
“The figure 23 per cent is not by any means so high as it looks,” declares the N. Y. “World” (Mar. 16). “The last census gave New York State a population of 1,375,000 unnaturalized aliens of twenty-one years or over. This meant that just about 20 per cent of the entire population of the State over twenty-one was alien. Considering the handicaps under which the immigrant labors, it is not at all strange that this 20 per cent should furnish 23 per cent of the criminals. It should, moreover, be remembered that since the last Immigration Act the sifting process has been much more careful.”
The “Forward,” pointing out that crime is more prevalent in those parts of the country where aliens are fewest, writes: “Perhaps it is true that a large number of immigrants are arrested in New York. But the question is, why is this so, what are the charges against them. A large number of the immigrant ‘criminals’ are peddlars or pickets in strikes or other victims of police persecution. It is these ‘terrible’ criminals whom Mr. Kennedy seeks to have deported. Of course these people are not affected by the present deportation laws because their punishment is usually a few dollars fine or a few days in jail. Mr. Kennedy is displeased with this situation.”
The “Day” takes Mr. Kennedy to task for attempting to influence Congress on the matter of the pending immigration bills. “The statistics regarding the number of alien criminals” we read “has nothing to do with the immigration bills. The Wadsworth-Perlman bill will not help criminals. All it seeks to do is to help the honest immigrants to lead a decent family life which is the surest means against the spread of crime and insanity.”
A JEW FOR GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK?
Will a Jew be nominated for Governor of New York State at the next gubernatorial elections? This question is asked by Jacob Fishman in the “Jewish Morning Journal” (Mar. 16). Commenting on the assertion last week in the New York “Sun” that Congressman Jacobstein of Rochester will possibly be a gubernatorial candidate on the Democratic ticket at the next elections, if Governor Smith refuses to run again, Mr. Fishman writes:
“The late President Roosevelt declared shortly before his death that the time was not distant when a Jew would be nominated for President by one of the major parties. That prophesy is still far from being realized. But we would like to see a Jew as mayor of New York City or as governor of the State, and Professor Jacobstein appears to be the right type of pioneer in this direction.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
