Immigrant Robert Watchorn headed early INS Robert Watchorn became Commissioner of Ellis Island in 1905. He was then the highest ranking member of the Immigration Service. Watchorn was an immigrant himself and worked in the the coal mines of Pennsylvania. By Donald L. Singer POSTED: 07/26/14 I hope many residents of Redlands know of Robert Watchorn, whose interest in and love for the ideas and vision of Abraham Lincoln led him to provide the financial resources to build the Lincoln Shrine in Redlands, the only museum west of the Mississippi dedicated to Lincoln and the Civil War. As the sculpture outside the shrine indicates, this was a gift honoring Abraham Lincoln and memorializing Robert and Alma Watchorn’s son, Emory Ewart Watchorn. Ewart Watchorn was among the first Americans to enlist when World War I broke out. According to the Watchorn biography, part of the Watchorn materials in the Heritage Room of the A.K. Smiley Public Library, Ewart joined a flying unit, was exposed to many dangers and “finally was a hospital victim because of prolonged exposure in zero weather in an Alpine flight.” He died in 1921. Robert Watchorn, who lived in Redlands in his later years, had a fascinating life story. Born in England in 1858, he was forced to enter the coal mines at the age of 11, working 12-hour days for one shilling, or 24 cents, per day. He immigrated to the United States with about $10 in his pocket and worked in the coal mines in Pennsylvania for several years. By the time he was 30, he became secretary of the National Miners Union. He was active in Pennsylvania politics and became friends with a number of influential Pennsylvania politicians, and thus by 1891 he became the chief clerk to Robert Pattison, the governor of Pennsylvania. As he points out in his typewritten autobiography, also in the one of the two boxes of Watchorn materials in the Heritage Room, he “entered the US Immigration Service as an Immigration Inspector in June, 1895.” “I was promoted in all of the following years — ‘Supervising Immigrant Inspector’ 1898, — ‘Special Supervising Inspector of Immigration’ 1900, — ‘Commissioner in charge of the Canadian Frontier,’ and finally to the top position in the immigration service, Commissioner of Immigration-Ellis Island, New York” from Feb. 11, 1905, to June 5, 1909,” he wrote. Watchorn became the nation’s highest immigration official as a result of his relationships with some of the leading politicians, including President Theodore Roosevelt, who appointed him. Watchorn was an inveterate letter writer and his correspondence while serving as commissioner of immigration is in the Heritage Room. One should keep in mind that during that period, similar to now, immigration was of huge interest to both politicians and the public. At the conclusion of Watchorn’s term, one magazine said that “the daily average of entries ... was two thousand and three hundred eighty-three. The grand total in round numbers was three and a half million.” In addition to the number of immigrants, many Americans felt that the “new” immigrant, i.e., one from southern or eastern Europe, could not be assimilated into American society, as do some today feel about many of today’s immigrants. Thus, Watchorn had to consider many political and administrative concerns. We now turn to some of the vast correspondence sent and received by Watchorn during his tenure as commissioner of immigration. Like all political appointees, Watchorn had to maintain close relationships with elected officials. Shortly after he took office, he wrote the following reply to a letter from Seth Low, mayor of New York City. “I have been endeavoring to ascertain definitely whether the generous and worthy suggestion you made, as to the putting in here of a drinking fountain for immigrants can be accepted by the government. I have ... found a favorable opportunity for discussing the matter with the Commissioner-General and he has pointed out to me that the regulations specifically preclude the possibility of the Government accepting any favors whatever, including the kind act which you wish to perform. However, he desires me to say to you that your suggestion shall not altogether be lost and that such facilities as may be deemed necessary to add to the comfort and convenience of passengers under conditions such as you saw will be provided.” One can see in this reply the type of response that a wise appointed official gives to a powerful elected official with whom he must work, i.e. the law does not allow me to do what you ask but we will satisfy your request in other ways. The “boss” of New York Republicans, Sen. Thomas C. Platt, wanted to give a government contract to one of his friends. Watchorn was an honest man and a friend of the taxpayer, and he responded in an exemplary manner. Said Senator Platt, “A constituent of mine ... (is) going to bid on the privileges at Ellis Island for a period of three years ... for ‘feeding detained immigrants and maintaining as restaurant.’ I would be very glad to have these (bidders) favored, if you can consistently do so.” Watchorn replied: “The contract will be awarded to the person or firm agreeing to conduct the business in question in such a manner as will best serve the interests of the Government and the arriving aliens. Of course it cannot be determined who this will be until the bids are opened.” Not discouraged, Platt sent the following to Watchorn: “I understand that (this) company has made a bid for the exclusive privilege of conducting a money exchange office.” Trying to use his influence to get his constituents a government contact without going through the bid process, Platt said, “It would be particularly pleasing to me if you could consistently award them this contract.” Watchorn again showed that he was not about to allow Platt to subvert the process. He replied, “The successful bidder will, of course, be chosen (the time in which the bids are open). All facts in connection with the bidding being considered by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, the Commissioner-General, and the writer.” Watchorn had a very inclusive view of who should be allowed to immigrate to the United States, including those with disabilities, as the following letter indicates. “It is a very great pleasure to hear from you, and in reply to your question as to the admissibility of deaf-mutes, I have to advise you that deaf and dumb people are not excluded simply because of these defects, although such persons are necessarily compelled to show, definitely and satisfactorily, that they are not likely to fall a charge on the public, before they can be admitted. I think that most deaf and dumb people who apply for admission to the United States have taken the precaution in advance of their sailing to have ample assurances for them before they arrive here ...” At that time, the Republican Party was split between those who favored big business and big corporations and those, like President Theodore Roosevelt, who wanted regulations on the banks and corporations like Standard Oil. Watchorn was a progressive Republican and thus was glad that Charles Evans Hughes, who later ran for president, had won the Republican nomination for governor of New York. Watchorn wrote the following letter to Hughes: “Your nomination for Governor is not a surprise to me, but it is a great tribute to the sort of life you have lived. We are prone to think in this somewhat artificial age that the demagogue and the time-server are the only men who are to catch the public eye and receive public confidence.” Watchorn read many magazine articles in which Ellis Island and immigration were discussed, and he wrote to the editor of a magazine if he took issue with some of the arguments presented. In a letter to the then-popular Outlook, he said: “The article as a whole is no doubt intended to draw attention to what is supposed to be a deplorable situation but it is couched in a self-evidently sensational vein and is intended to work on one’s sympathy rather than to appeal to one’s judgment or reasons and, like all other sensational utterances, it contains distorted facts, untruthful statements, and suggests a wholly impracticable remedy as a panacea.” Watchorn was an astute observer of politics and politicians. Wanting to ensure that he was “in the loop” with powerful politicians, he wrote a letter to George B. Cortelyou, secretary of the Treasury. In 1907, Roosevelt was president but it was not known if he would run in 1908. William Jennings Bryan, a populist, was the leading Democrat running for the presidency. In a letter to Cortelyou, Watchorn indicated that he had talked with some important men and that one of these men had “lunched with Grover Cleveland a few days ago, and the question as to the nominee for the Presidency was discussed. Mr. Cleveland frankly and firmly stated that if Bryan were the nominee he should reserve his independence and vote for a Republican [Cleveland was a Democrat], provided that the Republicans made a satisfactory nomination. Colonel McCook inquired whom he would regard as a satisfactory candidate on the Democratic ticket and he insisted either Harmon or Gray. When asked ‘if neither of these are nominated who would you regard as a satisfactory candidate on the Republican ticket,’ Mr. Cleveland hesitated for a moment; during such hesitancy Colonel McCook suggested ‘how about Secretary Cortelyou?’ Mr. Cleveland instantly and surely said. ‘Capital; first-class ...” As it turned out, Roosevelt decided not to run and supported William Howard Taft, who easily defeated Bryan in the presidential election of 1908. As a political appointee of the previous president, Watchorn was more than likely to be replaced when Taft was elected in 1908. However, efforts were made on his behalf to have Roosevelt re-appoint Watchorn before Roosevelt’s term of office ended. Evidently, Roosevelt did send Watchorn’s name to the U.S. Senate for re-confirmation, for he says the following in a letter to William McAdoo (Woodrow Wilson’s son-in-law, candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1924 and still later a U.S. senator from California): “In view of the very gratifying action of the President in sending my name to Senate yesterday I hasten to send you an expression of my hearty appreciation of the splendidly effective effort which you were good enough to make for me.” Unfortunately, the Senate did not act quickly enough. Watchorn sent his letter to McAdoo on March 2, two days before Roosevelt left office, and Taft withdrew Watchorn’s name on April 3. Watchorn then resigned his position. In his autobiography, Watchorn devotes a chapter to immigration. This was a time when millions of “new” immigrants, i.e., from southern and eastern Europe, were coming to America. Then, as now, a number of Americans felt that these new immigrants, unlike those of past generations who came mostly from northern and western Europe, could not assimilate into American society and culture. Watchorn experienced these newcomers in a way in which few Americans had, i.e. literally seeing them getting off the boats and seeking to find a home and get a job. He goes into great detail in this chapter to show that these new immigrants can and do fit into the fabric of American society every bit as much as did the immigrants of old. I believe Watchorn’s words speak so well of all who wished (and wish today) to come to this land of liberty and opportunity that I hereby quote some of this paean to America: “The mass feature [of opposition to immigration on the same scale as the present] is a principal cause of opposition and this in turn has developed either so-called objectionable features, chiefly racial in character, though often enough, opposition is still along religious lines. Then there are linguistic objections, though these are usually voiced in terms of geographical areas, presumably to avoid the appearance of having had their origin in bigotry. The Jewish race and those other races whose nativity occurs within geographical limitations known to be predominantly under Roman Catholic control are, according to the expressed or hinted opinions of organized opponents of immigration, the specially objectionable classes of immigrants. ... Always bearing in mind that certain sections of the earth appear to have been allotted exclusively to certain races and colors, and that the law of assimilation is therefore of prime importance to each race of color when dealing with the question of immigration, nevertheless such objections as may logically and rightfully be applied by them, do not apply where the question of assimilability does not arise. “When this fact is perceived and admitted, the racial argument no longer supports the wholesale exclusionists’ contention that America is justified in legislating against the admission of any person just because he is a Jew, or because he is a Roman or Greek Catholic. ... What is the objection of the Jewish race? Why is it made the butt and ridicule of court jesters who have never lifted the veil that for centuries has concealed from the universal eye the cruel tyrannies to which it has been subjected by self-styled superior peoples? The most obvious disabilities of the modern Jewish immigrant are not Jewish but Christian-inflicted scars, wounds, and blemishes.” (I believe that here Watchorn is talking about the oppression the Jews suffered under the rule of the czars in Russia.) “... After nearly fifteen years of exclusive service as a public official ... I unhesitatingly declare it to be my carefully studied opinion that the United States of America had no cause to place the Jews, as a people or as individuals, on any less favorable footing than any other class, nationality or race, among the incoming peoples during the entire period of my connection with [the Immigration] service. “Precisely similar indictments were made against the Irish immigrants a half century ago, and even prior thereto, but the ‘proof of the pudding is in the eating’ and by this test the howling maledictions of six or seven decades ago against the Irish have softened down to silence and have even is some cases given way to well merited, but long overdue praise. “Poverty is no crime, humble origin no discredit and unfamiliarity with modern progressive living no evidence of inferiority, nor is illiteracy necessarily a sign of a lack of mentality or a want of intelligence. ... “No words of mine can fully express my gratitude to the United States for opening its opulent arms and almost wholly unconditional doors to me on the 16th day of May 1880. ... I have a feeling of love for my adopted country as deep and sincere as that of my wife, a native of the State of Ohio ... or as was the love of our dear boy who was born in New York City, and who proved his love for this native land by giving up his life at the vibrant age of twenty-six years from causes due to service in the world war as an aviator in an American regiment from 1917 to 1918. “America! The world’s surest hope and stoutest anchor, each individual the lawful equal of the other, equally entitled to advance according to his own individual ability; and while for half a century as a toiler, a public official, or as a businessman, I have under any and all circumstances done my very best to show my gratitude for the great privilege accorded me by admitting me to these shores and having accorded me the invaluable blessing of full citizenship, I feel, nevertheless, that I am still unable to claim that I have given a full return for the advantages conferred. “Perhaps that is why I am jealous enough of her enviable reputation among the down-trodden sons of men everywhere to cultivate the wish that she may forever avoid the taking of any step that may class her with those petty nations that have permitted and practiced racial, political, and personal favoritism, that parent of hateful and fatal discrimination, by adhering strictly and invariably to the commendable and equitable doctrine of individualism, with a chance, an equal chance, for every resident and citizen, native-born and naturalized, regardless of creed, color, race, or previous condition with equality before the law, de jure and de facto.” Residents of Redlands note with pride the Lincoln Shrine. This facility came about because of the beneficence of Robert Watchorn. I believe all residents of our country should be thankful for the service performed by Watchorn during his term as the top immigration official of the United States. He was a hard-working, conscientious and honest civil servant who recognized that he needed to work in harmony when possible with elected officials of the government. In addition, his enlightened views on immigration provided a welcome sign to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrived on these shores in the early part of the 20th century. Donald L. Singer holds degrees in history and education and is retired after a career as a professor and administrator at community colleges, including serving as president of Crafton Hills College and San Bernardino Valley College. He is a volunteer in the A.K. Smiley Public Library Heritage Room. redlandsdailyfacts/social-affairs/20140726/immigrant-robert-watchorn-headed-early-ins
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 17:52:46 +0000
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