In the Shadow of Liberty: The Chronicle of Ellis Island

IT IS an inspiring sight to watch a mighty parade, to hear martial music, to view the gorgeous costumes and note the uplifted chins beneath eager determined eyes. But how different, and what a contrast is an army in retreat! The broken ranks, the maimed and wounded, the dying, the desperately struggling, proceeding anywhere but toward the original objective. Such is the contrast between the caravan of immigration to America, and the exodus of those hapless ones who, old and broken, defeated, discouraged, the better parts of their lives spent in vain, often turn in refuge toward their homelands after disappointments in Americal!

And how filled with pathos are the annals which reveal the cruelty, the swindling, the merciless exploitation of thousands who came to our shores with high hopes and ideals of American citizenship.

Both lanes of humans--the incoming and the outgoing--converged at Ellis Island. The incoming were often buoyed as much by false promises as by high hopes; the outgoing frequently bore the earmarks of human treachery as well as the shadow of shattered illusions.

In the corridor which leads to the Commissioner's office at Ellis Island, there hangs overhead the following framed notice:

ORDER CONCERNING TREATMENT OF IMMIGRANTS

"Immigrants shall be treated with kindness and civility by everyone at Ellis Island. Neither harsh language nor rough handling will be toler

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