_II. Governmental Regulation_ [Sidenote: Evasion and Violation] The United States has some excellent immigration laws, the best and most extensive of any nation, as one would expect, since this is the nation to which nearly all immigrants come. The trouble is that every attempt is made to evade these laws, and where they cannot be evaded they are violated. The laws are of two classes: 1. Protective, in favor of the immigrant; and 2. Restrictive, in favor of the country. [Sidenote: Protection for the Immigrant] There is a law against overcrowding on shipboard, going back as far as 1819, but overcrowding has gone on ever since.[19] There seems to be no doubt that even on the best steamships of the best lines there is ready disregard of the law when it interferes with the profits to be made out of the steerage. Strong evidence to this effect is given by Mr. Brandenburg. Here is a condensed leaf from his own experience which shows how much regard is paid to the comfort and health of the steerage passengers:[20] [Sidenote: Steerage Horrors] "In a compartment from nine to ten feet high and having a space no larger than six ordinary rooms, were beds for 195 persons, and 214 women and children occupied them. The ventilation was merely what was to be had from the companionway that opened into the alleyway and not on the deck, the few ports in the ship's sides, and the scanty ventilating shafts. The beds were double-tiered affairs in blocks of from ten to twenty, constructed of iron framework, with iron slats in checker fashion to support the burlap-covered bag of straw, grass, or waste which served as a mattress. Pillows there were none, only cork jacket life-preservers stuck under one end of the mattress to give the elevation of a pillow. One blanket served the purpose of all bedclothing; it was a mixture of wool, cotton, and jute, predominantly jute; the length of a man's body and a yard and a half wide. For such quarters and accommodations the emigrant pays half the sum that would buy a first-class passage. A comparison of the two classes shows where the steamship company makes the most money. [Sidenote: Feeding Like Animals]