All that one knows for certain is that up to the present no action has been taken against the masters or owners of any ships, if the lists have been found to be incorrect. Such then is a sketch of the way in which the Government figures are obtained, and of the efforts which have been made to secure their greater accuracy. In compiling the alien lists in the future, some more definite information should also be forthcoming as to the means, nationality, and destination of the immigrants. The distinction "_en route_ to America" is altogether inadequate for practical purposes. As matters stand, it is the only clue afforded us for judging which of the immigrants are merely birds of passage, or which come to settle here. Of course some of those who are "not stated to be _en route_ to America" return again to the Continent; but against that unknown and altogether hypothetical number, may fairly be set the incomplete nature of the returns, and the practice so generally followed in preparing the alien lists of counting two children as one adult. As most of the immigrants against whom complaint is chiefly made do not come here alone, but with their families--and often large families--this is a point to be noted in considering the actual numerical value of the Board of Trade returns. Therefore, in making a rough estimate, I do not think I shall be far wrong if I consider the number of aliens classed in the Board of Trade returns as "not being _en route_ to America," as practically representing about the number of those who remain here. As matters stand, it is of course at present impossible to give the exact number; but such an estimate would be approximately correct. Nevertheless, in a letter to the _Times_ in the month of August last, an official of the Board of Trade, writing under the _nom de guerre_ of "Facts," did not hesitate to charge me with "attempted misrepresentation," and "an intention to create prejudice," because I estimated that the number of aliens quoted in the official returns as "not being _en route_ to America," would probably represent about the number of those who come here to settle. The animus displayed in this letter was doubtless engendered by the remembrance of a previous epistolary duel. Opinions may differ as to the importance to be attached to this question of alien immigration; they may differ also as to the value of the Board of Trade returns; but however this may be, to write letters under a feigned name to the papers, deliberately accusing one's opponent of bad faith, is a method of conducting or prolonging a controversy happily rare. Though you may disagree with another man's views, you have no right to accuse him of dishonesty because he happens to differ from you.