The Jews

In the three decades ending with 'the outbreak of war in 1914 the word 'immigrant' meant 'Jew', often 'Polish Jew'. A more common usage was 'alien' or 'destitute alien'. The extensive public discussion of immigration at that period seldom considered other groups, except in particular localities, and the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration (1903-5) concerned itself almost entirely with Jews. The 1905 Aliens Act, that first significant breach in laisser-faire policies - an aberration in a sense because the Liberals, advocating free trade, were returned with a massive majority at the subsequent general election - was primarily intended to reduce the flow of Jewish immigrants. Large numbers had been arriving in Britain, part of the mass movement of Jews from eastern Europe mainly to the United States, aided by extraordinarily low fares across the Atlantic. Smaller numbers went elsewhere overseas, to Canada, Australasia, South Africa and South America. Others remained in western European countries, including Britain.