I.—Emigrants.

1. All emigrant passengers arriving at the Port of New York, and their luggage, after being checked, must be landed at the Emigrant Landing Depot, Castle Garden, free of expense. Passengers are earnestly requested to take personal charge of all their property not checked.

2. After landing, the passengers will be examined for the purpose of ascertaining if any are liable to be bonded, or in such condition of health as to require hospital care, and will then be assembled in the enclosure, and the name, occupation, age, birthplace, and destination of each, with other necessary particulars, recorded.

3. Emigrants desiring to take any Railroad or Steamboat route for which tickets are sold in this Depot, will communicate with the officers of the Railroad Agency, and select such route as they prefer. The agent of said route shall be required to transport such emigrants and their luggage to the Railroad Depot or Steamboat Landing, by water conveyance when feasible, by land when not, but in either case free of charge.

4. Before the removal of luggage of emigrants having bought tickets of the Railroad Agency, the same shall be weighed, and each piece labelled and checked to its place of destination, with a common number for all the pieces of luggage of any one passenger, and a proper check given to the owner, setting forth, in ink, the number of his luggage ticket, the number of pieces of luggage, the gross weight, the overweight, and the charge he is liable to for its transportation to the point of destination ; which check shall be signed in ink as a receipt for the luggage by an authorized representative of the Railroad Agency.

5. The names of all emigrants expected by friends and relatives will be announced, and all answering to their name will be transferred to such friends and relatives as may be waiting for them.

6. The galleries and floor of the Depot will be open for the free use of recently arrived emigrants, until ready to take their departure ; and they are requested to make use of the wash-rooms before leaving the premises.

7. Emigrants desiring board and lodging are advised to communicate with the keepers of boarding-houses having permission in this Depot, and who will be allowed on the floor for this purpose. Every boarding-house keeper, when soliciting an emigrant for his house, must hand such emigrant a card, setting forth his name and residence, the prices, in gold and paper money, of board and lodging, by the day and week, and for single meals and night’s lodging.

8. Emigrants wishing to buy food can purchase at the bread stands and restaurant in the Depot at prescribed rates, as stated on cards at such stands.

9. Emigrants remaining in the city of New York or vicinity must defray the expense of removing their luggage from the Depot, and are informed that for this purpose a Baggage Express is admitted to the Depot.

10. Emigrants seeking employment are requested to apply to the Superintendent of Labor, and to make use of the Labor Exchange attached to the Depot.

11. Emigrants desiring desiring to deposit money or valuables over night are advised to do so in the office of the General Agent and Superintendent, who will give a receipt therefor. Employees are forbidden to take charge of such money or valuables of emigrants, unless the same be handed them after business hours ; in which case report shall be made as soon as possible to the General Agent.

II.—Boarding-house keepers.

Boarding-house Keepers, having permission to enter the Landing Depot to solicit Boarders, must observe the following Rules :

12. Every Boarding-house Keeper must wear his badge in a conspicuous place on his breast when entering the Depot, and keep it so exposed while in the premises.

13. Every Boarding-house Keeper must present to passengers, when soliciting such passengers for his house, a card setting forth his name and residence, and the prices in gold and paper money charged for board and lodging by the day and week, and for each meal and night’s lodging ; and he must also furnish emigrants with a bill setting forth all charges incurred for board, etc., before receiving pay therefor ; and must make to this department a daily return of all passengers taken out of the Depot.

14. Boarding-house Keepers are required to direct to this Depot emigrants wishing to communicate with their friends, or seeking employment, or desiring advances on luggage.

15. Every Boarding-house Keeper having permission in this Depot must post in Castle Garden and in his house, in a conspicuous place, where the same may be seen at all times by emigrants, a card containing a list of prices for board and lodging by the day and week, and for single meals and night’s lodging, and setting forth whether such prices are in gold or paper money. Prices charged to emigrants must conform with the prices set forth on said lists, and on the card handed to the emigrant, as required in Rule 13.

16. Boarding-house Keepers must behave in an orderly manner while in the Depot, and remain seated in the place assigned them until admitted on the floor.

III.—Missionaries.

And Representatives of Religious Bodies and Societies, admitted to the Landing Depot, are to observe the following Rules :

17. They may distribute religious books and papers among the emigrants, and give them all necessary advice of a spiritual nature ; and shall report to the officers of the Commissioners of Emigration any wants of emigrants other than of a religious nature, coming under their notice ; and shall not interfere in the secular requirements of the emigrants, or the secular matters of the Department, but shall direct all such emigrants to the proper officers of the Commissioners of Emigration.

18. They may visit any sick emigrants in the Hospital as often as their presence is required by such emigrant, and when called by the nurse or other officer of this Department.

IV.—General rules.

For the Government of the Landing Depot :

19. The business of the Depot will commence at 7 o’clock a.m. from May 1 to Nov. 1, and at 8 o’clock a.m. from Nov. 1 to May 1 ; and the clerks of the Letter Department shall also be present at all times, after the landing and registering of passengers, to write to friends of emigrants desiring to acquaint them of their arrival, and request funds for their inland journey, or for any purpose.

20. No person shall be admitted within the enclosure except the officers and employees of this Department and the officers and employees of the Railroad Agency, except on permission of the Superintendent.

21. No person shall be employed by any party occupying an office within the enclosure as clerk, ticket-seller, interpreter, or in any other capacity, unless first approved by the Castle Garden Committee ; and no employee or other person having privilege in this Depot shall, under any pretence whatever, receive from emigrants or others any recompense for any service rendered.

22. Every employee of this Department will be furnished with a badge setting forth his position, which he shall wear and exhibit while on duty.

V.—Rules and regulations.

For the Government of the Information Office, for Friends of arriving Emigrants.

23. This office will be open for business from May 1 to November 1 at 7 o’clock a.m., and from November 1 to May 1 at 8 o’clock a.m., and remain open as long as the Superintendent may direct. All persons having relations or friends whom they wish to receive, are requested to report to the clerk the names of the passengers expected by them, and the vessel on which they arrived, with their own names and residences. They will then remain seated until such passengers are brought, and on receiving them they are requested to leave the premises, so as to avoid obstructing the business.

24. Emigrants wishing to have their baggage transported by the Express Company at the Depot (referred to Rule 9) are requested to leave the proper directions at the Express Office before leaving the premises. Those desiring to take away their baggage can receive it on the day after landing, and are requested to apply for it themselves, for the purpose of identifying their property.

25. All services rendered by the officers and employees are without charge or expense to emigrants or their friends, or to any person having business with the office.

VI.—Rules and regulations.

For the Government of the Labor Exchange and Intelligence Office.

26. This office will be open for business from May 1 to November 1 at 7 o’clock a.m., and from November 1 to May 1 at 8 o’clock a.m., and remain open as long as the Superintendent may direct ; and shall be free for the use of employers and of emigrants seeking employment.

27. Emigrants and their employers are requested, after making their contracts and before leaving the office, to leave on record in the Office Register the particulars of such contract, the emigrant’s name, age, and date of arrival, and the employer’s name and residence.

VII.—Railroad Department.

28. It shall be the duty of the clerks and employees of the Railroad Agency to be at their respective stations on the landing of passengers, and so long thereafter as their services may be required, to attend to the wants of emigrants desiring to leave the city by any of the routes for which tickets are sold in the Depot ; and in every way to conform to all rules regarding them heretofore or hereafter adopted.

29. It shall further be the duty of the clerks and employees of the Railroad Agency to refer all emigrants desiring information other tban regarding the purchase of tickets to the proper officers of the Commissioners of Emigration.

30. The Railroad Agency and its officers are permitted to accept in payment for Railroad tickets and for overweight of luggage gold and silver, allowing for such gold and silver in current funds within one per cent, of the market rate, and furnishing to the emigrant a printed slip, setting forth the number and denomination of the coins purchased, the respective rates paid therefor, and whole amount paid.

31. The Railroad Agency will be required to report monthly to the Castle Garden Committee the number of emigrants transported each month over the several Railroads represented by said Agency and their connecting lines to the chief points to which emigrants go, together with the routes by which such emigrants are sent.

32. No person shall be employed by the Railroad Agency in any capacity whatever, except by and with the consent and approval of the Castle Garden Committee.

VIII.—Exchange brokers.

33. Every Exchange Broker admitted to this Depot shall be required to be at his desk while emigrants are landing, in order to attend to the wants of such emigrants as wish to have money exchanged.

34. They shall post in a conspicuous place every day the current market rates of gold and silver, and the prices paid by them for gold and silver of every denomination, domestic and foreign, and shall pay in current funds for all gold and silver bought by them from the emigrants within one per cent. of the current market rates of such gold and silver.

35. They shall furnish to every emigrant, from whom they purchase gold or silver, a printed slip setting forth the name of the broker and the number and denominations of the coins purchased, the respective rates paid therefor, and the whole amount paid.

IX.—Restaurant and bread-stands.

36. The Keepers of the Restaurant for the use of emigrants within the Depot shall be required to open the same at 6 a.m. in the summer and 7 a.m. in the winter, and to keep open as long as the emigrants require their services ; and shall expose in a conspicuous place a list of prices charged by them for all articles supplied, which list of prices must be submitted to the Castle Garden Committee for examination and approval monthly.

X.—Wash-rooms.

37. The Wash-rooms shall be open from 6 a.m. to such an hour in the night as emigrants need their use.

XI.—Hospitals.

38. The Hospital Rooms are for the use of the sick alone.

39. When any emigrant becomes sick in or is brought sick to the Depot during the night, it shall be the duty of the Night Watchman to have such patient transferred to the Hospital and put in charge of the nurse, and to procure the attendance of the Medical Officer of the establishment without delay.

N. B.—It is earnestly requested that immediate complaint be made to the General Agent and Superintendent of any violation of these Rules.

Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York.

Emigrant Landing Depot, Castle Garden,
New York, May 18, 1867.