3-034-628 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Examining passports, Dieppe, 1871. 'Among the immediate consequences of the late military and political conflicts in France has been the renewal of the passport system, which is now again imposed...on all travellers crossing the British Channel. The arrival of the daily steam-boat from Newhaven at the port of Dieppe is a moment when the inconveniences of this barbarous and ridiculous exaction are disagreeably felt. The English passengers, many of them sickened and fatigued by the sea voyage...would be grateful to be allowed to go to their hotel at once; but they are compelled to stand about on the quay or at the Douane till they can get these precious notifications of diplomatic or consular approval inspected...Great is the virtue of stamped paper with illegible signatures in the eyes of a Government official! The whole fabric of civilised society, the peace and good order of the Continental world...would doubtless be put in jeopardy - the fees, at least, would be missed by their official receivers - if Brown, Smith, Jones, and Robinson were permitted to land without this wearisome bother...we regard the return of the passport system as a bad sign for European freedom'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.