The members of the Republican party are boastful in their professions of devotion to the interests of American labor. They profess to be its special protectors. and without their guardianship one would conclude. from their pretensions. that our laboring classes would long since have been reduced to a condition of dependency and servitude more deplorable than that of the poorestpaid labor of Europe. I shall attempt at this time to do little more than call attention to some of the legislation which seriously affected the welfare of our laboring classes. so that they may readily fix the responsibility for their enactment or nonenactment where it rightfully should be. * In 1864 Congress passed an act substantially entitled an act to encourage immigration. This was its ostensible purpose. but its real object was to clothe contractors. mineowners. and manufacturers with power to contract with and import laborers from Europe to supplant American workmen and to reduce the price of American wages. Senator SHERMAN. in reporting this measure to the Senate. very adroitly tried to conceal its real purpose. but inadvertently disclosed the secret before concluding his statement.
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immigration