Speaker. there is nothing in all this. nothing in the fact that all parties are united in excluding Chinese laborers since the treaty permitted this. to justify the charge of the gentleman from Indiana that the Republican party favors "opening wide the doors for the importation of cheap labor." Since the act prohibiting such importation was unanimously passed by Congress and approved by a Republican President. its ultimate enforcement has been in the charge of President Cleveland. who has never indicated to Congress that it needed any modification or strengthening. Whatever failure of enforcement there may have been. therefore. lies at the door of the Democratic and not the Republican party. Yet confessedly. during the three and a half years in which the act has been in force. the importation of cheap contract labor has increased. until. if we may believe the evidence gathered by the House committee who are now investigating the subject. it has grown to grave proportions. although but few instances have been made known in which this was done by manufacturers. and in those cases reported wages nearly as high as those prevailing here have been paid. I know that during this period hundreds of cheap Italian laborers. landed at New York in defiance of the law. as I believe. have been sent to my own State. like squads of coolies. to work on railroads. contrary to the wishes of our own people. and contrary to the public interests. [Cries of "That is so!"] Still. I can not ascertain that these wholesale importations have engaged the attention of the Cabinet. or that any order has been issued by the President to district attorneys or other United States officials to better enforce the law. I wish. however. to make one exception.
Keywords matched
contract labor coolies