Speech #550033327

I wish to correct one statement the Senator has made in regard to contract laborers. In the State of Washington the only contract labor we have any knowledge of is that over on the British Columbia side. The Senator perhaps is not aware that the coal miners in British Columbia are principally Chinese. who are employed at a very much less daily rate of wage than coal miners on the American side. and it is those laborers in British Columbia that we are seeking to be protected from. The Senator. of course. is not in favor of Chinese labor. but he is indirectly. and perhaps unthinkingly. making a very strong defense in behalf of the Chinese producing the coal thatis used upon the Pacific Coast. I have here letters not only from coal companies. but from organizations that are owned by the miners themselves. seeking and asking and demanding protection against this Chinese labor upon the British Columbia side. which is only paid 75 cents and a dollar a day. and I know the Senator would not be in favor of that.