Speech #590160740

R.. 795. 79S): " The motives and history of the act are matters of common knowledge. It had become the practice for large capitalists in this country to contract with their agents abroad for the shipment of great numbers of an ignorant and servile class of foreign laborers. under contracts by which the employer agreed. upon the one band. to prepay their passage. while. upon the other band. the laborers agreed to work after their arrival for a certain time at a low rate of wages. The effect of this was to break down the labor market. and to reduce other laborers engaged in like occupations to the level of the assisted Immigrant. The evil finally became so flagrant that an appeal was made to Congress for relief by the passage of the act in question. the design of which was to raise the standard of foreign Immigrants and to discountenance the immigration of those who had not snfficient means in their own bands. or those of their friends. to pay their passage. While the act is undoubtedly. to a certain extent. a reversal of the traditional policy of the Government. it does not purport to inhibit or discourage the immigration of foreign laborers in general. .but only the importation of such laborers under contracts made previous to their migration or Importation." The committee of the House in reporting the latest of these acts. that of March 3. 1903. said : I Provision is also made in section 2 that the inhibition of the importation of skilled alien workmen under contract to perform service in the United States shall not operate to prevent bringing such workmen into the United States if labor of like kind unemployed can not be found in this country. The propriety. as well as the practical wisdom. of such a provision is obvious. since the purpose of legislation against alien contract labor is the protection of American workingmen from unfair competition by aliens who are willing to work for lower wages. As such competition. however. can become effective only by displacing the American workingman. it is clear that such purpose will not be defeated by permitting aliens under contract to be brought into the United States to fill places for which American labor unemployed can not be *found . and. moreover. such a proviso is an encouragement to the extension of our industries." (House Report No. 082.. 57th Cong.. 1st sess.. p. 3.) And the committee of the Senate: " If the labor imported does not displace American labor. whatever use it may be put to. it does not come within the purpose of the law for the protection of Americans from unfair competition . but. on the other hand. its exclusion. by retarding the growth and multiplication of our industries. would choke the opening of new avenues to American thrift. industry. and adaptability. This section provides. therefore. that alien labor may always be imported under contract to work in the United States if labor of like kind unemployed can not be found in this country. " (Senate Report No. 2119. 57th Cong.. 1st sess.. p. 3.) The evil here adverted to. and the evil deprecated throughout the debates in Congess. was the importation of cheap foreign labor for the purpose of supplanting American labor. resulting in a breaking down of the labor market and the reduction of native laborers to the level of foreign competitors. Just as home products of manufacture were protected by a tariff against the competition of cheaper products from abroad. so. it was repeatedly urged in debate. the home producer. the native worker. should be protected by exclusory immigration laws from the competition of foreign workmen. satisfied with lesser pay and contented with fewer rights. The ability to bring this inferior and undesiralbld class of laborers to this country atpleasure and whenever need should arise was thus a weapon in the hands of large employers in their disputes with their employees. Unfair and degrading competition. induced by the selfinterest of tile employer class. was the wrong to be remedied.