Persons brought in under this amendment could go Into any other industry for which they were fitted. and the result would be that the railroads. the factories. and all the industries of the country would suddenly find that they needed farm labor. and they would bring it in as mechanics and machinists. They would all come in. The contractlabor laws antedated the Immigration laws. They were passed In response to a widespread demand that labor should not be brought Into this country under a contract made abroada contract which would result in bringing in a large body of laborers under an obligation to work for a period of years at lower wages than our own people work in similar employment.. If we should open the doorsand this amendment opens them. for it can not possibly be confined--the result would be that the whole purpose of the contractlabor laws would be destroyed. �There are hardships. no doubt. In every employment. and dimlculty of getting labor at certain times. It is impossible to feet all those individual eages by lNw but I think it would be a veirygreat misfortune to break down the contractlabor laws of this Iy country. which have been long on the statute books. This amendment in my opinion. throws wide open the door for bringing in contract labor under contracts made in foreign countries at lower rates of wages. because the definitions are necessarily so vague that there is no method of controlling them. I sincerely hope the contractlabor laws will not be fipaired.
Keywords matched
Immigration contract labor