The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-12-25
ANINTERNATIONAL EMIGRATION
BUREAU

AS many of our readers know, steps
have recently been taken by the Inter
national Workingmen's Association, at
the earnest request Of the American
delegate to the late European Congress,
to establish an Emigration Bureau,
through which a supervision shall be
jointly exercised by the American and
European associations, over the emf
grafton, which is constantly flowing to
our country. The necessity for. and
the advantages sure to flow from the
establishment of such an enterprise are
50 apparent that mere reference to
the SUBJECTS sufficient to ensure for it
the endorsement Of every member of
the National Labor Union.
Ever since the completion of the
Atlantic telegraph, it has been the
threat of unprincipled employers, il
every State where an unpleasantness.
has occurred, to threaten the importation
Of foreign workmen; to use their ex-
preston, "Well, there is one thing we;
can do; if our men do n t see fit to
accept our terms, we can telegraph for
those who will J" and in many instances
they have been enabled to put their
threats into execution. 1t is true that
in several cases, the manhood
Of the imported has been su-,
perior to that Of the importer
that when the attending cir-cum-i
stances have been clearly UNDERSTOOD
some have nobly refused to remain the;
tools Of those who deceived them bud
as necessity knowsN lo law, and as III
too many instances their poverty hal
compelled the acceptance Of employs
ment under circumstances which theif
honor would reject, the evil is onf
which demands immediate attention.
1t is needless to state that it is not
contemplated IN the most remote der
gree to interfere with what is known al
legitimate emigration. No rational bel
ing objects or can object, to the work.
man Of the old world leaving it's over!
crowded marts, and seeking to bettef
his condition in our own land. In fact,
experience has proven that the truesi
friend the emigrant finds in his new
home is his fellow-craftsman but there
is as much difference between the ad
vent of an emigrant who comes Il
strengthen our hands, and the import
tation of a class of men who are broughS
to thwart the legitimate claims Of OUT
mechanics, to pauperize labor and food
the market, as there is between an ali-
gel Of darkness and an angel of lighI
Indeed no comparison can be drawII.
The design, and the only design, in OF
ganizing such a bureau, is to checH-
mate the efforts of those who aim 10
crush the demands Of honest labof,
and to direct the steps those who COME
under misrepresentation, to that locality
where their labor is most required.
We have stated. however, that ir+-
mediate action is demanded Let us
refer to an incident-one Of scobe
which could be cited, to prove that We
are correct. During the past summ{r |
the public were dashed into a furofe |
over what they were pleased to term |
the exorbitant demands ofthe miners N
the anthracite regions Of Pennsylvania
while the facts Of the case were. thAt
few if any Of them were receiving s., 10 |
per day. The report of the "Commit-
tee on Mining" disclosed this importsht !
fact, at the National Labor Congress. |
The report was extensively copied, AID
the odium which had heretofore unjutt-
VI rested on the miners, in great mda-