The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-09-03
THE CONTRACT LABOR LAW.

The alien contract labor law which has
been in the books during the past three or
four wears, is hunbug. 1t was enacted
in response to demand by American work
1ngmen that ignorant and low-bred foreign
ers should not be brought to this country
TO labor for wages below the pay which
independent, intelligent, self supporting
citizens could accept. CARNEGIE and other
protected" employers were in the habit
OF fetching over ship-loads of the ''pauper
laborers' to take the places of the men
who could not live and maintain their fam
lilies on the ''pauper'' pay which the PRO
tected'' mill-owners and manufacturers
were willing TO pay. The law was passed,
but it has done little or no good.
A church was fined for import
ing a preacher under contract,
when it was never intended that the act
should be made to exclude ministers of the
gospel; the trustees of college were in-
formed that they could not hire two or
three speciality teachers abroad although
nobody ever dreamed that the law could be
applied in such case; and we believe an
attempt was made to keep out company
an American manager to play an engage
ment in this country. Once or twice, also.
fanatic officials undertook to use the law
to bar the landing of Mormons on the
ground that the latter were coming here
under labor contracts with the Mormon
church. But IN no instance. we believe,
has the landing of real contract labor been
prevented by the operation of the law, while
it has been frequently and widely
published that American employers have
kept agents in Europe hiring the
s.paupers' and sending them over to their
masters, the ocean and r.-dway fares being
paid il advance.
Some wise and important amendments tc
the law have been proposed and are now
before the House. These say that the pro
visions Of the act shall not apply to profes
sional actors, artists, lecturers. regularly
ordained ministers Of the gospel, profes-
sors for college or Seminaries or profcs
sional singers; nor to persons employed as
household servants by persons travelling
In the United States. In fact, the amend
ment proposes to make the law apply only
to the exclusion of the undesirable aliens
GU6 WOTaluklllSu WIN COluc ucIt uUQtI CON
tract to labor for lower wages than en-
ployers are willing to pay to Americans
Not only is it made unlawful for an alier
to come here under contract to per
form labor, but the master of any
vessel who may bring into the United States
any alien who, previous to embarking, ha
entered into contract to perform labor il
this country, shall be deemed guilty of
misdemeanor and subject to fine and i'm
prisonment besides being required to re
burn the alien to the port of embarkation
1t is also made unlawful for any person o
corporation to encourage any alien laborer
mechanic, or artisan to emigrate from an,
foreign country to the United States b,
promise of employment, through advertise
ment or otherwise, and any alien thus en-
couraged to emigrate is not to be permitte
10 remain in the republic. Persons may b
questioned under oath to ascertain whethe
hey are included within any of the provis
pms of the act, and the secretary of tn
treasury is given the power to Withhold
,ntry and clearance from any vessel use
b violation of the provisions Of the act.
The amendments are designed to max
TIN law what its friends intended that ]
To M
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