Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-01-28

Contract Labor Inspectors Conkling
and Osborne, who were sent from New
York to the mining districts of Pennsyl-
vania to investigate the workings of the
alien contract law, have sent their report
to Secretary Foster, of the Treasury de-
partment. Their report states that they
discovered evidences of wholesale viola.
ton of the law that was framed to pro.
tect American workingmen. In the
mines surrounding Scranton it was found
that nine-tenths of the miners at present
employed are Hungarians, Italians and
Slavs. Five years ago the miners there
were nearly all Americans. Atthe mines
near Carbondale in 1886 there were 6Ou
miners, all Americans. While the
miners strike was on in 1SS9-9O, large
numbers of Slavs and Hungarians were
brought to the mines from Castle Garden
under the protection of Pinkerton' :
detectives. At the last election out OF
7S7 miners employed there just 6S were
entitled to vote. The inspectors found
that immigrants were brought over from
Europe in droves, passed through the
Barge office by an agent and taken t.
the mine to supersede American miners.
There are several men employed by the
mine owners, whose sole duty is to visit
the Barge office and get immigrant con-
tract laborers passed through. The ins.
pectors recommend more stringent
scrutiny of immigrants passing through
the different landing places, At present
they say the law is practically useless. a.
contract laborers pass through by
thousands without detection.
The coal operators and managers OF
large mining interests deny the allega-
tions set forth by the inspectors, and
some are very outspoken in their denun-
citation of the report. The Philadephia
Press, through its correspondents, inter
viewed several, and they all seem to
agree in the matter. The operators at
Scranton and Wilkes-Barre denied that
contract labor was employed in those
regions. Foreigners were employed, but
they did work which Americans did not
care for. The operators denied that
there was discrimination in wages be-
tween Americans and foreigners. Opera.
tors at Pottsville said that foreigners
were employed to large extent in many
instances, but there was no violation OF
the law. The operators in the Lehigh
region refused to speak on the subject
and the Hazleton correspondent of the
Press sent to that paper the following
which shows how eager some people are
to misrepresent the coal regions
Goal operators here have nothing to
say about alleged evasions of the contract
labor law. They evidently take the
ground that as they do not evade it a,
present they have no reason to apologize
or defend themselves in print. There i,
no doubt in the minds of the public that
the law is evaded. This applies not only
to collieres near by HazIeton, but al
Drifton, Beaver Meadow, Audenried and
several other places. Eckley b. Coke il
generally believed to have been the first
man to bring Slavs, Magyars, Tyroleans,
Neapolitans and Lombards here, but this
is an error. The original offender was a
railroad contractor who is now not in
this region. The foreigners have driver
out nine-tenths of the white men, a.
English, Welsh, Irish and American
miners are termed. They live like
cattle, sometimes seventy in a small
house, sleeping naked on straw in q
cellar. Crime has increased enormously
throughout the coal regions since they
came. 1t is estimated that $15O,000 is
sent each month from the colieries about
this city to Southern Europe by the mine
workers"
The Hazleton correspondent Judges
the whole community by the people he
finds in his own town.