The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-08-05
CONTRACT LABOR
in THIS VICINITY
immigration Inspector WatchCrn luves.
tigating II.
FORMER STATE FACTORY INSPECTOR
lie Came Here to See if the Contract
Labor Law Has Been Violated.
Left for Philadelphia This Morning,
but Will Return in Ten Days to
Resume the Investigation.

Robert WatchOrn, formerly state fac
tory inspector, now an inspector Of i'm
migration at Ellis Island in New York
harbor, spent the past two days in the
city and left at 8 o'clock this morning
for Philadelphia. He will return to
Scranton in ten days and resume the
business on which he was engaged when
he left.
Inspector Watchorn was detailed to
Scranton to investigate the manner in
which the contract labor law is OBJ
served in the Lackawanna coal fields.
The news has been received at the
bureau of immigration that foreigners
in large numbers have come across the
water, under contract to work in the
mines or labor on the railroads when
they arrived.
Last year nearly a thousand men
were deported, who had come here
under contract. Inspector Watchorn
said that mistaken notion prevails
that a man in this country can write to
a friend in the old country and tell him
to come over and that there is q job
waiting for him when he arrives.
VIOLATION OF THE LAW.
That constitutes violation of the
contract labor law as fully as If a pa
drone were to go across the sea and
hire a shipload over there. The laborer
here Is crowded out Of work in either
instance. If a man sails for America
to better his condition and does so on
the strength of assurances received by
letter that there is work and good wages
here for every man Of industry, that Is
a different case. Such as that Is not a
violation of the contract labor law.
1t Is not necessary that a man need
be q boss. For instance, Polish citi-
zen may be working in this or that
mine, or on that or the other railroad,
or in any shop, factory, or mill. He
says to his foreman that he has a
cousin, brother friend. or acquaintance
in Poland, who would come to Scranton
IL he were sure of job. The foreman
tells him to write and say that there
will be job waiting for the individual
when he arrives.
That Is violation, and the penalty
Is $1,000 fine on the person who Is in
strumental in bringing the person here.
The latter is punished by being sent
back on the next boat. The law knows
no country or government. It would
be the same with the Englishman, Ger
man, Irish, French, Italian, or a Can
adian. .-....
FINE WOULD BE THE SAME.
A contractor who would make ar
rangements to bring 500 men into the
country under contract would be fined
$1,000 for each one. and the whole lot
would be shipped back from whence
they came. No specific charge has been
made that there are many contract
laborers in and around Scranton and in
the towns and villages lying between
here and Carbondale, dependent on the
coal industry. Some information that
he obtained yesterday on a visit to
Olyphant was that there are 1000 people
in that borough and in the borough of
Blakely who cannot talk q single word
Of English.
One would not need to do much guess
ing.he said,to be certain that among that
number there are at least 25 per cent. who
were brought over by friends who se-
cured Jobs for them in advance. There
is much difficulty in find ing out this fact
from these people, but Inspector Watch
horn is going to enter into the work
here when he returns and he will de-
vote a good deal of time to It.
He is an intimate friend Of Hon. T.
v. Powderly and they spent an hour to-
gether in the latter's office yesterday
afternoon talking over days gone by.