Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-07-19
LABOR UNIONS GET BUSY.
The Large Number of Japanese Com
 ing Here is the Cause,

Washington, July 19.-Labor or.
 ganizations throughout the country
 are becoming deeply concerned over
 the large immigration to the United
 States of Japanese laborers, who are
 coming to this country by thousands,
 decided increase in the number
 having been noted since the conclu-
 sion of the Russo-Japanese war.
 Many, perhaps the most, of them
 reach the United States via the Ha-
 waiian Islands, because of the ease
 with which they can utilize that route. l The attention of the immigration
 authorities has been called to the sit-
 uation and an investigation will be
 made. That the contract labor law is
 being violated is practically certain,
 but difficulty is experienced in. ob- 1 taining definite evidence to that ef-
 feet.
 The immigration figures for the
 month of June indicate clearly that ] the importation of Japanese to this country is increasing largely, but, of
 course, they show on their face no
 absolute violation of law. The num- Der of immigrants arriving from
 Japan during June was 1858. In
 June of 1905. only S37 Japanese inn
 migrants reached the United States.
 An increase of 1,121 in one month 1 is rather startling. It has induced
 some inquiry by the labor organiza- tions. particularly those on the Pa cific coast, where the bulk of the Jap- anese immigrants land.
 | It is quite certain that the Japa-
 nese government is not at fault in the matter, for it has refused to issue
 passports in great numbers to na- tives who desire to come to this coun- try. No difficulty is experienced by the Japanese, however, in obtaining passports from Japan to the Hawai- ian Islands. Some of them go to the islands, work there while and then come to the States. Once in Hawaii, there is nothing to prevent them com ing to the mainland of the United States.
 The immigration authorities have discovered that some of the Japanese hotel keepers in Honolulu make business of inducing Japanese labor CTS who land on the islands to come to the United States, indicating to them that they can get very much better wages in the States than they can on the islands. In Hawaii, labor CTS on plantations receive a maxi mum of SIS month. The hotel keep CTS, whose places are named for some province of Japan in order to attract trade, and who are known to be con- tractors in the supplying of laborers for people in the United States, promise the Japanese immigrants from SIPS to s1.45 a day if they will come to the States. Arriving here. the immigrants have little difficulty in obtaining work on the Northern Pa- cific, Great Northern, Southern Paci- fic or Santa Fe railroads. Gradually. they scatter through the country and the labor organizations are begin ginning to regard them as a menace to American labor.
 The Hawaiian hotel keepers who act as contractors are a pretty thrifty lot They sometimes get a commission from the immigrants themselves for procuring them jobs in this country and they always are paid a stiff commission by the steam ship companies which carry the im- migrants from Hawaii to the states Their trade. while it may be un- lawful. is comparatively easy to ply and they are enabled to make good their promises to the immigrants, because the industrial conditions pre- vailing at the present time. partieu- Iarly in the state of Washington and i in Alaska. create an enormous de- mand for labor.
 What action. if any. the govern i ment may take to put a stop to the . practice of the Hawaiian contrac- { tors has not been determined It is l recognized that many difficulties are I in the way of any effective action. l because of the practical impossibility I of obtaining direct evidence of vso- I Iatfon of law Some plan, however. i may be worked cut in the near fu- 4 ture. as the unrestricted entrance to this country of Japanese laborers is believed by many to be as serious a matter as the unrestricted innigra- lion nf Chiuess