The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-12-19
STATE HAS A RIGHT
 TO INDUCE IMMIGRATION SECRETARY STRAUS HorDS SOUTH CAROLINA DID NOT
 VIOLATELAW.

Had Induced Laborers to Come to stata
 and Paid Their Expenses-Ar rricni-
 'ur"i and Manufacturing Industries
 hetarded by Lack of Men-Question
 of Violation of Alien Contract y,ahovS
 Laws Declded in the Negative-states
 and Territories Excepted from, pro-
 hbition According to Solicitor Earle.
 Washington, Dec 1S.-An important
 decision has been rendered bv secre-
 tary Straus of the department of commerce and labor as to the right of state to induce immigration to that state The decision holds. in hadef
 lhat m the circumstances there is no VIolatlon of the immigration laws. i,r or the law to prohibit the importation or alien contract laborers in the action of the state of South Carolina in thi, particular case, in encouraging imrni- grafton to that state, or in raying the necessary expenses of the immigrants in coming to the state.
 For some time past the agricu1tural and manufacturing industries of South carolina have been retarded and were lh danger of material injury on ac- count of the lack of labor. In order to relieve this the legislature of south Carolina passed an act creating ., state department of agribulture corn- merce and immigration. E. J. Watson as commissioner, was empowered by the act to make such arrangenents With steamship companies and the irn- migration agencies in this country ana abroad as would serve best the inter ests Of successful immigration. The act authorized the commissioner to ac- ceLt contributions from such citizens ol the state as might wish to assist.
 Tn November, 1906, the steamship Wittekind arrived from, Bremen at the port of Charleston, s. C., having on board about AIS aliens destined to va rlous points in the state. About 300 were Belgian mill operatives, their wives and children, the remainder be- ing German farm laborers and women seeking domestic service. lAll of the3e aliens were induced to migrate to the United States by South Carolina. The passage money of the aliens was paid by the state.
 The commissioner of immigration nf South Carolina found employment and distributed these aliens to various Joints in the state
 Y The facts in this case were brought to the attention of the secretary of commerce and labor by the immigra- ton officer at the port of Charleston, and he in turn referred the matter to the solicitor of the department for his opinion as to whether or not the action ot the commissioner of immigration of south Carolina in bringing these aliens to the United States was & yio- lation of the alien contract labor laws. The immigration service was duly no- titled of the expected arrival of the immigrants in question and the right Of such aliens to land was left to the determination of the officers adnainis> tering the federal administration laws. The question of the right of a state, under the national immigration laws, to encourage immigration was raised by the officials of another southern state. It was referred to the department of commerce and lab,r. Realizing the importance of the case. Secretary Metcalf referred the legal question involved to Solicitor Earl Mr, Earl arrived finally at the conclu- sion that there had been no violation of the national law He finds that so far as the prohibition against assisting the importation or migration of for eign' laborers by promises of employ- ment through advertisements abroad is concerned states and territories are expressly excepted from the operation of the law. He says further:
 By the term of the proviso. states and territories may offer inducements or make promises to foreign laborers by advertisement Erinted and publish ed in foreign countries and they are not forbidden to assist in the migra- ton of the foreign laborers to whom such offers are addressed"
 While the opinion of Solicitor Earle Is general in it's application he makes it clear that it relates to the facts of this particular case and indicates that different questions might arise if the facts themselves were slightly differ ent.