The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-03-12
ALIENS ARE HERE LEGALLY.
] 4mni Y grants Landed ct Charleston En-
Titled TO Admission "A Statement
Issued from the Department
sf st of Commerce and Labor.

?
Il ment was issued by the department of
justice today concerning an opinion
%submitted to President Roosevelt by
Attorney General Bonaparte as to
1 whether certain immigrants who were
landed in South Carolina last fall are
legally intthis country. The opinion
in effect is that the immigrants were
entitled to admission to the United
States and that they are in this coun-
try legally. The opinion agrees with
that rendered on the same case by
Solicitor Earle, of the department OF
commerce and labor. .' 49,. s..
J The Attorney General holds furth-
er, however, that under the provisions
( OF the recently enacted Immigration
Act the immigrants in question could
have been excluded. The statement
says: .-.
"It appears from statements fur
nlshed by the department of COM
merce and labor that the Legislature
OF the State created the office Of i'm
migration commissioner and made nm
appropriation Of $4,000 10 it's ex
penses, for the express purpose Of en-
couraging immigrants to come into
that state. 1t also appears that cer-
tain private parties made up fund,
amounting to about $4,000, which
was placed in the hands of Commits
sloner e. j. Watson, and with these
resources he went abroad, and by ad-
Vertlsements and otherwise collected
considerable number of laborers or
artisans who were willing to migrate
to South Carolina, where labor, it is
understood, was in great demand.
Gould Reject Employment.
she piad the passage Of these peo-
pie ny an agreement, which was after
ward cancelled, that they should re-
pay him--out Of their wages from en-
ployment he might procure for them.
Under the terms Of the agreement,
signed by the immigrants and Com
missioner Watson, the latter promised
to find employment for the former,
but the immigrants themselves were
free to reject any particular offer of
employment that might be made to
them.
"The Attorney General holds in
effect that the original provisions Of
the alien contract labSr law of 1885
were not repealed by the immigration
law of 1908, and that after 1903,
whenever passage money had been
paid of any alfen laborer who came
to this country, under previous con-
tract to perform labor here, such alien
laborer was not entitled to admission
into the United States.
"Second. This did not operate,
however, to include laborers in oues-
tion, because, according to the con-
struction placed upon the Act of 1885
by the Courts, it was an essential con-
dition to violation of that law to
perform labor, and these laborers do
not appear to have been under any
), such enforceable contract.
1&n Aliens not Liable to Exclusion.
"Third. That although the passage
OF these laborers may have been paid
III pursuance Of an offer or solicita-
ton OF employment, and in violation
OF the provision of the Act of 1903,
this would not render the aliens them
selves liable to exclusion, as this Act
did not contain any provision exclud-
ing from admission those whose pas
sage money had been paid in violation
Of its provisions.
"Fourth. That if, however, the la
borers in question had been other
wise excluded from admission, the
fact that their passage was paid by
the commissioner of the State Of
South Carolina would not have chang
ed the result, since, in the first place,
the commissioner apparently did not
act in an official capacity for the
state, but under permission Of the
state to act as the representative Of
citizens who contributed money to aid
in brining over the immigrants; and
in the second place, if he had acted
as state commissioner, and paid the
money from the state treasury, the
result apparently would have been
the same, as the only exceptions made
in the Contract Labor Act in favor Of
states is the exception with reference
to advertisements by the states pub
lished in foreign countries stating the