The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-28
ALIEN CONTRACT UPHELD BoNAPARTF's OPINION Lithographers May Enter at New York Because of
 Their Scarcity.

Washington. June 27.-upholding the
 view that contracts might be made le-
 gally with foreign workmen. in the
 event that not enough of a special class
 of skilled laborers could be found in
 this country, Oscar straus, secretary
 of commerce and labor, has handed
 down a decision in favor of the Amer
 ican Lithographio company. which re-
 gently made contract with two for-
 elgn artists for the deliberate purpose
 of bringing a test case before the gov-
 ernment.
 The decision was bsNed upon an opin-
 ion of Attorney General Bonaparte.
 According to James s. Lehnaaier, coun-
 sel for the company more important
 case affecting the alien contract law
 has never been adiudicated.
 In January the company concluded
 that, owing to the scarcity of ntho-
 graphic artists In this country and the fact that the amount of importations Iof Photographic work had increased pro-
 gressively for a number of years, 1t
 was necessary, in order to meet the constantly increasing demand, to brlng lin artists from abroad. In order to
 demonstrate its inability to secure an
 adequate number In the United States, 1t caused advertisements for artists to
 be inserted three times a week for four
 weeks in twelve newspapers of general circulation in eight cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chi- cago and St. Louis. The company was unable to get single Photographic ar- list as a result of these efforts,
 Thereupon the test contract was made with two artists at Nuremberg, Ger many. The company agreed to prepay their passage to the United States and to employ each of them for one wear. The artists left Bremen on April 21 and arrived in New York on May 2. The company advised Gener- lal of Immigration Sargent at Washing ton of the date on which the aliens would arrive The artists were detain- ed at Ellis Island, and hearing lastinal 1.-two days was had before d board oe special inquiry Their admission was opposed by the National Ldthographic Artists. Engravers and Designers league, the trades union of the craft and the board of special inquiry and Commissioner Watchorn decided that they should be deported to Germany.
 The prohibitions against making con. tracts for the importation of foreign labor are exceedingly stringent and the penalty for a violation of the law is a fine of $1OOo. The Jaw, however, pro- vides that professional actors, artists. lecturers, and other persons belonging to recognized learned professions, may be brought to the United States from abroad under contract, and that skilled labor may be imported if labor of like unemployed cannot be found in this country It was on these grounds that an appeal was taken by the aliens to the secretary of commence and labor, who referred the matter to Attorney General Bonaparte.
 MT. Bonaparte said, in his opinion: < ,s
 Unless then, it can be shown that these aliens are artists within the meaning of the statutes, or that skilled labor of like kind, unemployed, cannot Dc found in this country, the appeal must be dismissed. A decision upon, either point in favor of the aliens would entitle them to admission. AS the appeal should clearly be sustained, on the second ground, upon the evil dence submitted, deem It unnecessarv to determine whether the appellants are artists.
 Counsel at the hearing before the board of inquiry, called officers of five different Photographic companies to tesZ tify to the scarcity of lithograhhic ar tists in this country All of the -wst nesses swore that the demand for ,hfgF,- grade lthographers artists was con- stantly increasing in this country. The work, however, has been going abroad, because of lack of skilled lithographic artists, according to the statements of these witnesses, prevents it's being done in this country
 This testimony as to the scarcity of labor is practically uncontradacted. Counsel for the Photographic Artists hngraVers and Designers league at tempted to show that the difficulty in securing men was due to a strike which had been declared in August 1906. This dea Is negatived by the statement the witnesses above referred to, to effect that the shortage existed for EU. eral years prior to the time the st was declared. Nowhere in the reco there a scintilla of evidence ten -o contradict this.
 MT. Lehmaier, commenting orf,0 decision, said this afternoon:
 Tt further demonstrates tllas statutes enacted by congress f protection of American labor never intended to strike a bio American commerce and industry oasis of these stautes is founded 'eason and self preservation. They designed to exclude from competi with American worlKmen those wh to this country to und Flfin heir labor, and not to exclude tssu tassu whose coming would be a material ao- 5 .assion tn the Industrial wealth nf tha