Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-12-07
Its Surprising Prevalence and Var.
ious Forms.
Especially As II II Praeticcd in Nn,nc
-"oodsmen Who Are InyeiRIcd
Far Away from Civilian
ton.

poTt came from the South and there wae
the usual comment among northern news
papers to the unanimous effect that the
south Is still as barbarous as IT was in
inc days Of legalized chattel slavery saws
the Boston Transcript. The reason for
this Impression Is clear: in the South
several cases of this kind have been pros
ecuted, the victims almost always being
employees in farming, numbering, rail-
roading, mining. factory or construction
work. In the North, however prosecu-
lions have been few and far between
The public does not know the facts. It
will learn. therefore. with surprise, that
no less city than Boston is, In the
words of the federal authorities. "the
center of the most complete peonage sys-
TEN In the entire country"
The situation is this: Boston is the
chief labor market for the Maine forests.
In late years the natives of Maine who
formerly supplied the labor for the log
gng concerns in that State have been
engaged In the paper mills, and it be-
came necessary for the lumber compa-
MES TO import workmen for the most
part foreigners, from other States. The
system works thus:
The numbering people call on employ
ment agents in Boston to do their best
to urge men to go with them to the
northern woods. 1t has been found that
these agents frequently misrepresent con-
ditons IN Maine, often telling the labor
ers that the lumber camps are only a
few miles from some town where they
can go on Sundays and holidays for
recreation and enjoyment. Induced by
the prospect of steady employment and
the apparently attractive conditions the
mon Sign up and set out. Arriving at
the outskirts Of civilization. the laborers
leave the train and are driven in wagons
a short distance into the forests. They
then have to tramp sometimes 60 or 20
miles into the interior of the rough coun-
try, the roads being impossible for We
hicles. There they live and work in the
heart OF the wilderness throughout the
winter months. They have no recreation
whatever. Their mode Of living is rug
ged. They realize that they have been
completely hoodwinked. Forthwith they
rebel against their treatment.
But the numbering interests who adj
vance transportation and supplies in or
had some rights in the matter Ac-
cordingly they appealed to the Legisla-
ture of Maine for protection. and in Feb
| ruary, 1907 a bill became a law making
it crime for a person to ENTER an
agreement to labor for any numbering
operation or in driving logs, and in con-
| sideration thereof receive any advance
of goods, money, for transportation. and
! it,. =
fail to enter into said employment as
agreed. and labor a sufficient length OF
time to reimburse his employer for said
| advances and expenses"
The measure protects the employers,
and the employers alone. Moreover, 1t
! protects a restricted class of employers
! that is to say, persons interested in lum-
herring operations and in driving logs.
| 1t can truthfully be said, and with an
element of only the grimmest humor,
that this bill must have been passed by
professional log rollers. II Is almost too
good to be true
UP TO THE LABORER.
Yet in one respect the Maine statute
| is better than the contract labor laws of
| Minnesota and other States in the West
and the South. For elsewhere there is
usually a provision that the failure or
refusal Of any employee to perform such
| labor or render such services in accor-
dance with his contract or to pay in
| money the amount for such transporta-
| ton or such advancement shall be prima
facie evidence of his intent to defraud. y
! The absence OF such a section makes II
! necessary for the employer to prove in
order to obtain a conviction. two things
! that the laborer obtained the advances
| and that he failed to labor a sufficient
| length of time to reimburse his employer
! Thus 1t would appear on paper as If the
workmen were pretty we'll defended or,
at any rate. that he was better defended
| than he usually Is, But such an optm-
| istic view is wholly erroneous We must
remember that the final authority in maxi
Ing laws in this country is not the Legls-
! lature but the judiciary.
When the attorney for the federal
| peonage committee was investigating this
law and its workings down East he
was told by a justice in that State that
whenever a case came before him brought
under the contract labor law. his nVari-
able ruling was that the burden of proof
is upon the defendants" and that he al
ways insisted that the defendant must
show to the court beyond reasonable
doubt, that he had no intent to defraud.
! 1t Is always difficult to prove a negative,
and the fact that it is doubly difficult
to prove a negative If YOU are a lumber
jack is shown by the further comment OF
this mercifu justice who added that once
| in while If the laborer seemed to have
a really good excuse he would let him off
because, as the justice stated. he fully
I believed that every man has some rights
| although he may be poor" Another jus
tice of the peace In this same enlightened
state OF Maine said that if 1t were shown
that laborer had attained the advance,
and had not worked them out no matter
under what conditions he was forced tC
toll, he usually found the defendant
guilty without considering the question
of the intent to defraud
This says the colorless official re-
port of the immigration commission
seems to be the general attitude of tn,
rural justices of Maine towards the con
tract labor law"
WHENCE THE PEONAGE.
The result of this statute has been tn,
peonage system above described. The
law made by the employers has beer
| vigorously enforced The courts have
| interpreted the law in the interests OF
| the employers. Soon after its passage il
| 1907, prosecutions We're begun in the lum.
Der regions. and the jail at Dover tn,
| county seat of one of the large lumber
| of N1aip ,laI loh