The Connecticut labor news., 1922-03-17

The Jones bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Jones of Washing ton on the day following the delivery of the presidents recent message on ship ping subsidy.
 In addition to opening the door to unlimited expenditure of government funds and enslaving labor contrary to bill would thrust the shipping board into the following governmental functions:
 l. Income tax calculation and as- Sessment.
 2. Treasury Department.
 }. Judicial interpretation and de- cision
 4. Legislative action.
 5. Executive operations hitherto for bidden to such minor divisions of the government.
 6. Oceanic surveys.
 7. Immigration service.
 8. Navy Department, setting up na- val regulations for merchant marine.
 In every case where there is pro- vision for joint action between the shipping board and some other division ping board would become the major power.
 powerful lobby is gathering i'll Washington to help jam the bill through, although 1t will have the opposition of smaller shipping interests which would be consigned to bankruptcy if the bill should become law.
 Those who have examined the bill carefully pronounce 1t the most mons trous proposal brought forward in a de- cade, filled with invitation to plunder, drawn so as to open the door to profi- gate waste of public money for the hAn nf fective for the building of a permanent American merchant marine.
 A particularly vicious section is that relating to immigration. No alien may beeadnitted to the United States with out a consular certificate" under the terms of this bill A seaman ceases to be a seaman and becomes an immigrant as soon as he leaves the ship, and as an immigrant without a consular certificate. he would be without the protection of the Seamei's Act and subject to all of the punislnnents which were inflicted upon him prior to the enactment of that law.
 Destroys Seamens' Freedom
 Section of the Seamens' Act gives the seaman the right to quit his ship but the right to quit the ship is of no avail If the status of the seaman IS to be destroyed the moment he sets his feet on land. This apparently would nullify the freedom sections of the Seamen's Act as applicable to foreign seamen.
 The one class of aliens to be bene- fitted by this bill are the Chinese. Ir this same section it is provided that the Secretary of Labor is authorized "in his discretion" to impose a penalty upon anyone transporting to the United States an alien who would otherwise be inadmissible, by forfeiture of a bono of mot to exceed $200 for each aiier so brought" Presumably the penalty may be less than $200 if the Secretary of Labor so decides Chinamen today pay from $750 to $1,000 to be smugglec into the United States. When China men are regularly paying that sum to be entered into the United States, it vii be seen that bond of $200 would con stitute a remarkable reduction in the market price of landing Chinamen anc would therefore greatly increase the business, as well as legalize it. It vii be seen that there is no other penalty than the mere forfeiture of the bono and the business of importing Chinamer would be a perfectly legal and thriving business, and doubtless highly profita ble one. The bars against oriental i'm migration would be practically destroyed and thousands of Chinamen would lant on the California coast each year.
 Title 5 of the bill section sol, deal