Great Britain -- Emigration and immigration; Noncitizens -- Great Britain
Another method of evading the Contract Labour Law, and of drawing
large numbers of immigrants to the United States, is the systematic
advertising for labourers by employment agencies through the British
and European newspapers. From evidence which came before the Select
Committee investigating at Boston, it appeared that the Freestone
Cutters' Association of New England had advertised in the English and
Scotch papers for journeymen, agreeing to pay fifty cents per hour for
work. The applicants were directed to call upon the agents signing the
advertisement in London. These agents made no contract with the men,
and so evaded the letter of the Contract Labour Law; but they came to
New England on the representation that employment should be found. As
the freestone cutters in England only get tenpence an hour, or about
twenty cents in American money, the prospect of largely increased wages
naturally induced many of them to go over to America. This is only one
instance out of many; and to quote the Immigration Committee's Report,
"Where good wages are paid, advertisement abroad has become of common
occurrence; the workmen here are thereby brought to terms, or the
market becomes overflooded with labourers, and wages are reduced." In
connection with this must also be considered the immigration coming
into the United States over the Canadian border. During the last six
months of 1890, it is estimated that over 50,000 European immigrants
landed in Canada, and reached the United States, coming by this
circuitous route to avoid inspection. There is also another point to be
noted, viz. that large numbers of Canadians come into the United States
for work, wages being 40 per cent. higher in the United States than in
the Canadian provinces. Several hundreds of these people cross over the
border from Windsor to Detroit every morning, and find employment in
the stores, seed-houses, and so forth, and return to their homes every
evening.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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