CONGRESS. (FOREIGN CONTRACT LABOR.) 



231 



ond Wednesday in February ? in the year of our Lord 

 1885, the underwritten President or the Senate pro 

 tempore did, in the presence of the said Senate and 

 House of Representatives, open all the certificates and 

 count all the votes of the electors for President and 

 Vice-President of the United States ; whereupon it 

 appeared that Grover Cleveland, of the State of New 

 York, had a majority of the votes of the electors as 

 President, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of the State of 

 Indiana, had a majority of the votes of the electors as 

 Vice-President. 



By all of which it appears that Grover Cleveland, 

 of the State of New York, has been duly elected Presi- 

 dent, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of the State of In- 

 diana, has been duly elected Vice-President, of the 

 United States, agreeably to the Constitution, for the 

 term of four years, beginning on the 4th day of March, 

 1885. 



In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand 



this day of February, 1885, and have sealed with 



the seal of the Senate. 



And that the committee hereby appointed, when 

 notifying the persons elected of their election to ^the 

 offices of President and Vice-President of the United 

 States, shall present to each of them a duly authenti- 

 cated copy ot the foregoing certificate. 



This resolution came up for consideration in 

 the Senate next day, February 12th, and was 

 referred to the Committee on Privileges and 

 Elections. It is clear, therefore, that the Forty- 

 eighth Congress was determined, in the ab- 

 sence of continuous precedent, to let the sim- 

 ple declaration of the result of the electoral 

 vote in the joint convention stand as decisive 

 and conclusive. 



Foreign Contract Labor. Dec. 9, 1884, in the 

 Senate, Mr. Blair, of New Hampshire, brought 

 up the bill " to prohibit the importation and 

 migration of foreigners and aliens under con- 

 tract or agreement to perform labor in the 

 United States, its Territories, and the District 

 of Columbia." This measure originated in the 

 House, where it was debated at great length 

 during the first session of Congress, and finally 

 passed without a call for the yeas and nays. 

 It was taken up in the Senate and discussed 

 during the same session, but was not put to a 

 vote. During the second session the bill was 

 fully debated in the Senate and every effort to 

 change its character materially was defeated, 

 though various verbal changes were made in 

 the text. Feb. 18, 1885, it was passed, as 

 follows : 



SEC. 1. That from and after the passage of this act 

 it shall be unlawful for any person, company, partner- 

 ship, or corporation, in any manner whatsoever, to 

 prepay the transportation or in any way assist or en- 

 courage the importation or migration of any alien or 

 aliens, any foreigner or foreigners, into the United 

 States, its Territorries, or the District of Columbia, un- 

 der contract or agreement, parol or special, express or 

 implied, made previous to the importation or migra- 

 tion of such alien or aliens, foreigner or foreigners, to 

 perform labor or service of any kind in the United 

 States, its Territories, or the District of Columbia. 



SEC. 2. That all contracts or agreements, express 

 or implied, parol or special, which may hereafter be 

 made by ana between any person, company, partner- 

 ship, or corporation, and any foreigner or foreigners, 

 alien or aliens, to perform labor or service, or having 

 reference to the performance of service or labor by any 

 person, in the United States, its Territories, or the 

 District of Columbia, previous to the migration or 



importation of the person or persons whose labor or 

 service is contracted for into the United States, shall 

 be utterly void and of no effect. 



SEC. 3. That for every violation of any of the pro- 

 visions of section 1 of this act the person, partnership, 

 company j or corporation violating the same, by know- 

 ingly assisting, encouraging, or soliciting the migra- 

 tion or importation of any alien or aliens, foreigner or 

 foreigners, into the United States, its Territories, or 

 the District of Columbia, to perform labor or service 

 of any kind under contract or agreement, express or 

 implied, parol or special, with such alien or aliens, 

 foreigner or foreigners, previous to becoming residents 

 or citizens of the United States, shall forfeit and pay 

 for every such offense the sum of $1,000, which may 

 be sued for and recovered by the United States or any 

 person who shall first bring his action therefor, in- 

 cluding any such alien or foreigner who may be a 

 party to any such contract or agreement, as debts of 

 like amount are now recovered in the Circuit Courts of 

 the United States, the proceeds to be paid into the 

 Treasury of the United States : and separate suits may 

 be brought for each alien or foreigner being a party 

 to such contract or agreement aforesaid. And it shall 

 be the duty of the district attorney of the proper dis- 

 trict to prosecute every such suit at the expense of the 

 United States. 



SEC. 4. That the master of any vessel who shall 

 knowingly bring within the United States on any 

 such vessel, and land, or permit to be landed, from 

 any foreign port or place, any alien laborer, mechanic, 

 or artisan who, previous to embarkation on such ves- 

 sel, had entered into contract or agreement, parol or 

 special, expressed or implied, to perform labor or 

 service in the United States, shall be deemed guilty 

 of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be 

 punished by a fine of not less than $500 for each and 

 every such alien laborer, mechanic, or artisan so 

 brought as aforesaid, and may also be imprisoned for 

 a term not exceeding six months. 



SEC. 5. That nothing in this act shall be so con- 

 strued as to prevent any citizen or subject of any for- 

 eign country temporarily residing in the United States, 

 either in private or official capacity, from engaging, 

 under contract or otherwise, persons not residents or 

 citizens of the United States to act as private secre- 

 taries, servants, or domestics for such foreigner tem- 

 porarily residing in the United States as aforesaid; 

 nor shall this act be so construed as to prevent any 

 person or persons, partnership, or corporation from 

 engaging, under contract or agreement, skilled work- 

 men in foreign countries to perform labor in the 

 United States in or upon any new industry not at 

 present established in the United States : Provided, 

 That skilled labor for that purpose can not be other- 

 wise obtained ; nor shall the provisions of this act 

 apply to professional actors, lecturers, or singers, nor 

 to persons employed strictly as personal or domestic 

 servants : Provided, That nothing in this act shall be 

 construed as prohibiting any individual from assisting 

 any member of his family or anv relative to migrate 

 from any foreign country to the United States. 



SEC. 6. That all laws or parts of laws conflicting 

 herewith be and the same are hereby repealed. 



The argument against the bill was put by 

 Mr. Hawley, of Connecticut, as follows : 



" I m a believer in the most generous doc- 

 trines of immigration, in the most generous 

 and liberal doctrines toward people of any part 

 of the world who desire to come here. That 

 is the existing law, or the old law. Blackstone 

 cautions us in legislating to think of the old 

 law, the mischief, and the remedy. Now, 

 what is the mischief? Of the millions who 

 come over here the great mass, with scarcely 

 measurable exceptions, are people who come 

 here to better their condition in every respect. 



