Association and the Ship Owners' Association of the Pacific Coast, both of San Francisco, were advised of these hearings as early as January 12. They have not appeared. If they have appeared before your chamber and have objected to such pending legislation why do they not send some representative from the Pacific coast to present such objections and reasons they have before the committee. Full and early reply solicited. J. E. RAKER, M. C., Washington, D. C.: JOHN E. RAKER, M. C. OAKLAND, CALIF., January 28, 1925. Representatives of Pacific Coast American and Ship Owners' Association of Pacific Coast were due in Washington Monday, 26th, for appearance before committee. Ship Owners' Association advise they may be expected any minute, if they have not already arrived. Thanks for your interest. OAKLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Mr. RAKER. I have a letter from Hon. W. W. Husband, Commissioner General of Immigration, dated January 28, 1925, which is in response to a letter I wrote him on January 21, 1925, concerning the vital matter of handling alien seamen on foreign vessels. This matter is very important, and I therefore ask that Mr. Husband's letter and its inclosure, being General Order No. 38 of the Immigration Service, be printed in the record at this time. This is valuable not only for the bill already reported, but also for the matter now under consideration. It will also show the reason for our change in the present deportation act as against the act of 1924. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the letter from Mr. Husband addressed to Mr. Raker and General Order No. 38 of the Immigration Service will be placed in the record at this time. The letter and general order read as follows: Hon. JOHN E. RAKER, M. C., U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. RAKER: In reply to your letter of January 21, 1925, it gives me pleasure to inclose herewith a copy of General Order No. 38, dated September 10, 1924, relative to alien seamen. A bona fide alien seaman within the meaning of subdivision 5 of section 3 of the immigration act of 1924, is any alien whose sole occupation is to manage, navigate, or operate, or assist in the management, navigation, or operation of ships at sea, and includes any alien who is in good faith signed on the ship's articles and employed in any capacity on board any vessel arriving in the United States from any foreign port or place. 2. FOREIGN PORTS Ports of the Panama Canal Zone shall be deemed to be foreign ports and any vessel entering and clearing from any such port shall be subject to all of the immigration laws, rules, and regulations applicable to vessels arriving in the United States from any foreign port or place. 3. FORM 680 Hereafter in preparing Form 680 the owner, agent, consignee, or master of any vessel arriving in the United States from any foreign port or place shall insert before the name of each alien seaman who was not employed on such vessel on her last preceding voyage to the United States the word "first"; and the neglect, failure, or refusal of the owner, agent, consignee, or master of any such vessel to prepare said form in the manner herein required shall be deemed a violation of section 36 of the act of February 5, 1917, and punishable as therein provided for each alien seaman in respect of whom such violation occurs. 4. ADMISSION OF ALIEN SEAMEN (a) A bona fide alien seaman serving as such on a vessel arriving at a port of the United States and seeking to enter the United States as an immigrant shall be subject to all the immigration laws, rules, and regulations applicable to immigrants, and shall be required to present to the proper immigration official at the port of arrival an immigration visé duly issued and authenticated by an American consular officer in the manner required by law: Prorided, That where it shall satisfactorily appear to such immigration official that such alien seaman has been previously lawfully admitted to the United States and is returning from a temporary visit abroad and is otherwise admissible he may be regularly admitted without an immigration visé upon payment of the requisite head tax. (b) No alien seeking to enter the United States pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (5) of section 3 of the immigration act of 1924 shall be permitted to enter unless he shall establish to the satisfaction of the proper immigration official at the port of arrival (1) that he is a bona fide seaman; (2) that his name appears on the duly viséed crew list of the vessel on which he arrives; (3) that he is an employee of such vessel and in good faith signed on her articles; (4) that he seeks to enter solely on business of such vessel or that he seeks to enter solely in pursuit of his calling as a seaman; and (5) that he has no intention to abandon such calling; and where such immigration official is not so satisfied he shall order the owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master of the vessel on which such alien arrives to detain such alien on board and deport him in the manner required by law. 5. AFFLICTED SEAMEN An alien afflicted with idiocy, imbecility, insanity, epilepsy, tuberculosis in any form, or a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease who is employed on board any vessel, including vessels of American registry, carrying passengers between a port of the United States and a port of a foreign country, shall, upon arrival in the United States, be detained and treated in a hospital under supervision of the proper immigration official at the expense of the vessel bringing such alien to the United States. In such case where the medical officer certifies that such alien was so afflicted at the time he was shipped or engaged and taken on board such vessel and that the existence of such affliction might have been detected by means of a competent medical examination at such time, the immigration official in charge at the port of arrival shall serve or cause to be served on the owner, agent, consignee, or master of such vessel a notice in writing that liability for the fine imposed by section 35 of the act of February 5, 1917, has been incurred in respect of each alien so certified. 6. DETENTION AND DEPORTATION (a) The owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master of any vessel arriving in the United States from any place outside thereof shall detain on board of such vessel all alien seamen employed thereon pending the inspection and examination of such alien seaman by the proper immigration official, and, for the purposes of such inspection and examination, the owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master of such vessel may be required by such immigration official to muster all aliens employed thereon; and the failure, neglect, or refusal of the owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master of such vessel to detain any such alien seaman on board until such seaman has been inspected and exam ined shall be deemed a violation of section 20 (a) of the immigration act of 1924, and such immigration official shall forthwith serve or cause to be served on such owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master a notice in writing that fine will be imposed under said section for each alien seaman in respect of whom such violation occurs. (b) Where for any cause, the immigration official in charge at any port of arrival finds that an alien employed on board any vessel arriving in the United States from any place outside thereof should be detained on such vessel or deported, he shall forthwith serve or cause to be served on the owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master of such vessel a notice in writing to detain or deport such alien, and in such case an officer of the immigration service shall be detailed to verify the departure of such alien; and when such owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master fails, neglects, or refuses to detain or deport such alien as required, such immigration official in charge shall forthwith serve or cause to be served on such owner, charterer, agent, consignee, or master a notice in writing of the intention to impose the fine provided for by section 20(a) of the immigration act of 1924 for each alien in respect of whom such failure, neglect, or refusal occurs. (c) Where a bona fide alien seaman, serving as such on a vessel arriving at a port of the United States, and permitted to enter temporarily the United States solely in pursuit of his calling as seaman, engages in any other calling or occupation for hire or profit, or enters into the coastwise trade of the United States, or remains within the United States for more than 60 days after such entry, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his status as a nonimmigrant within the meaning of subdivision (5) of section 3 of the immigration act of 1924, and shall be taken into custody and deported at any time thereafter in accordance with the provisions of section 14 of said act. 7. BOARD OF SPECIAL INQUIRY Where an alien seaman is brought before a board of special inquiry for examination pursuant to the provisions of section 34 of the act of February 5. 1917, his qualifications for admission to the United States shall be determined according to the immigration laws, rules, and regulations in force at the time of such examination. Approved: W. W. HUSBAND, Commissioner General. ROBE CARL WHITE, Second Assistant Secretary. Mr. RAKER. I have also taken up with the Secretary of Labor the question of shipowners employing orientals. Mr. Husband wrote me under date of January 27, 1925, inclosing two books. I find in them interesting and relevant data concerning wages paid oriental and white seamen. In regard to the employment of orientals, I want to emphasize this significant statement found in the Department of Labor Monthly Labor Review for October, 1919, age 141, "But crews on Japanese ships are strictly Japanese." It shows a differential in wages of from $7 paid these orientals up to the ordinary wages then paid by the Americans, the English, the Dutch, the Danish, the Swedish, and Norwegians-$57 to $70 a month. Wages paid orientals are from $7 to $15 a month. Again, this is a statement relating to the English vessels: Instead of $29 (Shanghai) ($31.41) the flat rate of £6 ($29.20) is sometimes paid on British articles. This represents almost the same value. It is approximately one-half of what the British seamen and firemen were getting before the £3 ($14.60) bonus was added to their wages in October, 1918. Th latter have been working persistently for the elimination of the Chinaman from British ships. Their efforts in this direction have been checked by wartime necessities, but may be resumed with the signing of peace. The CHAIRMAN. What is the American equivalent of a Shanghai dollar? Mr. RAKER. One dollar Shanghai equals $1.0832 American. What I have just quoted shows that English seamen themselves are making every endeavor to exclude the Chinese, Malay, and Lascar seamen from British ships. I know it would not be out of place, but would be a valuable contribution, to ask that pages 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 130, 141, 142, 143, 144. and 145 of United States Department of Labor Monthly Labor Review. October, 1919, be inserted in the record. The CHAIRMAN. What did I understand you to say about the exclusion of Japanese, Chinese, and Lascars? Mr. RAKER. The foreigners have all crews composed of Chinese, Japanese, and Malays, who get from $7 to $15, but the British seamen have been doing everything possible to have the British-owned ships not employ these various classes of people. The British seamen take the exact position the Americans do. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any way to stop it? like a Mr. RAKER. This amendment will stop the mixed crew, British ship coming into our country with, say, a crew of 115 men, 15 of whom may be Chinese. This measure would deport the 15. The CHAIRMAN. Did you not just say that on certain vessels the whole crew are Chinese? Mr. RAKER. Yes; this report I have says, under the caption "Wages paid Japanese, Chinese, Lascar, and Malay seamen and firemen; but crews on Japanese ships are strictly Japanese."" My point is this: I quote that passage to answer the argument that has been made in some quarters that Japan might object to such legislation as we contemplate. This quotation conclusively shows that the Japanese are manning Japanese vessels to the exclusion of other races. Obviously, Japan would not be affected by this proposed legislation. Mr. RAKER. I again request that the pages just mentioned be inserted in the record. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, it will be done. (The report referred to follows:) COMPARATIVE WAGES OF SEAMEN ON AMERICAN AND FOREIGN VESSELS, 1915 TO 1919 A report of an investigation made by the investigation and inspection service of the Department of Labor, to ascertain the relative wages paid to seamen on American vessels sailing out of American ports and the wages paid to seamen on foreign vessels trading in American ports, has recently been published for the use of the Senate Committee on Commerce. The purpose of this report is to show the relative rates prior to the enforcement of the seaman's act and the relative wages at the time of the report; that is, in the spring of 1919. Wage rates prior to the year 1918 were taken from statements made to the United States Shipping Board by foreign consuls 1 Having been organized primarily as a war measure, this service ceased to exist on June 30, 1919. and verified so far as possible by other sources. The data for 1918 and 1919 were obtained from a most reliable source-the shipping articles of the various ships. In some cases shipowners themselves gave the desired information. In every instance a sufficient number of articles were examined so that the rates quoted in the report are typical for the nationality they represent. With respect to the more powerful seafaring nations definiteness in the figures quoted has been facilitated by the fact that these nations almost invariably have established a uniform rate for all vessels sailing under their flag. Two ports were visited-New York and San Francisco. It was not found necessary to visit any others. The investigation shows that a decided increase took place in seamen's wages everywhere after the enforcement of the seamen's act. Where this increase was due in a larger measure to war conditions or to the change in the status of seamen in American ports in consequence of the seamen's act is impossible of certain determination; but both factors contributed to this marked advance in wages. One circumstance, however, must be attributed to the act alone. Seamen's wages have persistently followed the American standard. Unless restricted by governmental authority, European wages at least have inclined toward equalization with the American wage rate, with the result that at the present time seamen's wages are not a deciding factor in competition among shipping nations. It is only in respect of Japanese shipping that this result has not been attained. On March 4, 1915, Congress passed the seaman's act, the main purposes of which were to equalize wages on all ships entering or leaving American ports and to make conditions aboard ship such that Americans would again take to the sea in great numbers. The increased cost of operation under the American flag has always been regarded as the main obstacle to to the upbuilding of our merchant fleet. In this connection the question of seamen's wages is of great importance. About the time of the passage of the seamen's act, seamen's wages in New York differed from those in foreign ports as follows: Seamen's wages in New York were about 20 per cent higher than wages paid in Liverpool; about 22.5 per cent higher than in the North Sea or the Atlantic ports on the continent of Europe; about 30 per cent higher than wages paid in the inner Mediterranean or Baltic; about 400 per cent higher than the wages paid in India or China; about 300 per cent higher than wages paid in the ports of Japan. Everybody agreed that wages had to be equalized, but in what direction? Should Congress follow the old idea of lowering wages to the lower foreign standard? This had caused and would continue to cause our men to abandon the sea. Or should Congress adopt measures to raise the wages of all maritime nations to the higher American standard? The latter course was wisely adopted and soon proved the contentions of its champions. MONTHLY WAGES OF SEAMEN AND FIREMEN ON AMERICAN AND FOREIGN VESSELS Beginning July, 1916, the seamen's act became. operative on all foreign vessels. In the second half of 1915, the year in which the act was passed, wages paid seamen and firemen on ships clearing from New York had been, as far as available, as follows: Wages paid seamen and firemen on vessels clearing from New York in 1915 |