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PROHIBITION OF IMPORTATION OF GOODS PRODUCED BY CONVICT, FORCED OR/AND INDENTURED LABOR

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1931

UNITED STATES SENATE,
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE,
Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10.30 a. m. in is committee room, Senate Office Building, Senator Reed Smoot presiding. Present: Senators Smoot (chairman), Watson, Reed, Shortridge, Couzens, Keyes, Bingham, La Follette, Thomas of Idaho, Harrison, King, George, Walsh of Massachusetts, and Connally.

Present also: Senators Steiwer, of Oregon, and Hale, of Maine and Representative Yon, of Florida.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. We have met for the purpose of considering H. R. 16517 to prohibit importation of products of convict and forced labor, to protect labor and industry in the United States, and for other purposes.

Senator KING. Mr. Chairman, I saw by the paper this morning that that bill had been adversely reported upon by the House committee.

Senator WATSON. No, Senator King; that was the oil embargo bill. This bill has passed the House.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee reporter will copy this bill into our hearings:

[H. R. 16517]

AN ACT To prohibit importation of products of convict and forced labor, to protect labor and industry in the United States, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, manufactured, transported, handled, loaded, or unloaded, wholly or in part, in any foreign country by convict labor, and/or forced labor, and/or indentured labor under penal sanctions, shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the United States, and the importation hereof is hereby prohibited, and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to prescribe such regulations as may be necessary for the enforcement of this provision. The provisions of this act relating to goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, manufactured, transported, handled, loaded, or unloaded by forced labor and/or indentured labor, shall take effect on April 1, 1931, and shall remain in full force and effect until Congress provides otherwise, but shall not be applicable to goods, wares, articles, or merchandise so mined, produced, manufactured, transported, handled, loaded, or unloaded which are not mined, produced, or manufactured in such quantities in the United States as to meet the consumptive demands of the United States. Forced labor," as herein used, shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.

In any proceeding under or involving the application of any provision of this act reports and depositions of officers or agents of the United States shall be admissable in evidence.

I have had a number of requests from parties desiring to be heard on this bill, and I have asked the committee reporter to be present. Senator Steiwer, do you wish to be heard?

Senator STEIWER. I am in no hurry, although I left another cocmmittee to come here. You might hear some other witness first if you prefer.

Senator BINGHAM. Mr. Chairman, might I ask right there, is there anyone appearing against this bill?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; there are quite a number of people against the bill, and some of them are present. We will hear Senator Steiwer.

Senator STEIWER. Initially, I do not require more than three or four or five minutes, as I desire to make only a very brief statement. After the objections are made I might like a little time to dispose of those objections.

The CHAIRMAN. You may go ahead now, Senator Steiwer, and make your statement.

STATEMENT OF HON. FREDERICK STEIWER, A SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OREGON

Senator STEIWER. Very well. For the purpose of the moment, gentlemen of the committee, I am not going to enter into any discussion of the general aspects of convict labor. I assume that we are all of one mind to the extent that we should like to protect American labor against unfair competition of convict-made importations; and that we are all of one mind generally speaking regarding forced labor in its different forms as being essentially convict labor in the sense that it is not free labor.

Now, the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives in considering this bill had before it the representatives of various industries. I noticed by an examination of the hearings in the House that the farmers were represented through the Farm Bureau Federation, and that the coal people, the lumber people, and various other groups, I mean industrial and agricultural groups of the country, were represented before the House committee. If any member of this committee is interested in the details of their claims, of course they are available, and there is no reason for me to reiterate them now.

What I do want to say to the committee is this, that my own connection with the matter initially came from the introduction, or was evidenced by the introduction, of S. 5370. Subsequently Congressman Kendall introduced the same bill, or at least substantially the same bill, in the House. And still subsequently he introduced a new bill, which became H. R. 16517, and it was this subsequent Kendall bill that the House Ways and Means Committee considered and reported upon, and which passed the House.

Now, gentlemen of the committee, I think I might be of a little help to you on one or two points. This House bill as passed includes three amendments only to section 307 of the tariff act as we passed it. It is not in the form of an amendment of the tariff act,

but it has the practical effect of being an amendment of the tariff act even though it is stated independently, and it introduced three changes and three changes only.

You will remember the inhibition against the importation of convict-made goods was contained in the old law, and that it has been in the law for many years. But the 1930 act included indentured labor and forced labor, and in that respect the 1930 act is a modification of the old law. But the provision in the 1930 act was that these new inhibitions and in particular against forced labor and indentured labor, should not take effect until January 1, 1932. Now, one of these changes of this Kendall bill as against the existing law is to modify that date by moving it up from January 1, 1932, to April 1, 1931.

Senator COUZENS. Senator Steiwer, do you mind an interruption? Senator STEIWER. No.

Senator COUZENS. Have you considered the effect upon the tobacco industry, the cigar manufacturers particularly, of such a provision? Senator STEIWER. Yes; I have. Senator Couzens.

Senator COUZENS. Don't you think it is vitally important that it not be advanced to that date because of that industry?

Senator STEIWER. I do not think so. And I want to answer the Senator from Michigan (Mr. Couzens) this way: I am anxious that this bill should be right in every sense and that it may be agreed to by the Senate; and I want to be cooperative and not at all stubborn in that respect, but

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). You have no objection so far as tobacco is concerned to the date remaining as it is?

Senator STEIWER. NO.

Senator GEORGE. But I have.

Senator STEIWER. If it is limited to tobacco, I have no personal objection.

The CHAIRMAN. But I was just asking the witness a question to get his view.

Senator GEORGE. But why exclude one side and not the other?

The CHAIRMAN. Well, we will come to that when we come to consider it as a committee.

Senator STEIWER. If you put this off with respect to indentured labor, and I assume that is the question raised, because of the Sumatra tobacco which is made by indentured labor; if you put it off as to indentured labor, there is nothing to prevent the Soviet Government from changing the form of its labor by a simple ukase, making all convict and forced labor into indentured labor, and you will see where we might readily be.. So I hope this committee will be a little hesitant about changing that date, unless you can do it in such a way as not to open the doors wide to importations from other parts of the world.

Senator KING. Let me ask a question right there: This bill is intended, is it not, so as to operate purely against Russia? Senator STEIWER. I do not think so.

Senator KING. Upon the theory that all Russian labor is slave or forced or indentured labor?

Senator STEIWER. I think not. It would apply to convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor wherever it might exist.

Senator KING. But is there any contention that there is convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor employed in the making of products coming into the United States except as it may be charged that in Russia there is convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor?

Senator STEIWER. Oh, yes.

Senator REED. Oh, yes, there are other parts of the world where convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor is used. The French Government is mining phosphate rock that way, I believe.

Senator STEIWER. Yes; and in various places we have these conditions. But there are different kinds of compulsory labor employed, in different places in the world.

Senator COUZENS. The question Senator King raised is one I have in mind, that the objections back of this bill are the Russian situa

tion.

Senator STEIWER. I think to some extent that is true.

Senator COUZENS. Because all other conditions existed when we passed the tariff act, and new conditions have arisen as to Russian importations that were not apparent at that time.

Senator KING. Isn't it largely inspired because there is a belief, well founded or otherwise, that indentured labor or forced labor or convict labor has been employed in the manufacture or production of lumber or timber in Russia?

Senator STEIWER. That accounts for a part of the interest behind the bill. I might say that the lumber industry is very much alarmed at the prospect of Russian importations of lumber being enormously expanded within such a short time as six months or nine months or

a year.

Senator REED. That is not volunteered labor at all. Others are volunteer labor and indentured to employment. But the Russians employ persons under other conditions, force men into employment

and then force them to work.

Senator STEIWER. Yes. And we get into great difficulty with respect to that because they say it is volunteered labor. In my opinion it is volunteered only in the sense that the Russian peasant would rather in that sense volunteer his labor than to meet the consequences of nonperformance. But in the real sense you and I would have in mind it is not volunteered.

Senator REED. It is a clear case of duress. There is no question about it not being volunteer labor.

Senator WATSON. Suppose you pass this law, how will you determine whether in the case of products coming in from Russia they fall into either one of these categories? How are you going to find out whether it is convict or forced labor?

Senator STEIWER. If it is applied to the lumber situation the Treasury Department has already made a finding that convict labor is employed in a great deal of that area.

Senator REED. And in the same way with the production of coal; isn't that true?

Senator STEIWER. I think no finding has been made with respect to coal.

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