labor largely from the foreign immigrants, as the work is rough, heavy, and unattractive, as a rule. It is also a fact that we usually have to pay a premium for this class of labor even though they can not understand our language, but are willing to do the work. While we have a sufficient amount of labor at the present time, we find that it is getting increasingly hard to get good men, even though this is the slack season in our line of work. We have been seriously handicapped during the past few years by not being able to get labor enough to operate our plant, and have been obliged to pay as high wages for common labor as we have paid some skilled help. We are employing about 600 men at the present time and will undoubtedly employ over 800 during the spring months, so that there seems to be no question but what there will be a serious shortage of common labor in the country by next spring, with very high wages being paid which will materially increase the cost of our output. We think that Congress should act immediately to change the existing immigration law in some manner to allow a much greater immigration of common labor. Yours very truly, Mr. JOHN L. LOVETT, LAKEY FOUNDRY & MACHINE CO., General Manager. DETROIT, MICH., January 2, 1923. General Manager Michigan Manufacturers' Association, 1303 Real Estate Exchange Building, Detroit, Mich. DEAR SIR: Replying to your letter of December 29, would say in general that we are experiencing considerable difficulty in securing the proper number and quality of common labor. However, as this condition exists, as I understand it, in all factories in Detroit, I think we are no worse off than the others. Trusting this information will be of assistance to you when appearing before the Immigration Bureau, we are DEAR SIR: Replying to your letter of December 29 in regard to immigration hearing to be held in Washington on January 5 and 6, asking how the Michigan Central is situated in reference to common labor. In our engineering department it is estimated that we will require 1,500 extra men above our usual maintenance forces to take care of new work during the coming season. During the year 1922 we were able to obtain only approximately 60 per cent of the common labor required, and in view of the general business conditions we anticipate more difficulty in securing common labor during the coming year than we had in 1922. We The In our locomotive department the common labor situation is serious. have been and are now unable to get sufficient men to handle the work. shortage of common labor has been tense throughout the entire fall. The turnover is excessive. In our car shops and car repair work at other points we have had a continual shortage of common labor, and the situation is getting worse. From all indications at present it is evident that there will be a greater shortage of common labor during the coming months, especially in view of the business conditions as they now prevail throughout the country. Yours truly, H. SHEARER, General Manager. CALUMET, MICH., December 30, 1922. JOHN L. LOVETT, Michigan Manufacturers' Association, Detroit, Mich. JAMES MACNAUGHTON. CHEBOYGAN, MICH., December 29, 1922. JOHN L. LOVETTE, Michigan Manufacturers' Association, Detroit, Mich. This district short 20 to 25 per cent common labor. EMBURY MARTIN LUMBER CO. LABOR CONDITIONS IN STATE IMPROVED-INVOLUNTARY UNEMPLOYMENT IS THING OF THE PAST-WORK WILL BE FAIRLY PLENTIFUL THIS WINTER. LANSING, December 11. Labor conditions throughout Michigan show a material improvement over December of last year, according to Carl Young, member of the State commission of labor and industry. Unemployment in the State, as indicated by applications coming in to the free employment bureaus operated by the commission, is much less common now than it was at the beginning of last winter. "The laboring classes of the State face the advent of winter with much greater assurance of steady employment than they did 12 months ago," Mr. Young declared in a recent interview. "In some fields of work there is a marked shortage of men. If the skilled mechanic is not at work it is largely because he does not want to work. All industrial centers are making constant demands for skilled workers. "In the timber and lumber trades, too, shortage of workers is apparent. Requests for more than 500 timbermen to go into the woods for the winter season have been unfilled. Lumber mills and furniture factories in some parts of the State are running short handed. "Coal shortages and transportation difficulties-factors which for a time threatened to cause widespread unemployment during the winter monthsare gradually being overcome. "It is true that this winter, as always, there will be a certain amount of seasonal unemployment. The inventory period is always marked by a sudden increase in the number of men out of work. "Weather conditions will impede construction work later on, and the amount of building that has been going on this year, both for public institutions and private interests, has aided much in reducing the list of unemployed. "But these general conditions are ones which are to be faced every winter and the indications are that the coming spring will find recovery from the seasonal depression." Mr. DON W. LOBDELL, SAGINAW PRODUCTS CO., Saginaw, Mich., December 30, 1922. Secretary Employers' Association of Saginaw Valley, Saginaw, Mich. DEAR SIR: I have your letter of December 29 calling my attention to a meeting that has been called by the Federal Government for January 5 in Washington. I feel very keenly that steps should be taken to correct the condition we now have. We are at present facing a very serious shortage of the class of labor that is needed in this country, and I anticipate a steadily increasing shortage throughout the coming year. The result of this shortage, of course, means a lessening of production, and a consequent lessening of the country's prosperity. Very truly yours, J. H. DWIGHT, General Manager. EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATION OF SAGINAW VALLEY, Whereas it is the sense of this board that the operation of the present 3 per cent limitation of the immigration law has demonstrated its ineffectiveness as a measure to improve the character of immigration, has prevented desirable aliens from entering this country, and its continuance would mean economic disaster to the United States: Therefore be it Resolved, That the board of directors of the Employers' Association of Saginaw Valley advocates the immediate repeal of the 3 per cent law and further recommends that immigration to this country be restricted to consistent moral, physical, and financial qualifications with provision for the determination of admissibility of aliens prior to their departure from their native land; and further be it Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to Senators Couzens and Townsend and Senator-elect Ferris; also to Congressmen Fordney and Woodruff and Congressman-elect Vincent, requesting their support of a broader immigration statute to take the place of the present law which expires in June, 1923. Mr. DON W. LOBDELL, SAGINAW, MICH., January 2, 1922. Employers' Association of Saginaw Valley, Saginaw, Mich. DEAR SIR: May we not refer to the resolution passed by the national conference of State manufacturers' associations December 15 on the subject of immigration? We urge your association to cooperate with State manufacturers' associations for a change of the present immigration law along the line the resolution calls for. We are by no means of the opinion that everybody should be permitted to enter the country, and future immigrants should be carefully selected, and we believe, at the point of origin. Yours very truly, BAKER-PERKINS MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, The CHAIRMAN. How long have they been working up this plan to attempt an amendment of the quota law? Mr. FARBER. We have had that under consideration ever since the bill was passed. The CHAIRMAN. You did not like it from the start? Mr. FARBER. No, sir. I want to call your attention to the fact that we have very little foreign labor. I do not think we have 8 per cent of foreigners in the city of Flint. The CHAIRMAN. But you did not like the quota law from the start? Mr. FARBER. No, sir; because we found it will be absolutely impossible to obtain our supply of labor for construction work. The CHAIRMAN. You were not concerned with the cases of individual hardship under the quota law, but were concerned with the fact that it shut off your supply of common labor? Mr. FARBER. Not only that, but we have considered both phases of the question, the social and industrial aspects. The CHAIRMAN. Did you pay any attention to immigration matters prior to the enactment of the quota law? Mr. FARBER. Personally? The CHAIRMAN. No; your association? Mr. FARBER. No; I do not think they did. The CHAIRMAN. Are not many Canadians working in Flint? Mr. FARBER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Do they go back and forth to Canada? Mr. FARBER. They do. The CHAIRMAN. Do many of them stay in the United States, take out first papers, and become citizens? Mr. FARBER. Quite a number of them. The CHAIRMAN. Is the larger number made up of those who go back or those who remain? Mr. FARBER. Those who remain. The CHAIRMAN. How about Detroit? Mr. FARBER. Detroit has a large number coming over from the farms in the fall months, October and November, and going into the Detroit factories; they remain there all winter and then when spring opens up they go back to the farms in Canada. The CHAIRMAN. They work on both sides of the line? Mr. FARBER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And they are not counted in the population of the United States at all, are they? Mr. FARBER. No. The CHAIRMAN. Are they counted as immigrants in the statistics? Mr. FARBER. No; they are counted as residents of nearby towns. The CHAIRMAN. They just live in the United States when they are working here? Mr. FARBER. Yes; and then go back. The CHAIRMAN. And they do not figure in the immigration statistics or census statistics? Mr. FARBER. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Are there many of those. Mr. FARBER. In the city of Detroit? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. FARBER. I should judge about 8,000. The CHAIRMAN. What is the population of Detroit now? Mr. FARBER. Detroit claims 1,100,000. The CHAIRMAN. Have you any idea as to what proportion of that number is alien? Mr. FARBER. I have not, but I understand that at one time it was as high as 45 per cent. The CHAIRMAN. So that city is nearly one-half an alien city? Mr. FARBER. Yes; it was during 1919 and 1920. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any alien trouble there at all? Mr. FARBER. None at all. The CHAIRMAN. There is no communist party there? Mr. FARBER. Oh, yes. The CHAIRMAN. That is all right, is it? Mr. FARBER. No; it is not. The CHAIRMAN. How are you going to help it? Mr. FARBER. A change in the immigration law The CHAIRMAN (interposing). Let more come in? Mr. FAKBER. No; I would deport them. The CHAIRMAN. How would you go about that? Mr. FARBER. Change the law and make the alien deportable when he advocates the overthrow of our Government. Eliminate the words "force and violence" from the present act. The CHAIRMAN. How many have we deported on that account? paid any attention to that? Mr. FARBER. Not lately; no. Have you The CHAIRMAN. Would it surprise you if I told you that in 10 years' time the number was only 300? Mr. FARBER. You may be interested to know that I arrested the national secretary of the Russian Communist Party, and he was the first man arrested under that law. The CHAIRMAN. Under the law we passed a few years ago? Mr. FARBER. Yes; in 1918. The CHAIRMAN. Did you succeed in deporting him? Mr. FARBER. No, sir; he had three hearings and was released on bond; his wife was ordered deported and when the time came to deport him he was gone. The CHAIRMAN. What was his name? Mr. FARBER. Rockawitch-Wladimir Rotchewich, alias Rich. Mr. RAKER. Did they collect on the bond? Mr. FARBER. I believe they did. The CHAIRMAN. How much was it? Mr. FARBER. $3,000. I took a cash bond of $3,000 in his case and $2,000 in his wife's case. The CHAIRMAN. You learned from that one case that deportation can not be just thrown around as a word meaning anything? Mr. FARBER. I did; yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. You found it a very hard proposition, did you not? Mr. FARBER. Yes; I should say it was. The CHAIRMAN. And very expensive? Mr. FARBER. Yes; it is. The CHAIRMAN. Who paid all the expenses in connection with that case? The CHAIRMAN. The Federal Government? Mr. FARBER. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. How much did it cost? Have you any idea? Mr. FARBER. Well, I spent, I believe, about 15 days, and my salary was $4 a day and my per diem was $4, making $8 in all. The CHAIRMAN. But you had hearings, had you not? Mr. FARBER. Yes; there were hearings, and there were the expenses of the stenographer and the expenses of the jail; the man was in jail for a while. The CHAIRMAN. Did you ever get him transferred to the port of New York for deportation? Mr. FARBER. No; I never did. He went back to Detroit and remained in Detroit. The CHAIRMAN. The Communist Party flourishes in Detroit, does it not? Mr. FARBER. Well, not openly. It is now known as the Proletarian Party, and it is an American organization. The CHAIRMAN. You say it is an American organization? Mr. FARBER. Yes, sir. Dennis E. Batts is the national secretary of it. Mr. FARBER. Yes, sir. He is the editor of the Detroit Labor News; he is secretary of the Detroit Federation of Labor, and I think that was one of the first organizations to pass resolutions favoring the recognition of Lenin and Trotski. The CHAIRMAN. And that party favors the recognition of Lenin and Trotski? Mr. FARBER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. They are working for a revolution in the United States, but are leaving out all words that indicate force and violence, are they not? Mr. FARBER. Absolutely. The CHAIRMAN. You say it is all American? Mr. FARBER. The majority of them. The CHAIRMAN. You mean the membership is American? Mr. FARBER. The majority of them. Mr. Box. American born or naturalized? Mr. FARBER. American born. The CHAIRMAN. Have they a pretty good membership out there? Mr. FARBER. No, sir; the city of Flint has seven members. The CHAIRMAN. How many in Detroit? Mr. FARBER. I do not know, but they probably have about 40 or 50. As I understand it. Chicago, New York, Rochester, Syracuse, and Buffalo have quite a large membership. The CHAIRMAN. Is it growing all the time? Mr. FARBER. I do not believe so. The CHAIRMAN. Are the agents of the Government watching them all the time? Mr. FARBER. I do not know about the present time. The CHAIRMAN. Are the people objecting to their being watched? Mr. FARBER. I presume they are. The CHAIRMAN. Are the people also objecting to the registration of aliens? Mr. FARBER. NO; they are not. People who understand the proposition do not object to it, and I think it will be a very wise provision if it is ever enacted. The CHAIRMAN. Is much literature being circulated by these organizations? Mr. FARBER. To some extent. The CHAIRMAN. Are the pamphlets printed in English? Mr. FARBER. Some are printed in the English language; yes. The CHAIRMAN. Are any printed in the Russian language? Mr. FARBER. A few. The CHAIRMAN. Yiddish and Polish? Mr. FARBER. The pamphlets in New York are in Yiddish; yes; and there is one publication in Detroit in Polish. |