STATEMENT OF HON. S. M. SPARKMAN, REPRESENTING THE BOARD OF TRADE OF THE CITY OF TAMPA, FLA.

Mr. SPARKMAN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, in connection with ex-Mayor D. B. McKay, of Tampa, and Mr. Hugh C. MacFarlane, I represent here the board of trade of the city of Tampa, which feels a deep interest in this subject, indeed such an interest as induced that body to send this deputation before the committee here with the request that the bill in question be so modified as to permit the entrance of the people mentioned by Mr. McKay into this country when the proper time may arrive for such return by them.

Mr. McKay has covered this matter so completely, generally and in detail, that I don't feel it necessary to go into many of the matters that he has touched upon. I only wish to say that it is very essential, in my judgment and in the judgment of the members of the board of trade, that the law be modified in such a manner as will permit these parties to return, and others to come over whenever they see fit and proper to do so. The industry can not be carried on as it has been carried on, and can not be carried on as we hope to see it carried on in the future unless we can have free access to that particular class of labor in the future.

Cuba, I may say, occupies a unique relation to the United States and one that would naturally suggest an exception-indeed, an exception is already made in the bill, but it is supposed that that exception will not meet the requirements, will not meet the Tampa situation and the situation of other cigar-manufacturing centers in the United States, particularly in Florida.

We exercise a kind of guardianship, as you know, under the Platt amendment, over Cuba. Such guardianship and such supervision as would permit us at any time to have officials in Cuba to investigate conditions, the relation of every man in Cuba and to good government who might desire to come over to this country; in fact, we have such agents over there now who are hampered, of course, by the present immigration laws. Apparently, we have to have permits from the Secretary of Labor, from the Department of Labor, to permit parties to come over when we have these acute conditions.

Again, the Cuban is not an undesirable citizen; he is not such a person as this bill is aimed at. He makes a good citizen. He is not a violator of laws. And while many of them remain here for years and do not become naturalized, that is because of the fact that they do not take a great deal of interest in politics. They would just as soon not vote as vote. But there are quite a percentage of them, however, that have become naturalized, and the number that have become naturalized have taken such a step for the purpose of voting and exercising other rights of American citizenship. But, however, a large majority have not been naturalized, and they go back and forth, as stated by Mr. McKay, from time to time, as they may see proper to do so.

Then, again, the laborers that we want from there are essentially expert laborers. They would not come in competition, as was stated by Mr. McKay, with any other class of labor in this country.

Now, for those three reasons it seems to me that it would be very proper for this committee to make an exception, a broader exception,

more comprehensive exception, than this bill undertakes to make at the present time. Just what the amendment should be, just how it should be shaped in order to cover this proposition, I have not fully made up my mind on. But Mr. McKay a few hours ago wrote out a tentative amendment which he read to the committee. That might not be satisfactory, and I can conceive of other language that could fill the bill quite as well as the language used by Mr. McKay. I want to suggest to the committee that we will collaborate with Senator Fletcher and probably submit through him an amendment to the committee, or possibly to the Senate, just as he sees proper to do. In other words, we will trust to him and to the other Senator from Florida to take care of the matter with this committee.

Again I wish to urge upon the committee the necessity of making an exception in this matter. This is a great business, a great industry, and, of course, there are a great number of people interested in it. And the Government is also interested in this business because of the revenue that will come to it from this industry. And it is of interest to all the people in this country who smoke, and I notice a great many around here to-day in this meeting who smoke, and I know a great many people in our section of the country smoke, and I know they do in other parts of the country. And I wish to say that there is not a cigar in the country-and I hope I do not tread on anybody's toes when I make that statement-that meets the bill quite as well as the Tampa-made cigar. So I hope that you will permit us to carry on the business as we did, and that we will be able to carry on the business not only as before the strike but in a manner that will permit us to enlarge the business.

If it were permissible, Mr. Chairman, I would like to have either Mr. McKay or Mr. MacFarlane, one or both of them, to address a few remarks to the committee. I am sure they would be quite brief. The CHAIRMAN. Very well.

Senator FLETCHER. Mr. MacFarlane, will you make a statement in addition to what has been said? Mr. MacFarlane is one of the foremost citizens of Tampa and he is thoroughly familiar with this industry, and knows its history from beginning to end.

STATEMENT OF MR. HUGH C. MacFARLANE, OF TAMPA, FLA.

Mr. MACFARLANE. Gentlemen of the committee, I think that the subject, as far as Tampa is concerned, has been sufficiently covered by the gentlemen who have preceded me. I don't know that I have anything that I could add to what they have already stated. I think Col. Sparkman may have called on me to say a few words before this committee, because the cigar industry in the city of Tampa has grown up with me, and while I never have been actively engaged in that business, my associations and business connections with the manufacturers have given me an understanding of it that probably is not in the minds of either of the gentlemen who have already addressed you.

The cigar industry in Tampa had its beginning in 1885. Up till that time there had been very few clear Havana cigars manufactured in the United States. You gentlemen must understand that the difference between a clear Havana cigar and a domestic cigar is that the

clear Havana cigar is manufactured entirely by hand. There is no machinery or mold used in connection with its manufacture. There was no skilled labor in the United States that could be used in that industry at the time it was commenced, outside of the city of Key West, which had in a small degree prior to that time manufactured clear Havana cigars there. Since the establishment of the business in Tampa it has grown from nothing until during the year preceding the one which has just passed there were manufactured in the city of Tampa something over 400,000,000 clear Havana cigars. Mr. McKay, who first addressed you in our behalf, stated the amount of revenue that that had brought into the Government.

The American labor has not taken kindly to this industry, and very few of them during the 30 years that it has been in Tampa have learned the trade, and we are almost entirely dependent upon the Cuban citizens that have come to Tampa to work in our factories and to a few Italians-probably 20 per cent of the labor employed in these factories--who have learned the trade after coming to this country.

I am a little hard of hearing, and I did not hear entirely all that Mr. McKay stated here, but I think he made some mention of a strike that had been called in the cigar factories of Tampa about 10 months ago, and there was no trouble about wages or working conditions, but the employees of the cigar factories simply demanded that there should be a closed shop and nobody who was not a member of the union could be employed in any of these factories.

The manufacturers would not accede to that demand which had been made by their employees, and the employees left the factories and remained out about three or four months.

The manufacturers then opened the shops and a great many of the employees have been returning, until, I suppose, at the present time there are employed in the factories about 40 per cent of those who had formerly been employed there.

As a means of opposing the opening of these factories, the leaders of the strikers have been deporting these workers to the island of Cuba. At that time the cigar factories in Cuba had an abundance of orders and they employed and were able to employ nearly all the cigar makers that were sent there. Since that time, however, they have fallen short of orders and a great many of these workmen are anxious and willing to return.

The manufacturers, cognizant of the law, of course, are not attempting and do not attempt to make any contract with them, and a great many of them are coming back at the present time, but as there are numbers of them in destitute circumstances it is hardly possible that those who had formerly been employed in the cigar factories of Tampa will be able to return before this law goes into operation, and it would work a great hardship on the manufacturers of Tampa and prevent the people from coming back who formerly had been employed in the factories, if there was not some exception made in regard to the citizens of the island of Cuba.

It has been considered, and the business men in our locality have always felt, that Cuba was a part of the United States, as far as the interchange of business and labor was concerned; and if there is any dependency in the West Indies, if there is any country outside our

own that the United States has an interest in and has in the past taken a great interest in, it is the island of Cuba. In fact, I think we have favored it more-I think, in fact, we have done more for it— than we have any of these islands in the West Indies or any of the Republics in Central or South America. And it is the hope that you would be willing to continue that guiding hand over the island of Cuba that has caused us to come up here and ask that the relations that in the past have existed between this country and the island of Cuba should continue, because it is absolutely necessary that that condition of affairs should exist, and that the relations heretofore existing should continue.

Now, it will not and can not in the least affect American labor for us to receive what we are asking at this time; and if we do not receive it it will simply drive an industry out of this country into the island of Cuba and prevent the collection of the immense revenue that this country needs so much at the present time from continuing. I thank you, gentlemen.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, sir. Senator Fletcher, do you have any others that you wish to call upon?

Senator FLETCHER. Mayor McKay, would you care to add anything?

Mr. D. B. McKAY. Yes, sir.

Senator FLETCHER. I will introduce, gentlemen, former Mayor D. B. McKay, of Tampa, Fla.

STATEMENT OF MR. D. B. MCKAY, EX-MAYOR OF TAMPA, FLA.

Mr. McKAY. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, this subject was thoroughly covered by my brother and Col. Sparkman and Mr. MacFarlane, and so thoroughly covered that I don't think it is necessary to take up any more of your time.

I would only say this, that this relief which we are asking is vital to the continuance of this industry. It is extremely important to us and absolutely vital to our city. The bringing in of this class of labor will not bring in labor that is in competition with any other labor in this country. This class of labor is not a class that will be in competition with any other labor in this country, and it is certainly to the pecuniary advantage of this Government to permit that industry to develop; and it can not be developed if this class of labor is not permitted to come in.

We have paid into the Treasury of the United States a great many millions of dollars, and we are assured by the manufacturers who are now engaged in business there, and by other manufacturers in this country who desire to move to Tampa and develop business along the same lines, of the same character that we are doing there, that the cigar-manufacturing industry in Tampa will probably develop more than 50 per cent within the year if they can get this class of labor to come to work.

I thank you, gentlemen.

Senator FLETCHER. I believe that is all, Senator. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman of the committee, for your kindness in permitting us to appear before you and in permitting all these gentlemen to give their statements.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator, for your presentment of this case.

Senator FLETCHER. And I would say, Mr. Chairman, that we could add any number of other things to what has been stated so well on behalf of the vegetable growers of the east coast, and these gentlemen of the cigar manufacturing industry, but I won't burden your record by bringing others in. And so far, the statements we have presented. have not been contradicted.

The CHAIRMAN. The subject, Senator, has been fully and clearly presented.

STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN HUDSPETH, OF THE SIXTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS.

Congressman HUDSPETH. Mr. Chairman, I shall ask the indulgence of the committee for but a few moments to suggest an amendment to the bill that I offered on the floor of the House. I will read the amendment, and if you have copies of the bill before you you can see where the connection is made.

After the word "aliens," on page 8, line 17, insert a comma and add the following: "including those applying for admission temporarily, pursuant to the last proviso in section 3 of the immigration act."

And I will explain briefly the purport of this amendment, gentlemen. As the chairman of your committee, Senator Colt, remembers, under the last immigration law of 1917 the Commissioner of Labor had the authority to suspend the literacy test and the head tax on immigrants coming from Canada and Mexico. That is, he concluded he had that authority. If he had that authority, then all this amendment seems to do is to give him that authority under this act. And the purpose of this amendment is to enable the beet growers of Colorado and the Northwest to harvest their crop; to enable the cotton growers and the wool men of Arizona to have proper care for their flocks and the gathering of their crop, and for the farmers of Texas and the live-stock interests of Texas to properly take care of the product of their farms and their ranches.

Now, let me suggest to the committee that the class of people who came in under this provision, the suspension of the literacy test, were Mexicans, 90 of whom were unable to read or write. Now, gentlemen, they come to this country for the purpose of earning a few dollars. Their land has been devastated by the numerous revolutions since 1910. They come here and work six or eight months, and then they go back.

Now, in the hearing before the House committee the contention was made that they were undesirable people, not a good class of people, not people who should be admitted into the United States and to be made citizens. They do not come here for the purpose of becoming citizens, although many of them do stay in this country.

A committee was appointed after the charges were made that they were being brought across as serf labor, and this committee consisted of two gentlemen who were appointed by the Secretary of Labor to make an investigation of the condition. This committee was composed of Mr. Grant Hamilton and Mr. A. L. Faulkner, two gentlemen from the Department of Labor, and I have with me their report.