Contract Labor Law
an Act of Congress, passed Feb. 26, 1885, and several times amended. Previous to the passage of this law it had been the practice of large manufacturers to recruit cheap labor in the poorer countries of Europe, even to the extent of paying for the transportation of immigrant workers and their families, this charge being later subtracted from their earnings. At first the courts interpreted the provisions of the law as applying only to unskilled labor, but on March 3, 1903, the law was amended, so that it now includes skilled workers as well. Infraction of this law now bears with it a penalty of $1,000 fine for each immigrant brought into the country illegally by manufacturers or their agents, and a fine of $500 and six months' imprisonment for the master of a ship who knowingly carries immigrants contrary to the law.