Similar judgement must be passed on the head-tax pro-
vision, which is justified on the ground of the cost of immigra-
tion control, but which may degenerate into a protective
duty on foreign labour power, just as registration fees often
become a protective duty against foreign commodities. In
the United States the head-tax, which must be paid by
every foreigner who enters the country, has been raised from
fifty cents to four doUars (sec. 1 of the Law of February 20,
1907). British Columbia introduced a head-tax on Chinese
immigrants as early as the year 1878, and by the year 1903
it had been increased to 100 pounds sterliag, while, in addition,
the ships were forbidden to carry more than one Chinese to
fifty tons of vessel capacity. In New Zealand, £100 must
be paid to the customs office for each Chinese landed, and
the landing is further limited according to the capacity of
the vessels, one Chinese to 200 tons. Before the enactment



LABOUR : NEGATIVE MEASURES 289

of the federal legislation, the several colonies also levied high
taxes.
A direct violation of the principle of the freedom of move-
ment is offered by the exclusion of contract labourers, in
which the United States of America has taken the lead.
