Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/213

 FA CTOR Y LEG I SLA TION FOR WOMEN 1 99

the greed of employers in enforcing long hours upon women. Though the manufacturer is not always an esurient being ready to feast upon the state's inactivity, yet he is likely to push his claim to the utmost limit. The one section of real importance in this law was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court of the state on March 15, 1895. I* was as follows: "No female shall be employed in any factory or workshop more than eight hours in any one day or forty-eight hours in any one week." But the law was pronounced invalid. Why ? Some force induced the supreme court to decide that the reduction of the hours of labor of adult women is an interference with freedom of contract between employer and employed. It was but another evidence of the way in which justice may be perverted when in the hands of unprincipled agents. So long as women are wards of the state and not citizens they should be protected by the state whose wards they are. 1 If women cannot legislate they must be legislated for.

Important as is factory legislation, it is practically useless without the enforcing power of conscientious inspectors. But the number is wholly inadequate, and this renders violation of laws comparatively easy in all the states.

The following table shows the number of employers and the number of inspectors in the seven states before mentioned as having the largest number of women operatives :

State Total employes Number of inspectors

New York, 629,269 32

Massachusetts, - 370,265 32

Pennsylvania, - 528,277 21

Ohio, 528,277 15

New Jersey, - 160,561 7

Illinois, - - 205,570 1 1

Connecticut,- 116,091 4

Or from the same seven states we may present the following luminous figures, which when read in connection with Mrs. Kel- ley's rational requirement* show a very poor condition in regard to inspection.

1 STIMSON, Labor and Law of Today.

MC woman inspector for every 1000 women and children.