LAWS OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR ENACTED SINCE JANUARY 1, 1896. [The Second Special Report of the Department contains all laws of the various States and Territories and of the United States relating to labor in force January 1, 1896. Later enactments are reproduced in successive issues of the Bulletin from time to time as published.] MASSACHUSETTS. ACTS OF 1901. CHAPTER 80.-Sunday labor-Bootblacks. SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for bootblacks to carry on their business on Sunday up to the hour of eleven in the forencon. SEC. 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Approved February 21, 1901. CHAPTER 106.—Convict labor. SECTION 1. Convicts in the State prison may be employed, in the custody of an officer, on any part of the premises of the prison; and an escape from such premises shall be deemed an escape from the prison. SEC. 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Approved March 5, 1901. CHAPTER 113.-Posting of time tables in mercantile establishments. * * SECTION 1. Section ten of chapter five hundred and eight of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, as amended by section one of chapter three hundred and seventy-eight of the acts of the year nineteen hundred, is hereby further amended * so as to read as follows: Section 10. No minor under eighteen years of age, and no woman, shall be employed in laboring in any mercantile establishment more than fifty-eight hours in any one week: Provided, That the restrictions imposed by this section shall not apply during the month of December in each year to persons employed in shops for the sale of goods at retail; and every employer shall post in a conspicuous place in every room where such persons are employed a printed notice stating the number of hours' work required of them on each day of the week, the hours of commencing and stopping such work, and the hour when the time or times allowed for dinner or for other meals begin and end. The printed form of such notice shall be furnished by the chief of the district police and shall be approved by the attorney-general; and the employment of any such person for a longer time in any day than that so stated shall be deemed a violation of this section; and for the purpose of this act the expression "mercantile establishments" shall have the following meanings: Any premises used for the purposes of trade in the purchase or sale of any goods or merchandise, and any premises used for the purposes of a restaurant or for publicly providing and serving meals. SEC. 2. Any employer, superintendent, overseer or other agent of a mercantile establishment violating any of the provisions of the foregoing section shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars for each offense. SEC. 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Approved March 6, 1901. CHAPTER 164.-- Employment of children. SECTION 1. No minor under eighteen years of age shall be employed in the manufacture of acids when such employment is dangerous or injurious to the health of such minor. SEC. 2. The State board of health shall upon the application of any citizen of the Commonwealth determine, after such investigation as said board may deem necessary, whether or not the manufacture of a particular acid is dangerous or injurious to the health of minors under eighteen years of age; and the decision of said board shall be conclusive evidence whether or not the manufacture of a particular acid is dangerous or injurious to the health of such minors. SEC. 3. Any person who employs a minor under eighteen years of age in the manufacture of an acid after the State board of health has decided that such manufacture is dangerous or injurious to the health of such minor shall be punished by a fine of one hundred dollars for each offense. Approved March 20, 1901. CHAPTER 166.-Protection of workmen on buildings. SECTION 1. Whenever in the erection of an iron or a steel framed building the spaces between the girders or floor beams of any floor are not filled or covered by the permanent construction of said floors before another story is added to the building, then a close plank flooring shall be placed and maintained over such spaces, from the time when the beams or girders are placed in position until said permanent construction is applied: Provided, however, That openings may be left through said floors for the passage of workmen or material, which openings shall be protected by a stout hand railing not less than four feet high. SEC. 2. In the construction of any iron or steel framed building having a clear story of twenty-five feet elevation or more a staging with a close plank flooring shall be placed under the whole extent of the beams, girders or trusses of such story upon which iron or steel workers are working, and not more than ten feet below the underside of such beams, girders and trusses. SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of the inspectors of public buildings attached to the inspection department of the Massachusetts district police to enforce the provisions of this act. SEC. 4. Whoever violates any provision of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars for each offense. Approved March 20, 1901. CHAPTER 175.- Bradford Durfee Textile School of Fall River. SECTION 1. The trustees of the Textile School of Fall River, a corporation organized under chapter two hundred and ninety-nine of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, is hereby authorized and empowered to change its name to The Bradford Durfee Textile School of Fall River. SEC. 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Approved March 21, 1901. CHAITER 370.-Specifications, etc., to be posted in textile factories. * * SECTION 1. Section one of chapter one hundred and forty-four of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 1. The occupier or manager of every textile factory shall post in every room where any employees work by the job, in legible writing or printing, and in sufficient numbers to be easily accessible to such employees, specifications of the character of each kind of work to be done by them, and the rate of compensation. Such specifications in the case of weaving rooms shall state the intended or maximum, length or weight of a cut or piece, the count per inch of reed, and the number of picks per inch, and the price per cut or piece, or per pound; or, if payment is made per pick or per yard, the price per pick or per yard; and each warp shall bear a designating ticket or mark of identification. In roving or spinning rooms the number of roving or yarn and the price per hank for each size of machine shall be stated; and each machine shall bear a ticket stating the number of the roving or yarn made upon it. The maximum length of a cut or piece shall not exceed five per cent of the intended length of the same. * * * so as to read as SEC. 2. Section three of said chapter is hereby amended follows: Section 3. The members of the inspection department of the district police force shall enforce the provisions of this act; and they shall be authorized to go into any room, mill or factory to ascertain the facts relating to any work done therein or coming from any other room, mill or factory, and to take the measurements thereof; and anyone interfering with them shall be liable to the penalties prescribed in section two hereof. Approved May 8, 1901. * CHAPTER 428.-Kidnapping. SECTION 1. Section thirty of chapter two hundred and two of the Public Statutes is hereby amended * so as to read as follows: Section 30. Whoever, without lawful authority, forcibly or secretly confines or imprisons another person within this State against his will, or forcibly carries or sends such person out of this State, or forcibly seizes and confines or inveigles or kidnaps another person, with intent either to cause him to be secretly confined or imprisoned in this State against his will, or to cause him to be sent out of this State against his will, or in any way held to service against his will, and whoever sells or in any manner transfers for any term the service of a negro, mulatto, or other person of color, who has been unlawfully seized, taken, inveigled, or kidnapped from this State to any other State, place, or country, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison not exceeding ten years, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and imprisonment in the jail not exceeding two years. Whoever commits any offence described in this section with the intent to extort money or other valuable thing thereby shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison not exceeding twenty-five years. Approved May 23, 1901. CHAPTER 439.-Factories and workshops.-Safety appliances on elerators, etc. SECTION 1. Section forty-two of chapter four hundred and eighty-one of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four is hereby amended by striking out the whole of said section and inserting in place thereof the following: Section 42. On or before the first day of January in the year nineteen hundred and two all elevator cabs or cars, whether used for freight or passengers, shall be provided with some suitable mechanical device whereby they will be securely held in the event of an accident to the shipper rope or hoisting machinery, or any similar accident, and they shall be guarded and equipped with some attachment or device fastened to the ele vator cab or car, elevator well, or floor of the building, which shall prevent any person from being caught between the floor of the cab or car and the floor of the building while attempting to enter or leave the elevator. All elevators used for carrying freight shall be equipped with some suitable device which shall act as a danger signal to warn people of the approach of the elevator. All elevator wells built after the first day of January in the year nineteen hundred and two shall be so constructed that that part of the inside surface of the well which comes in front of the opening or door of the cab or car shall be flush with the cab or car, and the door opening from said elevator well into the building shall be placed not more than two inches back from the face of said well, so as to allow no space for a foothold between the car and well door of the building. All the above construction work and devices shall be approved by the inspectors of factories and public buildings, except that in the city of Boston they shall be approved by the building commissioner, and in other cities by the inspector of buildings: Provided, however, That upon the approval of said commissioner, or inspector of buildings, or inspector of factories and public buildings, any elevator may be used without any or all of such appliances or devices when the nature of the business is such that the necessity for the same will not warrant the expense. Approved May 28, 1901. CHAPTER 452.-Obstructing tracks, etc., of street railway companies. * * * SECTION 1. Section thirty-seven of chapter one hundred and thirteen of the Public Statutes is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 37. Whoever willfully and maliciously obstructs a street railway company in the legal use of a railway track, or delays the passing of the cars or railway carriages thereon, or aids in or abets such detention or delay, shall be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding three months. Whoever commits any of said acts in such manner as to endanger the life or safety of persons conveyed in or upon said cars or railway carriages, or aids or assists therein, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a term not exceeding ten years, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars. Approved June 5, 1901. CHAPTER 472.-Free text-books in public schools. * * * SECTION 1. Section one of chapter one hundred and three of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-four is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 1. The school committee of every city and town shall purchase, at the expense of such city or town, text-books and other school supplies used in the public schools; and said text-books and supplies shall be loaned to the pupils of said publie schools free of charge, subject to such rules and regulations as to care and custody as the school committee may prescribe, in accordance with this act. SEC. 2. Said chapter one hundred and three is hereby further amended by inserting new sections after section one thereof, to be numbered sections two, three and four, respectively, as follows: Section 2. School committees may make rules and regulations for the distribution of said text-books, and may provide for the continued use of any text-books by pupils throughout any grades, in such manner as not to conflict with the provisions of this act. Section 3. Pupils completing two years in any public school in grades more advanced than the fourth grade may, if the school committee of a town or city so votes, upon graduating from the grammar schools of any city or town, and upon application to the school committee of such city or town, be allowed to retain in permanent ownership such three text-books used during the last year of their attendance in the school as they may select. Section 4. Pupils in the public schools may, if the school committee of a town or city so votes, be allowed to purchase of such city or town, at such time or place as the school committee may desig nate, at not more than the cost price to such city or town, text-books used or to be used by them in the schools. SEC. 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. SEC. 4. This act shall take effect in cities upon, and not before, its acceptance by the board of aldermen, and it shall take effect in towns upon, and not before, its acceptance by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon at any annual town meeting. Approved June 6, 1901. CHAPTER 474.-Construction of foundries, etc., Boston. SECTION 1. Section forty-six of chapter four hundred and nineteen of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-two, as amended by section four of chapter four hundred and sixty-four of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninetythree, is hereby further amended by adding at the end thereof the words: Provided, however, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to buildings used only for foundries or for working in metals, built outside of the building limits and conforming to the requirements of first class buildings except in having the beams of wood, supported or not supported by posts of wood, and in having floors of wood laid directly upon the beams and the floors kept uncovered on their underside between the beams. SEC. 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. RESOLVES.-CHAPTER 42.-New Bedford Textile School. Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth to the trustees of the New Bedford Textile School, the sum of eighteen thousand dollars, to be applied to the purposes of the textile school established and conducted at New Bedford by the said corporation: Provided, however, That no part of the sum herein authorized shall be paid until satisfactory evidence has been furnished to the auditor of accounts of the Commonwealth that an additional sum of seven thousand dollars has been paid to the said trustees by the city of New Bedford, or received by them from other sources; And provided, further, That the yearly tuition fee at said institution for day pupils who are nonresidents of the Commonwealth shall be not less than one hundred and fifty dollars. The city of New Bedford is hereby authorized to raise by taxation and pay to said trustees such sum of money, not exceeding seven thousand dollars, as may be necessary to secure the amount provided for by this resolve. Approved April 2, 1901. RESOLVES.-CHAPTER 70.-Lowell Textile School. Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of the trustees of the Lowell Textile School in erecting a building or buildings for the use of said school: Provided, That no part of this sum shall be paid until satisfactory evidence is furnished to the auditor of accounts of the Commonwealth that an additional sum of thirty-five thousand dollars has been paid to said trustees by the city of Lowell, or received by them from other sources, for the same purpose. The city of Lowell is hereby authorized to raise by taxation and pay to said trustees such sum of money, not exceeding thirty-five thousand dollars, as may be necessary together with that received from other sources to obtain the amount provided for by this resolve. Approved May 1, 1901. RESOLVES.-CHAPTER 71.-Lowell Textile School. Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth to the trustees of the Lowell Textile School the sum of eighteen thousand dollars, to be applied to the purposes of the school: Provided, That no part of this sum shall be paid until satisfactory evidence is furnished to the auditor of accounts of the Commonwealth that an additional sum of seven thousand dollars has been paid to said trustees by the city of Lowell, or received by them from other sources. The city of Lowell is hereby authorized to raise by taxation and pay to said trustees such sum of money, not exceeding seven thousand dollars, as may be necessary together with that received from other sources to secure the amount provided for by this resolve. Approved May 1, 1901. RESOLVES.-CHAPTER 88.-Bradford Durfee Textile School of Fall River. Resolved, That there be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth to the Bradford Durfee Textile School of Fall River the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of the trustees or directors of the school for completing the erection and equipment of a building or buildings for the use of the school: Provided, That no part of this sum shall be paid until satisfactory evidence is furnished to the auditor of accounts of the Commonwealth that an additional sum of thirty-five thousand dollars has been paid to said school by the city of Fall River or has been received by it from other sources for the same purpose, during the year nineteen hundred and one; And, also provided, That such part of said additional sum of thirty-five thousand dollars as may be approved by the auditor may be paid by the conveyance to the school, at a valuation also to be approved by the auditor, of land in fee, free from incumbrances. The city of Fall River is hereby authorized to raise by taxation and to pay to said school such sum of money, not exceeding thirtyfive thousand dollars, as may be necessary together with that received from other sources to secure the amount provided for by this resolve. Approved June 5, 1901. NEW YORK. ACTS OF 1901. CHAPTER 9.-Department of Labor, etc. SECTION 1. A department of labor and the office of commissioner of labor are hereby created. Within twenty days after this act takes effect, the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint a commissioner of labor, who shall hold his office until January first, nineteen hundred and five. A successor to such commissioner shall be appointed in like manner and shall hold his office for a term of four years, beginning on the first day of January of the year in which he is appointed. Such commissioner shall be the head of such department and receive an annual salary of three thousand five hundred dollars. SEC. 2. The offices of commissioner of labor statistics and factory inspector, and the state board of mediation and arbitration, shall be abolished upon the appointment and qualification of such commissioner of labor. The commissioner shall have the powers conferred and perform the duties imposed by law upon the commissioner of labor statistics and factory inspector. SEC. 3. The commissioner of labor shall forthwith upon entering upon the duties of his office appoint and may at pleasure remove, two deputy commissioners of labor to be designated respectively as the first and second deputy commissioners of labor, each of whom shall receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars. Upon the appointment of such deputies the offices of the assistant factory inspector, deputy commissioner of labor statistics, and chief clerk of the commissioner of labor statistics are abolished. SEC. 4. The department of labor shall be divided by the commissioner of labor into three bureaus as follows: factory inspection, labor statistics, and mediation and arbitration. The bureau of factory inspection shall be under the special charge of 1110-No. 38-02-13 |