The beginnings are tentative and the work difficult. But the period draws to an end in which ignorant children drift or are pushed by ignorant parents into the work which lies nearest at hand; and the time approaches when the most careful thought will be given to the selection of one's life work and the training for it.

Child labor laws differ greatly in the different states, and the resulting inequality of burden upon competing employers so complicates the problem that, in 1916, Congress enacted a law debarring from interstate commerce goods produced by very young children-leaving each state to legislate as it sees fit about products confined to intrastate trade. This, in our opinion, should be productive of far more good than evil. But the constitutionality of this new federal legislation is involved in grave doubt, and the new statute is in some respects unfortunately worded, so that its exact scope is not yet clear.

A good state child labor law, it is now generally conceded, should prohibit the employment of all children under fourteen, and of all children under a higher age limit who are undersized, weakly, or illiterate. "Young persons" who are deficient in the fundamental requirements of an English education should be compelled, where possible, to attend a continuation school. Work in "immoral" or dangerous occupations, at night, or in excess of eight hours per day should be forbidden for all children under the higher age limit.

The successful enforcement of such laws has been found difficult. Birth or baptismal certificates, or other similar evidences of age, have to be procured from parents; certificates of attendance and proficiency from school authorities; examinations of health and educational requirements must be made; and employers required to demand, file, and return employment certificates. The community must maintain and properly support factory inspectors and health and school attendance officers in adequate numbers, with power to prosecute violations of the law and with secure tenure of office. The community should furth ovide for dependent families which

need the earnings of their children, keep birth records, and maintain schools fitted to hold the attention of the child and properly train him for his life work. "The best child labor law is a compulsory school law covering forty weeks in the year and requiring the attendance of all children under fourteen years

of age. "1

The Labor of Women.

The labor of women is not in itself a problem which calls for legislation. The evil consists in working under conditions which undermine health and morals, or for inadequate wages. It is impossible to describe here in detail the various laws which have been passed relating to the employment of women. Women are subject to the "factory acts" relating to sanitation, safety, and occupational diseases, and to general statutes regulating production in tenement houses and the time, frequency, and character of wage payments. In the more advanced states also, the labor of women in manufacturing, mechanical, and mercantile establishments is likely to be safeguarded by laws limiting the hours of labor, prohibiting night work and continuous employment for more than six hours, for example, without an interval for meals; providing and permitting the use of suitable seats; requiring separate and sanitary toilet facilities; prohibiting the employment. (knowingly) of women within two weeks before or four weeks after childbirth; and in Massachusetts for example directing local authorities to furnish responsible mothers having dependent children sufficient aid "to enable the mothers to bring up their children properly in their own homes."

Until very recent years, regulations similar to the above represented the extreme limit to which any American state had gone in the protection of women. And even the constitutionality of such regulation was in grave doubt, for an important statute limiting the hours of labor had been declared unconstitutional by the highest court in Illinois, and in New York a statute prohibiting night work had been similarly annulled, on the general grounds that they infringed the free

1 Cf. Florence Kelly, Some Ethical Gains Through Labor Legislation, pp. 98, 99, and passim.

dom of contract and were "unduly discriminatory between citizens," the court remarking (in the New York decision)" that woman is no more the ward of the state than is man." But under the more liberal leadership of the Supreme Court of the United States, both of the state courts in question have recently reversed these decisions and have sanctioned similar laws as reasonable health regulations, looking not only to the protection of the individual woman but to the "welfare of the race."1

Minimum Wage Laws for Women. In about a fourth of the states minimum wage laws have been passed, with the general object of requiring that wages paid in certain occupations shall be sufficient to provide for a woman's normal needs "regarded as a human being living in a civilized community." Whether these statutes will be effective time alone can tell, but their passage marks a revolution in the social and legislative philosophy of this country.

Minimum wage laws were first adopted by the Australian state of Victoria in 1896 to regulate wages and other conditions. of labor in the "sweated trades." Trades or industries in which wages are particularly low are usually singled out by legislation, though in Victoria the government may apply the system to additional trades by administrative order. These wage boards, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, are designed to induce compulsory collective bargaining, in which the state participates by compelling employers and employees to fix standard conditions of employment. In England and this country the legislation is as yet much more tentative and restricted. "The outstanding characteristics of the American minimum wage legislation compared with that of Eng land, Australia New Zealand are these: The first is

its omission

welfare of th sponsible for b on the ground placing upon A

are acting within their police powers when they create such wage commissions and wage boards or conferences." 1 Some of the American laws, it may be added, make no provisions for joint wage boards of the Australasian type, but provide that the minimum wage shall be fixed directly by a state labor or industrial commission.

The general principles of minimum wage legislation are simple. In many trades the majority of the workers do not receive enough wages to maintain their physical efficiency. Of these sub-standard wage workers a large number are partially supported by other members of the family, a considerable number are assisted by charity, a few eke out their living by intermittent or regular prostitution, and some actually die of under-nutrition and worry."2 The work as a rule is simple and the supply of labor excessive. Usually there is no labor organization. The workers are weak and the wage is fixed by individual bargaining in which the predominant force is sometimes the rapacity of the employer. The tendency towards a uniform or standard wage in many of these trades seems to have been checked by the absence of labor organization, and competing establishments in the same industry are found again and again paying strikingly different wages for the same grade of labor.

It is held, in short, that trades which pay less than a living wage are parasitic; that they constitute a positive drain upon society at large, and that any measures necessary to place these trades on a self-supporting basis are both justifiable and economically helpful. The establishment of a minimum wage is expected to force a certain number of slow and incompetent workers out of employment, although provision is usually made to permit them to work under special permits. But that society should be forced openly and frankly to deal with and take care of its incompetent workers is regarded as an advantage. It is expected that such legislation in some instances

1 Florence Kelley, in The Survey, vol. xxxiii, p. 487.

*H. R. Seager, "The Theory of the Minimum Wage," American Labor Legislation Review, vol. iii, No. 1, p. 84.

will result in increased prices. But the consumer is expected to bear his fair share in supporting those who supply his needs, and both a priori analysis and experience in Australia and England make it probable that the rise of wages would not be accompanied by a corresponding rise in prices.1 Finally it is expected that the increase in wages will compel reorganization of the parasitical trades so that in the end the cost of production will be decreased rather than increased. Incidentally the operation of the wage boards is expected to stimulate organization among the wage workers concerned and to react. favorably upon immigration. Immigrants are less likely to come, many believe, if they know in advance that they must. be able to earn the minimum wage or else leave the country. Price cutting in the labor market will be checked; and the increase in wages will focus competition upon the quality and efficiency of the laborer. Most important of all, perhaps, the system is expected to compel a wider and more effective use of labor-saving machinery.

Minimum wage legislation slowly introduced and carefully administered meets the test both of economic theory and actual experience. In Victoria the legislation which was at first doubtfully applied to six trades has now been made applicable to 141; and 150,000 workers in a population numbering less than one and one half million "have the minimum wages in their trades prescribed by law." Vigorously opposed by the employers on its introduction, it seems from reports of disinterested investigators to have established itself on a firm foundation. There is yet some opposition to details of the law and vigorous criticism of the way in which it is administered; but from all that can be learned those who desire to do away with this system of regulation constitute a very small minority. In England the results seem equally favorable. Nothing revolutionary has been accomplished, but the system has demonstrated that it is practicable, even in highly complicated trades; that it can be trusted to raise wages without seriously disturbing prices; that it stimulates organization among workTA xxxiii, p. 514.