New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-01-28
Labor Reform.


Labor Reform.
,, A...roblv Of this State voted on w ednesday
-, % eosr.ft on the General Law governing the
formation and management OF Manufacturing Com
osa;es and defining the liabilities aud immanites
81 the corporstors provision that no minor should
bs employed by companies formed under this act
for more than ten hours per dsy.-We heartily sp-
oro,e this vote 10 view of all the circumstances
Had Mr.. Wslsh's proposition prevailed, we should
have rad different sorts Of law not only for Corpor
atoms and Individuals bat diverse rules Of action
for companies formed u3der the General Law asd
those specially incorporated Need we say we are
opposed to this aud TO the loading OF any one act
with ali manner Of provisions, however shu'afy'
touching matters irrelevant 10 the main purpose 4"
yiewi Toe bill already extends 70 twenty 'e's"
sections, embracing oil manner oil minute ue'A"'
and unesseniial requirements ~hen 10 'ao''A SCI
,ons sbouA have told the story. WHAT Is wanted
/. .ecn,;tv that the capital Of every company shall
hs f.;,Iv advertised actually paid in, honestly ap
o,;.d and faithfully accounted for; where this is
dome the stockholders should be responsible TO the
amount Of their several investments and II tnere
be any dishonesty malversstion in the manage
ment anywhere ell who participate in 1t should be
held responsible to the fall extent, both cviy and
originally These are the essential principles oil q
General Corporation law, and we cannot believe II
needs twenty seven sections, or nearly two OF our
close columns to put them into legal shape so as to
be etfec.ual.
But while we object TO numbering this ec'
Nth irrelevant provisions, however proper intrin
sicaly, we do trust that the present Legislature
will not adjourn without passing distinct and eff
fectve act, limiting the Hours Of Hired Labor es-
pscially for Apprentices and other Minors, whether
in the employ Of Corporations or otherwise, and
whether working in factories or elsewhere. IL sa
CRYING evil that an agreement TO work day, week,
nooth or year, implies no definite amount Of time,
but Just SO long the employer sees lit to exact
In particular localities the hired lsborers have, al
sress personal risk and sacrifice, compelled the
adoption Of the Ten Hour principle, but the Law
mas not stood their friend only declared for them
after tue victory bad been won.
Now is it not most manifest that the scores o.
thousands Of Apprentices and Hired Minors In oui
State ought 10 have some legal protection against
the natural tendency Of hard masters TO work them
beyond their strength 70 the peril OF their health
and ysor aud 20 the denial of their natural right 70
leisure for intellectual culture and physical re-
lsxation7 Suppose a master chooses To make hi'
apprentices or hired boys ofren orphans or Tar re
moved from any parental guardianship work twelve
TO fourteen hours per day, have they any shadow OF
ioyal protection against the wrong, any more than
the slaves on a Southern plantation Admit II
YOU please, rhat nine-tenths Of the masters never
of.c.fU
nine tsnths OF the whole community never think OF
stealing yet have stringent penalties for stenl-
ing An infexible egel rule that ten hours per day
shouid be the extent OF minors daily labor, and
that in case more were required in sudden
emergency, two hours immunity should be given
within q month for every hours excess OF toll,
would trouble no humane master and only inter
fere with others as Justice and Public Good de-
mand. Such law would have many good results
and among them that OF teaching numerous class
of Youth to realize that, though they are as yet
powerless, the shield of the Law is over them and
their welfare is the subject Of public solicitudc.-
And when such n law shall he passed, we trust il
viii never authorize its protection 10 be set aside
by the consent Of parent or guardian. The
father who would consent that his child should
labor beyond the limit deemed consonsnt with his
health AMI growth, would thereby prove himself
unfit to have any controlling voice in the matter
Sometimes an Incorporate or otherwise dissolute
parent 10 base enough to sabsist on the meager
earnings of his minor children. and would not hesi
tate 20 work them thirteen fourteen hours If the
pay were graduated accordingly Let the law be
first just then imperative.
AS to the Labor OF Adults, the propriety Of
different rule is obvious rather is obvious that
many OF the considerations which call for action in
the case Of Minors do not apply here. But the law
ought to say, even with regard to adults, what
number Of hours labor shall constitute legal
days work. and let those who desire to buy or sell
more hours per day make special agreement to
tina. effect A man agrees to work-a year for a
hundred dollars, and the Law knows jost how
much he is to receive and will enforce accordingly
but whether he is to work three thousand, thirty
six hundred or forty.two hundred hours for the
money. the law saith not We trust it cannot long
continue 90.
Riahf Wr0uQf