The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-01-26
An Act Which Elslaves Employees.

An Act to make IL q miSdcinCanOrto rntice or
persuade Il lab 'rcr u leave the employment
OF a%n"tncr. or TO cnIp.oy 4 iahorcr under
contract with another.
he II enacted by the Srnatr and House Of
Representatives OF the State OF south Carroll
na, now met and sitting ia General Assembly
anu by the authority Of The same. That any
person or persons w.o shall cutica or per.
>uldr by any m: ans Whatsoever. any tenant
o. t"nLn:s. lapnrcr or lHbO crS. under contract
win aEOtil,r, Gu.r entered intO " the
two pirtiCS!n tn" presence of one or more viii
nrsScs, whether such contracts he verbal or in
whiting, 10 violate SlCa contract, or shall en-
iluy any !0bnr,r or labnrcrs. knuwin. him,
net or them - hG under contract with nnO.h-
cr, sh iii be dc med guilty Of II misdrmrannr,
and ulrn c. nvic:lnn thereof shrlhc tined no.
less than wen ty-iivc nOrIuG T. than ono hi Il
drrd dollars, or b" imprisoned In tho county
Jail not less tl.a ten uf more The thiIty days.
The above Is the lawt to which reference was
made last week us bcin: "a futile attempt tn
cuntrnl labor" Upon q careful reading OF the
law, however, W. have concluded to Withdraw
that prrt OF the Article which characterized /,
'aS a futile a.tenp, to control labor" We
believe. under tina law, the employer has all.
solutc power and 'rontrnl'' over lis "lahor,'
and the hired man is thereby robbed OF every
vcStiCc of the rights OF 4 freeman,
Heretofore it has beer the policy OF orr form
OF government 30 extend the greatest prOtcc-
ton and the .rcet'st privileges 10 the poorer
c,a>S or our citizens. Public lands have been
given to actual settlers in fee simple or ut Il
mere nominal figure; tho homestead cHcmp-
tlcn in land and personal property haE been
made; and recently certain other induce
mcntS for immigrants to come amongst Us
have been offered by the State IN the way Of 70
bates In taxes; and the strong corporation
that controls the Air Line Railroad at this
OF inducing people 10 come from that land to
this, where homes and transportation are Of
fcr.d at the lowest figures.
In the face Of these facts It seems strange
tina Tie best and most conservative Lcgi>la-
ture that mas met in Columbia, since Demo.
cratic reconstruction, should have fallen Into
the error of passing q lax. which, II II has any
effect or force at all, must be exceedingly or-
prcssive 20 The lahOrin- class. In our opin-
ion, it gives the employer entirely toe much
Tower over his hired man, and this power up
on which no restraint whatever IS place !, Will
no doubt in many instances work great hard
ships TO the !abo:er. The employer Is fully
protected in any wrong he may choose to in
dict. because he knows that none of his neigh
bors can give his hired man employment. On
the other hand, there is no ''p:otection' at aIl
for the hired man against tie lll-trcatrncnt he
may receive.
The moment a man consents to work foran-
other, whether on the farm, in the shop, on the
railroad, or elsewhere. 1t appears to US. under
that law that he Is rs much bound. hand and
foot, as If he were In fact held in bondage. No
other man can employ him, cvea !: he were
forced away because OF ill-trcatacnt. AS Il
matter OF fact, could not tho Railroad corpo
rations give public notice Of the names
of their employees, and then inlet
wrongs upon them because Of their absolute
power over them? Could not Il farmer so
treat his hired man, that lie could not stay
with him and then when he was gone. could
he not orewarn the public against giving him
employment?
Tie law may be equitable and just, and in
exact accord with = high sense Of right, bu:
We confess our Inability 10 see It in that way.
In our opinion, the act is 50 monstrouS, that
the higher courts would set 1, aside, because OF
its nearness to some laws which the corSti.I-
ton of tho State and Of the United States en-
p,cssly declare shall not be enacted.