The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-10-03
FOR WEEKLY PAWN ENTS
The Supreme Court Decides That
the Bill is Constitutional.
THE W0RKINGMEN FAVORED.
The Case IL Sent Back To the District
Court whence IL Was Appealed From
Brown q sharpe-Thc Very Able Argu-
ments OF the Justic ON.

A dicisiou was handed down In the
Supreme Court this morning by the full
Dench, declaring the Weekly Payment
Law constitutional. The matter came
before the court on an action brought by
John Curtis against the Brown a. Sharpe
Manufacturing Company.
The decision is "A lengthy document
coming IN the neighborhood OF twenty
FIVE pages of typewriter foolscap. The
law Is first quoted, the points taken by
the parties in their brief are noted, after
which the court expresses itself as fol
lows:
employees, whether of corporations or
individuals, are favored beyond any other
class by the laws Of this State. as shown
by our insolvent laws. which provide
that no assignment hereafter male for
the benefit of creditors shall give to any
one creditor any preference over the
claims OF any otner creditor creditor. except the
the State of RHODE ISLAND, or
for the wages of labor per-
formed within six months previous to
such assignment, exceeding 500 to any
one person which claims shall be paid in
full il sufficient, whether such preference
pense of executing the judgment shall
first be paid out OF the estate.
A Corporations Power.
A corporation derives it's power soly
from the Legislatures; and that corporate
powers and privileges are valuable is
demonstrated by the vast increase in
corporations. Each succeeding de cade,
not the least valuable of such corporate
privileses being Limitation fSr tho to
debts of the corporation, and one
effect of Chapter 90S of the Public Laws
would be to prevent, to a considerable ex-
tent failing corporations, forced to make
an assignment for the benefit OF their
creditors, from owing 10 their employees
larger sum than would be preferred by
law.
.'If it be said that. however rich aud
powerful corporations may be. and how
ever poor and week their employees, the
latter are not obliged to work for the
former, and, II they choose to work for
corporations, they can, but chapter 9lS,
makes such agreements as they see tit aud
thus protects themselves, then IL may be
replied that poverty aud weakness can
wage but an unequal contest with
corporate wealth and power, and that the
Legislature in granting valuable corpo-
rate powers and privileges might be will
ing to do it, or, IL already granted, to con-
tinue them if it has retained the power to
amend such original grant, only on con-
dtion of minimizing corporate power TO
drive hard bargains with their
employees, who too often in the
sharp and bitter competition for
work, have to submit to such terms and
conditions as their employers see fit TO
prescribe. But for the power granted by
the legislature corporations could not
make any contract aud we see no reason
why the legislature under its reserve
power to ammend charters, cannot limit
the power to contract in the future just
as they might have fixed 1t in the origi-
nal charter, IL any reasonable purpose
is to he subserved thereby.
THE limitation OF liability OF stock
holders for the debts of a corporation, tue
necessity Of corporations to delegate the
exercise Of power TO officers and agents,
he fact that corporate po Aers are privi-
leHes granted by the legislature on
such conditions as the granting
whicn corporate privileges, by af-
fording facilities TO aggregate capital,
conduce to the concentration and in
crease of power, are reasons why the
General Assembly might regard corporate
bodies as proper subjects for legislation,
not permissible, perhaps, in relation TO to
Is within the reserve power of the Gen
eral Assembly to enact, so far as reason
ableness is concerned, IL they deem it ex-
padi mt.
General Assembly I'm Good Faith.
In applying rule of Justice Swayne
the court says: "We fail to discover any
thing on the face of the act under con-
sideration or inferrible from its operation
that leads us to question the good faith
OF the General Assembly in passing it.
The decision states further that the
question has been made at the bar
whether chapter 9l3 was to be deemed an
exercise of the police power. while if it
were police power there can be no ques-
ton of the propriety of It's exercise, yet
the converse is not true, VIZ: That IL it is
not police po - er 1t would necessarily be
unreasonable and an Invalid exercise of
the power reserved to the General Assem-
bly, TO amend charters.
As this act applies only to corpora
tions, and is therefore intended TO rem
edy evils presumably attaching To them
only, we do not, in our view of the case,
consider il necessary To consider that
point further.
lit has been argued that chapter 9lS
would prevent contracts for payments by
the piece or job We do not SO under
stand the act. Ii employees are to b. paid
by time standard, then they must be
paid weekly. but II they are to be paid by
the piece, thea wages are not earned
until the piece Is done, and the wages TO
be paid weekly are the Wages earned
within nine days OF the date OF pay
inent.
1T has been urged that chap. 9ls is
unconstitutional because il interferes
with the rig. ITS of employees to make such
contracts with corporation as they
see tit No inhibition is placed
upon employees to make such con
tracts as they choose with any
person or body natural or artifl, ,ia,
that Is authorized to contract with them.
But corporations are artificial bodies, and
possess only such powers as are granted
to them. and natural persons dealing with
them have no right to demand that
greater power should he granted TO
corporations la order that they may
make other contracts with such
corporations than the corporations
are authorized TO enter into. Chapter
9ls was clearly passed in the interest OF
the employe, and 1t is not easy to see how
10 would operate To his disadvantage. III
he did any labor under time contract
which the corporation was not author
lied to make, lac would be paid not under
the contract but under qidntum meruit
every week.
As to Kinds OF Corporations
STRESS has been laid upon the fact that
,1.r 80 fai, LID.