Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-12-16
CASE IS DISMISSED.
Mill Wins on the Fifty
Eight-H0ur Question.
A TECHNICAL DECISION
Which Permits Manufactures to Run
Ten Hours q Day.

FALL Pive,, Mass Dec H. In the Sec
ond dis rici court &, uns'l A. j. Jennings
filed an answer o. the complaint charging
tn" Clton Cotton nauufactory with vio-
lstion of the stty-oi.,ht hour law. Counsel
presented n motion, which was read and
fled. which called for quashing the com.
9laint on teclIdcllities.
One important feature Of the motion,
which hal much effect upon the court
and which finally resulted in the dis
charge of the defendant. was in relation
to the fifty-eight hour notice posted Ia the
mills. The statute calls for such to be
posted in each room, stating the hours Of
starting, stopping, etc. this TO be attested
bv the chief OF The state police and the at
torney general.
The latter's signature was wanting In
the present case, and the court dismissed
the defendant On the ground that there
WAS no obligation for the mill TO run
under the schedule mentioned, since it.
was not signed by nor attested by the at
torney general
The case involved the stability of the
hfty-eioht-hour law as IL II enforced in
the various workshops aud mills OF the
state, and, according to the opinion Of the
Justice.
Renders the Law imperative.
Tbs new statute referring To the shorten
Ing OF the hours of labor for women and
children, under the decision, becomes a
dead letter, and the cotton mills of this
and other cities can run ten hours per day.
AS OF old, without molestation, until the
breach In the enforcement is healed.
The Union Cotton Manufacturing com
pany was charged by State Inspector of
Factories Tierney with violating the
hfty-eight-hour law in employing
woman more than ffty-eight hours
week. The testimony showed conclu-
sively that the corporation did on Nov. ~
run its machinery thirteen minutes over
time But Andrew J. Jennings, counsel
Tor the concern, filed "A motion to quash
the complaint, setting forth ten points
wherein he attacked the complaint In form
and substance He allowed that IL was
drawn according to the statutory pro-
visions, but he claimed that the
Statutes Were Rad ioaily Wrong.
The court in the first place overruled
his motion To quash, and then evidence
was submitted which was strong as above
stated
the point that IL did not appear in ev.
dence in the complaint that the printed
notices posted In the mill, setting forth
the time during which the mil should
run, were furnished by the chief of the
state police, or approved by the attorney
general.
The statute specifically demands that
these notices shall be furnished by the
chief and apnroved nv the attornay yam
eral. The notice was submitted in evi.
dence and upon it's face there was moth
ing TO show who fathered it or where it
came from. The court
Dismissed the Action
upon this ground and said that the charge
sgainst the corporation was that It had
violated a certain provision which the
statute intended should be posted accord
ing to law, but which WAS not.
Legally, there is no notice posted in the
mills Of the state, and, therefore, the chief
Of state police has not complied with the
law. There being no notice, there could
be no violation thereof.
This 10 the first case brought before the
courts Of the state under the new statute
relative To the shortening Of hours Of la
Dor OF mill ersployes, and Mr.. Jennings
was prepared 20 fight into the tribunals
Of last resort If he had not been successful
In the lower court.
Before the law can become operative
new notices must be sent out by the chief
Of the state police. under the approval OF
the attorney general.
The decision II considered Important in
asmuch as all the notices in the other
mills are q reproduction Of this one