The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-17
MIR. POWERS COMPLAINTS
stevens Bill Was Not in the Interest
of Labor.


The following were Labor Commissions,
POWERS objections to s. F. 55S:
Inc utIe is misleading. This If made IA
correspond with the provisions of the hill
sor ~ De olil for an act to repeal all acts
Ior the protection of labor. This can be seen
ny an examination Of the provisions of the bill
in detail. "a W OAAi
In its statistical features this hill makes D..
lew but unimportant changes in the law noW
governing the bureau of labor The great
Cndnses made by this act are not however
~ tne statistics to be gathered but in an
altogether different line The present law
governing the bureau of labor makes fhs
gathering of statistics subordinate tc the in
Iorcement OF laws for the protection of the
working people. This proposed law reyerses
enls' MOI one sentence or word even can be
FOUND in this proposed law that relates to
the enforcement of law for the benefit Of the
to1lers. There is here no authority to spend
one cent or to do single act to enforce law.
IL is statistics and nothing else. Let us nots
THIS fact in detail:
Section describes the duties OF the depart
ment The old law begins this section with
words making it the duty of the bureau to
enforce laws for the benefit of the working
people Not one word of this is left IN the
proposed law. Nothing with the same mean
ing is found In the bill There are some ten
or more laws specifically made the duty OF
the old bureau to enforce, but this proposed
Dill is silent with reference to all of them.
Possibly some authority may be found in
other statutes for the enforcement of one
or two Of these acts by the proposed DEPART
imperfect and uncertain, and such authority
can not be found for but few Of the acts
TO be enforced by the present bureau. But
While authority in this left handed way may
possibly be found for partially enforcing q
few Of these labor laws, this bill proposes to
do away with all reports to the legislature Of
acts done or prosecutions made for such
forcement. The old law. in the last sentence
of the second section, gives authority to in
clude in its reports an account of all proceed
ings taken by the bureau, in accordance with
the provisions Of any other act together with
statement of all violations Of law that have
been observed and the proceedings under the
same. All this Is omitted from this proposed
bill, and so this bill, il enacted, actually re-
peals the law authorizing or requiring re-
ports concerning violations Of laws for the
protection OF the working people.
Not content with striking out OF the sta
tutes of the state. the present authoriy og
the bureau to enforce law, and (2) to make
a report Of It's act in such law enforcement,
this proposed bill goes farther. In section
1t repeats the authority Of the bureau officers
to enter factories and kindred places to en-.
force law. This law only gives them
thority to enter these places to collect sta
tstics. 1t omits the following words found
in the old law: And to examine into the
methods of protection from danger to en-.
ployes and the sanitary condition in and
around buildings and places, and make
record thereof" In the same section 1t
strikes out the last sentence which connects
the present bureau law with the present fac
tory inspection law. This omission as all the
others referred to, shows how the authors
OF THIS Dill were consistent In their effort to
strike out of the laws Of the state all author
ity Of the bureau to enforce laws for the
benefit Of the toiling masses.
This same feature of this bill is further
shown in other ways. This bill omits from
section 8, corresponding to the old SEQ
ton g. the provision calling for the ap-
pointment OF practical men for factory in
spectors, skilled in the duties imposed upon
them by other acts. This omission shows
how, If there is to be no law enforced by
the factory inspectors, there is no need OF
"a INT
bill here Is consistent with all its other pro-
visions, repeating 50 far as can be done by
this act the duty of the bureau to enforce la
Dor laws.
The present bureau law, by referring to
other laws, authorizes the public printer ia
furnish not only ali blanks and printing called
for by that act, but also all the various lawf
entrusted to the bureau for enforcement
This bill, by striking out all references ia
those other laws; repeats the authority of the
printer to print blanks for use in connection
with the enforcement of those laws. Here
then we how this bill strikes at the en-.
forcement of labor laws from another side.
The bill is thus in all its provisions con.
sistent in its efforts, or rather the efforh
OF its trainers to strike down the enforcement
or laws for the protection of labor, to throw
doubt and uncertainty about such enforcement
as Is not repealed and to leave the right
OF the toiler with the least possible legal
safeguards thrown about them. This makea
the bill a caricature of a labor bill and thG
department 1t creates farce, hence, l say
its true title should have been "a bill foI
an act to nullify all acts for the protection Of
labor
In addition to my objections against this bill,
from this side the enforcement Of laboi
avs, l wish to point out its defects from
the standpoint Of statistics. This bill strikea
out the last half of the old section g. This
present bureau law provides some guards
against abuses by the officers sent to collect
statistics This law repeats those safeguards
and makes the manufacturers of the state
the prey of any dishonest man that in thu
future might by chance be appointed to any
position in the department. The bill strikes
at the employer Of labor as well as strikes
at the laws for the protection Of labor. The
law in its essentials exemplifies the policy
of the fellow who, in speaking of certain laws
said he favored them but was opposed to
their enforcement. This bill destroys the
machinery for enforcing labor laws and coll
Letting reliable statistics.