Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-09-18

VI tCdh v" FNlC lShSNhSb SJ
Laws Passed BY Republican Legis-
latures.
From Our Own Correspondent.
Philadelphia, Sept. 16.-One of the
most important features of the pres
ent campaign will be a showing of the
part that the Republican party has
played in the life of the workingman
of Pennsylvania. 1t is a marvellous
showing.
The present reign of prosperity,
shared alike by every toiler, whether
1t be In mill. forge, factory or on the
farm, can be traced to the wise and
beneficent working of national laws
enacted alike for the protection Of la
Dor and capital. The Republican par
ty in the nation has ever been the
staunch friend of the workingman.
The Republican party in the state has
emphasized this by enacting laws COW
ering a period of 35 years, for the COM
fort, convenience and protection of
the working man and woman. There
has been compiled within the past
week a complete list of labor laws
passed in Pennsylvania by Republican
legislatures since the close of the Civil
War that is one of the most remark
able things of its kind in existence.
Pennsylvania leads every state in
the character of it's labor legislation.
IL 20
men, women and children of the state
who earn their living by the sweat Of
their brows have been enacted in the
past 35 years.
WOMAN AND THE SEWING MA
CHINE.
At the close of the Civil War indus
trial and commercial enterprises were
in a more or less chaotic state. Thou
sands of widows, mothers and daugh-
ters of soldiers were compelled to eek
out living as seamstresses and dress
makers. One of the first laws passed
by the legislature of 1869 was an act
to exempt sewing machines belonging
to seamstresses from levy and sale on
execution or distress for rent
At this time the great anthracite
coal regions of the state were just be-
ginning their period of development.
There were practically no laws look
ing to the protection of human life in
legislature that took up this subject
at this time, and during all of the sue
ceeding years has passed laws whose
object has been the protection of life
and limb of the toilers in the darkness
of the mine.
On page $50 of the pamphlet laws of
1869 will be found one of the first min
ing laws enacted, entitled 'An Act for
the Better Regulation and Ventilation
of Mines. and for the Protection of
the Lives of Miners in Schuylkill
County"
This was only the beginning. 1t
was followed by a general law for the
safety and health Of persons employed
in coal mines, passed in 1870. In the
same year laws were passed for the
piOISNbAOh VI III val lOuS NOuh
ties of the state
In 1872 an act for the better protec-
tion of the wages of mechanics, miners,
laborers and others was passed, as
well as a bill providing For the Es-
tablishment of a Bureau of Statistics
on the Subject Of Labor and for Other
Purposes" (P. l.. 1872, page 59)
In all the years up to the present
there have been numerous similar en-
actments. In 1872 one of the most i'm
portant measures ever enacted into a
law, the record of which can be found
in the pamphlet laws for 1872, on page
1,175, was the act to relieve laborers,
workingmen and journeymen from
certain prosecutions and indictments
for conspiracy under the criminal laws
of the commonwealth. This act has
conserved the liberty of thousands of
wage earners in Pennsylvania in the
past 80 years.
PROTECTING BREAD-W
1t was the Republican party in the
legislative session of 1874 that passed
a law in relation to suits for wages,
stay Of execution on judg-