Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1904-01-24


bunals having final Jurisdiction in this
commonwealth, and the purpose, force
and validity Of similar Statutes have
been carefully considered by that
court and others in several States. 1t
will be seen that the Act does not
attempt in any way to regulate the
amount OF wages which an employer
shall pay, or an employe receive, for
services by the day, or otherwise per-
formed. The language forbids any per-
son from working in underground
mines, smelters or mills for the reduc-
ton OF ores more than eight hours
per day, and the penalty is imposed
alike on the man who labOrs in those
places longer than the time prescrib-
ed, and on the owner who hires and
thereby encourages an infraction Of
the Statute by others N his service.
=. he worked more than eight hours
in his own mine he would be subject
to the sal..C .:::.l-h:re-,t ss the man
who labors for others. and the effect
of the Statute is to prevent all per-
sons from working in the places nam
Gu more than the designated number
Oh hours. The employer Is not required
to pay any more per hour for the labor
or value he receives than he paid pre-
vious to -Ae passage of the Act, he
may hire as many men as he may
choose, md he and the employee ara
as free to fix the compensation for
services performed on the basis of
their actual value as before. Both are
prohibited from having the latter work
more than eight hours per day in the
employments effected. but if loss, tenn.
porary or otherwise, be occasioned by
this curtailment of labor, it is appa-.
ent that the Statute does not require
it to be borne by the employer. Labor
properly directed creates wealth and
all honest to-. is noble and commend
able. The right to acquire and hold
property guaranteed by our constitur
ton is one of the most essential for
the existence and happiness of man,
and for our purposes here we may
consider it to be the corner stone in
the temple of our liberties, and that
it implies and includes the right to
labor.
It may also be granted that labor,
the poor mans patrimony, the creator
OF wealth and upon which all must
depend for sustenance, is the highest
species of property, and the right to
toll is as sacred and secure as the
millions of the wealthy, but individual
rights, however great, are subject to
certain limitations necessary for the
good of others and the community and
inherent in every well regulated gov
eminent. While we are not forgetful
of the important rights and constitu-
tional guarantees OF the Individual,
they are at the most only branches of
the common tree, while the welfare Of
the State which includes the protec-
ton of the health and lives of the peo-
pie in their various industrial pursuits,
Is the trunk without which the tree
could not stand or bear fruit. The pub
lie good and the health Of consider
able portion OF our population when
placed il the balance must outweigh
and turn the scale regardless of slight
inconvenience and reasonable restric-
tions, which individuals may suffer.
This principle is of greater Importance
to everyone than his more direct per-
sonal rights, for without the preva-
1ence and enforcement of this doc
trine no government could sustain it.
self and extend protection to it's citi-
zens. Broadly speaking, the right to
acquire and hold property, which pre-
suppOses the one to labor at all Ordi-
greater obligation not to injure others
individually or collectively, and to con-
tribute and aid in the support of the
government in all it's legitimate OBJ
jects, among which we may consid er
the protection of the health and lives
Of that large portion of the people in
this State who delve in the earth in
search of the precious metals that
help enrich the commerce of the
world, and who there and in the smell
tiers and ore reduction works come in
contact with poisonous minerals, and
breath dust, 1Oul air and obnoxious
fumes and gases. In this connection
1t should be remembered that the Sta
tute applies to underground mines and
not to placer claims or to men work
ing in the open above the surface
That large proportion of our popu-
latiOn are engaged in the pursuits in
which the hours of labor are restrict
ed, is a matter Of general kncwled oe.
The Legislature of 1875 declared the
mining, milling and smelling of ores
to be for the public use and when
necessary for these purposes author
led the taking of private property by
way Of eminent domain. Compiled
Laws Sec. 283). And in 1887 they de-
clared that mining was the paramount
interest Of the State and Authorized
'omnation proceedings for it's pro-
motion in certain instances. Compiled
LAWS Sec. 2SD.
We cannot close our eyes and deny
tt.at employ .lent in the places named
in the Statute is unhealthful, when it
IS ~ commonly Known that men con-
- = rscUratisn and miners con-
e''-'D+icn working underground IN
powder smoke and damp, bad s..r,
Lat they become loaded from the
fumes in the smelters, and that the
most of those employed in one of the
largest quartz mills in the State dur.
ing the past several years became at
flicted in from a few to several months
with fine particles Of flinty dust which
with the imitation and contraction in
breathing, cut the lungs and resulted
in premature and early death. We are
not prepared to say that the mining
: milling and smelling of ores are not
avocations so unhealthful and hazar