Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-01-04
Recommended by Labor
Commissioner Lyons.
Child Labor Laws Should Be
Made More Effective.
State Board Of Cancellation and
Arbitration Should Be Created,

-
stand he takes on the subject of pro-
lection of life in buildings used for
public purposes. After quoting the
law as found in Chapter rs of the Re
vlsed Statutes he says:
The provisions of this law are no
doubt ample to provide for all ext
gencies, but it is evident that, in many
particulars, they are utterly ignored.
No treasures are suffering from d
dlstenticn caused by. the accumulations
of funds derived from their enforce
ment. In too many cases inspection
is not made, certificates Of inspection
are not issued and no returns are made
to the clerks as required by law.
The duty of seeing that the law is
enforced, not in one, but in every par
ticuistr, shouid devolvo upon some State
official, and he should be provided with
the means to enable him to successful
ly and thoroughly perform his duty.
If w" should have a disaster caused by
the neglect of enforcement of the law
the responsibility will and should be
placed upon those who make the laws,
but neglect to provide the necessary
means for their enforcement. Laws
that arc not sufficiently supplied with
means for enforcement had better not
exist as they cast opprobrium upon all
laws.
80 far we have been very fortunate
in escaping such terrible disasters as
the burning of the Ironuois theatre at
Chicago, and the school building at
ColllngwooJ. Ohio, where the lives Of
hundreds OF innocent children were
sacrificed nccdlessly, but we must not
consider ourselves immune from such
| terrible affections. We have the con-
ditions and if we escape it will be
| more due to good luck than to eff
| cheney Of any precautionary measures.
when the wires flashed the news of
the school building horror, commune
ties were aroused to the necessity Of
providing against a repetition of any
silch happening. A hurried examina-
ton was made OF our school buildings
ard many existing dangerous defects
were remedied, but a compliance with
tire law requires that the inspection
shall be general instead of in any one
particular condition.
In referring to investigation of the
rural conditions of Maine, in part Mr.,
Lyons says:
I'm this, as in other Investigations
made by the labor department, our
purpose and desire is to do something
| that will be of some material benefit to
the State and the subjects that we
consider Of the most importance re
ceive our first consideration. We feel
justified in taking the stand upon the
principle, as we believe, that public
official is . public servant and that the
| business Of every State department
should be conducted in the interest Of
all the people and not for some par
| ticular section or political division We
also believe and do not hesitate to say
that no public office should be created
or allowed to exist simply to give some
| one a job or to provide for some
favcritc sen
In all cases service should be rem
d red for compensation received. Upon
this principle we desire to conduct the
bureau of industrial and labor StatiS-
ties Under the present law the de-
! partrncnt is not provided with funds
to permit Of its doing all the work as
signed to it in a way that will bring
about good and satisfactory results. A
small amount added to the present ap-
p:opriat;on would provide for this de
faiorcy and enable the bureau to as
sumo additional duties. thereby broad
cuing the scope of it's usefulness to cX-
list
"Thc contraction in business during
tine past year affected the Industries Of
Maine probably to about the same cx-
tent as that experienced in other
states. but it is gratifying to note that
id, c+rin al
prcparations for Increased activity
with the advent of the new year. In
the granite industry especially the out
look is very promising and there IS
every rcas IN to believe that the season
OF 1909 will find all interested in the
granite business employed at home and
additional quarrics being opened and
added to the Industry.
''Thc lumber business was affected to
the same extent that building opera
tions were suspended. but there is
every reason to believe that this con-
dltjon has reached its limit and that
the demand for lumber will increase
with the opening of our rivers in the
spring. The limited output of our
textile mills was further reduced by
the low conditions Of the rivers, but
early in the fall the factories had all
resumed their full working schedules.
1.-THE strikes in the pulp and paper
mills gave the companies an oppor-
tunitv to dispose of all their surplus
stock. and now that production is re-
su1,led under normal conditions active
operations will be necessary in order to
supply the demand.
From our experiences of the last
wear. which has brought us in contact
with actual conditions. we feel war
ra1ted in making the following recon-
mendations and respectfully present
them to the legislature for consldera-
ton.
"'rhe passage o. an employers liabil-
ity law.
..The passage of a law limiting the
hours of labor of women and minors
emploved in the textile industry to IS
hours per week
1.-THE passage of law requiring en-
nlovers 10 report all accidents to the
bureau of industrial and labor statis-
tics.
."rhe passage of law making effec-
five the bureau of mines and mining.
.The passage of law applying more
generally to protection of life i'll build