The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-10-25
Vermont and Child Labor.

The state of Vermont is already in
the throes Of legislation, and one Of the
most important bills yet brought before
1 the law making body is one drawn by
] s. H. jackson of the Vermont state
public service commission relative to the
employment Of women and children in
manufacturing and mechanical establish.
ments. 1t is modelled IN general terms
upon the act which went into effect in
this state at the beginning OF the pres
ent year and provides that no woman
/ and no child under eighteen years of age
| shall be employed in laboring in man
ufacturing or mechanical establishment
more than ten hours any one day or
more than fifty-four hours a week. II
| there is a special demand upon the labor
! ing force because of aeasonal require
ments, these hours may be extended to
fifty eight in a week provided that the
whole number in a year shall not exceed
an average of fifty-four a week, exclu-
sive OF Sundays and holidays.
This is a humane measure and the
state can hardly Justify itself if it
shirks the responsibility of the protec-
/ ton called for in its proposed require
ments. 1t has also the approval of the
social service commission of the Episco-
pal diocese of Vermont, which has been
very active and thorough in the inves-
tgation of existing conditions and prop
erly insisted that something substantial
should he done through legislation for
their correction. The report of the find
ings of this commission. which is entitled
TO full credence, is that in the textile
mills especially, of number of towns
and cities, ten hours a day constitute
days work and sixty hours week
as a regular schedule. But often it hap
pens that there is rush." when men,
women and children work twelve and
thirteen hours day for days and weeks
consecutively.
In some cases, also, this steady de.
mand has no cessation on the Sabbath
day and that intensifies the strain upon
women and children at the growing pc
Rod of their lives. One case is men
toned, not we trust entirely representa-.
tive OF the system, where a girl of fif-
teen was employed thirteen and half
hours a day for a month At the end
of such an experience, her boss came to
her house between 2 and 3 o'clock on
Sunday morning and requested her to get
up and come to work. She refused and |
was Immediately discharged. and such an
alternative has to be faced by those who |
decline to accept all the burdens that |
may be put upon them, for there is no
law upon the statute books of the state |
that makes these establishments re-
sponsible for such excessive demands.
1t is rather surprising that Vermont |
has delayed taking proper action upon
this situation for so long time. She |
has a very intelligent population and /
one that we might suppose would be
in advance of many states in caring for
the interests of the classes referred to
in the bill Possibly the extent TO which
her population is of rural character
has caused a failure to realize what goes
on in the textile industries. But the
has furnished the facts. and
il is now up to the states law makers
to make the logical and proper use of
them. New England, certainly, ought
not to be lacking with respect to proper
laws for the protection Of women and
and not only should such laws
be adopted, but they should also be en-
forced, something that does not always
happen even when the statute books read
III right. For such purpose it is de-
,irable that state inspectors should be
appointed. as local officials are some
lines too much inclined to overlook in
Transcript.