The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-01-23
MAY BRING CHANGE OF HOURS
Legislation Along These Lines Promise
to Take up Much of the Time of the
Members of the Legislature at the
Present Session at Madison.

session. Enough is now known of the
situation so that the big issues Of the
session are beginning to loom up in
the foreground. There can be no ques-
tion that the so-called humanitarian
bills will be among the principal is
sues Of the session and Of these bills
probably the greatest interest will be
| taken in the minimum wage bill for
women and the mothers pension bill.
| In regard to the minimum wage issue
some legislation will be adopted but
just how far it will go it is yet early
to say. This much seems certain, how
ever, that the law when finally passed
will not go further than to provide
that the industrial commission will
have power to limit the minimum wage
in certain lines Of work which will
be enumerated.
| The hardest work will be to CLASH
| fly the labor in which the industrial
commission shall have the power. The
governor in his message designated
that it should be in what are consider
ed the so-called oppressive trades. 1t
| is likely that when the time comes for
discussion Of he oppressive trades
before the legislature that all employ
ers of woman labor will be very GER
tain that the trades they represent
cannot for moment be classified in
the oppressive class. In fact the dis
cussion of work for women will
probably form the theme for some very
interesting committee hearings.
! Assemblyman Golf, the chairman of
the public welfare committee, and
some others who have given a good
deal of study to this minimum wage
question are very much inclined to
place the power in the minimum wage
bill to a control by the industrial
commission of the minimum wage
which shall be paid by employers of
women labor in those lines Of work
where women are most generally en-
ployed, and to make the bill especial.
ly operative to factory work rooms
where the women are obliged to do
considerable machine work, and work
of a like character Laundry work
and other work of that kind come with
in the contemplation of the support
ers of bill in this form.
In drafting the minimum wage bill,
the members of the legislature who
have the measure in charge will be
guided in part by the ideas of the
members of the Wisconsin Industrial
Commission, who have given the sub
ject considerable study and who have
list of trades which will probably be
made public at the committee hear
ings and in which they think women
at the present time are not receiving
the compensation they should for the
work which they perform. 1t is not
likely that in the drafting of the Wis
consin law very much attention will
( be paid to the law on the statute
books of Massachusetts upon this
subject.
Representatives of the various wom-
en- S societies in the state will be here
for the hearings on the minimum
wage law and several prominent
women, including Mrs. Howard YIN
Wycz Of Milwaukee, Mrs. Julia Kurtz
of Milwaukee, and Mrs. B. G. Gudden
of Oshkosh, will probably be invited
to come to Madison and give their
views upon the tentative bill which
will be drafted by the committee as
a basis for argument. The opposition
to the bill will not be united for the
reason that there are some manufact-
urers who employ women labor who do
not feel opposed to a minimum wage
measure provided it is drawn in the
form which gives the Industrial com
mission control and will not bitterly
| oppose a measure of that kind.
There are others who are very much
opposed to any legislation of any
character on the subject AS a matter
of fact employers of women labor
would probably better make plans to
meet some kind of bill on this sub
ject rather than put up a fight on the
bill In toto for the reason that a can
vass of the legislators would seem
ingly indicate that measure on the
subject of minimum wage for women
was absolutely certain to pass. The
feeling is that so much has been said
on the subject already that the legis-
lature cannot afford to avoid the issue
altogether.
In addition to passing minimum
wage for women bill along the lines
mentioned, there is talk that the legis-
lature will empower special COM
mittee to make an investigation of the
presence of women in several lines of
work and to report to the next legis-
lature whether they link the oceupa-