The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-05-24
1.-THE INALiENABLE
 RIGHT TO REST"
New Standard In Court Decisions
 on Labor Legislation

The Survey Press Bureau.)
 The Supreme Court of Mississippi has established a new standard for other states to follow. It has hand ed dowzi a decision which marks a new epoch in the progress of labor legislation.
 This decision, which has passed al- most without comment. sustains the validity Sf the Mississippi ten-hour law enacted in March, 1912 Other courts have sustained other ten-hour laws, but the new and startling feature or the Mississippi decision is that for the first time in the history of the United States it upholdss as reason able health measure, general iae regulating the hours of labor in man ufacturfng industries applying co men and women alike
 Hitherto no general statute regulat ing the hours of work for men in prd- vate employment has sbeen sl1sta1ned- Only In occupations manifestly dam eerous to health have the courts held that z mans hours of labor may be limited by law, or in an occupation like the railroad service where public safety is at stake
 Thus. laws have been upheld estab- fishing a maximum. period of work for railway employees. on the ground that such workers must have sufficient pe- rlods Of rest to enable them safely to operzte trains It Is recognized that the safety of the public depends upon the physical fitness of railway ern- ployes-
 Almost twenty years ago the United States Supreme. Court upheld the val fdtty of the Utah law which limits the work of men in mines and snelters 70 eight hours in one day. But this decision concerned the employment of men in a dangerous underground oc- cupatton fn which workers are sub- 5ected to great heat and noxious gases. The law was specifically upheld on the ground of these dangers to health. Tn a word. the occupation was deem ed by the Court sufficiently dangerous to justify the interference of the legds- ia4ure with the 1aborer's so-called freedom of contract.
 On the other hand. in the we'll known bakers case the United States Supreme Court held in effect, that the occupation of a baker was not sufr1- cfeufly dangerous to health to warrant the limitation of working hours by the state
 The Mississippi court in the New man Lumber Company cases has bro- ken new ground so far as the work of men Is concerned. Its decision rests upon precisely the same princi- p1e as that on which similar laws ap- plying only to women have been sus- tzined by many courts, including the Supreme Court Of the United States
 
 of public health and we1fare;the right Of state, under it's police powers to preserve it's people from the overfa- tfgue and exhaustion which follow ex- cessive hours of labor not only in the S7anserous trades but in any modern manufacture
 The laws limiting the hours Of labor for women have, it is true, been sus- Safned on the ground ef women s greater physical disabilities in indus trial competition and the direct re1a- ton between the health of women and the next generation. But the lives of men. as well as women are subject to the laws of physiology; and upon men as well as women, though per- hars less immediately, falls retr1bu- been passed. Tn either case 1t Is so- ciety which finally pays the cost, and in this fact lies the justification of the states intervention
 Some day perhaps.'' said the Mis- siEsfppi court with fine discrimination 'sthe ina1fenable right to rest will be the subject of litigation"
 The inalienaible right to resti This fine phrase is indeed a new note, re- placing the more usual judicial pre- occupation with the freedom of con- tracts' guaranteed by the constitution "a theoretical right to be preserv- ed st all costs, even when it means ir actual practice no freedom but free dom to starve. To this kind. of con stitutiona1 right" the N1ississipp court refers in no uncertaAn language,
 I've pause here to remark the no table fact that 1t is rare for the seller of labor Ctf1e workman) to appeal tc the courts for the preservation of hi tnelfenabae rights of labor; tf1ds inesti znable privilege is generally the ob 5ect of the buyers' Cthe employers disinterested Solicdfude. Some day perhaps, the inalienalble right to res wd1I be the subject of litigation, bu as yet SSaig phase of individual I.1e erty has not sought shelter under th' state or federal constftutions.''
 The Mississippi law in question pro htbfts the employment of any persol more than ten hours a day in manu facturing or repairing except in ca ses of emergency. or where publi necessity requires" The J. J; New man Lumber Company. which op crates a saw and plaining mill plan and a logging railroad, was indicted for employing a workman more thai ten hours The company filed de murrer to the indictment, which wa state appealed, and fE@ Suprern Court of Mississippi naaded down al extended, opinion answering the ob sections to the statute ana overrultn the demurrer.
 Not content with this decision. tn lumber company applied for a sec ond hearing of the case and upon Ih reargument the court aga:n affirm e it's original decision.
 Tt is we'll known" says the cour -fhat. in the work connected with tn running of r1achinery. the operator subjected to a mental as well as physical strain. In many cases tn nearness to machinery makes tn work dangerous in case of an overtaz ing of the strength of the worker, c any lessening in his alertness. " can readily understand that all tn was in the minds of the Legislatur when the law now under discussio was considered.
 Besides. it would not be unreasor