Evening journal., 1915-02-18
NEW Child LABOR
BILLS PASSED
Miss Emily P. Bissell APP
pealS to Senate to Make
Them Effective
ALL AMENDMENTS
ARE DEFEATED
specIal to THE EvENING JouRNAL

Special TO THE EVENING JOURNAL
STATE HOUSE, DOVER, Del. Feb.
1S.-After an effort TO amend it had
failed the House bill to abolish the
present Child Labor Commission and
to create a State Labor Commission
Of five members. to be appointed by
the Governor. was passed by the Sen
ate this morning. -Four members vot-
ed to amend, they being Senators
Carter. Furniss. Harris and Joseph.
But two members voted against the
bill on final action, they being Senal
tors Carter and Furniss.
It will be recalled that Senator
Furniss recently, after he had intro
duced bill to abolish the Child La
Dor Commission, received a letter
from Senator Willard Salisbury urg-
ing him not TO vote TO abolish the
present Child Labor Commission. II
is said Governor Miller will sign the
bills.
When the bill was called up by Sem
ator Hoffecker, Miss Emily p. Bissell,
member of the present commission, was
granted privilege of the floor upon mo-
tion of Senator Wharton.
She urged the Senate to "stop, look
and listen" before acting upon the bills.
She voiced an emphatic protest against
the Senate acting hurriedly upon them,
declaring that "they are not as excellent
as you think they are"
She protested against the reduction
in the number of members of the
commission from eight to five, point
ing out that this would mean that
there could not be a woman on the
commission from each county and
would probably mean that only one
woman would be represented on IT,.
She pointed out that as the commits
sion would, under the proposed law,
have jurisdiction over the 10 hour law.
which regulates female labor, that
there would be too much work for
one woman and it was essential that
there should be a woman on the COM
mission from every county.
She urged that the bill be prepared
so that the next commission shall be
a stronger one with more backbone,
more wisdom and more sense" She
asked that the amendments suggested
by the Labor Legislation Committee
of Delaware be added. declaring that
the bills without them are no good
and do not protect the children.
1--WE go on record with our dying
gasp to make this statement" she
concluded.
Miss Margaret II. Shearman. repre-
senting the Labor Legislation Com
mittee, urged that the amendments
prepared by that organization be
adopted.
She said the new bills lacked three
important principles which are con-
tanned in the present law. namely
that the commission should be nom
partisan, that there should be a rep
resentative of organized labor on IL,
and that IL should be a commission
of eight two from each county and
two at large, which gave strong
assurance that the judges would ap-
point a woman from each county.
She asserted the people of Delaware
would protest against the passage OF
bills with these three principles elimi-
mated.
George b. Miller. of Wilmington
urged that the bills be amended tc
insure that there would be at least
two women on the commission.
All the speakers urged that the Sen
ate withhold action until persons inter
csted in the Child Labor Laws could ap
pear to explain the amendments.
When the speakers concluded, Senate
Hoifeckcr, chairman of the committe
that investigated the child Labor Com
mission as the result of ousting of ln
spector William J. Gibbons. called for ac
tion on the House bill TO abolish tn
Continued on Page Two.