Norwich bulletin., 1917-04-10
Important Rulings
bySupren1e Court
MARKED DEPARTURES iNvoLv-
ING FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS
OREGON LAW UPHELD
EsaSiishes Minimum Wage for Wo-
mon in Any oeeupation-AIsoF Fixes a
Ten Hour Day tor Worssmen in Man
ufaetories.

Washington April S.-New and i'm
portant rulings defining public and
ed departures along progressive lines
and involving fundamental questions,
were announced today by the supreme
court q series of opinions.
The principal decisions were:
Oregon Labor Law Upheld.
The Oregon law establishing a min
fmum wage for women in any occupa-
q vote OF to 3. Justice Brandeis not
participating because disqualified. How
the court divided was not announced.
Oregon's law fixing a ten hour day
Adjustments was sustained as consti-
tutional. Chief Justice White and
Justices Van Devanter and McRey-
nolds dissenting. with Justice Brande-
Is not participating.
/ Price liking restrictions by means of
licenses for public use of patented
articles Of the Victor Talking Machine
and many other corporations were de-
claxed iIlogal and void, the court divid-
ing to ..
Patent Monopoly Restricted.
Pa<ent monopoly" was further cir
cumscribed for public benefit by rul-
ing that the Motion Picture Patents
Company (the so-called moving pic
ture) and others similarly circum-
stanced cannot restrict use of their
patent machines to materials licensed"
for such use.
Anti Relating Law.
The anti-rebating law clause of the
Interstate Commerce Act was upheld
by the court, in another decision, to
extend to railroad payments on freight
shipped by an European forwarding
agency, the court declaring that any
payment by a carrier to shipper in
consideration of shipping of freight
over its lines is prohibited"
Fraudulent Use Of Mails.
The law against fraudulent use of the
mails the court also decided extends to
those causing mail matter to be illeg-
ally deposited even though such per-
sons do not themselves physically post
the matter-3s
Womenss minimum wage and ~n~nss
hours OF service laws of many other
states are affected by the decisions up
holding the two Oregon statutes. The
decision marks an advanced stand In
support of such legislative enactments,
as the Oregon laws were the first of
their kind to come before the court
and were conceded to represent funda-s
mental questions between wage work
ers and employers not hitherto main
tanned by the nations highest tribunal.
In the patent monopoly cases the
plan by which such appliances have
been given to the public upon royalties
with a license merely for their use
not an outright sale-was declared void
as a mere and poorly concealed pur-
pose for maintaining and fixing prices
to agents and purchasers"
Dick Mineograph Case.
Reversing its ruling in the Dick
case, the court held in
an infringement suit Of
the Motion Picture Patents Cmpany,
that patentees of machine cannot, pre-
scribe what other materials shall be
used with their products. The deci-
sion permits use of competitors Aims
in any moving picture machine.
Patents on Machines
Patents of machines, the court de-
clared, are limited to the mechanism
Itself; patentees may not restrict their
use to any particular supplementary
and the public may use any
necessary to their operation.