New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-08-26
new LABOR LAWS
Important Legislation in Interest
of Workers.
Statutes Enacted Since the Signing
Of the Armistice Are Matters
for conoratulation.

Substantial progress has been made
since the signing of the armistice
In erecting additional legal safe
guards for working men and women.
according to the summary of labor
laws enacted, made public by the
American Association for Labor Leg
islation.
The statutes passed by forty states
and by congress were examined In
compiling the summary, and the con-
clusion Is reached that the advance
in the field of social insurance Is par
ticularly marked. Four more states
adopted workmen's compensation laws
last year, making a total of forty-ive
states and territories having such leg
i~slation In addition to the model act
of the federal government for It's
civilian employees and the soldiers
and sailors insurance act.
North Dakota, one OF the new
states to join the compensation group.
has now an enlightened provision
for an exclusive state fund" Tel
states raised their scale of compen-
satiOn, and at present twenty-three
states In all require employers to pay
workers when injured from GO to GO
% per cent of their wages. Only
six states, all OF them In the South,
lack workmen's compensation acts.
Even more significant, DR.. Andrews
thinks, than the compensation insur-
ance legislation Is "the Impetus given
TO the movement for compulsory
workmen's health insurance to pro-
tect w~age-earners and their families
against the hazards Of sickness as
workmen's compensation now safe
guards them when accidentally In
jured."
Women Workers Benefited.
Progress was also made, the report
states, in obtaining legislation limit
ing the employment Of women and
children. In half n dozen states the
hours of women workers were re-
dured. including an eight-hour limit
in Massachusetts, won after a full
ha~lf-century's struggle" North Da-
kota passed minimum wag legisla-
ton for women and children. bringing
the total of states having such laws
up to IA, in addition to the District
of Columbia.
"Whlle congress continued to hold
back" SAYS Doctor Andrews. "well
considered measures for a federal
state employment service, as embodied
In the Kenyon-Nolan bill, and voca-
tlonal rehabilitation. for industrial
crlpples, several states took action to
meet these urgent needs. Four states,
In addition to Massachusetts. where
beginnings were made a year ago, au-
thorized aid In r~e-educating and find
ing employment for Industrial Grip
ples. and the Smith Bankhead bill, ea-
tending the present federal state sys-
TEN of vocational education to cover
the MANNED victims of industrial ac-
cidents. passed the United States SEN
ate"
Labor Unions LOCALIZED.
Labor unions were expressly legal
lied in three states during the year,
while I'm two of these the use Of in
functions In labor disputes is strictly
limited. Oregon created a state board
of Cancellation for industrial disputes.
such as New York has, while South
Carolina passed a law establishing
penalties for violation Of its concilla-
tion and arbitration act. Six more
states passed criminal s~yndicalism and
sabotage laws.
California, Minnesota and Okla
boma increased the powers of their in
dustrial commissions to facilitate en-
forcement Of safety regulations and
other labor laws.