The Snowflake herald., 1922-01-20

tutional amendment upon welfare legislation al
ready secured through action of state legislatures.
The amendment is indorsed among others by
George Gordon Battle of New York Shippen Lew
is of Philadelphia, secretary of the legal educa-
tion committee of the American Bar association;
Charles w. Needham, solicitor for the interstate
commerce commission and former president Of
George Washington university. Robert Z. Scott,
former assistant to the attorney general; Frank
F. Walsh, Matthew Hale, and Miss Gail Laughn.
Frank p. Walsh, former chairman of the Indus
trial Relations commission, appointed by former
President Wilson, and former joint chairman with
Chief Justice Taft of the National War Labor
board, gives it his unqualified opinion that
the passage of the amendment will "in way
affect welfare legislation for women, eithes that
which is upon the statute books at the present
time, which may be enacted in future" He
warns that there is anticipating the action of
a court in the face of many differing opinions
ering points which appear quite obvious. He, how
ever, shows that long line of judicial precedents
have protected the validity Of and constitutionali
ty of women's welfare legislation. Mr.. Walsh con-
cludes:
81 see way of apprOXimating justice
affecting the sexes, except by the passage of such
an amendment your organization has proposed.
Indeed, without such amendment, in my Opin-
ion, the late amendment guaranteeing women the
right of suffrage would become mere abstrac-
tion."
"AIr Walsh admits" says Mrs. Edward p Co.'S
tigan of Chicago vice president of the National
Consumers league "that the problems in their
final settlement will have to go before a court,
the result of whose decision is clearly in doubt.
1t would be terrible to deprive poor working
of safeguards that have been attained by and
for them with long struggles, and in return give
them privileges they can never use. The thing
to do is to push the specified changes in the
state legislatures"
In support of this view Prof. Felix Frankfurter
of Harvard Law school, counsel for the Minimum
Wage board of the District of Columbia, says in
part:
The various measures dealing with women in
industry-limtation of hours Of employment pro-
hibition regulation Of night work. regulation of
employment of women before and after confine-
ments, minimum wage legisaton-have all been
sustained by the courts upon physical, social and
economic factors peculiar to All such
legislation necessarily circumscribes the freedom
of action of the individual affected. For instance,
wherever legislation limits the periods when a
may work before after confinement,
she may not work within the prohibited periods
If she wants to.
"For reasons of policy, society's welfare is
deemed more important than the desire of the
rare individual who would insist on working un-
der such circumstances In other words, she Is
under disability account Of sex, which does
not hamper man engaged in similar employment;
she cannot contract freely; the man can. In the
same way, minimum wage legislation, ana the
other types of law which have enumerated
In aspect disabilities and treated such by
the courts AT the very best the proposed amend
ment writes into the Constitution Of the United
States dangerous lawsuit, jeopardizing the eff
forts Of the nation and the states to deal justly
with Its women workers. Undoubtedly it will
largely retard If not render impossible, every
effort Of legislation protective of women work
ers, for all such efforts will encounter the opposi-
ton Of alleged unconstitutionality"