Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1925-09-25
EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION MAKES
FUTILE EFFORTS TO GET BACK
At WORKERS AND GOV. SMALL
r, JOSEPH \. WISE

si..4tast1rers' Association seems 10
T.. Ia qr awful fix trying TO figure out
.4v in which TO take an effective
...E at the Illinois labor movement
..| Governor Len Small in order 10
s... hunk" for the trimming thas
4.. n Glenn, chief lobbyist for the
4saafacturers' outfit, received at the
..ras of the Illinois General Assembly
~, winter and spring.
Glenn loudly announced about a
.#.rth ago that he was circulating a
document denouncing Governor Small
.ar pardoning trade union officers who
EaI been convicted and sentenced to
srtsan on framed-up charges.
Finds Ii Hard To Get Signatures
Glenn was certain that he could OBJ
.ain million signatures to his de-
greiatory effusion of the Governors
rardoning policy The daughty COM
handing general of the forces of
Nammon Is not so sure about that
million signatures after a month of
effort. He now says that he has OBJ
tanned 10000 signatures and hopes to
fun the figures up to a total of 10000
IN the whole State of Illinois if all of
the 1900 members of the Illinois
Manufacturers Association will only
nut their shoulders to the wheel and
push real hard.
But that was not the only trick that
Glenn had up his sleeve. He ordered
colin c. II. Fyffe, attorney for the
Illinois Manufacturers Association,
To write an opinion which would be
a knockout blow for the Illinois wom-
ans l0-hour law Fyffe, who has am
bitions to be Governor of Illinois or
mayor of Chicago, and so announces
quite frequently, obediently carried
cut orders and wrote the ukase, which
va, quickly consigned to the ash can
by Attorney General Carstrom.
Fyfre in his opinion said that the
Woman'S ten-hour law of this State
was unconstitutional, out of order and
contrary to Hoyle because comma
was missing in Section l of the act.
The act has been enforced by the
division of factory inspection of the
Illinois Department of Labor ever
since 1909, and no one ever noticed
the missing comma until Fyffe came
along and got on the job as proof
reader.
Attorney General Puncturcs Argument
Oscar Carlstrom, attorney general,
also did little proofreading ON the
actt, and he has arisen in meeting and
said out loud that Attorney Fyffe is
talking through his hat and does not
know much about legal punctuation,
OF words to that effect.
lnasmuch as Carlstrom is the at
torHey yenc~ai-cf4 the. State -and Fsife.
is only an attorney who is ambitious
for public office, the factory inspec-
tors are going right ahead in en-
forcing the law, and the members OF
the Illinois Manufacturers Associa-
ton are evincing a willingness to abide
by the opinion of the attorney general
Of the State rather than to take a
chance on following the advice of their
attorney with the trick name.
Section l of the woman's ten hour
law reads as follows:
That no female shall be employed
in any mechanical or mercantile es-
tabliShment, OF factory, or laundry, or
hotel, or restaurant, or telegraph or
telephone establishment or office
thereof, OF in any place of amusement,
on by any person, firm OF corporation
engaged in any express or transpoita-
ton or public utility business, or by
any common carrier, or in any public
institution, Incorporated or unlncor-
porated in this State, more than ten
hours during any one day"
Gives Rule for Constituting Law
Attorney Fyfe contends that, be-
cause a comma is missing after the
word establishment" the act only
applies to the office held of telegraph
and telephone companies and does not
apply to other kinds of business emu
merated in the act.
Attorney General Carlstrom an
SwerS this contention in part as fol-
lows:
The great fundamental rule in
constituting statutes is to ascertain
an dgive effect to the intention of the
legislature. Punctuation is subordi-
nate to the text and as a rule of con-
struction must yield to that intent.
In the application of the general rule
that the legislative intent is the prl-
mary consideration, courts will dis
regard the punctuation of a statute or
repunctuate, if need be, to give effect
TO what otherwise appears to be It's
purpose and true meaning.
Statute Is Not Class Legislation
Notwithstanding the awkward
phraseology of Section l of the act,
| think it is apparent, from an in
spection of the whole act, that it Is
directed against the employment Of
females for more than ten hours dur
ing any one day in any department,
including the offices of the various IN
duStries mentioned in said Section l.
To construe the phrase 'or office there
Of as applicable only to the female
employees in telegraph and telephone
offices, would be to construe the act
as class legislation, forbidden by the
constitution.
1t seems clear that there is no
sound basis, in reason and principle,
for regarding female employees in the
Office of telegraph and telephone COM
panleS as a distinct and separate class
from female employees in the offices
Of the other industries enumerated
In Section l of the act. The situation
and circumstances of all such en-
p.oyes are practically the same. II
follows that to give the statute the
construction contended for by MI
Fytfe would be tantamount to con
strung it as unconstitutional. Inc
rule Of construction which prevails IN
the courts of this State is that every
lntendment and presumption Is In
,aVor of the constitutionallty oil d