Case Name: The State of Kansas v. Henry Wilson
Court: Kansas Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Kansas
Decision Date: 1899-11-11
Citations: 61 Kan. 32
Docket Number: No. 11,310
Parties: The State of Kansas v. Henry Wilson.
Judges: Dostbr, C. J. concurring.
Reporter: Kansas Reports
Volume: 61
Pages: 32–47

Head Matter:
The State of Kansas v. Henry Wilson.
No. 11,310.
(58 Pac. 981.)
1. Constitutional Law — Mines and Miners. “An act to regulate the weighing of coal at the mine,” being chapter 188, Laws of 1893 (Gen. Stat. 1897, ch. 149, §§48-53; Gen. Stat. 1899, §§4000-4005), is constitutional and valid as a proper exercise of the police power. It does not purport to prevent the operators of coal-mines and the miners employed by them from making such agreements as they choose concerning the amount of wages to be paid, or anywise infringe upon the freedom of contract.
2. -Mines and Miners■ — Benefits of “ Screen Law.” Where miners are employed at bushel, ton or other quantity rates, it is a valid requirement of the law that the output of coal mined by them shall not be passed over any screen or other device which shall take any part from the value thereof before the same shall have been weighed and duly credited to the employees and accounted for at the legal rate of weights. Information is by this means furnished to the miner by which he may act intelligently and rest his demand for wages upon the calculated results of what he has accomplished in the past. It also affords the operator knowledge, from the use of which wages may be adjusted, based upon known facts. Such law is further beneficial in that it'supplies the public with statistics showing the total amount of coal produced in the state.
Appeal from court of appeals, southern department; A. W. Dennison, M. Schoonover, and B. E. Milton, judges.
Opinion filed November 11, 1899.
Affirmed.
STATEMENT.
The appellant was convicted in the district court for the violation of section 1, chapter 188, Laws of 1893 (Gen. Stat. 1897, ch. 149, §§ 48-53 ; Gen. Stat. 1899, §§4000-4005), entitled “An act to regulate the weighing of coal at the mine.”
It is charged in the information that the Mount Carmel Coal Company, on or about the 21st day of October, 1897, was a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Kansas, engaged in the business of mining coal from its mines located in Crawford county, at ton rates, the wages of miners employed being based upon the quantity of coal produced by each of them ; that the appellant, Henry Wilson, was an agent and superintendent of said corporation, having on its behalf the care and management of its coal-mines and mining business, with a large number of miners in his employ at ton rates; that as such agent he used certain scales for the purpose of weighing the output of coal at said mines, and did unlawfully and knowingly employ and make use of certain devices and screens to screen the output before the same had been weighed; that the output of said miners was screened with the knowledge of and by virtue of contracts with said miners, and the said Wilson failed, refused and did not weigh the same before it was passed over said screens, but unlawfully directed and caused it to be passed over screens before the same had been weighed, whereby a large part of the value was taken therefrom before the same had been weighed and duly credited to said miners and accounted for at the legal rate of weights as fixed by the laws of the state of Kansas. Chapter 188, Laws of 1893 (Gen. Stat. 1897, ch. 149, §§48-53; Gen. Stat. 1899, §§4000-4005), reads:
‘ ‘ An act to regulate the weighing of coal at the mine.
“Section 1. It shall be'unlawful for any mine owner, lessee or operator of coal-mines in this state, employing miners at bushel or ton rates, or other quantity, to pass the output of coal mined by said miners over any screen or other device which shall take any part from the value thereof before the same shall have been weighed and duly credited to the employees and accounted for at the legal rate of weights as fixed by the laws of Kansas.
“ Sec. 2. The weighman employed at any mine shall subscribe an oath or affirmation, before a justice of the peace or other officer authorized to administer oaths, to do justice between employer and employee, and to weigh the output of coal from mines in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of this act. Said oath or affirmation shall be kept conspicuously posted in the weigh office, and any weigher of coal, or persons so employed, who shall knowingly violate any of the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed thirty days, . or by both such fine and imprisonment. '
“ Sec. 3. The miners employed by or engaged in working for any mine owner, operator or lessee in this state shall have the privilege, if they so desire, of employing at their own expense a check-weighman, who shall have like rights and privileges in the weighing of coal as the regular weighman, and be subject to the same oath and penalties as the regular weighman.
“ Sec. 4. Any person or persons having or using any scale or scales for the purpose of weighing the output of coal at mines, so aranged or constructed that fraudulent weighing may be done thereby, or who shall knowingly resort to or employ any means whatever, by reason of which such coal is not correctly weighed and reported in accordance with the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, for each offense be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
“Sec. 5. Any provisions, contract or agreement between mine owners or operators thereof and the miners employed therein, whereby the provisions of section 1 of this act are waived, modified, or annulled, shall be void and of no effect; and the coal sent to the surface shall be accepted or rejected, and if accepted shall be weighed in accordance with the provisions of this act; and right of action shall not be invalidated by reason of any contract or agreement.
“ Sec. 6. The provisions of this act shall also apply to the class of workers in mines known as loaders, engaged in mines wherein mining is done by machinery. Whenever the workmen are under contract to load coal by the bushel, ton, or any quantity the settlement of which is had by weight, the output shall be weighed in accordance with the provisions of this act.”
The constitutionality of the act was sustained by the court of appeals and the judgment of the district court affirmed. ( The State v. Wilson, 7 Kan. App. 428, 53 Pac. 371.)
A. A. Godard, attorney-general, for The State.
Morris Gliggitt, and Perry & Grain, for appellant.
For opinion by the court of appeals, see 7 Kan. App. 428. — Rep.

Opinion:
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Smith, J.:
In this opinion the writer gives the views of a majority of the court. On the argument and in tlie briefs much time and space were consumed in discussion of the question whether the act under consideration affects the right of contract, and whether the law as it reads has a meaning that the wages paid to coal-miners is to be measured by the gross output of valuable product mined and brought to the surface by the laborers employed therein. In our judgment, the law nowise affects the right of contract and does not hinder or prevent the mine operator or miners from making such agreements as they choose concerning the amount of compensation to be paid for labor in mining coal. Nor does the act prohibit the employment of miners at day wages, or make void contracts for the payment of wages based on the quantity of screened coal produced. In fact, the law permits complete freedom of action in the respect mentioned. The act does, however, in positive terms, make it unlawful for any mine owner, lessee or operator of coalmines, employing miners at bushel or ton rates or other quantity, to pass the output of coal mined by said miners over any screen or other device which shall take away any part from the value thereof before the same shall have been weighed and duly credited to the employees at the legal rate of weights fixed by law.
Of the intent of the legislature in enacting the statute it is hardly necessary to inquire. We can see, however, a useful purpose to be accomplished. In the exercise of the police power the legislature may pass such laws as in its judgment are necessary regulating the measuring or weighing of commodities. In Blaker v. Hood, 53 Kan. 509, 36 Pac. 1115, it is said:
"By virtue of the police power, regulations have been imposed on the practice of the law, medicine, and dentistry, as well as upon bakers, millers, and wharfingers ; and it has been accepted as a proper exercise of the police power to regulate pawnbrokers, junk-shops, and loan offices. Inspection laws, and those regulating the weighing of commodities offered for sale, are generally regarded as suitable and valid regulations of police."
The utility of the act, if we have the right to enter upon such an inquiry, can be defended for the reason that the weighing of the gross output from the mine gives information to the miner, whose labor has separated it from the general mass of the vein, concerning the result of his effort. He is thus advised how much in weight of all grades of this fuel he has extracted from the earth in a day, a month, or a year, enabling him, when armed with this knowledge, to make contracts in the future based upon actual information of the benefits the employer has in the past derived from his labor. Thus informed he may act intelligently, resting his demand for pay on the actual value of his labor as shown by the calculated results of what he has theretofore accomplished. On the other side, the employer may also have this knowledge before his eyes when contracting with the miners for their services, enabling him to make an adjustment of wages based on known facts. By this system of weighing, deception as to the amount of coal mined is rendered impossible and fraud prevented. Standing in the light of such knowledge gained from established data, the miner may make a claim of right to wages he knows he can earn, fortifying his demand by reference to what he has done as found recorded in the weighmaster's books.
Further, it is important that the public should have within reach data sufficient to furnish information regarding the amount of coal produced from the mines within the state. A compliance with this law provides means for the compilation of statistics showing the entire output of coal. The dissemination of knowledge concerning the wealth and material resources of a state is a laudable employment, and legislation which tends to accomplish or in any way assist in such work ought to be upheld and encouraged. For this object alone the act in question is useful, and, being so, we' cannot say that the legislature did not have such purpose in view when the same was enacted. We agree with the court of appeals in saying :
" Counsel throughout their whole argument assume that the object of this act is to regulate the rate of wages to be paid by mine operators to their employees. We think this assumption is unwarranted and that, in so far as the argments of counsel rest upon it, such arguments are irrelevant to the questions which properly arise in the case.
The law is devoted to other purposes than an interference with or a regulation of contracts. It merely prohibits the screening of coal mined at ton or quantity rates before the same is weighed. This is a legitimate exercise of the police power, coming properly within the sphere of legislative action upon the grounds above stated.
The judgment of the district court and of the court appeals will be affirmed.
Dostbr, C. J. concurring.