LAWS OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR, ENACTED SINCE JANUARY 1, 1904. [The Tenth Special Report of this Bureau contains all laws of the various States and Territories and of the United States relating to labor, in force January 1, 1904. Later enactments are reproduced in successive issues of the Bulletin, beginning with Bulletin No. 57, the issue of March, 1905. A cumulative index of these later enactments is to be found on page 657 et seq. of this issue.] MASSACHUSETTS. ACTS OF 1907. CHAPTER 164.-Provisions for accidents in factories. CHAPTER 267.-Hours of labor of women and children-Night work. CHAPTER 269.-Hours of labor of employees on public works. * * * SECTION 1. Section one of chapter five hundred and seventeen of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and six is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 1 (as amended by chapter 570, Acts of 1907). Eight hours shall constitute a day's work for all laborers, workmen and mechanics now or hereafter employed by or on behalf of the Commonwealth, or of any county therein, or of any city or town which has accepted the provisions of section twenty of chapter one hundred and six of the Revised Laws. No laborer, workman or mechanic so employed shall be requested or required to work more than eight hours in any one calendar day or more than forty-eight hours in any one week except in cases of extraordinary emergency. Only a case of danger to property, to life, to public safety or to public health shall be considered a case of extraordinary emergency within the meaning of this section. Engineers shall be considered mechanics within the meaning of this act. But in cases where a weekly half holiday is given the hours of labor upon the other working days of the week may be increased sufficiently to make a total of forty-eight hours for the week's work. Threat of loss of employment or threat to obstruct or prevent the obtaining of employment, or threat to refrain from employing in the future shall be considered requiring, within the meaning of this section. This section shall not apply to persons employed in any State, county or municipal institution, on the farm, or in the care of the grounds, in the stable, in the domestic or kitchen and dining-room service, or in storerooms and offices. SEC. 2. Section two of said chapter five hundred and seventeen is hereby amended * * * so as to read as follows: Section 2. Every contract, excluding contracts for the purchase of material or supplies, to which the Commonwealth, or of any county therein, or of any city or town which has accepted the provisions of section twenty of chapter one hundred and six of the Revised Laws, is a party which may involve the employment of laborers, workmen or mechanics shall contain a stipulation that no laborer, workman or mechanic working within this Commonwealth in the employ of the contractor, subcontractor or other person doing or contracting to do the whole or a part of the work contemplated by the contract shall be requested or required to work more than eight hours in any one calendar day and every such contract which does not contain this stipulation shall be null and void. SEC. 3. Section four of said chapter five hundred and seventeen is hereby amended * * * so as to read as follows: Section 4. Any person or contractor or subcontractor, or any agent or person acting on behalf of any contractor or subcontractor, or any agent or official of the Commonwealth or of any county, city or town who violates any provision of this act shall be subject to a penalty of fifty dollars for each offense. Approved April 3, 1907. CHAPTER 373.-Examination, etc., of stationary engineers and firemen. * * * SECTION 1. Section seventy-eight of chapter one hundred and two of the Revised Laws is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 78. No person shall have charge of or operate a steam boiler or engine in this Commonwealth, except boilers and engines upon locomotives, motor road vehicles, boilers and engines in private residences, boilers in apartment houses of less than five flats, boilers and engines under the jurisdiction of the United States, boilers and engines used for agricultural purposes exclusively, boilers and engines of less than eight horsepower, and boilers used for heating purposes exclusively which are provided with a device approved by the chief of the district police limiting the pressure carried to fifteen pounds to the square inch, unless he holds a license as hereinafter provided. The owner or user of a steam boiler or engine, other than boilers or engines above excepted, shall not operate or cause to be operated a steam boiler or engine for a period of more than one week, unless the person in charge of and operating it is duly licensed. * * SEC. 2. Section eighty-two of said chapter one hundred and two, as amended* is hereby further amended by striking out said section and inserting in place thereof the following: Section 82. Licenses shall be granted according to the competence of the applicant and shall be distributed in the following classes: Engineers' licenses:-First class, to have charge of and operate any steam plant. Second class, to have charge of and operate a boiler or boilers, and to have charge of and operate engines, no one of which shall exceed one hundred and fifty horsepower, or to operate a first class plant under the engineer in direct charge of the plant. Third class, to have charge of and operate a boiler or boilers not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred and fifty horsepower, and an engine not exceeding fifty horsepower, or to operate a second class plant under the engineer in direct charge of the plant. Fourth class, to have charge of and operate hoisting and portable engines and boilers. Firemen's licenses:-Extra first class, to have charge of and operate any boiler or boilers. First class, to have charge of and operate any boiler or boilers where the pressure carried does not exceed twenty-five pounds to the square inch, or to operate high-pressure boilers under the engineer or fireman in direct charge thereof. Second class, to operate any boiler or boilers under the engineer or fireman in direct charge thereof. Any person holding a first class or second class fireman's license at the time of the passage of this act shall receive a first class fireman's license under this act. A person holding an extra first class or first class fireman's license may operate a third class plant under the engineer in direct charge of the plant. A person holding an engineer's or fireman's license who desires to have charge of or to operate a particular steam plant or type of plant may, providing he holds an engineer's or fireman's license, if he files with his application a written request signed by the owner or user of said plant for such examination, be examined as to his competence for such service and no other, and if found competent and trustworthy shall be granted a license for such service and no other. No special license shall be granted to give any person charge of a plant over one hundred and fifty horsepower. SEC. 3. Section eighty-four of said chapter one hundred and two is hereby amended by striking out the said section and inserting in place thereof the following: Section 84. A person who is aggrieved by the action of an examiner in refusing or revoking a license may appeal therefrom to the remaining examiners, three or more of whom shall together act as a board of appeal, and shall have the power to hear the parties and pass upon the subjects of appeal. If appeal is taken it must be within one month after the decision of the examiner. The appellant may have the privilege of having one first class engineer present during the hearing of his appeal, but he shall take no part therein. The decision of the majority of such examiners so acting as a board of appeal shall be final if approved by the chief of the district police. SEC. 4. Section eighty-five of said chapter one hundred and two is hereby amended * * so as to read as follows: * Section 85. An engineer's or fireman's license, granted under the provisions of the seven preceding sections or the corresponding provisions of earlier laws, shall be placed so as to be easily read in a conspicuous place in the engine room or boiler room of the plant operated by the holder of such license. The person in charge of a stationary steam boiler upon which the safety valve is set to blow off at more than twenty-five pounds pressure to the square inch, except boilers upon locomotives, motor road vehicles, boilers in private residences, boilers in apartment houses of less than five flats, boilers under the jurisdiction of the United States, boilers used for agricultural purposes exclusively, and boilers of less than eight horsepower, shall keep a daily record of the boiler, its condition when under steam and all repairs made and work done on it, upon forms to be obtained upon application from the boiler inspection department. These records shall be kept on file and shall be accessible at all times to the members of the boiler inspection department. Approved May 4, 1907. CHAPTER 465.-Inspection of steam boilers. [See Bulletin No. 73, pp. 872-876.] CHAPTER 537.-Inspection of factories and workshops-Inspectors of health. SECTION 1. The State board of health shall, as soon as may be after the passage of this act, divide the Commonwealth into not more than fifteen districts, to be known as health districts, in such manner as it may deem necessary or proper for carrying out the purposes of this act. SEC. 2. After the division aforesaid has been made, the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint in each health district one practical and discreet person, learned in the science of medicine and hygiene, to be State inspector of health in that district Every nomination for such office shall be made at least seven days prior to the appointment. The said State inspectors of health shall hold their offices for a period of five years from the time of their respective appointments, but shall be liable to removal from office by the governor and council at any time. SEC. 3. Every State inspector of health shall inform himself concerning the health of all minors employed in factories within his district, and, whenever he may deem it advisable or necessary, he shall call the ill health or physical unfitness of any minor to the attention of his or her parents or employers and of the State board of health. * * *# SEC. 5. The State inspectors of health shall, under the direction of the State board of health and in place of the inspection department of the district police, enforce the provisions of section forty-one of chapter one hundred and four of the Revised Laws so far as said section provides that factories shall be well ventilated and kept clean, sections forty-one, forty-four and forty-seven to sixty-one, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and six of the Revised Laws, chapter three hundred and twenty-two of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and two, chapter four hundred and seventy-five of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and three, chapter two hundred and thirtyeight of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five, and chapter two hundred and fifty of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and six; and the powers and duties heretofore conferred and imposed upon the members of said inspection department of the district police by section eight of chapter one hundred and eight of the Revised Laws in respect to the foregoing sections and acts, and in respect to all acts in amendment thereof or in addition thereto, and in respect to any other laws, are hereby conferred and imposed upon said State inspectors of health or such other officers as the State board of health may from time to time appoint: Provided, however, That neither said board of health nor any inspector thereof shall have authority to require structural alterations to be made in buildings, but shall report the necessity there for to the inspection department of the district police. Wherever in said provisions of law the words "inspector" or "inspectors of factories and public buildings," "inspection department of the district police," "inspector" or "inspectors of the district police," "district police," "factory inspector" or "inspectors," and "member" or "members of the district police" occur, they shall be taken to mean State inspector or inspectors of health. Wherever the words chief of the district police" occur, they shall be taken to mean the State board of health. SEC. 6. The governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall establish the salaries of said State inspectors of health, having regard in each district to the extent of territory, the number of inhabitants, the character of the business there carried on, and the amount of time likely to be required for the proper discharge of the duties. The salaries thus established shall be paid from the treasury of the Commonwealth monthly. SEC. 7. There may be expended out of the treasury of the Commonwealth annually, for the purposes specified in this act, for salaries, a sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars, and for other expenses, a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars. SEC. 8. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act the State board of health may employ from time to time experts in sanitation. Approved June 19, 1907. CHAPTER 577.-Weekly day of rest. SECTION 1. Except in cases of emergency or except at the request of the employee, it shall not be lawful for any person, partnership, association or corporation to require an employee engaged in any commercial occupation, or in the work of any industrial process, or in the work of transportation or communication, to do on the Lord's day the usual work of his occupation, unless such employee is allowed during the six days next ensuing twenty-four consecutive hours without labor. SEC. 2. This act shall not be construed as authorizing any work on the Lord's day not now authorized by law; nor as applying to farm or personal service, to druggists, to watchmen, to superintendents or managers, to janitors, or to persons engaged in the transportation, sale or delivery of milk, food or newspapers. SEC. 3. Whoever violates the provisions of this act shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars for each offense. Approved June 28, 1907. MICHIGAN. ACTS OF 1907. ACT No. 124.-Guards to be placed on corn huskers. [See Bulletin No. 73, p. 882.] ACT No. 140.-Fire escapes on factories. [See Bulletin No. 73, pp. 878, 879.] ACT No. 152.-Iron foundries-Inspection, etc. [See Bulletin No. 73, pp. 882, 883.] ACT No. 169.-Factories and workshops-Inspection, etc. [See Bulletin No. 73, pp. 722, 879-881 ] ACT No. 234.-Railroads-Safety appliances. SECTION 1. It shall hereafter be unlawful for any common carrier owning or operating any portion of a railroad wholly or partly in this State to haul or permit to be hauled or used on its line within this State any car used in moving traffic not equipped with couplers coupling automatically by impact, and which can be uncoupled without the necessity of men going between the ends of the cars: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall apply to trains composed of four-wheeled cars or to trains composed of eight-wheeled standard logging cars where the height of such car from top of rail to center of coupling does not exceed twenty-five inches, or to locomotives used in hauling such trains when such cars or locomotives are exclusively used for the transportation of logs. SEC. 2. Any such common carrier hauling or permitting to be hauled or used on its line any car in violation of the provisions of this act shall be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each and every such violation, to be recovered in an action of assumpsit brought in the name of the people of this State, and it shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney of the proper county to bring any such action at the request of the commissioner of railroads. SEC. 3. Act number one hundred forty-seven of the public acts of eighteen hundred eighty-five [secs. 5511, 5512, C. L.] and all other acts or parts of acts contravening any of the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. Approved June 27, 1907. ACT No. 252.-- Mattress factories-Hair picking machines. [See Bulletin No. 73, p. 883.] ACT No. 281.- Free public employment offices. SECTION 1. Free employment bureaus are hereby authorized to be created in cities in this State, having a population of thirty thousand or over, for the purpose of receiving applications of persons seeking employment, and applications of persons seeking to employ labor. Such bureaus shall be designated and known as Michigan free employment bureaus. SEC. 2. The commissioner of labor shall organize, establish and control the free employment bureaus authorized by section one of this act: Provided, That not more than five such bureaus shall be established, and that no two thereof shall be located within a radius of twenty-five miles. No compensation or fee shall be charged or received, directly or indirectly, from persons applying for employment or help through any such bureau. It shall be the duty of said commissioner of labor to use all diligence in securing the cooperation of employers of labor with the purpose and objects of said employment bureaus. To this end it shall be competent for said commissioner to advertise in the columns of newspapers or to use other mediums, for such situations as he has applicants to fill, and for such help as may be called for by employers. He may also advertise in a general way for the cooperation of large contractors and employers, in such trade journals or special publications as reach such employers, whether such trade journals are published within the State of Michigan or not, and may pursue such other methods as, in his judgment, will best tend to accomplish the purpose of this act: Provided further, That one such bureau, as above provided for, shall be established at the city of Kalamazoo, and one at the city of Saginaw. SEC. 3. When the commissioner of labor shall establish a free employment bureau under the provisions of this act, the board of State auditors shall provide a suitable office for the same, with necessary furniture, and all printing, binding, blanks, stationery and supplies shall be done and furnished under any contract which the State now has, or shall hereafter have, for similar work with any party or parties, and the expense thereof shall be, in the discretion of the board of State auditors, audited and paid for in the same manner as other State printing and supplies are paid for. SEC. 4. Said commissioner of labor is authorized to appoint such assistants as may be necessary. All such assistants shall be under the control and direction of the commissioner of labor, and shall receive such compensation as he shall determine. All compensation for services and expenses provided for in this act shall be paid by the State treasurer upon the warrant of the auditor general, in the same manner as other salaries and expenses are paid. SEC. 5. The sum of five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be deemed necessary by the commissioner of labor, is hereby appropriated annually for the fiscal year ending June thirty, nineteen hundred eight, and for each fiscal year thereafter, out of which shall be paid all salaries, advertising and contingent expenses authorized by sections two and four of this act. SEC. 6. The auditor general is hereby directed to add to and incorporate in the State tax for the year nineteen hundred seven, the sum of five thousand dollars, and for each fiscal year thereafter the sum of five thousand dollars, which, when collected, shall be credited to the general fund to reimburse the same for the money hereby appropriated. SEC. 7. Act number thirty-seven of the public acts of nineteen hundred five, entitled "An act to provide for the establishing and maintaining of free employment bureaus," approved March thirty, nineteen hundred five, is hereby repealed." Approved June 27, 1907. ACT No. 313.-Bureau of Labor. * * SECTION 1. Sections two and four of act number one hundred fifty-six of the public acts of eighteen hundred eighty-three, * are hereby amended to read as follows: * Section 2. The duties of such bureau shall be to collect in the manner herein provided, assort, systematize, print and present to the governor, * statistical details relating to all departments of labor in this State, including the penal institutions thereof, particularly concerning the hours of labor, the number of laborers and mechanics employed, with the nativity, age and sex of such laborers and mechanics, whether married or single, the daily wages earned and savings therefrom, the number and character of accidents, the sanitary conditions of establishments or institutions where labor is employed, the subjects of strikes, cooperation, labor difficulties, organized labor, their effects on labor and capital, with such other matter relating to the industrial, social, educational and sanitary conditions of the laboring classes and to the productive industries of the State, including the names of firms, companies or corporations where located, capital invested in grounds, buildings and machinery, the kinds of goods produced, or manufactured, the time operated each year, the amount paid annually for materials, rent, taxes, and insurance, the number of employees, male and female, the number engaged in clerical work and manual labor, with a classification of the number of each sex engaged in each occupation and the average daily wages paid each. The commissioner of labor is authorized to appoint special agents to represent the bureau, with authority to visit firms and establishments |