THE ROCHESTER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, CHAIRMAN INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE, March 21, 1916. Senate Chamber, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SIR: It gives me pleasure to bring to your attention the following resolution adopted by the Rochester Chamber of Commerce on March 13, 1916, on the Owen Senate bill 1083: "Whereas the Owen Senate bill 1083 would prevent interstate commerce in the products of certain child labor; and "Whereas the bill as it is drawn would not prevent interstate commerce in articles manufactured in foreign countries by child labor; and "Whereas competition with foreign articles manufactured by cheap child labor in violation of the bill manifestly would be unfair to American manufacturers; and "Whereas the bill does not provide relief for canners necessitated by their dependency upon the labor supply and the seasons: Now, therefore, be it "Resolved, That the Rochester Chamber of Commerce is in favor of the apparent aim of the bill to prevent abuses in child labor, but strongly recommends that the words 'produced in the United States' be stricken from the first section; that some provision be made for barring from the United States articles manufactured in foreign countries in violation of the act; and that reasonable exemption be provided for the canning industry." I trust that you will give the foregoing resolution your favorable consideration in connection with the disposition by Congress of the Owen bill. Yours, very truly, ROCHESTER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, The CHAIRMAN. I have also received a letter from Stokely Bros. & Co., of Newport, Tenn., reliable and intelligent gentlemen engaged in canning fruits and vegetables, in which they inclose a copy of the proposed amendment under consideration by this committee, together with a copy of the labor laws of the State of Tennessee. (The matter referred to is as follows:) Insert on page 2, line 2, after "intermeridian" clause in these words: "Provided, That it shall not be unlawful for canneries of fruits and vegetables to employ children over twelve years of age, working not more than eight hours each day and not more than six days of the week, in open sheds, and during the vacation of the public schools, in the months of June, July, and August. Senator JOHN K. SHIELDS, Washington, D. C. STOKELY BROS. & Co., Newport, Tenn., March 18, 1916. DEAR SENATOR: We are going to undertake to give below some of the main reasons why we think fruit and vegetable canneries should be exempted from the Keating bill. The Keating bill as passed by the House exempts boys and girls canning clubs, and we think very properly does so. As the same kind of work is done at canning factories as is done by canning clubs and as the work is done under practically the same conditions, we think there are the same reasons for exempting fruit and vegetable canneries as there are for exempting boys and girls canning clubs. Besides, the products of boys and girls canning clubs come direct in competition with the products of fruit and vegetable canneries, so fruit and vegetable canneries should be on the same basis as the canning clubs. The fruit and vegetable season as you, of course, know comes on during the summer months and lasts for only a short time, and the canning must be done when they are ripe if at all. The very fact that the fruit and vegetable canning season lasts for only a short time makes it impossible for the cannaries to depend on labor that must have regular employment throughout the year. The canning factories throughout this State and throughout other Southern States, where we are acquainted with conditions, depend largely for their help in taking care of the fruit and vegetable crops on the school boys and A school girls, as these crops mature when all the schools are in vacation. large part of the work such as peeling tomatoes, stringing and breaking beans, and the preparation of other fruits and vegetables for the cans can be done by boys and girls between 12 and 16 years of age, as well as by grown people. This work is not injurious to the health of the boys and girls, as the bulk of it is done in open sheds, and as the work is done by the piece and the worker is not required to work any special number of hours, but may begin when he chooses and quit when he chooses. The work is not dangerous, as it is practically all done by hand without the use of machinery. There is no question but that it is a great blessing to the boys and girls of the small towns and rural communities where the canneries are usually located to have an opportunity to earn some money during their vacation and to do it without injuring their health in any way. Is it not much better for the boys between 12 and 16 years of age to have employment in helping take care of the fruit and vegetable crops rather than be loafing on the streets of a small town? The canning industry, which is in its infancy in our State and practically all of the Southern States, would receive a hard blow if this exemption from the Keating bill is not secured. It is recognized by the United States Government that the growing and canning of fruits and vegetables needs development and encouragement, especially in the South. To this end the Agricultural Department is now sending out farm demonstrators to practically every county in the South to organize tomato clubs and teach school children to raise vegetables and to can them where no canneries are available for canning them. They are being encouraged to raise one-tenth of an acre each. The United States Government no doubt expects the vegetable industry and the canning industry to grow in the South, else all this money wouldn't be spent in doing this missionary work so thoroughly. The school children who are now being taught to grow and market successfully one-tenth of an acre of tomatoes, after they get older, no doubt, will be able to grow successfully 1 acre or 5 acres each. When they get to growing 1 acre or 5 acres each, then a well-organized cannery is absolutely necessary in order to take care of and market successfully the increased crops of vegetables. If the Government should come along now and make it unlawful for these school children to assist the cannery in taking care of the vegetable crops that the Government has taught them to raise, it seems to us that our Government would be blocking its own game and make impossible the normal growth and development of the industry that it is now doing so much to get started. The Tennessee Legislature, at its recent session, passed an amndment to its child-labor laws exempting fruit and vegetable canneries. The members of the legislature were convinced that the growing and canning of fruits and vegetables in this State couldn't progress as it should if the industry were under the same child-labor laws as applied to factories running steadily throughout the year and factories surrounded by conditions that made the child-labor law necessary. We understand that a great many other States have exempted fruit and vegetable canneries from their child-labor laws, especially when the industry was in its infancy. Many other reasons than those which we have mentioned will doubtless suggest themselves for exempting fruit and vegetable canneries from the operation of this law. They are obviously in an entirely different class from those industries which operate the year round or even a considerable part of a year, and reasons which may make the bill desirable in so far as such industries are concerned are in no way applicable to fruit and vegetable canneries. Hoping that you will fully appreciate the great necessity of the exemption that we are asking for and hoping you will be able to convince the committee who has this bill in charge that our request is a reasonable and just one, we are, Yours, very truly, STOKELY BROS. & Co., THE CHILD LABOR LAWS OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE. [Acts of 1911, chap. 57, p. 108.] An Act To regulate the employment of minor children, and to prescribe penalties for the violation thereof. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person to employ, permit, or suffer to work any child less than fourteen years of age in, about, or in connection with any mill, factory, workshop, laundry, telegraph or telephone office, or in the distribution or transmission of merchandise or messages. SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person to employ, permit, or suffer to work any child under fourteen years of age in any business or service whatever which interferes with the child's attendance at school, except in agricultural or domestic service, during any part of the term the public schools of the district in which the child resides are in session. SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That no child under the age of sixteen years shall be employed, permitted or suffered to work at any of the following occupations or in any of the following positions: Repairing machine belts, while in motion, in any workshop or factory, or assisting therein in any capacity whatever; adjusting any belt to any machinery; oiling or cleaning machinery or assisting therein; operating or assisting in operating circular or band saws, wood shapers, wood joiners, planers, sandpaper or wood-polishing machinery; picker machines, machines used in picking wool, machines used in picking cotton, machines used in picking hair, machines used in picking any upholstering material; paperlacing machines, leather-burnishing machines in any tannery or leather manufactory; job or cylinder printing presses operated by power other than foot power; emery or polishing wheels used for polishing metal; wood-turning or boring machinery; stamping machines used in sheet-metal and tinware manufacturing; stamping machines in washer and nut factories; corrugating rolls, such as are used in roofing and washboard factories; steam boilers, steam machinery, or other steam-generating apparatus; dough brakes or cracker machinery of any description; wire or iron straightening machinery; rolling-mill machinery, punches, or shears; washing, grinding, or mixing mills; calendar rolls in rubber manufacturing; laundering machinery; dipping, drying, or packing matches; or in mines or quarries. SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person to employ any child under eighteen years of age as a messenger for a telegraph or messenger company in the distribution, transmission, or delivery of goods or messages before five o'clock in the morning or after ten o'clock in the evening of any day. SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person to employ, permit, or suffer to work any child between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years in, about, or in connection with any place or establishment named in section one, unless said proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person keep on file and accessible to the shop and factory inspector a sworn statement made by the parent or guardian or any person acting as guardian of such child, setting forth the place and date of birth of such child, and whoever shall make false statement as to the age of such child in such sworn statement shall be deemed guilty of perjury. SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That whoever employs any child, and whoever having under his control as parent, guardian, or otherwise, any child, permits or suffers such child to be employed or to work in violation of any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon convic tion shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $250, in the discretion of the court. SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it. Passed June 30, 1911. Approved July 4, 1911. N. BAXTER, Jr., Speaker of the Senate. A. M. LEACH, Speaker of the House of Representatives. BEN W. HOOPER, Governor. [Acts of 1913, ch. 12, p. 407, spcial session.] An Act To limit and regulate the hours of labor of women and children under the ages of sixteen years in workshops and factories in the State of Tennessee, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That on and after January first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, and up to and including January first, nineteen hundred and fifteen, it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person to employ, permit, or suffer to work in, about, or in connection with any workshop or factory in the State of Tennessee any female or any child under the age of sixteen years in excess of fifty-eight hours in any one week or more than ten and a half hours in any one day: Provided, That ten and a half hours a day will be permitted only for the purpose of providing for one short day in the week. SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That commencing January first, nineteen hundred and fifteen, it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person to employ, permit, or suffer to work in, about, or in connection with any workshop or factory in the State of Tennessee any female or any child under sixteen years of age in excess of fifty-eight hours in any one week or more than ten and a half hours in any one day: Provided, That ten and a half hours per day will be permitted only for the purpose of providing for one short day in the week. SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person who shall require, permit, or suffer to work in, about, or in connection with any industry or establishment named in the foregoing section any female or child under the age of sixteen years more than the number of hours as prescribed in sections one and two of this act, or any person mentioned in sections one and two violating any of the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $100 for each offense. SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That every proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person in charge of any industry specified in sections one and two of this act shall post, or cause to be posted, in a conspicuous place in the workroom or place of employment where persons affected by this act are employed a printed or written notice setting forth therein the hours of commencing and leaving work, the time allowed for meals or other intermissions, and the maximum number of hours any female or child under the age of sixteen be permitted to work in any one day, or in any one week. And in event any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person shall operate a business which runs at night he shall specify in said notice the hours of work on the night shift, giving the number of hours each female or child under the age of sixteen years is permitted to work on such night shift.. SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the failure on the part of any proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person in charge of any industry named in sections one and two of this act to post, or cause to be posted, within sixty days after date of passage of this act, and to keep posted said notices as provided in section four, shall be prima facie evidence of the violations of sections one and two of this act. SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That every proprietor, foreman, owner, or other person mentioned in the foregoing sections of this act shall keep, or cause to be kept, a record, showing the length of time each and every female or child under sixteen years has worked each day and the number of hours worked in each week, and such record shall be open for inspection at all reasonable hours to the department of workship and factory inspection. SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the State Department of Workshop and Factory Inspection shall be charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions of this act and prosecute all violations thereof. SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it. Passed September 22, 1913. Approved September 25, 1913. NEWTON H. WHITE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. BEN W. HOOPER, Governor. [Acts of 1913, ch. 47, p. 574, special session.] A Bill To be entitled an act to amend an act entitled "An act to regulate the employment of minor children, and to prescribe penalties for the violation thereof," being chapter fifty-seven, public acts of nineteen hundred and eleven. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That section one of the act entitled "An act to regulate the employment of minor children, and to prescribe penalties for the violation thereof," be amended by adding, at the end of said section, the following: "And no child under sixteen years of age shall be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in any of the occupations named in this section between the hours of six o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning of any one day." SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That section two of said act be amended by striking out in said section the words "except in agricultural or domestic service." SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it. Passed September 27, 1913. Approved September 27, 1913. NEWTON H. WHITE, Speaker of the Senate. W. M. STANTON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. BEN W. HOOPER, Governor. [Act of 1915, Chap. No. 144, p. 402.] An Act To amend chapter twelve of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirteen, passed September twenty-second, nineteen hundred and thirteen, approved September twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and thirteen, said act being an act to limit the hours of labor of women and children under the age of sixteen years, in workshops and factories in the State of Tennessee, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That section one of chapter twelve of the acts of the special session of the general assembly, nineteen hundred and thirteen, be amended by adding, after the end thereof, the following: "That the term 'workshops and factories' as used in this act shall include the following: Manufacturing, mills, mechanical, electrical, mercantile, art, and laundering establishments, printing, telegraph and telephone offices, department stores, or any kind of an establishment wherein labor is employed or machinery is used: Provided, That domestic service and agricultural pursuits are hereby excluded." SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That section two of said act be amended after the fifty-fourth word thereof, substituting the word "fifty-seven" for the word "fifty-eight." SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it. Passed May 15, 1915. ALBERT E. HILL, Speaker of the Senate. WM. P. COOPER, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Approved May 17, 1915. [Act of 1915, ch. 172, p. 521.] TOM C. RYE, Governor. A Bill To be entitled an act to amend an act entitled "An act to regulate the employment of minor children and to prescribe penalties for violation thereof," being chapter fifty-seven of the acts of nineteen hundred and eleven, of the general assembly of Tennessee, as amended by chapter forty-seven of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirteen, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled An act to regulate the employment of minor children and to prescribe penalties for violation thereof.' SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That chapter fifty-seven of the acts of nineteen hundred and eleven of the General Assembly of the State of Tennesee, as amended by chapter fortyseven of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirteen, entitled "An act to regulate the employment of minor children and to prescribe penalties for the violation thereof," be amended so as to provide that hereafter none of the provisions of said act as amended, except the provisions contained in sections two and three of said act, shall apply to fruit and vegetable canning factories. |