was upheld by the courts, it will be recalled, and remains today one of the regulations for the protection of working

Exceptions to the night work rule were not made for canneries in 1912 as was the case for day labor, though an exemption for canneries followed in the next year (ch. 465). Here, women eighteen years of age and upwards (and male minors sixteen years and upwards) were permitted to work in fruit-canning establishments between June 15 and October 15 with no prohibition of work at night. However, this exception was abrogated by the act of 1921 (ch. 50) at which time all female employees were prohibited from night work at all times of the year in all factories as follows: girls under the age of twenty-one years, from 9 p. m. to 6 a. m., and women over twenty-one, from 10 p.m. to 6 a. m.

2. Newspaper Offices 2

The act in 1919 (ch. 582) which removed the six-day week regulation from women writers and reporters also permitted these women to work at night.

And two years later, 1921 (ch. 489), the night work prohibition for women proofreaders, linotypists, and monotypists in newspaper offices was also revoked. These amendments were championed by the women themselves the story of which will be related in succeeding pages.

Mercantile and Other Establishments"

Women were prohibited from night labor for the first 1 Labor Law of 1924, §§ 172-173.

'Labor Law of 1924, § 2, subd. 9; § 181.

'This act amended section two of the newly codified law instead of section three which it erroneously cites.

'Labor Law of 1924, §§ 180-186.

time in mercantile establishments in 1913 (ch. 493) in the same year that this prohibition was revised for factories. As in the regulation of day labor, the prohibition was at first made more rigid for second class cities than elsewhere, but the differentiation in both cases was cancelled the following year. In second class cities the act prohibited the work of all female employees before 7 a. m. and after 6 p. m., " and elsewhere after ten o'clock in the evening of any day." On Saturdays there were no limitations upon the working time of employees sixteen years of age and upwards, provided the maximum 54-hour week for second class, and the 60-hour week elsewhere, was not violated. The same exception was made for the five days preceding December 25 in second class cities "and elsewhere between the eighteenth of December and the following twenty-fifth of December both inclusive."

The act of 1914 (ch. 331) made the night work regulations uniform throughout the state for mercantile establishments. All female employees over sixteen years of age were prohibited from employment from 10 p. m. to 7 a. m., exceptions being granted between the 18th and 24th of December, both inclusive. Two days for stocktaking were added to these exceptions in 1915 (ch. 386) by the same act that allowed day-time exceptions for this purpose.

1. Restaurants

Restaurants in first and second class cities were next included among those places where the employment at night of females over sixteen years was prohibited. The "period of rest was between 10 p. m. and 6 a. m. The act did not apply to employees who were singers and performers of any kind, nor to "attendants in ladies' cloak rooms and parlors," nor to "females employed in or in connection with the dining rooms and kitchens of hotels, or in

1 Laws of 1917, ch. 535.

connection with lunch rooms or restaurants conducted by employers solely for the benefit of their employees." This statute has remained as enacted despite this wide list of exceptions which is charged with irrationality by some working women whose attitude in the matter will be described in a later chapter.

2. Messenger Service

The employment of women over twenty-one years of age as messengers in first and second class cities before 7 a. m. and after 10 p. m. of any day was prohibited in 1918 (ch. 434). Males under the age of twenty-one were so prohibited between 10 p. m. and 5 a. m.

3. Elevators

Women eighteen years old and upwards were not to be employed on elevators between the hours of 10 p. m. and 7 a.m. by act of 1919 (ch. 544). The law provided that, in the instance of the elevator being used "in connection with a business or industry in which the employment of women between six and seven o'clock in the morning is not prohibited, a woman may begin work at six o'clock in the morning." Also women over twenty-one years of age who were in "the care, custody, management or operation of an elevator in a hotel," were not prohibited from night work.

4. Street Railroads: Along with the daytime regulations for females on street railroads and elevators in the laws of 1919 (ch. 583), came the accompanying provisions for night. Women were not to be employed between 10 p. m. and 6 a. m. “in connection with the operation of street surface, electric, subway or elevated roads or the selling or accepting fares or admission in any railroad station, car, or train of the same."

1

1 Minor females were entirely prohibited. Labor Law of 1924, § 185.

This measure concerning night work was relaxed in 1920 (ch. 284), as it was also for day work, by removing regulations from all of these women except conductors and guards. This action was also prompted by a protest from a body of the women affected.

PROHIBITED EMPLOYMENT

Although an increasing body of legislation has been enacted for the protection of the health and safety of all workers in industry, this has not been considered sufficient for the protection of women, and the legislature has therefore been persuaded from time to time to demand the complete removal of women from certain kinds of employment, or from employment under certain conditions. The modern prohibitions of this type received their direction along with other special laws for women, in 1899.

1. Polishing and Grinding1

In 1899 (ch. 375), all females and males under the age of eighteen were prohibited from employment in any factory in the state "in operating or using any emery, corundum, stone, or emery polishing or buffing wheel." An attempt to extend this act in 1902 was defeated in the senate, but in 1903 (ch. 561) an amendment was passed adding other materials that were not to be used by women, namely tripoli, rouge, carborundum, or any abrasive, where articles of the baser metals or iridium are manufactured.

In the reaction of the last few years against so much special legislation for women, this prohibition has been modified among others that have been mentioned. Thus in 1921 (ch. 642), while the statute was retained, an amendment provided, however, that females more than twenty-one years of age may be employed in operating such wheels for wet grinding under conditions specified by the industrial board in its rules."

66

1Labor Law of 1924, § 146, subd. 8.

2. Mines and Quarries1

The present statute which prohibits females, and males under sixteen years of age, from employment in mines and quarries was enacted in 1906 (ch. 375), this was an amendment to the former labor law of 1897, sections 120-121

3. After Childbirth2

In 1912 (ch. 331) women were forbidden employment within four weeks after childbirth in "factory, mercantile establishment, mill and workshop."

4. Core Making ▪

The act regarding the employment of women after childbirth was forwarded by the factory commission as was also that relating to core making in the following year 1913 (ch. 464). At this time core making was ruled out as an occupation for women unless the ovens for baking the cores were located and operated in a room so apart from the room in which they are made "that the gases and fumes from the core-oven will not enter the room or space in which the women are employed." The Industrial 1 Labor Law of 1924, § 146, subd. 6.

'Labor Law of 1924, § 148. The present statute reads "in a factory or mercantile establishment." While this provision had been in existence for some years in European countries, Massachusetts was the only other state in America that had adopted it. The scope of the law is not uniform, Massachusetts like the European countries prohibits employment before parturition as well as after, while New York's provision is similar to that of England-concerning itself with the period following childbirth only. A few other states have introduced childbirth protection since 1912, e. g. Connecticut and Vermont in 1913, and Missouri in 1919. (Commons and Andrews, op. cit., p. 348.)

'Labor Law of 1924, § 147.

By the same act further prohibitions were made for female minors, namely, no female under sixteen years of age could be employed in any capacity where the work required constant standing; and no female under the age of twenty-one years (nor male under eighteen) could be permitted to clean machinery while in motion.