and boarding house and hotel districts, to learn the cost of room and board, and through lists of current market prices of food and clothing. The estimate finally arrived at was that $10.00 a week was the smallest sum on which the average self-supporting woman could maintain herself. This omitted even then, any allowance for recreation during the year and for summer vacation.385 Furthermore, this had to be an actual all year wage, not a nominal, irregular one, yielding a much reduced total income for the year. While the field workers were gathering facts, the Survey Committee was preparing the bill which was eventually introduced by Senator D. J. Malarkey as an "Act to protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers, and to establish an Industrial Welfare Commission to provide for the fixing of minimum wages and maximum hours and standard conditions of labor for such workers" 386 This passed the Senate unanimously, and with three nays only, in the House.

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There are several reasons for such general consent which are interesting in view of the radical nature of the measure. First, the Survey Committee and its investigators worked very quietly, the latter very cautiously in order to avoid all possible opposition from employers. As a result the bill was introduced in the Senate and referred to a committee without any sensationalism and before the Manufacturers' and Employers' Associations were clearly aware of its nature. Second, the moderate tone of the bill which declared no sum as a wage, but left this to be announced after great deliberation in which employers would have a part, helped greatly to win it favor. Third, the fact that women had been given the ballot in the general election of 1912 and that the bill was endorsed by the State Federation of Woman's Clubs and all other women's organizations gave the legislators "a long, long pause". Many of them were very frank in saying that now that women had the vote, their influence in politics would have to be reckoned with. Fourth, the writer believes that the emotional response which came from the lawmakers through the revelation of disgraceful, unsani

tary conditions in some factories had as much to do as anything else with the passage of the bill. While unsanitary conditions could have been remedied without a minimum wage regulatory power, the hardest headed among them did not seem to think of this, but were willing to establish the Industrial Welfare Commission and allow it general oversight of conditions surrounding wage earning women. The reasons for the passage of the act are given in the Preamble:388 WHEREAS, The welfare of the State of Oregon requires that women and minors should be protected from the conditions of labor which have a pernicious effect on their health and morals, and inadequate wages and unduly long hours and unsanitary conditions of labor have such a pernicious effect; therefore.

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Then the body of the act declares the conditions which shall govern the buying and selling of women's and minors' labor, and the means whereby these conditions shall be fulfilled.

PROVISIONS OF THE ACT.

The provisions of the law are nine, five major and four minor provisions.389 The major provisions are:

1. The declaration that "it shall be unlawful to employ women or minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon for unreasonably long hours; or under such surroundings or conditions-sanitary or otherwise —as may be detrimental to their health or morals; or for wages which are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living and to maintain them in health”.

2. The creation of a Commission of three persons to be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall represent the employer, one the employe, and one the disinterested public. This body is to administer the provisions of Section I by ascertaining and declaring:

a. Standards of hours of employment for women or for minors and what are unreasonably long hours for women or for minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon;

b. Standards of conditions of labor for women or for minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon and what surroundings or conditions-sanitary or otherwise-are detrimental to the health or morals of women or of minors in any such occupation;

C.

Standards of minimum wages for women in any occupation within the State of Oregon and what wages are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living to any such workers and to maintain them in good health; and

d. Standards of minimum wages for minors in any occupation within the State of Oregon and what wages are unreasonably low for such minor workers.

3. The stipulation that an order establishing a minimum wage shall be issued only after a Board, designated a "Conference", representing the three interests above mentioned shall have investigated conditions of work and shall have recommended the order to be made. The recommendations of this Conference may be accepted or rejected by the Commission but may not be changed.

4. The requirement that public hearings shall be held on the recommendations of the Conference, before orders based on these recommendations may be issued. After an order has been issued legally by the Commission, appeal from that order is allowed only on questions of law.

5. The provision that different orders may be issued for various localities when investigation shows that the cost of living differs.

The minor provisions are:

1. Special rates may be recommended by the Conference for workers at piece rates as distinguished from workers at time rates.

2. Lower wage rates for apprentices and minors and a limit to the time women shall come under the apprentice classification may be recommended.

3. Authority to the Commission to fix suitable wage rates and hours for minors without Conference-investigation and recommendation.

4. Authority to issue special licenses to women "physically defective or crippled by age or otherwise, authorizing their employment at a wage less than the minimum time rate".

AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW.

1. By an amendment to the law passed in 1915,390 the Commission is permitted to issue permits in case of emergencies for longer hours than are allowed by statute or by Commission rulings. An "emergency" was later defined by the Commission as a situation "which requires overtime work in order to prevent suffering or distress on the part of the consumer or general public. . . . An emergency is not merely a matter of trade convenience" 391

2. The canners who have always chafed under restrictive hour legislation scored a double victory in the amendment of 1917392 by which canneries were removed from the authority of the Commission, and practically from the province of the females' 10 hour law; they are permitted to work their women employes more than ten hours a day on condition that rates of time and a half are paid for all hours over ten.

The first commissioners were Reverend E. V. O'Hara as chairman to represent the Public, Miss Bertha Moores to represent the Employes and Mr. Amedee M. Smith to represent the Employers. The Commission, organized on June 4, 1913, the day after the law went into effect and on June 6 appointed the writer as secretary. Before office space could be secured the Commissioners were called upon to act in a strike in a fruit cannery, notorious for years for its long hours and low wages. After this was settled and before taking formal action in the matter of calling Wage Conferences, the Commission attempted to bring about voluntary wage adjustments by employers but failed. The work of calling

conferences as directed by law was then begun. While these were being organized the Commissioners decided to issue wage and hour rulings for minor girls, as only public hearings, and not the lengthy conference process were necessary for this. Furthermore, they realized that if the wages of the youngest and least skilled workers were agreed upon, such decisions would furnish some basis of comparison for older and experienced workers. Within six months rulings had been issued which applied to all women wage earners in the state except those in domestic service, student nurses, and the professional women who were earning more than a living wage. The number of women affected by the rulings was approximately 24,000.

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Details concerning the operation of the law have been described so frequently and are so easily accessible that they will be omitted from this general discussion.3 A summary of the first and latest rulings is given as an appendix at the end of this chapter. After a consideration of the constitutional aspects of the law, some observation as to its effects will be included.

CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE LAW.

The first rulings issued for minimum wages for women were made the basis for two suits to test the constitutionality of the law.394 A paper box manufacturer in Portland, Mr. F. C. Stettler, brought the first suit on the ground that the law confiscated his property without due process of law, and an employe of his, Miss Elmira Simpson, brought the second suit claiming that the statute interfered with her constitutional rights to make a free contract. Both plaintiffs asked for an injunction to prevent the Commission from enforcing a minimum wage in manufacturing establishments in Portland. Both were denied by Judge T. J. Cleeton of the Circuit Court who declared in his decision "Whether or not the act is within the police power of the State is controlling in the determination of most of the questions against it" 395

The cases were carried to the State Supreme Court,