The 563 visited establishments employed normally 142,181 persons, distributed by sex and age as follows: Males 16 years of age and over, 64,522; females 16 years and over, 67,522; boys under 16 years, 3,442; girls under 16 years, 6,695. The next table shows the distribution of these employees by States. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OF EACH SEX UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE AND 16 YEARS AND OVER, IN INDUSTRIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS VISITED, BY STATES. The table which follows makes a further classification of employees by the industries in which they were engaged. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OF EACH SEX UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE AND 16 YEARS AND OVER, IN ESTABLISHMENTS VISITED, BY INDUSTRIES. PLAN OF THE REPORT. In presenting the results of this investigation the topical method has been followed. This is to say, the labor laws and factory conditions are grouped according to similarity under a few main topical or chapter heads. Thus, the third chapter, which treats of hours of labor, comprises such related subjects as limitations on the length of the work day, the posting of time schedules, and the regulation of the meal period. In each such chapter the material is arranged by States, and for each State there is given: First, a summary of the laws regarding the subject treated; second, where desirable and available, comments regarding the interpretation and administration of such laws; and third, a condensed statement, usually in tabular form, of the conditions found in the visited establishments. A full statement of the conditions found in each establishment, as reported on the establishment cards, is given in the general tables at the end of the volume. In summarizing the laws the effort has been to give all essential points in as brief a space and in as clear a form as possible. Undue condensation, however, has been avoided. Most laws contain little extraneous matter, and the majority of the attempts at condensing labor laws have obtained brevity at the sacrifice of the full truth. Similarly, in seeking to make the present statements of laws as clear as possible, effort has been made to avoid personal readings or interpretation. The language of the law has been preferred in nearly all cases, and especially so when the meaning was at all obscure or ambiguous. It will be noted, moreover, that in a few cases summaries of legislation are given on subjects in which no investigation of factory conditions was made. This is done for the purpose of making these outline statements of labor legislation as complete as possible. As here offered, they are intended to include all the important laws relative to the conditions of employment in factories and workshops in the 17 States covered. The field work of the investigation was carried on from December, 1908, to April, 1909. The laws quoted in each case are those which were in force at the time of the field work in the State under consideration. Mention is made in footnotes of all important laws enacted between the time of the field work and January 1, 1910. The laws in force January 1, 1912, relating to the employment of women and children are given in Appendix A, while those relating to the regulation and inspection of factories and workshops are given in Appendix B, at the end of this volume. CHAPTER I. SCOPE AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS. INTRODUCTION. 1 The 17 States covered by this report varied greatly at the time of this investigation (December, 1908, to April, 1909) 1 in the degree in which they had enacted legislation relative to the employment of women and children and to the comfort, health, and safety of factory workers. In a few of them, notably New York, such legislation was very complete and very carefully drawn. In others, laws upon the subjects referred to were scant and at times obscure. In none of the 17, however, were such laws entirely absent. By 3 of these 17 States the enforcement of such legislation was left to existing administration and judicial means, i. e., indictment by the grand jury or prosecution by local police officials. These three States were North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, States in which laws of the character now being considered were few and liberal. Each of the 14 remaining States has accepted the "factory-inspection" principle-the principle, that is to say, of charging the enforcement of woman and child labor laws and factory laws to officials especially chosen for the purpose. Not in every case, however, has the principle been carried out fully. Several of the States having an organized factory-inspection force did not vest this force with full jurisdiction in all the legislation commonly regarded as forming part of the woman and child labor and factory laws. The tendency, however, was in that direction, except perhaps in the case of factory laws involving technical matters of building construction in large cities. Factory inspection, where it exists, is almost always made an immediate function of the State administration. Louisiana alone, among the States covered by this investigation, is peculiar in this respect. In Louisiana, factory inspectors are recognized, and their appointment provided for, by State laws, but the actual appointment of such officers is made by local authorities. Factory inspection formed a distinct and independent administrative department in about half of the States now being considered. In the For laws in force Jan. 1, 1912, see Appendix A: Laws relating to the employment of women and children, and Appendix B: Laws relating to the regulation and inspection of factories and workshops. |