6 distribution or transmission of merchandise or intelligence, 7 so as to read as follows:- - Section 29. No child under six8 teen years of age shall be employed in a factory, workshop, 9 mercantile establishment, business office, telegraph office, hotel 10 or apartment house, or in the distribution or transmission of 11 merchandise or intelligence, unless his employer procures and 12 keeps on file accessible

Employment of Illiterates under Sixteen. While we are not yet prepared to recommend the exclusion from labor in gainful occupations of all children under sixteen years of age, we believe that illiterates under sixteen years of age who cannot read at sight and write legibly in the English language should not be permitted to engage in employment while day schools are in session. At the present time all illiterate minors, including those sixteen years and upwards, are obliged, if they work, to attend an evening school (R. L., c. 106, § 35).

The number of weekly sessions, as well as the length of the term of evening schools, varies in different cities and towns. Undoubtedly the work of these schools is well done, but in many instances this double duty of day labor and evening attendance we believe to be a hardship to children as young as fourteen and fifteen years old. It does not conduce to the development of an educated electorate. The exclusion of illiterate minors under sixteen from employment will create some hardship in individual families and possibly be temporarily an inconvenience to some mills;* but if a minimum amount of education is regarded as a condition to the franchise in Massachusetts, a consistent policy demands that the school retain its claim upon the child to at least the age of sixteen, in order to make good this condition. We therefore recommend the following bill:—

* An inquiry made in one of our large textile centres in Massachusetts shows that in five mills, employing 12,000 people, there were, in all, 231 employees between the ages of fourteen and sixteen who could not read and write English; that in two of these mills, out of a total of 88 who could not read and write English, 34 were able to read and write in some other language. In one mill it was found that, out of a total of 40 who could not read or write English, there were 1 Assyrian, 18 Greeks, 6 French and 15 Portuguese.

AN ACT TO FORBID THE EMPLOYMENT OF MINORS UNDER SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE WHO CANNOT READ AND WRITE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

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SECTION 1. Amend section thirty-two of chapter one hun2 dred and six of the Revised Laws by inserting after the words 3 "in the case of a minor," in the fifth paragraph of the form 4 prescribed in said section for the age and schooling certifi5 cate, the words: more than sixteen years of age, and by 6 inserting at the end of the form prescribed for the age and 7 schooling certificate, and before line twelve in said section, a 8 new paragraph, as follows:

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But such age and schooling certificate shall not be issued to 10 a minor less than sixteen years of age who cannot read at 11 sight and write legibly simple sentences in the English lan12_guage, so as to read as follows:

13 In the case of a minor more than sixteen years of age who cannot 14 read at sight and write legibly simple sentences in the English lan15 guage, the certificates shall continue as follows, after the word “lan16 guage:"

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I hereby certify that (he or she) is regularly attending the (name 18 ) public evening school. This certificate shall continue in 19 force only so long as the regular attendance of said minor at the 20 evening school is endorsed weekly by a teacher thereof.

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But such age and schooling certificate shall not be issued to 22 a minor less than sixteen years of age who cannot read at sight 23 and write legibly simple sentences in the English language.

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SECTION 2. Section thirty-five of chapter one hundred and 2 six of the Revised Laws is hereby amended by striking out the 3 word "fourteen," in the second line, and inserting therefor 4 the word-sixteen, so as to read as follows: - Section 35. 5 While a public evening school is maintained in the city or 6 town in which any minor who is over sixteen years of age

Various proposi

Employment of Children at Night. tions have been made to prohibit further the labor of children at night. In 1888 a law was passed preventing night work by children under fourteen years of age between 7 P.M. and 6 A.M.; and in 1890 a restrictive measure was enacted prohibiting minors from working in manufacturing establish

ments between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M.

These laws still stand. In addition, there is an implied limitation upon night work of minors in mercantile establishments, by the law limiting the number of hours of labor to 58 per week, except during the month of December.*

So far as we can learn, the application of the 58-hour law in factories, mechanical establishments, workshops and mercantile establishments practically shuts out children from night work in the bulk of the industries in the State; only by the shifting of the hours of labor can children be required to work after 6 or 7 P.M. In practice, such employment is only exceptionally utilized, as by mills, in order to make up lost time on account of a temporary stoppage of machinery; or by smaller mercantile establishments, where children are called in occasionally after school hours to do evening work.

From such inquiry as we have been able to make we do not believe that the manufacturing interests of the State would be seriously affected by the extended prohibition of night labor after 7 P.M. to all children under sixteen years of age. Textile mills, which appear to be chiefly interested in child labor, rarely run after 6 P.M., and then, as observed above, so far as the labor of women and minors is concerned, only to make up lost time because of stoppage of machinery. Some mills discountenance the practice of running over-time. at night, believing that it tends to irregularity in production. A uniform prohibition would put all mills in this State upon the same basis, and any advantage which the mills of this. State may gain by the very slight occasional running overtime allowed by the 58-hour law is very inconsiderable when interstate competition is considered. In well-regulated manufacturing establishments the time lost on account of accidents is small; and when accidents do occur, it appears that a margin of one hour after 6 P.M., as permitted under our recommendation, would be in most cases ample to make good the interruption.

* In Michigan, children under sixteen cannot be employed between 6 P.M. and 7 A.M.; in New Jersey, prohibition of night employment applies to all children under sixteen, except in canneries, glass works and fruit-preserving establishments; in Ohio, to girls under eighteen and to boys under sixteen; in Illinois, Minnesota and Oregon, to all under sixteen; in New York, children under sixteen cannot be employed after 9 P.M.

Again, it is to be observed from the statistics previously presented that the total number of children under sixteen years of age employed in all our mills is not very large. Inasmuch as we make no recommendation in favor of prohibiting women from working up to 10 o'clock in the evening, we believe that the mills will not be seriously affected. by this proposed further regulation of the labor of children at night. The arguments in favor of shutting children out from night work are so obvious that they do not need extended discussion, nor does it appear that one kind of employment should be favored as against another. The physical and moral advantages to be gained by exclusion from night work are common to all children. We therefore recommend that no children under sixteen years of age be permitted to engage in any gainful occupation between 7 o'clock in the evening and 6 o'clock in the morning. This proposition is incorporated in the following bill:

AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE HOURS OF LABOR OF MINORS LESS THAN SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, und by the authority of the same, as follows: SECTION 1.

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Section twenty-seven of chapter one hundred 2 and six of the Revised Laws is hereby amended by inserting 3 after the word "morning," in the fourth line, the words: · 4 shall any minor less than sixteen years of age be employed in 5 any gainful occupation between seven o'clock at night and six 6 o'clock in the morning, so as to read as follows:- - Section 27. 7 No person, and no agent or officer of a person or corporation, 8 shall employ a woman or minor in any capacity for the purpose 9 of manufacturing between ten o'clock at night and six o'clock 10 in the morning; nor shall any minor less than sixteen years of 11 age be employed in any gainful occupation between seven 12 o'clock at night and six o'clock in the morning. Whoever 13 violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a 14 fine of not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars for each 15 offence.

Reduction of Hours of Labor. As seen above, some of the bills brought before the committee propose that the labor of children shall be restricted by reducing the number

of hours of labor per day or per week, as, for example, to 9 hours per day, or 54 hours per week. Inasmuch as the labor of children interlocks in some industries with the labor of adults who now work 10 hours per day, we fear that such a restriction would practically result in the discharge of children from employment. Such an outcome would be unfortunate, unless the children were forced to attend school by a change in the compulsory school law, already referred to. We therefore do not favor the consideration of legislation further limiting the number of hours of labor of children until that question is reported upon by the State Board of Education.

Fifty-eight-hour Law in Mercantile Establishments. - It has been represented that much hardship results from the exception made in the 58-hour law (R. L., c. 106, § 23), by which women and minors in mercantile establishments may be compelled to work long hours during the month of December. We understand that, as a rule, many of the larger stores do not take advantage of this exception, but obey the spirit of the 58-hour law throughout the year. We see no reason why all establishments should not conform to the more considerate practice of the majority. If stores find it necessary to keep open evenings in order to satisfy the requirements of customers at the holiday season, arrangements should be made for adjusting the hours of employees throughout the day so that the total number of hours does not exceed 58 per week. If more assistance is needed because of additional trade, we see no reason why exceptional burdens should be placed upon the old employees, instead of hiring an additional force. We consequently recommend the following bill:—

AN ACT TO EXTEND THE PROVISIONS OF THE FIFTY-EIGHT-HOUR LAW FOR WOMEN AND MINORS SO AS TO INCLUDE THE MONTH OF DECEMBER.

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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: SECTION 1. Section twenty-three of chapter one hundred 2 and six of the Revised Laws is hereby amended by striking 3 out in the third line, after the word "week," all of the fourth