ENFORCEMENT OF LABOR LAWS. The State of Minnesota carries on its statute books a large number of laws for the protection and advancement of the workingmen's interests. Of the merits of these laws it is not the intention to speak here. Suffice it to say that none of them are of any benefit unless obeyed or carried into practice. An inoperative law, or one which cannot promptly be enforced, is worse than none at all; and, so far as general effect is concerned, a law of which the concerned parties remain in ignorance is very little better. As a matter of fact, there are hosts of both employers and employes who are totally ignorant of the existence and character of many of these laws, and who are constantly violating them simply because of such ignorance. A prompt application in such cases of the well-known principle, that ignorance of the law excuses no one from the penalty attached to its violation, would not only inflict a great deal of arbitrary hardship upon well-meaning people, but would also tend to make a number of otherwise wholesome laws so odious to the public as to cause their repeal. To bridge over such contingencies many laws contain within themselves a provision that the violator must be duly notified of his violation, and ordered to comply with such laws in the future, before any action looking to his punishment can be brought against him. Several of the more important labor laws contain provisions of this kind, while others, perhaps less important, do not, thus rendering the least important enactments the most arbitrary ones. The chief purpose of factory inspection, or, more properly speaking, industrial inspections, is the enforcement of existing labor laws. It is to be regretted that many employers, and even whole communities seem to entertain the notion that such laws are not to be regarded or complied with except in so far as the state labor department enforces them; and many are so far in error as to imagine that a mere compliance while the inspector is on the premises or in the immediate neighborhood is quite sufficient to serve all purposes. So prevalent, indeed, is this state of affairs, that it _ is a serious question whether this matter of industrial inspection should not be made a municipal or county function; whether local inspectors ought not to be appointed and maintained in and by every community in which sufficient industrial activity exists to warrant the office. The subject is certainly deserving of earnest consideration. As a central state department, the present number of bureau officers is probably quite sufficient; but as a body of enforcers of existing labor laws throughout all the industrial sections of the state it is far from adequate. During the past two years an earnest effort has been made by the Bureau of Labor to enforce these laws throughout the entire state, and if only such laws would stay enforced when once or twice introduced in that shape into a community, there would be great hope for the future, as the few points not reached during the past term could soon be effectively covered. As it is, the inspectors and deputies of the bureau have visited the principal towns in every county having any considerable number of inhabitants. In every establishment where any of the labor laws have been found to be violated or disregarded, or where improvements for the safety or protection of employes have been found wanting, peremptory orders have been served to bring about the desired result, either forthwith, or within a specified number of days. And these orders have been all served with a view to having them complied with, and steps looking to that end have invariably been taken. The bureau is consequently in position to affirm that ninety-five per cent. of all the orders issued and enumerated in the following pages have been literally or practically complied with. This is no small item, as may be seen from the following table, in which the 570 orders issued during the term have been grouped according to their respective characters. The group under the head of "Safeguarding Machinery" alone includes 195 orders, while that pertaining to the enforcement of child labor laws contains 220. Seventy-eight orders for sanitary improvements have been issued, varying in importance from providing better ventilation to a total refitting and reconstruction of the working quarters. It will be noticed that the list enumerates thirty-six outside fire escapes. These fire escapes, consisting of wrought iron stairways, have not merely been ordered; they have all been constructed and approved by the bureau officials. Seven orders for the blocking of defective railway switches have been issued and complied with, unsafe stairways and ladders and dangerous passage ways have been remedied in twenty-five instances, and under the head of "Miscellaneous" are included orders for chairs for female employes, safe cables for elevators, guards for elevator shafts, and other changes and improvements not classified. It will be observed that the orders have also been grouped with reference to each of the three principal cities in the state, and the state at large exclusive of these cities, and the totals shown for each division as well as for all of them together: The following enumeration of the orders issued is arranged in six divisions, one for each of the three chief cities and one for each of the three divisions of the state, corresponding to the six similar divisions appearing in the preceding inspection reports. The number prefixed to each order corresponds to the same number appearing in the column headed "No. of Order Issued" in the corresponding inspection report. : ORDERS ISSUED ON THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD INSPECTIONS OF THE CITY OF ST. PAUL, 1899-1900. 1. Numbers Correspond to Numbers Opposite Inspection Reports. Whitewash interior of bakery. 2. Have establishment thoroughly cleaned; provide school excuse for the minor employed. 3. Box in main drive belt where it passes through floor; cover or re move exposed set screws. 4. Provide countershaft with pulley for tumbler. 5. Provide school excuses for four girls under sixteen. 6. Provide schol excuse for twn minors employed. 7. Provide stairs to hatchway on roof of building; cut archway through side wall on third floor between buildings. 8. Provide school excuse for boy under sixteen. Provide school excuse for minor boy. 9. 11. Discharge boy under fourteen years of age, illegally employed. 12. Provide railing around drive pulley. 13. Provide railing around electric motor. 14. Provide excuse for girl under sixteen years of age; remove iron bars from window in rear of store; erect iron fire escape from third story to roof of annex. 15. Provide excuse for minor girl employed. 16. Widen gangway to the top of trestle which extends through the build ing from front to rear; report future accidents to commissioner of labor. 17. Provide better ventilation in engine-room. 18. Provide two outside iron fire escapes. 19. Provide railing around electric motor. 20. Cover up dangerous opening in floor. 21. Provide school excuse for minor boy employed. 22. Provide school excuses for seven boys under sixteen years of age. 23. Erect two iron fire escapes on building. 24. Erect one fire escape on rear of building. 25. Discharge boy under fourteen years of age, illegally employed. 26. Provide school excuse for minor boy employed. 27. Cover up or remove exposed set screws. 28. Provide guard on steam mangle. |