Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics and Information of Maryland. 1903. Thomas A. Smith, Chief. (Volume 1904) online

tions thereof to the grand jury of the said city or county.

137. Attendance officers may visit all establishments where minors
are employed in their several cities and counties and ascertain whether
any minors are employed therein contrary to the provisions of this
sub-title. Attendance officers may require that the certificates pro-
vided for in this sub-title of minors employed in such establishments
shall be produced for their inspection.

138. Any person violating any provision of this sub-title where no
special provision as to the penalty for such violation is made shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not exceeding fifty dol-
lars for each offense; provided, however, that the provisions of this
Act shall be restricted to the City of Baltimore and Allegany County.

Sec, 2. And be it further enacted. That this Act shall take effect on
September i, 1902.
Approved April 8, iqo2.

ACT PASSED JANUARY SESSION, 1902,
Chapter 566, Acts of 1902.

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact Section 4 of Article 100 of the Code of
Public General Laws as enacted by Chapter 317, Acts of 1894, title
"Work — Hours of, in Factories," regulating the emploj'ment of
children. *

Section i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland^
That Section 4 of Article 100 of the Code of Public General Laws, title
"Work — Hours of, in Factories," be and the same is hereby repealed
and re-enacted, to read as follows:



308 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF

Sec. 4. Be it enacted. That no proprietor or owner of any mill or
factor)' in this State, other than establishments for manufacturing of
canned goods, or manager, or agent, or foreman, or other person in
charge thereof, shall after the first day of October in the year eighteen
hundred and ninety-four, employ or retain in employment in any such
mill or factory any person or persons under fourteen years of age,
unless said child is the only support of a widowed mother, invalid
father, or is solely dependent upon such employment for self-support;
and if aiiy such proprietor or owner of any such mill or factory, or
manager, or agent, foreman or other person in charge thereof, shall
wilfully violate the provisions of this section lie shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined not less than
one hundred dollars for each and every offense so committed, and pay
the cost of prosecution, one-half to go to the informer and the other
half to the school fund of the county or city in which the offense shall-
have been committed; provided that nothing in this section shall
apply to PVederick, Washington, Queen Anne's, Carroll, Wicomico,.
Caroline, Kent, Somerset, Cecil, Calvert, St. Mary's, Prince George's,
Howard, Baltimore, Worcester, Garrett, Talbot, Montgomery and Har-
ford Counties.

Approved April 11, 1902.

ARTICLE 27, CODE OF PUBLIC GENERAL LAWS, CHAPTER

265, 1884.

Section 148. All factories, mianufacturing establishments or
workshops in this State shall be kept in a cleanly condition and free
from effluvia arising from any drain, privy or other nuisance; and no
factory, manufacturing establishment or workshop shall be so over-
crowded while work is carried on therein as to be injurious to the
health of the persons employed therein; and every such factory, man-
ufacturing establishment or workshop shall be well and sufficiently
lighted and ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless, as far
practicable, all the gases, vapors, dust or other impurities generated
in the course of the manufacturing process or handicraft carried on
therein, which may be injurious to health.

Sec. 149. Any person, firm or corporation, managing or conducting
any factory, manufacturing establishment or workshop in this State,
who shall neglect any of the requirements of the preceding section, or
do or permit to be done in the factory, manufacturing establishment
or workshop conducted or managed by him, her, them or it, any act
contrary to the provisions of said section, shall be guilty of a misde-
meanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, in a court of competent
jurisdiction, be fined one hundred and fifty dollars for each offense so
committed.



STATISTICS AND INI'ORM ATION, 309

Skc. 149A. (Added by CliHpler 467, Acts of 1H96.) If any individual

-or body corporate eiij^aged in the manufacture or sale of clotbiii;(or
any other article, whereby disease may be transmitted, shall, with
reasonable means of knowledge, by purchase, contract or otherwise,
directly or indirectly, cause or permit any garments, or such articles as

.aforesaid, to !)e manufactured or made up, in whole or in part, or any
work to h<i done thereupon, within this State, and in place or under
circumstances involving danger to the puT)lic health, the said indi-
vidual or corporation, upon conviction in any court of competent
jurisdiction, shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than one
hundred dollars for each garment or other articles so as lastly afore-
said manufactured, made up or worked upon.

SBC. 149B. (Added by Chapter 302, Acts of 1S94.) If any individual
or the officer of any corporation shall so as aforesaid cause or permit
any garment or other articles in the next preceding section mentioned,
to be manufactured, made up or worked upon in a place or under cir-
cumstances involving danger to the public health, with the knowledge
that it will or may be thus dealt with, he shall, upon conviction in any
court of competent jurisdiction, be imprisoned not less than sixty days
nor more than one year, and may be further fined not exceeding one
thousand dollars, in the discretion of the court.

Se;c, 149C. (Added by Chapter 302, Acts of 1894.) Any room or
apartment which shall not contain at least fou'r hundred cubic feet of
clear space for each person habitually laboring in or occupying th a
same, or wherein the thermometer shall habitually stand, during the
hour of labor, at or above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, before the first day of
May or after the first day of October of any year, or wherein anj' per-
son suffering from a contagious, infectious or otherwise dangerous
disease or malady shall sleep, labor or remain, or wherein, if of less

•superficial area than five hundred square feet, any artificial light shalV
be habitually used between the hours of 8 A.M. and 4 P.M., or from
-which the debris of manufacture anl all other dirt or rubbish shall
not be removed at least once in ever}' twentj'-four hours, or which
shall be pronounced ill-ventilated or otherwise unhealthy by any
officer or board having legal authority so to do, shall be deemed a
place involving danger to the public health, as mentioned in the next

"two preceding sections of this Article.

Sec. 149D, (Added by Chapter 302, Acts of 1894.) If any association
or society, whether incorporated or unincorporated, shall furnish,
through its officers or agents, evidence sufficient to secure the convic-
tion of any person criminally prosecuted under the next three preced-
ing sections of this Article, the said association or society shall receive
one-half of any fine which may be imposed upon such person so con-
victed with its assistance, such fines to be paid to the treasurer or
other officer with corresponding powers of the said society or asso-

iciation.



3IO REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF

ACT PASSED JANUARY SESSION, 1902.

CHAPTER lOI.

AN ACT to add four additional sections to Article 27 of the Code of
"Public General Laws, title "Crimes and Punishments," sub-title
"Health, Workshops and Factories — Sweating System," as the
same was amended by Chapter 302, Acts of 1894, and Chapter 467,
Acts of 1896, such four additional sections to be known respec-
tively as Sections 149EE, 149FF, 149GG and 149HH, and to come
in immediately after Section 149D of the Article.

Section i. Be it ettacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Article 27 of the Code of Public General Laws, title "Crimes
and Punishments," sub-title "Health, Workshops and Factories,
Sweating System," as the same was amended by Chapter 302, Acts of
1894, and Chapter 467, Acts of 1896, be and .the same is hereby
amended by the addition of four new sections to be added thereto,
to be known, respectively, as Sections 149EE, 149FF, 149GG and
149HH, and to come in immediately after 149D of said Article, to read
as follows:

Sec. 149EE. No room or apartment in any tenement or dwelling
house shall be used except by the immediate members of the family
living therein, which shall be limited to a husband and wife, their
children or the children of either, for the manufacture of coats, vests,
trousers, knee-pants, overalls, cloaks, hats, caps, capes, suspenders,
jerseys, blouses, waists, waistbands, underwear, neckwear, furs, fur
trimmings, fur garments, shirts, purses, feathers, artificial flowers,
cigarettes or cigars. No room or apartment in any tenement or dwell-
ing house shall be used by any family or part of family until a permit
.shall first have been obtained from the Chief of the Bureau of Indus-
trial Statistics, stating the maximum number of persons allowed to
be employed therein. Such permit shall not be granted until an
inspection of such premises has been made by the inspector or his
assistant named by the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics,
and such permit may be revoked by said Chief of the Bureau of In_
dustrial Statistics at any time the health of the community or those
employed or living therein may require it. No person, firm or corpo-
ration shall work in or hire or employ any person to work in any room
or apartment in any building, rear building or building in the rear of a
tenement or dwelling house at making in whole or in part any of the
articles mentioned in this section without first obtaining a written
permit from the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics, stating
the maximum number of persons allowed to be employed therein.
Such permit shall not be granted until an inspection of such
premises has been made by the factory inspector or his assistant^
named by the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics, and such.



STATISTICS AND INFORMATION. 3I I

permit may be revoked by the said Chief of t]ie Bureau of Industrial
Statistics at any time the health of the comniunity or of those so
employed may require it. All families, persons, firms or corporations
now engaged in snch manufacture in such tenement or dwelling house
or other building shall apply for said permit on or before July f, 1902,
and annually thereafter at the same date. The said permit shall be
posted in a conspicuous place in the room, or one of the rooms to
which it relates. Every person, firm or corporation contracting for the
manufacture of any of the articles mentioned in this section or giving
out the incomplete materials from which they, or any of them, are to
be made, or to be wholly or partially finished, or employing personsin
any tenement or dwelling house or other building to make wholly, or
partly finish, the articles mentioned in this section, shall keep a written
register of the names and addresses of all persons to whom such work
js given to be made, or with whom they may have contracted to do the
same. Such register shall be produced for inspection, and a copy
thereof shall be furnished on demand made by the Chief of the
Bureau of Industrial Statistics or one of his deputies.

Sec. 149FF. That the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics
or his assistant, or any inspector, shall have authority to enter any
room in any tenement or dwelling house, workshop, manufacturing
establishment, mill, factory, or place where any goods are manufac-
tured, for the purpose of inspection. The person, firm or corporation
owning or controlling or managing such places shall furnish access
to and information in regard to such places to the said Chief of the
Bureau of Industrial Statistics, or his deputies, at any and all reason-
able times, while work is being carried on.

Sec. 149GG. That the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics
shall appoint two deputies, or assistants, whose duty it shall be to
make such inspections of the tenements, dwelling houses, factories,
workshops, mills and such other places as he may designate, and to
do such other work as the said Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Sta-
tistics shall designate.

Sec. 149HH. Any person, firm or corporation who shall in any
manner violate the provisions of the preceding sections numbered,
respectively, 149EE, 149FF, 149GG, or who shall refuse to give such
information and access to the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Sta-
tistics, or his deputies, or secure such permit as provided, shall upon
conviction in any court of competent jurisdiction be fined not less
than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, "or imprisoned
not less than ten days nor more than one year, or both, in the discre.
tion of the court, such fines to be collected as all fines are collected
by law.

Sec. 2. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland
That this Act shall take effect from the date of its passage.

Approved March 27, 1902.



FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

APPROPRIATION, RUCEIPTvS AND RXPHNDITURP^S OF THE
BUREAU OF STATIvSTICvS AND INFORMATION.



Appropriation and receipts availaljle from March i, 1903, to April 7,

1904, viz.:
Amount available from March i, 1903, to April

7, 1903 $ 802 22

Appropriation, April 7, 1903 10,000 00

Balance collected for desk rent 30 00



$10,832 22
Expenditures from March i, 1903, to February

29, 1904, viz.:
To Chief's salary

other salaries

postage, expressage and telegrams

paid for gathering statistical information

paid for stationery, furniture and ofl&ce fix-
tures

paid for books, advertising and printing

paid office rent

paid annual dues to National Association

paid telephone service

paid ice and towel service

paid subscription to newspapers

incidentals

balance



2


.500


00


3


,906 96




209


14




500


00




120


90


I


,251


44


I


,500


00




5


00




136


60




30


65




II


26




17


75




642


52



510,832 22 110,832 22



CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE SWEAT-
SHOP LAW.



Since this report closed the Court of Appeals delivered its
opinion in the test case heretofore alluded to on page 79 by
the publication of the briefs. We take pleasure in adding
this to the report, as it fully sustains this Department in its
action, and establishes the constitutionality of the law. It is
as follows:

COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND.



January Term, .1904.



THE STATE OF MARYI.AND

vs.

LOUIS HYMAN.



Chief Judge McSherry Delivered the Opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal by the State of Maryland from the Criminal Court
of Baltimore city. It is a case wherein Louis Hyman was indicted for
a violation of the Act of 1902, Chapter loi. The title of that Act is in
these words: "An act to add four additional sections to Article 27 of
the Code of Public General Laws, title 'Crimes and Punishments,' sub-
title 'Health, Workshops and Factories, Sweating System,' as the same
was amended by Chapter 302 of the Acts of 1894, and Chapter 467
of the Acts of 1896; said four additional sections to be known respec-
tively as Sections 149EE, 149FF, 149GG, 149HH, and to come in imme-
diately after Section 149D of this Article." The indictment contains
five counts. The first count charges that the appellee, Hyman, un-
lawfully did use and cause to be* used a certain room and apartment
in a certain tenement and dwelling house by other than the immedi-
ate members of the family then living therein for the manufacture of



31 6 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OE

coats, vests, trousers, etc., contrary to the provisions of the above
mentioned Act of Assembly. The second count charges that the ap-
pellee, Hyman, did unlawfully use a certain room and apartment in a
certain tenement and dwelling house for the manufacture of coats,
vests, trousers, etc., he, the said Hyman, not being then and there an
immediate member of the family then living in said room and apart-
ment contrary to the form of the aforesaid Act of Assembly, etc. The
third count alleges that the appellee, Hyman, being then and there a
part of the family unlawfully did use a certain room and apartment
tenement and dwelling house for the manufacture of coats, vests,
trousers, etc., not having first obtained a permit from the Chief of the
Bureau of Industrial Statistics, stating the number of persons allowed
to be employed therein, contrary to the said statute. The fourth
count charges that the appellee, Hyman, in a certain room and apart-
ment in a certain rear building in the rear of a tenement and dwell-
ing house unlawfully did work at and hire and employ divers persons
to work at making coats, vests, trousers, etc., without first obtaining a
written permit from the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics,
stating the maximum number of persons allowed to be employed
therein contrary to the provisions of the statute, etc. And the fifth
count charges that the appellee, Hyman, employing divers persons in
a certain tenement and dwelling house to make and wholly and
partially finish coats, vests, trousers, etc., failed to keep a register of
the names and addresses of all persons to whom such work was given to
be made, contrary to the form of the Act of Assembly, etc. To this in-
dictment, and to each count thereof, the appellee interposed a demur-
rer, and upon hearing the demurrer was sustained, the indictment
was on motion quashed and the traverser was discharged. Thereupon
the State took this appeal.

The question which is thus presented is one not only of im-
portance, but of considerable interest and when reduced to its final
analysis, it is whether the Act under which the indictment was
framed is a constitutional exercise of the legislative power of the Gen-
eral Assembly. To determine that question it will be necessary to
briefly summarize the provisions of that statute.

It will be observed at the outset that the Act is ostensibly one in-
tended for the preservation and the protection of the public health and
safety. It is incorporated in the Code under the sub-title "Health,"
and its provisions were designed to promote the public health and
welfare. By Section 149EE it is in substance provided that no room
or apartment in any tenement or dwelling house shall be used except
by the immediate members of the family living therein, which shall
be limited to husband and wife, their children, or the children of
either, for the manufacture of coats, veets, trousers, etc.; that no room
or apartment in any tenement or dwelling house shall be so used by
any family, or part of a family, until a permit shall first have been



STATISTICS AND INFORMATION. 317

obtained from the Chief of the Ihireau of Industrial .Statistics, statinij
the ttiaxinuini number of persons allowed to Ije employed therein.
Such permit shall not be granted until an inspection of the premises
has been made by the Inspector or his Assistant named by the Chief
of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics, and such pertnit maybe revoked
by the said Chief of the Bureau of Industrial .Statistics at any time
the health of the community, or those employed or living therein may
require it. That no person, firm or corporation shall work or hire or
employ any person to work in a room or apartment in any building,
rear building, or building in the rear of a tenement or dwelling house,
at making in whole or in part any of the articles of wearing apparel
mentioned above without first obtaining a written permit from the
Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics, stating a maximum num-
ber of persons allowed to be employed therein; that the said permit
shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the room, or one of the rooms
to which it relates. That every person, firm or corporation contract-
ing for the manufacture of any of the articles mentioned above, or
giving out the incomplete materials from which they or any of them
are to be made, or to be wholly or partly finished, or employing per-
sons in any tenement or dwelling house, or other building, to make
â– wholly or partially finish the articles above mentioned shall keep a
written register of the names and addresses of all persons to whom
such work is given to be made, or with whom they may have con-
tracted to do the same. By Section 149FF it is provided that the Chief
of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics, or his Assistant or any Inspec-
tor, shall have atithority to enter any room, factory or place where
any goods are manufactured into wearing apparel for the purpose of
inspection; and that the person, firm or corporation owning or con-
trolling or managing such places shall furnish access to, or informa-
tion in regard to, such places to the said Chief of the Bureau of
Industrial Statistics or his deputies at any and all reasonable times
while work is being carried on. By Section 149GG it is provided that
the Chief of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics shall appoint two
deputies and assistants whose duties it shall be to make such inspec-
tion of the tenements and dwelling houses, factories, workshops, mills
and such other places as he may designate. By Section 149HH it is
declared that every person, firm or corporation who shall in any man-
ner violate the provisions of the preceding sections, and who shall
refuse to give such information and access to the Chief of the Bureau
of Industrial Statistics or his deputies, or who shall fail to secure such
permit as provided, shall upon conviction in any Court of competent
jurisdiction be fined or imprisoned, or both, as in said section pre-
scribed.

It is insisted by the appellee, and we presume that it was held by the
Court below, that these provisions of the statute were unconstitutional,
and, therefore, void, because they were arbitrary' and unreasonable. It



3l8 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OE

is obvious that the statute was passed in furtherance of the protection
of the health of the community. Its enactment was an exercise by the
General Assembly of the police power of the State. What is and what
is not within the limits of the police power has been a source of
prolific discussion both in the Federal and in the State Courts.
One of the legitimate and most important functions of civil
government is acknowledged to be that of providing for
the welfare of the people by making and enforcing laws to pre-
serve and promote the public health, the public morals and the
public safety. Civil society cannot exist without such laws, and they
are therefore justified by necessity and sanctioned by the right of self-
preservation. The power to enact and enforce them is lodged by the
people with the government of the State, qualified only by such con-
ditions as to the manner of its exercise as are necessary to secure the
individual citizen from unjust and arbitrary interference. With re-
spect to its internal police, the authority of each of the vStates is
supreme and exclusive. Whilst by the Federal Constitution the sep-
arate and independent States surrendered or transferred to the gen-
eral government which they established such powers as were deemed
to be necessary to enable it to provide for the common defense and to
promote the general welfare of the people of the United States, the
States themselves reserved complete and sovereign control over their
own internal affairs. Accordingly the Supreme Court has stated, as
an "impregnable position," that the States of the Union have the same
undeniable and unlimited jurisdiction over all persons and things
within their respective territorial limits as any foreign nation has,
where that jurisdiction is not surrendered or restrained by the Federal
Constitution, and that by virtue of this, it is not only the right but the
bounden and solemn duty of the State to advance the safety, happi-
ness and prosperity of its people, to provide for their general welfare
by any and every act of legislation, which may be deemed to be con-
ducive to these ends; and that all these powers which relate to merely
municipal legislation, or what may properly be called internal police,
are not surrendered or restricted; and that, consequently, in relation
to these the authority of a State is complete, unqualified and exclu-
sive; and, finally, that amongst these powers are inspection laws,
quarantine laws, health laws of every description, as well as laws for
regulating internal commerce of the State and to prevent the intro-
duction or enforce the removal of prohibited articles of commerce.
City of New York vs. Miln, ii Peters 102. Every holder of property,