The Ten-Hour Labor Law Decision
By L. A. S.
RECENTLY the United States Supreme Court, by a vote of five to four, declared the State law of New York establishing a ten-hour work day in that State, to be unconstitutional. This decision overruled a decision of the higher court of the State which had affirmed the constitutionality of the law. The case was that of a master baker who had compelled his men to work more than the prescribed period of ten hours out of the twenty-four. The Supreme Court denied that the sanitary authority of a State could properly be extended to prohibit working in a bakery for more than ten hours at a time. The Independent says this is a very far-reaching decision, and inquires: “Will not longer hours shorten the life of the average man, and does not the police power of a State have the right to control hours of labor which will reduce human life?” The fact that the courts of New York, and four of the nine members of the highest court of the land, hold that the State can regulate personal sanitation to the extent of prescribing how many hours a day a man shall work, is strongly suggestive of a growing tendency toward that state paternalism which is characteristic of old-world governments and institutions. L. A. S.