Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1904 — REFORM MEASURES [ARTICLE]

REFORM MEASURES

Enacted by General Assembly During Past Decade. • DISCUSSED BY PRESIDENT PERKINS Indiana Has Attained a Reputation for the Enforcement of the Labor Laws Upon the Statute Books of the State —Politics Has Played No Part in Affairs of Factory Inspection Department. Reference has before been made In 4 columns of this paper to the many labor reform measures enacted in In- ! dlana during the last nine years of Republican supremacy in legislative as--1 fairs. An article contributed by Mr. 1 Edgar A. Perkins, president of the ■ Indiana Federation of Labor, to the In--1 dianapolis Star, furnishes additional 1 evidence to show what has been accomplished along this line since the accession of the Republican party to responsibility in Indiana in 1895, and this evidence is strengthened by the fact 1 that President Perkins is a Democrat He says: I The report of the Department of Inspection, just issued by Inspector McAbee, shows the strides that have keen made in the last few years in the curtailment of child labor in this state. While this feature of industrial life is not all that it should be, it is at present so much better than it was a few years ago that the advocates of leglsla- ' tlon for the retarding of child labor have hope that the future will see ' more accomplished than has the past. The present inspection department, although hampered by littleness of appropriation and in the number of deputies, has done much to bring the state forward in its reputation for the class of labor laws that prevail. A Reputation for Enforcement | Indiana, while it has not so many laws in the Interest of labor as have 1 some of the Eastern states, has a name for the enforcement of those that are the books second to none. The Section force at the present conflMto of one inspector and five depuwho are expected to attend to all ■Bwork that comes under the departAt the last session of the legisire an effort to have the force in- ' creased was defeated.

Compared with the forces employed in other states, the inspection force employed in this state is small and the amount of money expended in its maintenance is not to be compared with that of many others. Yet, in -the number of inspections to be made and the territory to be covered, there is not such a great difference. It is contended by those who have been instrumental in bringing the law to its present point that unless there is some means of compelling an impartial entorcement of the factory laws an Injustice would be done, and especially would this be so in so far as child labor was concerned. It was largely for this reason that an increase in the inspector force has been advocated. It is pointed out that this state has become one of the big manufacturing centers of the country and that it is sure to cost more for the enforcement of factory laws from year to year. Is Now Five Years Old. The Inspection department has now been in existence a little over five years, having been created by the legislature of 1897, during the term of Governor Mount, who appointed D. H. McAbee, the present inspector. The first force consisted of Mr. McAbee and one assistant, who was expected to do the office work and keep up his end of the outside work. The law at that time was not materially different from the present one, and the inspection department did not accomplish in its first two years as much as its friends had hoped for. It did, however, demonstrate the * necessity for its existence, and at the following session of the legislature not much opposition was encountered in the effort to increase the efficiency of the department.

Again, at the following session, an increase was secured, but many of the members of the last legislature were of the opinion that \he end had been 'cached. And, strange to say, the optosltlon did not come from the rural listrlcta, but from the representatives rom the cities. The .matter, however, jrlll not be dropped, and an effort will be made between now and the next session of the legislature to create a public sentiment in favor of further increasing the efficiency of this department Results of the Law. Through Its efforts many children have been taken out of the factories, the sanitary conditions have been wonderfully Improved, accidents have been reduced and In connection with the trtiant authorities hundreds of children have been placed In school that would otherwise have been denied the benefits of education. The law Is originally the effort of the trade union movement In this state. Such legislation was among the first asked by the State Federation of Labor, but It was not until the early *9o’s that a systematic effort was mad# to secure its passage. In the spring of 1892 the secretary of the Indianapolis Central Labor Union secured copies of the New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts factory acts and out of these original Indiana act was drafted. The late Captain Silas Bhepard drew the bill. At the meeting of the State Federation in tbs same year the bill was In-

dorsed as one of the measures to be put forwa-rd by the legislative committee, and was Introduced at the next session of the legislature. It was defeated, as was its fate at the next session. By 1897, however, there was a sentiment in its favor, and it passed without as much opposition as had been anticipated. Law Has Been a Benefit. All the opposition however, did not come from without the ranks of organized labor, there being some decided sentiment against it from a very few members of certain trades who were fearful the effect the anti-child labor section might have on their trades. Ttys did not" result, and in recent years these opponents have become the most insistent on this class of legislation. That the law has proved a beneficent measure, and though in no manner perfect, has sustained the claims of its advocates, the yearly reports of the inspector bear witness. And with the small force at its disposal few states show as good, and none better results then those achieved by the Indian department. This is accounted for in part by the fact that politics has played but a small part in the affairs of the department, and also to the fact that the organized labor movement has at all times kept in close touch with its affairs.