Restricting Child Labor in Factories to Eight Hours A Day Was Controversial in 1919

From The Daily Times, Wilson, N.C., May 3, 1919

Judge Boyd Has Declared Child Labor Act Unconstitutional

Washington, May 2—Officials of the department of justice were without information of the decision of Federal Judge Boyd of Greensboro, N.C., today declaring the child labor section of the war revenue law unconstitutional, and could not say what the next step in the case would be. It was stated, however, that the decision would not effect operation of the law unless upheld by the Supreme court. As the case was bought by a government against a cotton mill, the government having no direct part in the proceedings, it was said that the question of an appeal would have to be decided locally at Greensboro.

This is the second time Judge Boyd has declared the child labor law unconstitutional.

The previous case was brought to test the Federal statute, which denied the channel’s of interstate commerce to goods made in factories where child labor was employed. Despite the rallying of well known constitutional lawyers to the defense of the statute, it was held invalid by Judge Boyd. After the supreme court upheld him, Congress wrote a provision into the recent act, placing a privilege tax of 10 per cent on products of factories [words omitted in story] …years of age to any extent, or the employment for lover than 8 hours a day of children from 14 to 16 years of age.

In making permanent an injunction granted temporarily stay of execution of this law in the Charlotte, N.C., case here today, Judge Boyd said that the Federal law tries to accomplish regulation of employment by indirection under the taxing privilege in this instance as the previous law attempted it under the interstate commerce powers. Both attempts he holds to be invasion of the state rights.

The case was not argued at any considerable length and Judge Boyd’s opinion will be brief. He will reduce it to writing right away, and the case will be taken by appeal or writ of error to the Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of the United States and heard at an early date. The law is contained in Title 12 of the Revenue act of 1918.

It was expected that the argument of the case would take considerable time, but when the matter came up this morning, Judge Boyd early indicated that he was of the opinion that the law is unconstitutional, and this made unnecessary any extended argument. The case was brought by Eugene Johnson, by his father, as next friend, against the Atherton Cotton Mills of Charlotte. The plaintiff was represented by ex-Judge W.P. Bynum of this city, Julius Parker of New York and Manley, Hendren and Womble of Winston-Salem. W.N. Wilson of Charlotte appeared for the defendants, and District Attorney Hammer represented the government. It will be recalled that Judge Boyd held the Keating Child Labor Law unconstitutional, and was later sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States.

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From The Roanoke Rapids Herald, May 2, 1919

Child Labor Tax Law

Miss Emma T. Ward, representing the child labor division of the internal revenue department, Washington, has arrived to put in operation the tax collecting and inspection machinery for North Carolina. The federal law being a tax of 10 per cent on the products of all manufacturing concerns that employ children under 14 years old for more than eight hours a day. The machinery is understood to be modeled after the organization that was formed for administering the federal child labor law that was declared unconstitutional and brings to the state, it is said, a system of federal inspection such as was proposed for the state labor department bill that the recent legislature rejected.