Virginia.-A department of mines is created within the bureau of labor and industrial statistics. The state mine inspector, who is appointed by the commissioner of labor and industrial statistics, must have had at least five years' experience in coal mining, and must understand the different systems of working and ventilating coal mines. He must keep a record of and report all inspections made by him to the commissioner of labor and industrial statistics, who shall publish the record in his annual report. He must visit each mine once in six months or oftener if called on in writing by ten men engaged in, or by the owner, operator or superintendent, of a mine. He posts a certificate of inspection in a prominent place at or near the mine. Penalty for an inspector who fails to enforce the act, from $50 to $250 and dismissal. Operators or agents of coal mines must furnish the inspector proper facilities for entering and examining their mines. The inspector must notify the operator or agent in writing of any failure to comply with the provisions of the law or of any dangerous conditions which he may find; and, if he deems it necessary for the protection of the lives or health of the employees, after one day's notice to the operator or agent, he must notify the state mine inspector, who must immediately examine the mine and, if he finds it unsafe, must order it closed until it is made safe. Appeal may be made, however, to the circuit court, the judge of which finally determines whether the mine is in a reasonably safe condition. In case of an accident the inspector, if he deems it necessary, must go immediately to the scene and investigate the cause, and for this purpose he has the usual powers to compel the attendance of witnesses and administer oaths. Operators must make annual reports to the inspector on blanks furnished by the commissioner of labor. The mine inspector must also be notified of changes in the ownership of coal mines. Penalty for failure to make these reports, from $50 to $500, or imprisonment for from thirty to ninety days. (C. 178. In effect, June 13, 1912). (See also "Mines", p. 438). No appropriation is made in this act, but in the general appropriation act the commissioner of labor is allowed $7,600 a year, in addition to his salary, "for the purposes of his office". (C. 137. In effect, June 13, 1912).

United States.-The officer or other person appointed to inspect contract work for the government must report to the proper officer all violations of the eight-hour law, and the amount of the penalties

due for such violations must be withheld by the person who is in charge of paying out money on the contract. Contractors and subcontractors have the right of appeal within six months to the head of the department making the contract, and may appeal further from the decision of the head of the department to the Court of Claims. (C. 174. In effect, January 1, 1913).

CHILD LABOR

Out of thirteen state legislatures in which child labor bills were introduced during 1912, ten enacted legislation of some kind on the subject. Arizona and Maryland enacted most of the provisions of the uniform child labor law, and Minnesota, by adding many features to previous legislation, brought her law nearly to the standard of the uniform law. Though Louisiana took a backward step in readmitting her children to the stage, the general tendency is distinctly toward the raising and extension to new occupations of the minimum age limit, toward the shortening of hours, and toward the prohibition of night work for children.

Arizona. Fourteen years is the age limit; no younger child may be "employed, permitted or suffered" to work; and the list of occupations covers mills, factories, workshops, mercantile establishments, tenement-house manufactories and workshops, stores, business offices, telegraph and telephone offices, restaurants, bakeries, barber shops, apartment houses, bootblack stands, and the distribution and transportation of merchandise and messages. Children under sixteen are excluded from a long list, similar to that in the New York law and in the new Maryland law described later, and the state board of health is given the power to declare any trade or occupation dangerous to the lives or limbs, or injurious to the health or morals of minors under sixteen, and to prohibit their employment in such trades or occupations. The same power is given the board of health with reference to excluding children under eighteen from extra-hazardous occupations, the list of which, as given in the law, is very similar to that of the Maryland act. Sixteen is the minimum age for mines and quarries; smelters and ore reduction works are mentioned in both lists. The minimum age for street trades in cities of the first and second classes is ten for boys and sixteen for girls.

Employment certificates for children under sixteen and lists of all such children must be kept on file in all establishments for which fourteen is the minimum age. These certificates are issued, in a carefully prescribed form, by the county, city, or town superintendent of schools or, if there is no such officer, by a person authorized by the school board, provided the child is not to enter that person's own employment or the employment of a firm or

corporation of which he is a member, officer, or employee. Before certificates are issued a prescribed form of school record of the child, and a passport or transcript of the birth or baptism record or the affidavit of the parent or guardian showing the place and date of birth must be furnished; and the child must appear personally, must prove that he can read and legibly write simple sentences in English, and must prove to the satisfaction of a medical officer or of a physician appointed by the school committee that he has attained normal development and is in sufficiently sound health and physically able to perform the stated work. Only children who have satisfied certain requirements, both as to attendance and as to attainments, are entitled to school records. The names both of children who have been granted and of children who have been refused employment certificates, together with the name of the employer and the nature of the occupation for which each certificate has been issued, must be sent monthly to the state superintendent of public instruction. Inspectors and school attendance officers are directed to demand, and employers must furnish, for all children who may appear to be under sixteen, satisfactory evidence that they are in fact over that age.

Hours of labor are carefully regulated. In incorporated cities and towns night work, from 10 p. m. to 5 a. m., is forbidden for messengers of telegraph or messenger companies who are under the age of twenty-one. Boys under sixteen and girls under eighteen may not work at any gainful occupation, except domestic service or farm labor, more than eight hours a day or forty-eight hours a week, or between 7 p. m. and 7 a. m. Printed notices, stating the hours required, the hours of beginning and ending work, and the meal times, must be posted in all rooms where boys or girls of these ages are employed.

The mere presence of a child in any establishment is prima facie evidence of its employment; employment for any other time than as stated in the printed notice is a violation of the act; and failure to produce an employment certificate or evidence of the age of a child over sixteen, when demanded by the proper authorities, is prima facie evidence of illegal employment. The penalties for violations of various sections of the act range from a minimum of $5 to a maximum of $200. (C. 32. In effect, May 13, 1912). (See also "Administration of Labor Laws", p. 447).

Under the above law no child under fourteen, instead of as before no child under fourteen who has not been excused from attendance, may be employed during school hours in any occupation. But the new compulsory education law further requires that no child under sixteen may be employed during school hours without a written permit from the board of trustees. The reasons for which permits may be granted are practically the same as those for which children might be excused from attendance under the act of 1907, and the penalties are unchanged. (C. 77, sec. 89. In effect, May 20, 1912). Boys under eighteen may not be employed as hoisting engineers or underground in mines (C. 33. In effect, May 13, 1912), or as telegraph or telephone operators receiving or transmitting messages governing the movement of trains. In effect, April 22,

1912).

(C. 8.

Kentucky. No female under twenty-one may be "employed or suffered or permitted" to work at any gainful occupation (except domestic service and nursing) for more than ten hours in any one day or sixty hours in a week. (C. 77. In effect, June 10, 1912). (See also "Woman's Work", p. 495).

Louisiana. No child under sixteen may be employed in any theatrical exhibition or as a musician in any concert unless a permit has first been obtained from the judge of a juvenile court. A nonresident child must be accompanied by parent or guardian and satisfactory proof must be given that the child is receiving proper instruction and training in common-school studies. The employer must furnish bond not exceeding $2,000. (Act No. 184).

No child under seventeen years of age may enter or be employed in any place where billiards or pool games are played. Penalty, $25 to $100, or imprisonment for three months, or both. (Act No. 25. In effect, June 25, 1912).

Maryland. The age limit is raised from twelve to fourteen years in most occupations, but remains twelve for work in canning and packing establishments, stores, offices, boarding houses, places of amusement and clubs, and in the distribution, transmission and sale of merchandise, except that children under fourteen may not work "in any business or service whatever" during school hours unless they have fulfilled during the current year the legal requirements as to school attendance. It is provided, not merely as before that no child shall be employed, but that no child shall be "permitted or suffered to work."