CHAPTER I. DIGESTS AND SUMMARIES OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF LAWS AFFECTING LABOR. Laws relating to the following subjects, which are not included in the compilation given in Chapter II, are treated in the form of digests and summaries: Apprentices. Mechanics' liens. Protection of wages of employees, etc., of contractors. Earnings of married women. Exemption of mechanics from the requirement of procuring a peddler's license. Liability of stockholders of corporations for wage debts due employees. Trade-marks of trade unions. Right of action for injuries causing death. Hours of labor on public roads. Public printing to be done within the State. Legal holidays in the States and Territories. Seamen. APPRENTICES. In the following digest, the apprentice laws are considered by States, the statutory provisions in all States being considered as nearly as possible in uniform order and not in the order in which they appear in the statute books. ALABAMA. Who may indenture.-A minor may be bound out by the parents; or when parents are unable to provide for his support, by the probate judge of a county. Term.-A male may be bound out until he is 21, and a female until she is 18 years of age. Duty of master.-The master is required to see that the apprentice is taught his trade and to read and write, to provide him with good and wholesome food, necessary clothing, washing, lodging, and medical attendance, and at the expiration of the term of service, to furnish him with two new suits of clothes. He may enforce obedience and good behavior by such moderate corporal punishment as at common law a father or guardian is allowed to inflict. Interference. It is unlawful to entice, decoy, or persuade an apprentice to leave the service of his master, to employ him, to furnish him food or clothing, or to give or sell him ardent spirits, without the written consent of the master. Source: Code of 1907, sections 2896 to 2907, 6849, 6852, 6853. 15 ARKANSAS. Who may indenture.-A minor may be bound out by the father with the written consent of the mother; by the guardian if an orphan without sufficient estate for its maintenance, or by the mother if the father is dead and no guardian has been appointed. In any case the indentures must be approved by the judge of the county court. A minor may also be bound out by the judge of the county court in case the parents have not the means, or neglect to maintain said minor. Term.-A male may be bound until 21 and a female until 18 years of age. Duty of master.-The master is required to teach the apprentice a trade and to send the apprentice to school at least one-fourth of his time after he is 7 years old, and the apprentice must be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic to the rule of three, inclusive. Interference. It is unlawful to entice, persuade, or induce an apprentice to leave the service of the master or to conceal him after leaving such service. Source: Digest of 1904, sections 266 to 275, 1574, 5218. CALIFORNIA. Who may indenture.—A minor of 14 years of age or over may be bound by his father, or by his mother or guardian in case of the father's death or incompetency, or where the father has willfully abandoned his family for one year without making suitable provision for their support, or is habitually intemperate or is a vagrant; by an executor who by the will of the father is directed to bring up the child to a trade or calling; by the mother alone if the child is illegitimate; or by the judge of the superior court if the minor is poor, homeless, chargeable to the county or State, or an outcast who has no visible means of obtaining an honest livelihood. If a minor has no parent or guardian competent to act he may, with the approval of the superior court, bind himself. The minor's consent must be expressed in the indenture and testified to by his signing the same. Term.-A male may be bound until 21 and a female until 18 years of age. Duty of master.-The master must in the case of an orphan or homeless minor cause the apprentice to be taught reading, writing, and the ground rules of arithmetic, including ratio and proportion, must give him the requisite instruction in the different branches of his trade, and, at the expiration of his term of service, must give him $50 in gold and two new suits of clothes to be worth in the aggregate at least $60. In all cases the master must pay and deliver to the apprentice the money, clothes, and other property to which he is entitled under the indenture. Interference. It is unlawful to aid, entice, counsel, or persuade an apprentice to run away, or to employ, harbor, or conceal him, knowing him to be a run away. Sources: Civil Code, sections 264 to 276; Penal Code, section 646. COLORADO. Who may indenture.—A minor may be bound out by his father, or by his mother or guardian if the father is dead, incompetent, has willfully abandoned his family for six months without making suitable provision for its support, or has become an habitual drunkard; by the mother alone if the child is illegitimate, but subsequent marriage defeats her power to bind a child during marriage, whether illegitimate or not. In the above cases the consent of the minor, who is over 14 years of age, is necessary, and must be expressed in the indentures and testified to by his signing the same. A minor may also be bound out by a superintendent of the poor of the county if either the minor or his parents are, or may be, chargeable to the county or shall beg for alms; if the parents are poor and the father an habitual drunkard, and if the father is dead and the mother is of a bad character or suffers the minor to grow up in idleness, etc. A minor may bind himself if he has no parents competent to act and no guardian. Term.-A male may be bound until 21 years, and a female until 18 years of age or until marriage within said age. Duty of master.-An apprentice must be taught his trade and must be instructed in the common English branches of education, in some public or other school, at least three months in every year until he shall have arrived at the age of 14 years, and until he shall have received a common school education. He must be furnished with suitable clothing, food, and attention in sickness and health. Upon the expiration of his term of service, the master must furnish him two new suits of clothes, to be worth, respectively, $15 and $25, and a new Bible. Source: Mills' Annotated Statutes, chapters 6 and 26. CONNECTICUT. Who may indenture.-A minor may be bound out by the father or guardian, in which case the consent of a minor who is over 14 years of age is necessary; this must be expressed in the indentures and testified to by his signing the same. The selectmen of a town may, with the consent of a justice of the peace, bind out the children of any person who, having had relief from said town, allows his children to misspend their time and neglects to employ them in some honest calling, and of any person who does not provide competently for his children, whereby they are exposed to want; also any poor children who live idly or are exposed to want and have no one to take care of them. The trustees of the State Reform School may, with the consent of the boy or his parents or guardian, bind out any boy who is committed to said school during his minority. The directors of the Industrial School for Girls may bind out any girl committed to said school. The overseers of an Indian tribe may, with the consent of two justices of the peace, bind out children of said tribe who are poor, idle, and unprovided for. A minor, when of the age of 14, may, with the consent of the selectmen of his town, bind himself if he has no father or guardian within the State. Term.-Males may be indentured as apprentices until 21, and females until 18 years of age, or until their marriage within that age. In the case of Indian children, males may be indentured until 18, and females until 16 years of age. or until married within that age. Inmates of the Connecticut Industrial School for Girls may be indentured only for the terms of their commitment. Interference.-It is unlawful to eloign or entice any lawfully bound minor from the service or custody of his master. Source: General Statutes of 1902, sections 1250, 2828, 2829, 2841, 4427, 4684 to 4690. DELAWARE. Who may indenture.—A minor may be bound out by the father; by the guardian if there is no father residing in the State; by the mother if there is no father residing in the State and there is no guardian; by any two trustees of the poor if the minor is living in the almshouse, and by any two justices of the peace acting together if the minor has no parents residing in the State and has not sufficient property for his maintenance, or if his parents are not able to maintain and bring him up to industry and suitable employment. A minor when of the age of 14 may also bind himself if he has no parents and no guardian residing in the State, and in this case the consent of a justice of the peace is necessary. Term. The term for which apprentices may be bound is until 21 years of age in the case of males, and until 18 years of age in the case of females. Immigrants of full age may be bound out for a period of not more than five years. Duty of master.--Apprentices must be given a reasonable education in reading and writing, and must be furnished with proper support and clothing. Upon the expiration of the term of service the master must provide his apprentice with two new suits of clothing. The master has power to enforce obedience and good behavior by moderate correction and by suitable and sufficient means. Interference.-It is unlawful knowingly to harbor, conceal, or employ an apprentice who has run away from service; to deal with an apprentice without the consent of his master, or knowingly to encourage him to disobey his master's lawful orders or to neglect his business. Source: Revised Code, edition of 1893, chapter 79. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Who may indenture.-A minor child may be bound as an apprentice by his guardian; or, if he has none, by his father; or if he has neither father nor guardian, by his mother, with the consent, entered of record, of the probate court, or without such consent if the minor, being 14 years of age, agrees in writing to be so bound. The probate court may bind out an orphan child or any child abandoned by its parents or guardian; any child of habitually drunken, vicious, or 43967-08- -2 |