Luman v. Hitchens Bros. Co. – Maryland, 1899 (44 A. 1051); Starnes v. Albion Manufacturing Co. – North Carolina, 1908 (61 S.E. 525); Mt. Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Co. v. Frankfort Marine Accident & Plate Glass Insurance Co. – Maryland, 1909 (75 A. 105)
| Lewis Hine - child textile mill workers, Lincolnton, N.C., 1908 - courtesy Library of Congress
Lewis Hine - child cannery worker, Baltimore, Maryland, 1909 - courtesy Library of Congress
“[Child labor laws] are founded upon the principle that the supreme right of the state to the guardianship of children controls the natural rights of the parent, when the welfare of society or of the children themselves conflict with parental rights. In this country their constitutionality, so far as we can ascertain, has never been successfully assailed.” – Justice _ Brown, in Starnes “The Legislature has determined that it is injurious to the health of children under 14 years of age to work in mills and factories, other than canning factories, and how is this court to determine that this is not so? We cannot assume that the Legislature acted arbitrarily or unreasonably, but must presume, in the absence of any indication to the contrary, that the classification was based on reasonable grounds.” – Justice William Thomas, in Cotton Duck |
EMPIRE OF LAWS - The Legal History of the 50 American States > 3. OLD SOUTH LEGAL HISTORY > 3.5 Old South: Jim Crow and Southern Progressivism (1877-1920) > 3.5.1 Old South (1877-1920): The Rise of Jim Crow > 3.5.2 Old South (1877-1920): Residential Segregation and Peonage >