The Keating–Owen Child Labor Act of 1916, also known as Wick's Bill, was a short-lived statute enacted by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

which sought to reduce

child labor Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

. It did so by prohibiting the sale in

interstate commerce The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amo ...

of goods produced by factories that employed children under 14, mines that employed children younger than 16, and any facility where children under 14 worked after 7:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m. or more than eight hours daily. After its original failure to be enacted, the bill was revised and re-introduced to Congress, where it was finally accepted. The basis for the action was the

Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...

, a constitutional clause giving Congress the task of regulating interstate commerce. The Act specified that the

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Labor would convene a board to publish from time to time uniform rules and regulations to comply with the Act. To enforce the Act, the Secretary of Labor would assign inspectors to perform inspections of workplaces that produce goods for commerce. The inspectors would have the authority to make unannounced visits and would be given full access to the facility in question. Anyone found in violation of this Act or who gave false evidence would be subject to fines and/or imprisonment. AddieCard05282vLewisHine

The bill was named for its sponsors:

Edward Keating Edward Keating (July 9, 1875 – March 18, 1965) was an American newspaper editor and politician. In turns a Colorado newspaper editor, U.S. Representative (1913–1919) from Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountai ...

and

Robert Latham Owen Robert Latham Owen Jr. (February 2, 1856July 19, 1947) was one of the first two U.S. senators from Oklahoma. He served in the Senate between 1907 and 1925. Born into affluent circumstances in antebellum Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of a railroa ...

. The work of Alexander McKelway and the

National Child Labor Committee The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) was a private, non-profit organization in the United States that served as a leading proponent for the national child labor reform movement. Its mission was to promote "the rights, awareness, dignity, well ...

(NCLC),Sandy Hobbs, Jim McKechnie, Michael Lavalette. ''Child Labor: A World History Companion'' it was signed into law in 1916 by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, who had lobbied heavily for its passage, and went into effect on September 1, 1917. However, nine months later, in '' Hammer v. Dagenhart'', 247 U.S. 251 (1918), it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States (see also

Lochner era The ''Lochner'' era is a period in American legal history from 1897 to 1937 in which the Supreme Court of the United States is said to have made it a common practice "to strike down economic regulations adopted by a State based on the Court's o ...

References

External links

Keating Owen Child Labor Act of 1916

Keating Owen Child Labor Act, 1916
* American Government Roots and reform AP Edition by O'Connor Sabato Yanus {{DEFAULTSORT:Keating-Owen Act 1916 in American law 64th United States Congress Child labor in the United States United States federal labor legislation Presidency of Woodrow Wilson Progressive Era in the United States 1916 in labor relations