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

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

enacted by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

which sought to reduce

child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

. 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 amon ...

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

Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

, 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 and Robert Latham Owen. 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 the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, 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 The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

(see also Lochner era).

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 September 1917 in the United States