Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-186

Opinion No. 186 La,hol'-Houl's of Labor-Sugar Refin- eries-Refineries. HELD: Sec. 1. Ch. flO. Laws 1933, limiting the hours of lahor in and about sugar refineries is a valid exercise of the police power anll does not violate any express pro\'ii<ion of the Constitu· tion. April 28, 1933. 'Ye ha \'e ca refully rea d your lettE'r of the 24th inst. regarding section 1 of Chaptet· flO. Laws of 1933, and entirely agree with the conclusion you have reached, namel~', that the statute is \'alid. Courts generally recognize the rights of the law-making hody to pass meas- ures, under the police powers of the sta te, limiting' the hours of labor in certain industries. Such legislation has for its ohject the protection of the llE'alth. or the promotion of the safety, or hoth, of the employee, and the hu- mane feeling and economic interest back of it are altogether laiHlable. As was well said by a distiJll-,'1lished jurist some ~'E'ars ago: "The dangers to a man while work- ing should be reduced to a minimum: the condi tions ulHlet' which he labors, so fa r HI" posi"ible should be conducive to health and comfort. Intensh'e work of either mind 01' hody, or both, should lIot be continued be~'ond his powers." (Court of Industrial Relations v. Chas. Wolff P. Co., 201 Pac. 418; State v. Lh'ingston Conct'ete etc. Mfg. Co., :34 :\IOllt. 570: Commonwealth v. Riley, 97 N. ].~. :367, Ann. Cas. 1912D 388; Holcombe v. Creamer, 120 N'. E. 354; In re Boyce, 75 Puc. 1, 1 Ann. Cas. 66; note to State Y. Barba, Ann. Cas. l!H4D, at p. 1263; 12 C. J. 926, 927, 6 H. C. L. 211.) The Act under considera tion pre- scribes that a period of not to exceed eight hom's shall constitute a day's work not only in but about a sugar re- finery. It applies, therefore, with equal force to those employed about and to those employed in such a refinery duro ing the period of operation. According to "Tebster's Xew International Dictio- nary "about" means near, not far from. in the immediate vicinity of, in con- tiguity or 1)I'oximity to. S'ee, also, the second, third and fourth series of'Vords and Phrases for the meaning and ap- plication of the phrase "in or about." Section 30 of Article III of the Con- stitution, which you cite, is found in the Bill of Rights lind reserves to the people themsel'l"es, as distinguished frQm the legislath'e assembly, rights in addition to those expressly enu- merated in the fundamental law.