Charles Evans Hughes

“ But, as it was competent for the state, in securing the safety of the young, to prohibit such employment altogether, it could select means appropriate to make its prohibition effective, and could compel employers, at their peril, to ascertain whether those they employed were in fact under the age specified. ”

“ The plaintiff in error complains of the ruling that a violation of the statute gives a right of action to the employee in case of his injury, but this is a question of state law with which we are not concerned.
The Federal question presented is whether the statute, as construed by the state court, contravenes the 14th Amendment. It cannot be doubted that the state was entitled to prohibit the employment of persons of tender years in dangerous occupations. ”

“ The trial court, refusing to direct a verdict for the defendant, instructed the jury that if the plaintiff was in fact less than sixteen years old, and when injured was employed by the defendant upon a stamping machine, the defendant was guilty of a violation of the statute, and the plaintiff was entitled to recover. ”