The State Ousts its Leading Champion of Working Women
Blanche H. Mason, Assistant State Labor Commissioner, is fired for 'the good of the department' after aggressively enforcing labor laws for women.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Unless you intervene, Governor Hay, Mrs. Blanche H. Mason will cease to be an official of the state of Washington. In the most curt language imaginable, State Labor Commissioner Hubbard, your appointee, has notified Mrs. Mason that her services are no longer required, assigning no reason save 'the good of the department.' The state legislature created this office specifically to protect women wage earners, who suffer most under industrial injustices. Mrs. Mason has tirelessly enforced labor laws, yet she faced constant obstruction from her chief, Mr. Hubbard. We charge that Hubbard opposed the creation of the office and has handicapped Mrs. Mason’s work. When Mrs. Mason gathered evidence that a large Seattle laundry was violating the ten-hour law, Hubbard told her to wash her hands of it. The very day he dismissed her, she was successfully prosecuting another employer for violating the eight-hour law. Organized labor throughout the state is aroused over this action, and we demand that this petty persecution cease.
“If any class of our wage earners need the protection of the state, it is the women wage workers.”
The dismissal of Blanche Mason highlights the perennial conflict between state oversight and powerful business interests. Today, Washington's Department of Labor & Industries continues this same struggle, as labor advocates frequently battle to ensure that enforcement officers are not silenced by political appointments aligned with major industry players.
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