On the 17th April 1905 The Supreme Court of the United States held, in the case of Lochner vs. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905) that the "right to free contract" is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Freedom of contract is the freedom of individuals and corporations to form contracts without government restrictions. This is opposed to government restrictions such as minimum wage, competition law, or price fixing. The freedom to contract is the underpinning of laissez-faire economics and is a cornerstone of free market libertarianism.
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| Peckham |
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| Holmes |
The case involved a New York law that limited the number of hours that a baker could work each day to ten, and limited the number of hours that a baker could work each week to 60. By a 5–4 vote, the Supreme Court rejected the argument that the law was necessary to protect the health of bakers, deciding it was a labour law attempting to regulate the terms of employment, and calling it an "unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right and liberty of the individual to contract." Justice Rufus Peckham wrote for the majority, while Justices John Marshall Harlan and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. filed dissents. Writing in dissent, Holmes accused the majority of basing its decision on laissez-faire ideology. He believed that they were making law based on economics rather than interpreting the constitution. Neither did he believe that "Liberty of Contract" existed or was intended in the constitution.
The Supreme Court, by a vote of 5–4, also ruled that the law limiting bakers' working hours did not constitute a legitimate exercise of state police powers. The opinion of the Court was delivered by Justice Rufus Peckham. Peckham began by asserting that the Fourteenth Amendment protected an individual's "general right to make a contract in relation to his business." He acknowledged that the right was not absolute, referring disparagingly to the "somewhat vaguely termed police powers" of the state. At the same time, Peckham argued that the police power was subject to certain limitations; otherwise, he claimed, the Fourteenth Amendment would be meaningless, and states would be able to pass any law using the police power as a pretext. He asserted that it was the court's duty to determine whether legislation is "a fair, reasonable and appropriate exercise of the police power of the State, or ... an unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right of the individual ... to enter into those contracts in relation to labour which may seem to him appropriate."
The Attorney General of New York, Julius M. Mayer, had claimed in his brief that the government "has a right to safeguard a citizen against his own lack of knowledge." Peckham responded to this argument by writing that bakers "are in no sense wards of the State." He remarked that bakers "are ... able to assert their rights and care for themselves without the protecting arm of the State, interfering with their independence of judgment and of action."
Next, Peckham proceeded to disclaim the idea that long working hours posed a threat to the health of bakers. He addressed the argument with the following words: "To the common understanding, the trade of a baker has never been regarded as an unhealthy one." He added that relevant statistics showed that baking was no more or less healthful, on average, than other common professions. Although conceding the "possible existence of some small amount of unhealthiness," Justice Peckham contended that it was insufficient to justify interference from the state.
Hence, Peckham and his fellow Justices reached the conclusion that the New York law was not related "in any real and substantial degree to the health of the employees." Consequently, they held that the New York law was not a valid exercise of the state's police powers. Lochner's conviction was accordingly vacated.
This view lasted until the 1930’s. In 1934 the Supreme Court decided Nebbia v. New York stating that there is no constitutionally protected fundamental right to freedom of contract. In 1937, the Supreme Court decided West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, which expressly overruled Adkins and implicitly signalled the end of the Lochner era. The decision repudiated the idea that freedom of contract should be unrestricted.
The legislature has also recognized the fact, which the experience of legislators in many States has corroborated, that the proprietors of these establishments and their operatives do not stand upon an equality, and that [p394] their interests are, to a certain extent, conflicting. The former naturally desire to obtain as much labour as possible from their employees, while the latter are often induced by the fear of discharge to conform to regulations which their judgment, fairly exercised, would pronounce to be detrimental to their health or strength. In other words, the proprietors lay down the rules and the labourers are practically constrained to obey them. In such cases, self-interest is often an unsafe guide, and the legislature may properly interpose its authority.
Coming at a time of mounting political pressure over the judiciary's stance toward the New Deal, the Court's shift is sometimes called “The switch in time that saved nine”
Is an agreement a treaty or a contract? What rights are there to contract between people and governments? The laissez faire attitude was prevalent at the time. As a result of the Sykes-Picot Agreement concluded on the 16th May 1916, before hostilities of the First World War had even ended, the British and the French have a bit to answer for in the development of the Middle East. Was there any ‘equality’ between the emerging Arab nations and the Western Powers. Inevitably strife and rebellion was the order of the day. The history of the French and English in the area is very doubtful. Be that as it may, on the 17th April 1946 Syria obtained its Independence from French occupation. Officially the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (also known as the French Mandate of Syria) was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. During the two years that followed the end of the war in 1918, and in accordance with the Sykes-Picot Agreement that was signed between Britain and France during the war, the British held control of most Ottoman Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and the southern part of the Ottoman Syria (Palestine and Jordan), while the French controlled the rest of Ottoman Syria (modern Syria, Lebanon Alexandretta) and other portions of south-eastern Turkey.
During the first years of the 1920s, the British and French control of these territories became formalized by the League of Nations' mandate system, and France was assigned the mandate of Syria on September 29, 1923, which included modern Lebanon and Alexandretta (Hatay) in addition to modern Syria. French troops left Syria and Lebanon finally on the 17th April 1946.
And on another note:
Geraldine Fredritz Mock was born on 22nd November, 1925, in Newark, Ohio. Better known as "Jerrie", Mock was the manager of Colombus Airport in Ohio. She had married Russell Mock in 1945 and had three children. In 1962 she complained to her husband of having nothing interesting to occupy her and expressed her wish to fly somewhere. Almost as a joke, Russell replied, "Why don't you fly round-the-world?" Jerrie took him at his word, and after studying an atlas, she commenced to plan a flight round-the-world. With only 500 flying hours at this time, she continued to earn her Instrument Rating so she could fly in all weather conditions (Instrument Flight Rules-IFR). By the time she was ready, she had logged 750 hours. Russell Mock and his friend, Al Baumeister purchased a Cessna-180 and named it the "Spirit of Columbus." They added two custom ferry fuel tanks inside the cabin and outfitted the cabin with personal equipment and survival gear. With on-board fuel of 178 gallons, she could fly 25 hours with a range of 2,400 miles.
On 19th March 1964, Mock departed from Columbus on her history-making solo flight. 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes later, she arrived back to Columbus on 17th April 1964, after flying 23,103 miles round-the-world. With this she became the "First woman to fly solo entirely round-the-world." Jerrie's flight was monitored by the National Aeronautic Association and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) which certified it as a round-the-world speed record for aircraft weighing less than 3,858 pounds. On May 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Jerrie with the Federal Aviation Administration's Exceptional Service Decoration.For her contributions to flight, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale honored Mock with its Louis Bleriot Medal, the organization's highest honour. Mock was the first woman and also the first American citizen to receive the medal. In 1975, Mock's Cessna was donated to the National Air and Space Museum.
Departed Columbus, OH 19/03/64
Bermuda
Santa Maria, Azores 28/03/64
Casablanca, Morocco
Boone, Algeria
Tripoli, Lybia 01/04/64
Inshaas, Egypt
Cairo, Egypt
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 03/04/64
Karachi, Pakistan
Delhi, India
Calcutta, India 06/04/64
Bangkok, Thailand
Manila, Philippinnes
Guam 11/04/64
Wake
Honolulu, HI 13/04/64
Oakland, CA
Tucson, AZ
El Paso, TX
Bowling Green, KY
Arrived Columbus, OH 17/04/64
Arrival statement: "I did it to give confidence to the little pilot, who is being left in the jetstream of the space age."
The effective repeal of Lochner vs. New York in the 1930's was to give confidence to the little people.
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