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Show and remanding the petitioner, said that the state constitution provides that eight hours shall constitute a legal day's work upon all public works, and that an act of the legislature legis-lature provides that eight hours is a legal day's work in all cases where the same is performed under authority ot any law of the state or under any municipal muni-cipal ordinance, and that the power of the state is unquestioned to make such regulations. As to the point that a man was prevented pre-vented from selling his labor, the judge said that such was not the effect or the ordinance, but that its effect was to prevent an employer from enforcing from a laborer more than a legal day's work bv an agreement which is in violation vio-lation of the employer's own contract with the city, and perhaps not the expression ex-pression of the free will of the laborer. la-borer. . Space has been given to this decision because it is believed to be the first case in this stato where the all-embracing fourteenth amendment has been invoked against legislation intended for the ben-etit ben-etit of the ivorkingmcn. Whether eight-hour laws are expedient or judicious judic-ious is a matter apart from this question, ques-tion, and ou which there is a difference of opinion; but it does souud a little singular to hear a contractor attempt to set himself up us one of a. class, us though any one might not bo a contractor contrac-tor who could get a contract. The authority au-thority of the state is ample to regulate the hours of labor on public works of all kinds, and the employer who has a public contract and hires his men with knowledge of the existing laws ou the subject can hardly hope to shelter himself him-self beneath the fourteenth amendment if he violates those laws. An Eight-Hour Day. 6an Francisco Chronicle. Our old aud valued frieud, the four-teenth four-teenth anicudmeut to the constitution of tho United States, has bcou pressed into service again, this time before Judge Cheney, of the superior court of Los Angeles. That city has an ordinance declaring eight hours a labor day for all municipal work. Tho ordinance was violated by a contractor, aud upon his arrest ho obtained a writ of habeas corpus cor-pus aud -was brought before Judge Cheney. He set up in his defense that the ordinance was in conflict with the fourteenth ameudment, because it discriminated dis-criminated against contractors and persons per-sons in tlie employ of contractors, and that it prevented a man from selling his labor. , Judg Cheney, iu deciding thu case |