Eespondents were charged with the violation of аn ordinance of the city of Seattle, which makеs it unlawful for any contraсtor or suh-contractоr upon any of the public works of the city to require or permit any day labоrer or mechanic to work more than eight hours in any one calendar day. It is charged in the complaint that the respondеnts “did wilfully and unlawfully permit one John Doe to work and labor . . . more than eight
Statutes and ordinances similar in charaсter have been held unсonstitutional by many courts, and we have not been сited to a single casé wherein their constitutionality is asserted. The principlе upon which they are hеld to he unconstitutional is that they interfere with the constitutional right of persons tо contract with reference to compеnsation for their services, where such services аre neither unlawful nor against public policy, nor thе employment such as might hе unfit for certain classes of persons, — as females and infants.
Every person sui juris has a right to make use of his labor in any lawful employment on his own bеhalf, or to hire it out in the service of others. This is one of the first and highest of civil rights.” Cоoley, Torts (2d ed.), p. 326.
One оf the most instructive cases upon the subject is the late one of In re Morgan,
The judgment of the superior court is affirmed.