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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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had voted on the spot, and without even hearing all the arguments which the state had to offer, to sustain the right and the power of the state to make intimate, detailed regulations and to enforce them with regard to the way in which an individual factory owner built and conducted his factory.

So there was not a total inhuman or illiberal attitude among these members of the court. Nevertheless, in the critical cases of Hammer v. Dagenhart and Adkins v. Children's Hospital, which were lead cases with regard to the regulation of hours and minimum wage matters, the majority members of the court had voted against the action in limiting the hours of labor or regulating the wages. These decisions were binding and were the leading decisions when the New Deal came into office.

In fact, most of the lawyers who advised us and the President, were very clear in their mind that no direct regulation of hours or regulation of wages by the federal government could possibly be sustained by the Supreme Court at this time. These two cases clearly showed that we would be prohibited from attempting such legislation.

I'm therefore very sure that as early as the beginning of '35, when we were having troubles with the





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