In Re Wong Wing

Petitioner attacks as unconstitutional a certain ordinance of the city and county of San Francisco which limits the hours of labor in public laundries.

Wong Wing was charged with and convicted of misdemeanor consisting of a violation of the provisions of section 1 of Ordinance No. 144 (new series) of the board of supervisors of said city and county, and of section 4 of said ordinance as amended by section 1 of Ordinance No. 2298 (new series) of said board, in that he ironed clothes in a public laundry between the hours of six o’clock p. m. of a certain day and seven o’clock a. m. of the following day. The first section of the Ordinance No. 144 prescribes that on and after the passage of that by-law it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to establish, maintain or carry on the business of a public laundry or a public wash-house where clothes or other articles are cleaned for hire within the limits of San Francisco without having first complied with the conditions thereinafter specified. Section 4 as amended is as follows:

“No person or persons owning or employed in the public laundries or public wash-houses, provided for in section 1 of this ordinance, shall…