The bill also provided seats for saleswomen, and specified the number of seats,--one to every three clerks.

It forbade the employment of children, except those holding working certificates from the authorities.

These, and other minor provisions, affected all retail stores, as far as the law was obeyed.
As a matter of fact the Consumers' League's bill carried a "joker" which made its full enforcement practically impossible.

The matter of inspection of stores was given over to the local boards of health, supposedly experts in matters of health and sanitation, but, as it proved, ignorant of industrial conditions.

In New York City, after a year of this inadequate inspection, political forces were brought to bear, and then there were no store inspectors.
Year after year, for twelve years, the Consumers' League tried to persuade the legislature that department and other retail stores needed inspection by the State Factory Department.