Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-02-08
EDWARD BELLAMY
WILL ADDRESS THE COOPER
UNION MEETING ON WEDNES-
DAY, FEBRUARY 12.

Proceedings of the School Conference
The sO.called Compulsory Educa
tiOn Bill Pending in the Legisla-
ture Dissected and Condemned
Money Needed by the Arrange
ments Committee for Handbills,
Posters, etc.
A meeting of the School Conference
was held last Friday, Jan. 30, at tie La
Dor Lyceum. Although number of
delegates failed to appear, the attend
ance was better than at any previous time
since the formation of this body. The
interest in the movement is unquestion.
ably growing and may develop to
gigantic proportions as soon as it is gen.
orally known that Edward Bellamy, the
celebrated author of Looking Back.
war " has accepted the invitation of
the Conference to address the great
mass meeting to be held at the Cooper
Union on the 18th of February.
At the previous Conference, held Jan.
q, committee had been appointed to
examine and report upon certain Com
pulsory Education bill, now pending in
the New York Legislature. This COM
mittee reported as follows:
''In the opinion of your committee the
bill Is practically worthless for the fol-
lowing reasons:
/, 1t compels too little.
2. A part of what it compels is objec-
tionable.
3. 1t puts premium upon perjury.
4. 1t extends the time for providing
adequate school accommodations to 1895
scs cities of 25c.0e0 inhabitants and to
1892 for all other districts, whereas such
accommodations are an immediate,
urgent necessity.
81. The bill compels too Httle.-It pro.
vides for sets of children, viz: l. from
to II years; 2-from II to IA; 3-from
II to l6; 4-from II to 16. The pro.
visions are different for all these sets of
children and the only ones whom it is
proposed to keep in school throughout
the school year are the little tots from Z
to II years of age. From the time a
child is II years DID, IA weeks of day
school, or % weeks of night school. are
by this bill declared sufficient, Now.
the factory law forbids work before the
age of IA, and instead of strengthening
this law, the proposed bill deliberately
opens The way to violations of it, by
setting whole army of children aged
II, IL and 13 free from school ate nd
ance nine months in the year if they
attend day school ii weeks, and the
whole year if they go to night school.
The notoriously shameful law of New
Jersey is better than this; for that
undertakes to compel attendance
throughout the school year to the age
of 12, but this only to the age of H..
"There is very large number of occu-
pations to which the factory law does
not apply, the newsboys, bootblacks,
cash girls, door-openers, rag-pickers,
messengers and telegraph boys, office.
boys, errand boys, and many others are
not under the factory act, and if they
60 to night school half year from II to
16 they are "all right" according to the
terms of this law.
"2-A part of ,Chat this so,called COM
pulsory La,o aoouId compel, is objection
able. This refers to attendance at night
school % weeks in lieu of Ia weeks of
day school. Night school for child of
II to 16 years is an abomination. 1t
means that the growing child just when
the need Of rest and recreation is most
urgent, must add three hours of BRAIN
work to its ten or eleven hours of daily
TIL. No strong man could endure that.
And to infiict such labor upon children
between II and IA years of age is an out
rage.
''3 The bill places q premium upon per,
jury.-It provides for no registration of
children such as is urgently needed and
should be continuous and complete in
order to prevent false statements con-
corning the ages of the children. The
bill merely complicates the temptation
to parents by having horde of chill.
dren from II to 16 years of age free
from school nine months in the year
with nothing but their parents oath
between them and nine months wages.
This places a heavy annual premium
upon perjury.
Point needs no comment; to state it
is sufficient.
"a summary of the history of the bill
as it stands is instructive, and may be of
special interest in view of the defects
pointed out by your committee.
ut was drawn by the conference of
school authorities and was meant to ask
30 little as to meet no opposition. Yet