The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-02-08

earning class in every manufacturing
and commercial State in this country
In Pennsylvania, the factory inspectors
report that they found 22.397 children
under sixteen years of age at work in
1894. In the same year, the New York
inspectors found II, ,536 children at work.
In Illinois in the past year 1885, we
found 1924 and the Massachusetts, in
spectors found 13, 892 children. Through
out the present article the word children
will be used to designate only children
under sixteen years of age unless other
wise specified.
Methods of Dealing With Child Labor.
1t is curious contradiction in our in
dustrial life that, where industry is
most highly developed, the unemployed
State of the adult workers and the early
employment of children in industry are
most conspicuous.
In each Of the States mentioned, the
number of wage earning children in
creases from year to year. In Illinois
the increase in 1895 over 1894 was 494,
and was found wholly in the sweat
shops of Chicago.
There are two methods of dealing
with the employment of children. One
is to prohibit their employment and re-
quire their uninterrupted attendance at
school. The other is to permit them to
work, and prescribe the conditions
under which they may do 30. The
American practice hitherto has been
compromise between these two.
We have aimed to keep an abundant
supply of cheap child labor in the labor
market. and at the same time to do
away with the most sensational features
of the overwork Of growing children.
Examples of this method are the re-
strictive measures adopted in the vari-
GUS States, and carried farthest in Mass
achusetts and New York. Massachu-
setts began by fixing the legal mini
mum age of work at ten years, and the
hours of work at sixty per week, and
ten per day. Gradually the age was
raised to twelve years. then thirteen.
Now the legal minimum is thirteen
years, with the farther restriction that
the child must attend school a certain
number of weeks between thirteen and
fourteen years of age. The hours of
work per week have been reduced to
fifty eight, and the working children
have incidentally profted by the sari-
tary provisions and safeguards for life
and limb which have, year by year,
been added in the Massachusetts code.
Children under a certain prescribed
age can no longer be legally employed to
run elevators, nor can they work all
night. Wherever concomitant of child
labor has proved peculiarly disastrous,
some check upon it has been attempted
by the Massachusetts, lawgivers. and
those of New York have followed the ex-
ample, though they have not always
adopted exactly the same measure. And
one by one the other States copy this or
that provision from the New York and
Massachusetts, codes.
The Swiss Method.
Nowhere in this country have we at
tempted the Swiss method of prohibit
ing absolutely the employment of child
rem under the age of sixteen years, and
making adequate provision for keeping
the children in school throughout the
school year until they reach that age.
In all our arrangements it is shown that
we accept it as inevitable that large
body of children should be engaged as
wage-earners. In no State do we pro-
vide school accommodations for all the
children after they reach the age at
which they are able to begin to contrib
ute to the support of the family. We
build grammar schools for much less
number of children than attend the pri-
mary grades of the public schools. We
leave manual training schools vanish
ing minority of the schools of grammar
grade, SO showing that we do not expect
the children of the working class to at
tend them, as matter of course, as we
expect the primary grades to be attend:
ed.
The Situation in Illinois.
or the American States, none main.
tains so anomalous position in regard
to its wage-earning children as Illinois.
Illinois has suddenly become the third
great manufacturing State in the Union.
but still has the constitution adopted in
1870; and this constitution, adopted
when Illinois was farming State, is in.
terpreted by men elected to the Supreme
Court for term of nine years, and
therefore as remote as possible from all
touch with the people. The consequence
of this situation is, that whenever the
legislature enacts measure calculated
to protect the wage earning children,
the Supreme Court pronounces the
statute contrary to the Constitution of
Illinois. The Eight hour law, the
Weekly Payment law and the Truck law,
have all promised protection to the
children in common with the adult EN-.
ployes. Each in turn has been pronoun.
ced unconstitutional. 1t is therefore
under the express proteetion of the da-