Evening star., 1901-06-05
LABOR OF children
Report on Condition. i'm the Southern
INVESTIGATED BY Miss IRENE ASHBY
Question of nterest to Wage
Farmers in United States.
THE WORK IN MILL S

made a lengthy report to the American
| Federation OF Labor on the subject of
| "Child Labor In the South" she having
been requested to Investigate the matter
| by President Gompers. and in the study of
| which she spent four months. In part,
| Miss Ashby says: :
There Is no question more vital to the in
terests Of workers throughout America at
the present time than that of the employ
ment OF young children in the so-called
| lighter factory industries of the south.
Wherever an industry appears in which it
is possible for a child to work the grown
people are made subsidiary and the child
and young person are used at cheap rates,
giving for the moment an enormous incen-
| tive to the investment of capital which will
receive quick returns from the purchase of
labor at low rate The cheapening of la
| Dor in one part Of the market in the long
| run causes cut-down in wages every
where in that particular trade.
Most of Miss Ashby's tour was spent in
Alabama. where, to her pleasure and sur
| prise. she says she found nun bers Of peo-
| womens clubs of Birmingham had already
discussed the subject The WomaA's Chris
| tion Temperance Union had made the legal
] restriction Of child labor a plank in their
| were not. however. aware that a bill to
accomplish this had been introduced into
| the legislature. The school authorities.
! pubic and private and several ministers
promised their assistance while business
men furnished her With introductions that
gave her access to the mills.
Miss Ashby visited sixteen cities and vii
! lagos and went over tWenty-three mills and
asked at every place uniform set of be-
| tween sixty and seventy questions of the
superlntendents. managers. operatives and
| persons living in close contact with mill
| life. By the managers and superintendents
| OF all except one she was treated with
| courtesy. by many with real kindness, even
! When they found out or guessed her errand
humane set Of men, although a good many
| OF them are the not too scrupulous agents
! OF the corporations when it comes to a
clash between the interests of capital and
labor. The tntroductionS which she had to
persons living In the mill towns gave her a
| good opportunity of forming and correcting
her impressions as she went along
Situation Summed Up,
| Briefly. she says, the general situation Is
| as follows: The tsma tnfacture of cotton
| goods is recent throughout the entire south.
1t Is almost new,1 ,1n Alabama. There are
some forty-three ,fhils in the state, two
of these being old watsr-power affairs, fall
| Ing into decay and soon to die altogether.
| " the twenty-four the lady visited only
! four had been running over ten years, for
periods OF thirty-five, twenty. nineteen and
eleven years respectively. The establish
! ment or the others ranges from one month
| to ten years. and averaged five wears There
| mas been regular boom in cotton mills dur
| Ing the last few years. When a city gets
| prosperous the inhabitants clamor for one,
and in several places they are growing up
| as quickly as they be built This will
probably continue the fashion for some
years to come. ann there is no doubt that
Alabama Is boundaesbs q cotton manufac-
turing state. Besides the raw material.
there is coal, iron and limestone and the
! day is not far distant when she will be
| manufacturing her own machinery.
The industry has aGded many thousands
| of dollars to the worth Of her farms and her
farm produce. and 1T is the pet and pride of
| the state. While in many places the mills
are hailed with delight by the people, there
| are already mutterings that they are Gre
| at1ng misery and wretchedness on the one
| side as quickly as they are making big dlvi-
dends on the other, and some business men
| are actually saying that the trade Of a city
| Is injured rather than helped by the vicinity
| of mill
The human material for the industry is
| as raw as the cotton. Families come in
| from the little isolated farms and cabins
very poor and very prolific A few cents
seem to them a fortune Where they come
| from they have seldom seen money, and
| their next years cotton bales are often
mortgaged ahead for this years food.
Entirely ignorant of Industrial life thew
are willing to take low wages for what
sounds like light work. without considera-
ton OF the novel demands of rent food
hre lights and clothes in a village or city
Apart from these necessities which often
| drive the whole family into the mill. there
| are corporation rules. They have heard of
| free schools for their children In the mill
sliiage' ana not until they enter it do they
| find that they must promise the work or
SO many out of each family before they are
| allowed even roof to cover them.
| Houses Owned by Mill PrOprietors,
Most OF the mills own their own houses:
| many are far from the city or the rent is
| suited to the means Of mill nand so that.
| although 1t Is not technically compulsory
| to i've In the company houses, 1t is SO prac-
tically. Parents, trifiing ignorant or care
| less, allow their little ones to go to work
| without remembering that twelve hours in
mill every day will rob them Of their
| future, and that the 10, 20 or 80 cents a
DAY they earn is the price Of their capacity
| TO earn dollars later on. Some go in as
young as six or seven years, and are SO
small that they need boxes to stand on to
| reach the roping.
1T Is estimated that at least 1900 children
| unoer twelve years Of age are employed
| IN tne Alabama cotton mills. and Miss
| Ashby says ones indignation at such
| wrong to childhood rises to fever heat
| when 1t is learned that these 1 200 little
white slaves (worse off than the negro
chlld IN Gays OF slavery. who. being worth
some hundreds Of dollars, was allowed to
develop into healthy animaD are sacri-
| nced 10 commercial superstition. and not
even to real or fancied necessity of the
| industry.
Miss Ashby further states that her OBJ
servations lead her to conclude that north
ern capitalists destroy southern children,
and that this statement is borne out by the
facts In the ten mills she visited run by
northern capitalists the number of chill
dren under twelve years of age Is almost
double the number In the thirteen mills
run by southern capital. No condemna-
ton. she declares, cap be too strong for
| those who, prot eeted In their own states
by laws securing the health. education and
physical Development of those who are to
be their fellow citizens, deliberately induce
an inexperienced set of men to enter upon
a course of standardization in the persons
of their little CHILDREN by misrepresent alton
and political corPYptiop; In order that they
may secure present. wealth. The prejudices,
fears and ignorance oftthe southern manu-
facturers are cleverlya played upon.
Out OF fifteen managers, six were en-
tirely opposed to ANY protection by law to
child labor. Thesa, gentlemen were rather
proud than otherwise sof knowing nothing
of the history of the trade economically,
not having heard that recent statistics
show child labor to hes economically HARM
full. Some Of them were convinced that
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