The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-03
THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN
 AGAINST CHILD IABOR


 The Federation of Women's Clubs. dertook one sacred task, that of for warding legislation in this State for the protection of little children from factory work The, members of those clubs may take heart that the cause they em- braced with such enthusiasm is not languishing. and that their help and in- terest will be called upon through the Fall and Winter.
 Mrs. Ashby- -Macfadyen, who has just returned from Europe. stopped on her way to Montgomery in Atlanta, which for the moment is the storm centre of the campaign against child labor. The fortunes of the child labor bill now be- lature will greatly affect it's fate in Ala bama at another time, even if the cam paign were not indivisible. It is South ern, not a State. question.
 In Atlanta Mrs. Ashby yMacfadyen con ferred with a committee of prominent Georgia men who are pushing the meas ure in that State. The chairman Of the Georgia Committee Is Judge Henry B. Tompkins of Atlanta. The Committee decided to throw the weight Of its in- fuence and other influences it represents which includes the club women or Georgia-behind Mir. c. c. Houstons pfii' thus making it represent the concentrated efforts of all persons interested in this legislation and strictly non-partisan. q G. ure of justice to working people. but as a law necessary to the industrial future of the South, and the moral and physical welfare of the new operative class which the splendid development of Southern manufacture Is creating.
 The whole case is clearly stated by Mrs. Ashby- -Macfadyen, under her maiden name, in ..The Worlds Work" for octo- Der and her article is attracting much attention.
 The pressure of public opinion indeed, now that the fact of child labor is clearly established is making itself felt. The action of some mill owners in Georgia, who have posted rules In their mills and signed agreements on exactly the lines of the child labor bill, has given their case entirely away. Those of them who are sincere will be glad to be backed up by law, as agreements among them selves are not legally binding. exact no penalty for breach and are not applica- ble to new corners.
 A public peril cannot be dealt with by private agreement. and the offer to make the agreement Is simply to plead guilty to the charge.
 On another page of today's Advertiser will be found the interesting appeal sent from the Alabama committee for promot- ing this legislation, to those in the North whose representatives have been instrumental in delaying it..
 This appeal has obtained wide circula- tion by appearing, with striking edito- rials, in, The Springfield Republican CDemocraD and The Boston Transcript last week. The names attached to it, of course, carry great weight. representing as they do the solid thinkers of the com munity, who do not act ignorantly or rashly, and who. while anxious that the South should be progressive, do not urge measures without due respect to the exi- gencies of development.
 They, and all interested appreciate the difficulties with which the mill men of the South are grappling brilliantly, and also the genuine efforts many of them are making for the welfare of their operatives. But it is evident that these efforts cannot be allowed instead of eli- mentary justice both to the children and to the future of Southern cotton manu- facture. All the skill possible, and the highest class of operatives, will be needed for future competition, and from enlight- ened self-interest alone the Southerners must see to it that no small section -uf the community. or men from other parts of the United States build up present fortunes out of a system which will check and weaken. if not destroy, the develop ment of a great industry in the future | The lesson of England's mistake, with her cotton operatives degenerated through the too early toll of children, should not be lost on us. The mischief done by this half a century ago to its effect now, is as the harm done by runaway coach to that done by runaway locomotive, especially when the color question in- yloved is considered. The illiterate negro sends his child to school, the illiterate white man sends his into the mill' wrote correspondent in North Carolina to Commissioner Lacy last year.
 Mrs. Ashby -Macfadyen has had several conferences with Rev. Dr. Edgar Gardner Murphy, Chairman of the Alabama Com mittee, and when that Committee has met the plans for immediate action will be matured and the time have come for further definite work on the part of the women of the State MISTRESS JOY; A TALE
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