The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-11-08
CHILD LABOR QUESTION.
Strong Editorial from One Of the
Leading Methodist Organs.


The following editorial is taken from
the columns of The Christian Advocate,
Nashvills, Tenn, the leading organ of
the Methodist Episcopal Sburch, South.
1t appeared October 23rd:
THE development Of the South as a
manufacturing section has becr so rapid
that 1t Is not to be wondered at If we
gers involved in this great quickening Of
our Industrial life; but we are awaking
to the evil Of child labor In our mills.
Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky now
prohibit such labor. and the State Con-
have demanded like prohibition from their
respective Legislatures. The daily press
Is taking up the question. In some quar-
tiers there are strenuous efforts to set
forth the happiness OF the mill children
and their right to contract to work
twelve or fourteen hours day II they or
their parents wish 1t. But as John Stu
art Mill has said, THE doctrine of free
dom Of contract in relation to the child
coercion Democracy has always claim
ed the right to abridge the liberty Of both
parents and children In order to protect
its future citizens. There IL right OF
eminent domain in the children of State
as clearly recognized as the right Of emf
nent domain in land.
Many Of the mill owners have the in
terests Of their employees ct heart: and
Oh THESE, some 0IuRAOy CnitutCdl IL at oil
only in cases Of restitution. or under
careful supervision. But the very fact
that such factories as the Pelzer or the
Olympia Mills in South Carolina, the
Eagle and Phoenix Mills in Georgia, and
the Alabama City Mills in Alabama are
looked upon as noteworthy, proves that
individual philanthropy can never enforce
general reforms. Laws. are needed not
for the best mills, but for the worst
"The night labor of our Southern chill
dren is the worst feature of a system al
ready outgrown by the rest of the civil
ICED world. Nothing SO rapidly exhausts
the vitality of the child worker. or makes
so inevitable the later recourse to slim
ulants to keep the dulled brain and Jadeo
body Up to their work until the final col
lapse of the powers in premature old
age.
the genuine, who add to country {
vealth by developing its resources; and
the parasite. who add temporarily to its
wealth by exhausting its resources. A
country's wealth consists of its natural
resources, the labor which develops them
and its capital. or surplus accumulations
The last item, even in our own country
| the richest in the world, Is smaller thar
one might SUPPOSE. Economists say tina,
| our Accommodations, IL convertible into
cash. would support the nation barely
| FIVE years Iele toll of centuries has SCI
| the wolf only that far from the door We
are chiefly dependent not upon our CAPT
LdI DuL upOE lADOh th0t
upcn the men and women who furnish
| that labor Any system which tends te
| deteriorate this greatest source OF wealth
| is just so much system OF national I'M
poverishment.
"The penalty for taxing the strength OF
a growing animal is disease or premature
| decay, as every stock raiser KNOWS. Inc
| higher the organism. the finer the worh
| for which 1t 10 designed, the heavier the
penalty is. All history proves that the
| quality of the product depends In the
long run on the quality of the producer
| no nation can attain commercial suprem'
acy with unintelligent or physically de.
| the inevitable result of child labor the
| world over. A system of production
which depends upon them Is essentially
| parasitic. God has so made this world
| that its men are its riches or It's poverty
I even in terms of money; and when We
| create a backward Industrial class, wher
| by exploiting the children we mortgage
| the future for present gain, the children
do not suffer alone: and part of the pub
lie punishment is sure to fall on that mos
sensitive spot-the public pocketbook.
| Men sometimes think that thing may
| be coed religion but poor business. 1t l!
only here and there that some are be
| Ginning to see that Gods laws can M
more Be ruled out of the business worlt
| than out of the physical or spiritua
| world Human life is frightening w
are immune from devastating plaques
| hPCQuAe
cleanliness and working In harmony Will
them. Life itself has been revolutionizet
| and wonderfully enriched because mel
have discovered some of Gods laws abou
steam and electricity and are learning t
anply them. We are slower to learn ant
to apply the laws which govern men 4
association; yet many Of them are al
ready plain, and We break them at ou
| peril. .... o. .
| TOR in the development OF the race ha
been the long period of dependency OF tn
buman young. The length of this perio'
of receptivity. and the parental sacrifice
| which Il involves. have opened the pat
nv which the race is climbing to the full
| ness of the inheritance prepared for
| from the beginning. The God-ordaine
| function of the child is not to produce, bu
to receive; and no community can brea
that law and prosper We cannot justif
| a failure to meet this fundamental re
ouirement by saying that there is littl
in the South, as yet for the mill child
receive, The first step IL to guard II
nascent life from exploitation for pres
emit gain; the next must be to develop tn
| powers thus saved from ruin
D-LsAHG nalao hu UakaH