The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-09-23
upon the South, but upoa the whole coun-

upon the South, but upoa the whole conn
try"
Three assumptions seem to be involved
in this para graph: First, that the aboli.
tion of childlabor must be wholly left
to the initiative of the mill men in the
South; secondly, that these are distinct
lively the representative Southern men;
third. that we who wish to secure by
legislation those results which you say
will be ito the betterment of everybody
commemorative mill operatives, the wage .
earners and employees generally, and
the whole Southern society'-are not rep
resentative Southern men.
Now, as to the first of these assump-
tons l wish to quote here an analysis
OF fhe statistics upon this subject, pre-
sented editorially August 18th by The
pages 40 and IS of Bulletin 215 of the
Twelfth Census of the U. 81 Says The
Times. in quoting the figure of the CEN
sus:
I'm 1880 there were 1887 factory en-
ployes in the South. 4,097, or Isl per
cent. under 16 years of age. In 1900 there
were 81, IA. 438 or Is per cent, under
16 years of age. The situation, so far as
child labor was concerned, showed no i'm
provement in twenty years.
I'm 1880 other parts of the Union had
112.544 cotton factory employees, 23,223. or
IA per cent, under Is years of age. In
1900 the number was 200,435, of whom
l5,42S, or ~ per cent. were under l6
years of age. While the per centage of
children in cotton factories In the South
was not appreciably diminished in the
twenty years between 1880 and 1900, 1t was
cut almost half in two in other sections
of the Union.
Another comparison is still more strik-
ing. While other sections of the Union
had more than two and a half times as
many factory employees over 16 as the
South. the South had over 80 per cent.
more children at work than all the bal
ance of the Union. For every 1000 people
over IL at work. the South had 1856 chill
dren under that age; while for every 1000
over 16 in the other sections of the Union,
only 50 are at work under that age, thus
showing that the proportion of child la
Dor was four times as great as in the
balance of the Union.''
For twenty years, therefore, the South
has largely left the abolition of child la
Dor to the representatives of the mills,
AMI with the above results. The Trades
man, of Chattanooga, Tenn, a. august 15),
in offering its defence of our factory
conditions, has pointed out that, mas
much as the number of textile establish
ments in the South has doubled since the
period covered by the last census. there
are now approximately $4,000 children in
our Southern mills under is years of age.
Is 1t strange. therefore, that there should
be those who have expressed n desire
to afford to the mills a measure of leg
islatve assistance in the securing of
those recruits which YOU so we'll describe
as TO the betterment of everybody con-
cerned-the mill operatives. the wage
earners and employers generally and the
whole Southern society?''
AS to the number of children under IA,
the census of the United States presents
no separate statistics. But the Official
Report of the North Carolina Bureau for
1901 page 1870 gives nearly IS per cent.
OF the textile operatives in that State
as under IA years of age. The total num-
Der OF operatives in all Southern mills
having doubled, according to The Trades
man, since the period covered by the
Twelfth Census of the United State, there
are at present something over 49,, 900 OPP
eratives in the textile establishments of
the South. If, therefore, the North Car
DINA per centage obtains throughout the
South, there are (after making ample al
lowance for the States having a child
labor law) moie than $1,000 children I'M
der Il years Of age in. our Southern fac.
tories. Is The Manufacturers Record
prepared to say that the conditions in
North Carolina are worse than those IN
the South at large?
You declare that statistics are "sug-
gestive rather than convincing Vet
whatever else may be said of the textile
statistics of the South, one thing [ think
may be said with certainty-they are not
unfair to the mills. And this is so for the
very patent reason that they are fur
nished by their representatives them
selves. Many of our mills are honest in
situations, but from my own personal in
vestigations in a few specific instances
l. quite agree that suggestive rather
than convincing" Is phrase having a
deep significance in relation to the fig
ures provided for a credulous and in
dulgent public by certain of our facto
ries.
under II? What shall say? ] have said
that from 10000 to 1000 is a fair esti-
mate. l now believe ii far too low. But
have the mills ever told the public? Do
they wish to tell? That large proper
ton of the child operatives are under II
is a matter of common knowledge to ev-
cry one who has first-hand acquaintance
with our industrial conditions. The rep
resentatives of the mills inform us on
one day that they do not need nor desire
the younger children; on the next day
they throng the Hobbies of our legislatures
to prevent the passage of a law which
Will take them from the factories. They
tell US in one breath that the number
the next breath that our effort to take
these children fro mthe mills Is IAN effort
to destroy their business thus implying
their untIatura dependence upon the la
Dor of the immature.
The Manufacturers Record accuses me
of inconsistency in argument. My argu-
ment must follow the course of the OPP
position. How, in the name of cur aver
eiSS <lhOiACdh SdBdGltys Cdii d man Keep
a straight course in pursuing the tortu-
ous line of this defense" of the facto-
ries?
But let us turn to the second assump-
ton in the paragraph quoted from The
Record. 1t is the assumption that thos }
who oppose the legislative restriction of
child labor are, in a peculiar sense, rep
resentatively Southern" This is true IN
part; but in the history of this move
ment In Alabama the most aggressive
opposition to the proposed measure came
from the representative of New Eng
hearing upon the bill. this representative
appeared alone as the chosen spokesman
OF all the opponents of reform.
Your third assumption is to the effect
that the advocates CT legislation pro-
hlbiting the facto-y labor of children
under u are not representative South =
err mel. This point is further empha-
SEED in the lucid precision of the fol-
lowing sentences: