Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-08-18
Child Labor in the South.

the employment of child labor to an ex
/ tent never dreamed of in the mills OF
/ the North, and which would not for
moment be allowed in this section
either by law or by public opinion. But
I in the South the scarcity of labor, the
I prevalence of illiteracy and public in
/ difference regarding it, the poor wages
paid, the extreme poverty of parents
who work in the mills, and the new
ness of manufacturing conditions are
among the factors that have made the
unrestricted employment of child labor
I possible. TIE census of 1900 gave the
country some startling figures on the
I extent of this evil, and within the past
wear or two there has been agitation on
I this subject, originating at the North,
the effects of which are now being felt
I by the South
In it's issue of last week the Literary
! Digest prints numerous comments
from Southern papers which show that
public sentiment there is now being
aroused. And it is time it was
aroused. Nine cents a day for twelve
hours Of work is not a high rate of
wages, yet an Alabama commission.
which as been investigating the sub
ject of child labor there, reports that
this wage is actually paid in some
places in the South. Such cases may
be exceptional, but the commission re-
ports that in North Carolina the aver
age wage of the child has decreased
! from 80 to 20 cents a day. And While
the wages have been decreasing, a gov
eminent census bulletin just issued
shows that the number of child work
! ers in the South is rapidly increasing.
| In the last 20 years the number of child
workers in New England has fallen
/ from $4,000 to LOCO; in the middle
states from 5000 to 1890; and in the
I West from 500 TO 800; while in the
South the number has risen from 1000
to $1,000. though that section has COM
paratively few mills.
I That the tender years of these little
ones should be worn out with toll is "a
Great crime against childhood" de-
! clares the New Orleans Picayune, and
it calls upon the Southern people to BE
/ the last in the world to make slaves Of
their children" And a good many
other Southern papers are beginning
to say the same thing. There can be
no doubt" says the New Orleans
ITimes-Democrat, that a wave Of pro-
4 test lis now sweeping oveT the South
/ ern states" and it predicts that the
( day is not far distant when the slavery
| of children in the South will be abol-
| ished. The wonder is now" it adds,
! that it has ever, even for an instant.
! been tolerated." and it declares that
every dollar earned by it is blood
/ money!" Ar 'ex- Carolina Overseer"
writes to The Textile World that the
| condition of child labor in Southern
cotton mills is about as bad as it can
| be-" and the Columbia State declares
! that the system has brought shame
upon us in the eyes of the civilized
world"
Now what is the outlook? The four
| states where child labor is most
| prevalent are North and South Caro-
| lima. Georgia and Alabama. In each
/ of these states there is a strong move
ment on foot for the abolition Of the
system, but there seems to be no pros
pect of early success. In South Caro-
( last May. pledged itself, by a vote Of
two to one, against the employment of
: children under twelve in the textile
J mills of the state, but most of the
j candidates for the legislature are re-
/ ported to be declaring themselves in
favor Of allowing the parents to do as
/ they please with their children, with
( out state interference" One or two
candidates oppose child-labor legisla-
! ton on the novel ground that the next
step would be compulsory education,
which would result in negro suprem-
acyas if the white mans supremacy
is due not to his better brain and better
qualities, but only to his better edu-
cation" as the Columbia State re-
marks.
The same paper reports that child
labor is the main topic of discussion in
the present campaign, and it goes on
to observe: I'VE have felt that this
would be the chief issue of the can
vass for the general assembly, and we
welcome the evidence that such will be
the case. 1t is an issue of profound
Importance to the. future of the state,
and the time to settle it is now. Moth
ing is to be gained by procrastinating
or temporizing. South Carolina should
by this time know her own mind on the
subject, and should be prepared to
place herself definitely in the line of
progressive states or declare her pur-
Z poSe n remain in thp Yedupa1 har