The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-26


| r. and for the unemployed up to 16.
In Ohio, children under IA are prohibited
| from labor in factories ETC., and chill
] dren under Is are prohibited from labor
in mines. School attendance for from
thirty to thirty-six weeks Is compulsory
for all under IA, and, in case of illiterates,
| for all under Is who are unemployed.
In Indiana, children under IA are pro-
hibited from working IN factories and
mines. School attendance for the full
term of nine months is comp llsory for
all under H.
In Illinois, children under IA are pro-
h;bited from labor in factories end mines.
School attendance is compulsory for at
least sixteen weeks -four months) for all
under II.
In Michigan. Minnesota and Wisconsin
children under IA ire prohibited from
working in factories, these States also
providing for period of compulsory at
tendance on the schools.
Omtting all reference to the legsla-
ton in many Of the States of the North
west. where there is less interest in man
ufacturing, 1t is well to note the legis-
lation of the States of the South.
Legislation has been postponed at the
| South, as have often pointed out to our
critics, not because of the indifference or
| cupidity of tour people. but because the
| problems OF the factory are new to us.
| AS Northern writers have fought the leg
| iSlative restriction of child labor, the
| North must share with us the responsible
| ity for the conditions which exist
Our Own Childre.
| And yet recent events would indicate
| that the Southern States will soon enact
| the legislation needed for the protection
| of our children. l say our children
| adyisedly. A large number Of the mill
| operatives at the North are foreigners;
| they often represent the most backward
| elements of European civilization. Here
at the South the children of the opera
| tives are the children of the soil. If the
North can 1egislate to protect the chill
dren of the stranger, we, surely, can leg
islate to protect our own.
Arkansas and Alabama have legislated
to prohibit the employment of tho young
er children In the mines. This is to fully
recognize the principle of child labor
| legislation. It's further application is a
| question of detail. Its extension to the
| factory is imperati -, for the factory Is
| demanding more children than the mines.
| In West Virginia, children under IA are
| prohibited from working in mines; chill
| dren under IL are prohibited from work.
| Ing in factories; school attendance for at
| least sixteen weeks in the year is COM
| pulsory to the age of IA.
In Missouri. all children under IA are
prohibited from labor in factories all
children under IL are prohibited from
labo> in mines. but such labor is not per-
n,Ited to children under IA If they are
unable to read and write.
IN Louisiana girls under II and boys
under IL are prohibited from labor in fac
tories, and school attendance for en-
ployes Is necessary up to the age of a.
In Tennessee children under IL years
OF age are prohibited from labor in fac
tories.
In Texas, and in South Carolina, the
| leading manufacturing State of the
| South, legislation has not yet been en-
| acted but it has been formally pledged
| by overwhelming vote-ih the recent State
| Conventions of the Democratic Party.
| In Georgia The Atlanta Constitution has
said 1T is idle to suppose that factory
| legislation against child labor can be
| much longer excluded from the Southern
mill problem"
| In North Carolina, The Charlotte OBJ
server, paper representing the leading
| mill forces of the State has frankly pre-
dicted the passage of child labor legisla-
| ton at the approaching session of the
| Legislature.
The latest legislative action in the South
! is that of kentucky. In Kentucky, chill
1
| in both factories and mines. School at
tendance is compulsory in Kentucky for
only eight weeks of the year for all chill
dren under II. This provision for COM
pulsory education Is so elementary that
the educational results of the Kentucky
laws have come more largely from the
indirect action OF the child labor law
than from the direct results of the edu-
| cation measure.
H.
law Is extremely interesting. 1t clearly
to the younger children, there Is a ma
tural and spontaneous movement of the
children toward the schools.
In recent editorial on The Child La
Dor Bill and its Results" The Covington
(Ky) Commonwealth presents some strik-
ing facts. With some abridgement the
editorial is rs follows:
Mr.. Young, without any blare of trum-
pets or burning of red fire, has quietly
and in a gentlemanly manner, called upon
the various factories in kenton and
Campbell Counties, and requested the pro-
| prietors to comply with the child labor
| law. BY this gentlemanly course he has
| gained the respect of the employer. and
| without making it necessary for him to
| resort to any official action, in every in
stance child labor has been displaced and
| older persons have been given employ
ment-and this is the result:
THE public schools of Covington opened
Sept. sth with the largest attendance In
their history. The increase in all OF the
districts is phenomenal, and Superintend-
ent John Morris says that several addi-
tional teachers will have to be employed
THE greatest surprise was sprung In
the Fifth District Twelve teachers were
placed in the new building at Eighteenth
and Holman, in this district. and were
prepared to instruct $50 pupils. The at
tendance on the first day, however, was
nearly 600, and will be increased in a few
days The Fifth District is bounded by
Madison Avenue, Twelfth Street and the
corporation lines The boundaries of the
district will have to he changed and the
railroad will probably be made the east
ern line of the district
"Th exact figures of the attendance are
not complete. but reports from the differ
ent principals show that there were over
4,4O0 children in the public schools on the
first day. The average number attending
last year was $500 In addition to this,
there are 800 kindergarten pupils.
This means that the children of this
State will have an education and will be
better prepared to battle with the world.
and when they become men and women
they can look back and thank those who
made it necessary for the state to place
them in the school room instead of the
factory"
l have already pointed out the fact that
Alabama has recognized the principle OF
child labor legislation in her law pro-