The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-28
CHILD LABOR BILL.
Approved by the Governor-It Will Go Into Effect in Sixty Days.


 Go Into Effect in Sixty Days.
 The child labor bill. having been ap- proved by Governor Jelks. is now Alaba- ma law, or it will be a soon al the pre- scribed sixty days have passed The Southern States in which factories are To- cated are all acting on the subject. and 1t is well that Alabama has placed her self in the list.
 The law has already been passed in South Carolina. In North Carolina a stiLl stronger law. a law even stronger than the Alabama law. has been agreed to by the mill men and will pass within a few days. In Virginia child labor laws have passed both houses of the Legisla- ture, but the measures are somewhat dif- ferent and an adjustment is being reach- ed in conference between committees of the two houses. It Is only a question as to the precise form of the bill. The Gov ernors of North Carolina. South Caro- lima and Virginia are all known to be in favor of the legislation. Georgia will probably act in June.
 The Alabama law prohibits labor in fac tories for all children under twelve, save in cases in which the child is an orphan or Is the support of a widowed mother or disabled father. It makes no exceptions, however. for children under ten. All un- der that age are altogether proh bited from labor in manufacturing establish ments.
 The law altogether prohibits night work for all under thirteen, and it limits night work for all under sixt4 to forty eight hours in the week No child under twelve Is permitted to work more than sixty-six hours in any one week. and the factories are required to keep a register of all chil- dren in their employ in order that there may be a definite "ecord of ages
 When seen yesterday MT. Edgar G. Murphy. the chairman of the Child Labor Committee. said that he had hoped to see a stronger mea sure enacted, but that the present law represented an honorable compromise on both sides. AS to the his tory of the movement in this State, he expressed himself as follows:
 The first bodies to act in this State, 9 far as I know, were the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Alabama and the Ministers Union of Montgomery. This was some time before Miss Ashby came to the State. She did earnest work for the measure. but the fact that she was an outsider was used against her. and when she saw that 1t was best to leave the whole matter to the people of Alabama she entirely withdrew. The rep resentatves of organized labor have also earnestly favored the bill. but I could not and would not conduct the campaign as a labor fight. The whole question. to my mind. was simply an Issue of the broadest humanity and of everyday good sense. The chief credit for the passage of the measure is due to the women of the State. The great body of them never wavered
 But while people are talking about the question of credit we ought not 10 for get our obligation to the men in both houses of the Legislature who actually voted for the bill. Everything else would have been useless if they had not ear nestIy given the measure the support of the votes it needed I want to thank in the most cordial and appreciative way the men in the Legislature whose influ- ence and whose votes made the measure DO isibe
 And I also want to thank the men who really wanted a tronger law but who yielded their personal preferences in order to secure !he best measure at- tainable. Among these men were Mr. Cunningham of Birmingham and MT Hall of Montgomery. MT. Hall was ag- gressively in favor of a stiffer measure but he generously yielded his right to amend the bill rather than place it's passage in peril. Everybody knows how earnestly ne has championed this lsgis- la ton
 Strong support was given to the meas ure by the formal action of the Northern