The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-15
CHILD LABOR BILL AND
 CAPITOL APPROPRIATION
 TO BECOME ALABAMALAW

| little appropriation asked be granted that | the old building might be preserved 10 posterity, that it might stand as relic I and reminder for generations to come or | the tragedy of the Confectionery. Senator Screws's speech was the finest piece of oratory heard in the Senate 1 chamber since the Legislature convened, l and his tribute of admiration for the old building sought to be pi eserved, and or respect to the men who, in the dark days I of the war, stood for the defense or the Confederacy, was one that touched every | person who heard 1t. The Senator was | loudly cheered as he resumed his seat. l The bill was passed with but three dls- senting votes, those of Senators Hogue or Perry, Kennedy of Lauderdale ana Spra- J gins of Madison.
 i Senator Spragins's bill to prohibit emil | grant agents from plying their vocation ! in the State without first obtaining a | license was passed, as was also House bill 142, providing for the holding of regu- lar and special terms of the Probate Court for the Southern Division of St. | Clair County.
 l. Fight on Children's Bill. Senator Blackmon then called up his child labor bill and the debate of the ses- sion opened. Senator Blackmon, in pre- senting the measure, stated that he was
 
 | legislation, but thought the bill, since 1t was an agreement between the parties particularly interested, was a good one and ought to be passed.
 Senator Oliver of Shelby held that the | parties interested mad not all been con- suited when the measure was prepared: | that the parents of the children for whose sake the bill had been drawn had by some oversight not been consulted. He | maintained that an agreement between | the mill men and the representative of the women's clubs alone was hardly sufficient. | and that this was a matter for the Legis- lature to decide.
 | Signs of disapproval of the Senator's $ speech were heard in the gallery as he | sat down.
 Despite the misses of the gallery" de- clared Senator Castleberry of Talladega, ''I am willing to go on record against | this bill am a representative, not of any 1 Federation of Women's Clubs, nor of any' aggregation of mill men, but of the people | of Taladega County. This bill proposes to fasten a shackle on certain of the in- dustries of the State, and l cannot ap- prove 1t. It's passage would be estab- | fishing dangerous precedent" Decress likeness Says Norman. "The bill declares what parents shall not do with their children, but fails to say what shall be done with them," said | Senator Norman of Chambers. Tt de- crees idleness and all its attendant possi- bilities for horde of children now en- l ployed. If the fathers and mothers of the l children are not their best friends and cannot provide for them, then the State should.'
 "The legislative conscience is in the legislative hall" said Senator Goldsby of | Mobile. Parents should say whether | their children should work in factories or not"
 ''The bill is undemocratic, and, believe, l unconstitutional and I canot vote for it," declared Senator Harrison of Lee.
 'The bill aims to protect the children who are to be the future men and women of the State. It is a good bill and should pass" was Senator Hursts rejoinder.
 Government is established to protect life and liberty" said Senator Bullock, of Franklin. There can be no higher ob- ject of any government than the protec- tlon of its children; protection against the vicious stunting of mind and body of children that comes of long hours of confinement and toll in the factories. This abuse should be abolished"
 Senator Hipp. of Cullman, moved to postpone indefinitely consideration of the bill. but no action was taken at this time and the debate continued.
 Defended by Powell.
 "The question before the Senate" said Senator Powell of Butler. lis not who proposed the bill. but whether the bill Is meritorious one. The argument against It's constitutionality might be carried also against the schools. liouor selling and the cigarette business. Has the State no right to care for its helpless ones when their. natural guardians have neglected them? The future of Alabama may de- pend largely upon the development of its natural resources. but 1t depends more largely upon the development of it's chill dren."
 Senator Norman. of Chambers, scored the friends of the bill for permitting or phans and the children of dependent par ents to work in the factories The bill aims at class legislation, he declared.
 Senator Bostick, of Jackson, recalled the devastated condition of things in tho South at the close of the Civil War, and how the work of restoration had been in some measure accomplished since. He told how manufacturers had been in vted to the South by the prospect of cheap labor. He saw danger in the pro- posed legislation in that 1t would tend to discourage the investment of capital in the South. England, he said, had seen
 
 being destroyed by America, and had sent across the Atlantic woman lobby ist. to align herself with the Women's Clubs of this country and through them to work for so-called child labor reform, and all for a very obvious purpose. The children. said he. go to the mills of their own choice, and from the farms for the most part. He declared their condition in the mills better than on the farms. and that if they desired they could at any time return to the farms A motion was then made to adjourn, but it was lost by vote of 1S to II.
 Women Hypnotized Elm.
 "The children in the factories are not 90 abused as has been claimed" declared ! Senator Oliver. Without the ballot the
 women have in this case come mighty
 near voting. They have apparently sue.
 seded in hypnotlzing a good many mem bc-s of ths Senate"
 We submit that the bill Is in the line
 of class legislation" said Senator Sprag- | ins. If Madison. but 1t Is the sort of | legislation that is needed. The mill men l do not object to the measure; they
 merely contend that legislation on the
 subject at all Is step in the wrong di- rection. and one that may lead to seri- 1 ous consequences. The children in the ] mills with which 1 am connected, are
 provided with reading rooms. play
 grounds. golf links. and other resources for diversion. and are much better cared { for than on the farms. A child of twelve years, however, should not work Tn the