The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-11-24

Miss Florence Dale of the
Consumers League Says
It Has Not Been Abolished
SCHOOL CHILDREN AT WORK


WRITER INSISTS THAT SOME
THING SHOULD BE DONE TO.
ENFORCE THE EDUCATIONAL
LAWS.
II an article to the New Jersey Re-
view, Miss Florence Dale. secretary Of
the New Jersey Consumers League,
complains about the work of the truancy
department in some of the counties. She
says. in part
"on almost any day and in almost any
direction one may choose to take in
Essex, Hudson or Passaic counties one
can see the huckster wagons driven BY
Italians or Irishmen accompanied by
young boys obviously Of school age.
Riding through the towns and suburbs is
far more exciting than school to these
youngsters, and they seem to escape tthe
authorities constantly and without effort.
In Southern New Jersey another form
of truancy may be seen on the fruit and
berry farms. Here the schools open the
second Monday in September and close
about May 27. The demand for large
forces of workers as the berries ripen
has resulted in the Importation of Itali-
ans from Philadelphia, and from straw
berry time until the sweet potatoes and
pumpkins are picked and peeled for can
ming the central and southern parts of
the State are full of groups of these
Philadelphians, who are shifted from one
county to another. returning to their
homes at any time after the frosts begin.
The children leave city where the
schools do not close until the latter part
of June and begin the first week in Sep
tember. They may be found working
sometimes remaining five weeks after the
schools have begun, andsno effort is made
to compel their attendance. because they
are Philadelphia children. Yet in the
meanwhile they are losing from two to
four months schooling which would have
been required of them had they remained
IN Pennsylvania. The time in which they
are in New Jersey does not represent the
time they lose in school, as they begin
to drop out early in May, and then fail
to register promptly upon their return in
the fall. Having missed the end of one
term and the beginning Of the other, they
are frequently made to lose a grade in
consequence.
''When we realize that the rate of in
crease in the population Of New Jersey
in the decade 1S90s1900 was 80 per cent,
and that the recent State census indi-
Gates that the rate of increase for the
present decade will equal the last one,
we may form some conception of the
work which has been forced upon the
Board of Education in attempting to pro-
vide accommodations for the increasing
army Of children. The task is only begun.
1t is certain that more and more children
are coming, and that under the present
lack Of strict enforcement OF the com
pulsory education laws more and more
will escapesthe eyes of teacher. To a
State which is admittedly on the high
wave Of prosperity it ought not to be i'm
possible to provide for all the children,
and it is credible that the taxpaying pub
lie, when rigidly understanding the mat
ter, is not ready for the schools and
teachers necessary.
1T is not for those outside of the
schools to attempt solution Of the tru-
ancy problem as it presents itself in var
ious aspects throughout our State. That
"a better solution can he made is evident
in some cities"