Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-24
MAKES APPEAL
FOR CHILDREN
TELLS OF MILLIONS OF LITTLE
LIVES RUINED
owen Loveloy Points Out One Sort Of
Glass Consciousness Which Be-
lieves Millions Should Toll
for the Idle Few

Owen Loveioy, assistant secretary Of
the National Child Labor committee,
spoke yesterday before the Friday
Morning club, and before he had fin
ished all the members present had
practically decided to do their best to
remove the cause for child labor.
Mr.. Lovejoy's topic was What the
State owes to the Child" and his
speech was so plentifully besprinkled
with interesting anecdotes that where
otherwise the point to be emphasized
might have been lost i'm a volume Of
statistics and dry figures 1t became a
living issue with which all his hearers
instinctively sympathized.
Mr.. Lovejoy dwelt upon the duty of
the state to the children, saying:
"There are 29,000,000 human beings
under 16 years of age in this republic
OF ours, a third of our population, and
when the parent refuses to protect them
it is the duty of the state, which is
the greater parent, to step in and do its
part.
"There are many reasons why child
labor is an injustice to the state and to
the child. In the first place the child
is poor producer, and when we COM
plain because there are flaws in our
dishes, worn-out places in our clothes,
knots in our thread, ETC., it is because
a little pair of hands somewhere could
not do their work properly because
it's little brain was too young and un-
educated and, above all, too tired to
help its hands do it right.
Not an AItruistic Move
when we agitate this movement
against child labor 1t is not altogether
an altruistic move 1t is because we
must protect ourselves.
"Above ALL the working child is a poor,
consumer and the wealth of the coun-
try depends upon it's power of consum-
ing. 1t is not, as many people suppose,
the producing power of a country which
makes it's wealth, but the opposite, and
when a child works what time does he
have or what inclination to educate
himself, to learn to love any of the
beautiful or best things in life? And
consequently he does not consume his
full share of books, he does not pur-
chase his full share of the works of
our art, he does not wear his full share
of clothes, and so on. He in his turn
viii found a race which will consume
even less than he does himself. and that
will undermine society itself"
Mr.. Lovejoy turned then a minute
from his appeal for the children of all
our states and discussed local condi-
tions, saying:
'sOf course 1 know very 4ittle about
this vote of Thursday, only what I
here, but / can say that, partly at
least, the bonds were not voted for
your detention home because of the
economic conditions in which the peo-
pie are living, education neglected and
no time to study the existing conditions
mostly.
There are many people that believe
that society is composed of separate
and distinct classes and they ask:
who is going to do the hard, menial
work If everyone is educated?' Such
n division as that is simply suicidal,
and do they think there is one class
set aside who shall have all the beau
tiful things of life and the other be
condemned to always live a life of
ignorance? If they try to carry out
that idea they will ruin themselves
because one kind of people always af-
fects the other side.
1.-THE preservation of the child by the
state is the preservation of the state
1.-The state owes the child protection
from his own ignorance and his own
foolishness, so that he can grow up in
to splendid manhood and womanhood,
and we must protect them at any cost.
The child needs inspiration and the
state must give it to him.
Instead of standing today with
Germany, England and France in the
protection of our children, we are in
a class with Russia.
'There are three bills of paramount
importance which should be passed this
year. and l appeal to the women's clubs
for help. One for the prevention of
child labor in the District of Columbia,
so that the capital of our nation can be
an example for the rest of the states;
a second one authorizing an investiga-
tion of the methods under which women
and children work, and a third, the
eSta abliShment of q national child labor
bureau which shall study all questions
relating to children.
Il make this appeal to you, not for
one child, nor for the millions of chill
dren, but for your own preservation"