Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-23
AGAINST CHILD LABOR
NATIONAL CRUSADE TO LIBER-
ATE LITTLE SLAVES.
Movement Began in the South, Which
Section is the Greatest Sufferer
From the Immoral Policy.

paiDHu.
Is America tie best place in the world?
Or would We rather live in some other
country? Not only her rocks and rills and
the greatness Of her natural resources make
us thrill with pride but the conpanionship
of kindred minds, our social standards and
customs. In a word, our society is the all
important thing of value, and that is just
what we make It, II we want 10 live where
young children grow UP uneducated, physi-
cally deformed and become criminals,
nervous degenerates or utterly exhausted
and tired Of Ife at twenty. when they
ought to enter upon the full enjoyment Of
their powers. We need pay no attention to
the regulation of child labor. and unre-
stricted competition will bring this about.
ON the other hand. d people with high
standard of life will make their own con-
ditionS. protect the weak and the young
and have their future we'll as their
present welfare an object OF concern. Racial
and national ascendanCy are the products
of intelligent thought and strenuous human
endoavor. Society is just what We make 1t.
The Individual and the State.
The terms upon which the success of the
individual in society depends vary from
generation To generation. America boasts
"t the achievements of her men and women,
who have won the prizes of life by over
coming obstacles, and in spite of the lack
Of early advantages. In the rougher work
Of Eu1dung a continent there were COM
psnsatory advantages for the boys and girls
who had few school days and fewer play
days. Now the terms of competition in
all spheres of American life have changed.
Increased school facilities have brought
greater average Intelligence. and hence
those who perform successfully even the
purely manual work of the community
must Know more. The greater intensity of
modern life demands Il longer period of
infancy. to use Prof John Fiske'S happy
expression for lis preparation. The boy
who starts In to sweep out the office or
carry messages or do errands before he
Httans his fun physical growth and Ger
tam modlCum of education is not likely
~ the boy of a generation ago to become.
some day. the head of the business. The
h"NS and girls who are driven by poverty
or The stupidity OF their parents or enticed
ny the aIIurements of greedy employers to
barter away the golden opportunities of
youth i'm our mines and factories are selling
their hirthrlght for a mess of pottage, and
are helping TO ruin the republic by destroy
ing its chief source Of growth and prog
IeSs at the root.
More than one in six of all the children
in the United States from ten to sixteen
years of age are employed in some gain
ful o"cupatiun-that is. in working for
wages for some employer. That comes
periIousIy near the child OF any reader of
these pages. The margin of safety is too
small The danger to democratic institu-
tions. which must depend on the Vigor and
intelligence Of our citizenship, is too great.
child labor strikes at the roots of democ-
raCy and presents the greatest moral issue
the American people have had to face since
the civil war. Our states cannot afford to
let individuals enslave themselves before
they have reached the age of discretion.
When Boy Attains His Industrial
Majority.
10,
fun control Of one dollars worth of his
or her property until twenty-one or
eighten years of age, and cannot even
have voice in the selection of his legal
guardian until he is fourteen (the law Of
most of our states), how can he be COM
petent to decide unaided how much educa-
ton he should have or how and when he
should sell his labor and his life? Is four
teen too nigh an age to fix as the indus
trial majority of 81 child? prominent
United States senator said thOughtlessly:
I went 10 work on the farm before I was
twelve did the chores and Tnilked the cows
before | went TO school and again after /
came home from school until dark. 1t was
hard work. too, but l am none the worse
for il todav." His broad shoulders fine
physique and kindly eye attested the truth
Of his statement. He went to school and
performed labor which no child labor law
I'm the country even now prohibits, and
vet he thought his statement was Suffi-
cient cause to doubt the wisdom of any
child labor legislation. Many people think
as this senator did and stop at this point,
hut he did not A few hours sitting as
chairman of an important committee hear
ing testimony of what children who work
in a large city do nowadays convinced
him that the analogy of farm labor, or
even Of conditions a generation ago, did
not hold good. He wrote an epoch making
report condemning child labor. and urged
the Senate To pass for the District of Co.
Iunlbla the Strictest law yet proposed in
any American community The scales
have not fallen. however, from the eyes of
all his colleagues. One unreGeuerate but
sturdy farmer in the Senate. whose Serv-
ices to the nation cntitle him to much
praise. stu says he would favor an age
limit of seven. but will fight any bill that
does not allow boy to go to work until
he is fourteen. which. in his Judgment.
ought to be entitled "a bill to promote
Idleness. and another distinguished sena-
tor says. a boy of twelve is plenty old
enough 10 go to work, even II il is carrying
messages at night after full day at
school What comment our public
schools II they DO not direct the whole ac-
i!vtty Of children under fourteen in a way
90 reiiey" them from the charge of idle
ness,
rs = matter OF fact, one object OF the
child labor agitation, and an inevitable con-
sequence OF its success. is the enlargement
Of public-schoOI facilities. provision for in
Gustrial training that Will educate and not
exploit the ieagthening OF the school term,
and the extension Of school abilities SO as
- direct the energies of the child outside
Of school hours as well as In them. and
during vacations as well in TEN time.
The Battle for Legislation.
Englanl hogan to realize some OF the
dangers from the premature employment OF
children as long ago as 1891. Legislation
10 control these evils started with an act OF
parliament i'm 1902, and for almost a cen
tury parliament experimental with all
kinds OF factory legislation. largely prompt
I'd and directed by the special needs OF
women and children, until the consolidated
factory act Of 1901 supplemented by the
employment of children act in 1903 pro-
Nided q legislative standard toward which
are working in this country. In gen
eral. This means thc prohibition for children
under fourteen wears OF age OF work for
wages I'm dangerous employ meHtS en-
I!uH 12eutS Injurious to health. morals or
EDUCATION, tie limitation of hours of work,
the prohibition Of night work and the in
hlstouCe upon school attendance and educa-
toHal qualifications. Ordinarily these regu-
lations do not apply to domestic service or
Farm labor, except IN so far as such labor
uttricrcs with attending school Neither
do these laws as a rule, regulate the home
work That children may do for their par
epts. although the cruelty acts would reach
special cases where physical abuse resulted.
We began IN America 10 COPY aud ;idaot
lpgfS La ION Z.