The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-02-23
BEKERIDGE'S CHILD LABOR BILL
BONE OF CONTENTION IN CONGRESS

''You are doing work that should
appeal peculiarly to every good citi-
zen, for those you befriend are greatly
In need of friendssand are not powerful
enough to stand up for themselves.
am particularly interested In your
efforts to improve the conditions under
which the working girls do their work.
In the great shops. and have, Of
cor1<se, an especial interest In your ef-
fort to combat the evils Of child labor.
There is much outcry, chiefly, think,
from the beneficiaries of the abuses,
againGt Interference by the national
government with work which should
be done by the state governments. I
would always rather have the local
authorities themselves attend to any
evil, and therefore>I would rather have
the state authorities work out such re-
forms when possible, but II the state
authorities do not do as they should
in matters Of such vital importance to
the whole nation as this Of child la
Dor, then there will be no choice but
for the national government to inter-
fere. I am striving to secure final
action or else full and close investiga-
tion' of the matter by the authority of
congress at the, present time.
"Sincerely. yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT"
Record Herald View.
The Chicago Record Herald says:
'The conclusion Of the house ju-
dietary committee in the report on
federal regulation. Of child labor in
the state would command some re-
spect If the argument leading up to
1t indicated some familiarity with the
decisions of the supreme court in
cases involving the Interpretation of
the commerce clause Of the constitu-
ton, a little more candor and a re-
spect for the rules of logical reasoning.
If ever a report was lame and inn
potent, devoid of reason and regard
for fact, that no child labor "unani-
mously' submitted by the house COM
mittee is So
Senator Beveridge. in his speech on
his child labor bill, cited leading
cases, old and new-the latest being
the lottery case-in support of the
contention that congress has the pow
er to prohibit the transportation
through Interstate commerce Of. any
article In the lottery case the su-
preme court decided that regulation
under the commerce clause may some-
times assume the form and have the
effect Of absolute prohibition.
Ignores Precedent.
"The committee may contend that
there IS a clear difference between the
pure 9tood and meat inspection acts.
which protect the health of citizens
In other states. and the. proposed child
labor act. But as Mr.. Beveridge
points out, 1t finds it convenient 10
Ignore the law prohibiting the impor-
tation Of convfct-made goods, which
goods may be just as wholesome as
goods made by free labor, so that the
health question does not enter into the
case: The prohi bition is based on the
power Of exclusion conferred by the
plenary and exclusive poyer of con-
gress over interstate and foreign COM
merce.
THE logic Of the report is as poor
as Its law. The committee has looked
in vain over the list of enumerated
powers for jurisdiction of congress
over the subject Of woman and child
labor Does it find among the enum-
Grated powers the power to prohibit
the transmission Of lottery tickets {?
1t looked in the wrong place. It
should have studied the commerce
clause and its development since the
organization of the government. It
should have studied the definition Of
commerce in supreme court decisions
and the rulings and opinions of that
tribunal in a dozen cases directly in
point.
Evades Real Question.
Again, it asks whether congress
has the power to regulate the height.
color, as we'll as the age Of factory
employees, and says that such regula-
tion would not be more ridiculous
than that proposed in the child labor
bill. What Is ridiculous is the inabil-
ity of the committee to separate the
question of power from that of wis.,
dom, polity, sense. Not everything
that may be done should or need be
done. Congress could prohibit a thou
sand and one things-as could the
states-which there is no occasion to
prohibit
FINALLY, the committee talks about
destroying the police power OF the