The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-02-14
CHILD LABOR AND THE COTTON
 MIII,S

A4NEtdy SO AelAs
 CHILD LABOR AND THE COTTON
 MILLS.
 The recently issued report of the Census Bureau shows that by far the greatest number of illiterate children are those employed in cotton mills. Although the conditions in this busi- ness, probably one of the worst forms of child labor, need to be carefully studied before assuming that this fact indicates that the work is necessarily more degrading than any other form of employment in which children are largely engaged, the mere numerical excess of illiteracy in0uces the desire to consider seriously the matter. It may be said in the first place that the cause of the constant breathing in of the lint, is not so destructive to health as certain other kinds of labor, such as, for example, handling tobacco. Nor is it ordinarily prosecuted under such outrageous sanitary conditions as those of the sweatshops of New York, where apparently the law is power 4NS7 tC ohOP tllC oebSl lAASN Ol iiuliNiCOo of young lives, It is dangerous to the health of young workers, without doubt, but is not necessarily fatal
 In the second place, the peculiar req sons for the prominent position of the cotton mill in the life of the poor white" class in the south-where, of course, much the greater proportion OP 1v he tol into account. These, which can scarcely be explained in brief space, are adequately presented in the cur rent Atlantic Monthly Ill these mills there is often some real regard for the welfare of the employees, both old and young, and a superficial consid- eration might cause the impression that children were better off doing the not. always very onerous work of the factory than in the school There is much difference in the management of the Southern rcills; in some no such conclusion as this would be possible. But 1t is well to look at the matter without prejudice.
 Against all that can be said in fav- orable explanation of the bald census figures there remain, however, certain cold and hard facts which neither the extremely plausible arguments of the Southern mill owner nor the equally spacious but somewhat different ex- cuses of his Northern prototype may modify. However freely it may be granted that the physical injury to the child labor employed in a cotton mill is not necessarily, although it is frequently irreparable, the mental in jury is an indisputable fact which can no more be blinked than can any con- crete wall erected by the hand of man And that dense hide-hound mass of ignorance is precisely wall-a bar rier built up slowly but surely against progress among the class of persons affected in the North and to still greater extent in The South. It is idle to expect the "poor whites" to grow into their proper esstate under guch conditions as these. In past years they were defrauded of reasonable pride of manhood and womanhood by the peculiar conditions of the sil. And now they are again in a similar position because of this so-called led ucative" cotton mill which sucks in the children as soon as they can be of any use to it and effectually prohibits the possibility of any rise in intelli gence The philanthropic people of the North are concerned and wisely concerned about the enlightenment of the negro, But is the negro to be giv- en an education and the white boy de- prived of it? Certain persons seem to be under the impression that the ex- treme illiteracy described in the census report is largely existent only among children of the colored people or of foreign races Those familiar with Southern factories are far from sub scribing to this view. The illiteracy among the children of American per- ents is an alarming and an undenia- ble truth.
 Ignorance in the north is no less deplorable than in the South, but here without doubt it exists much more generally among the foreign than among the native born element. Among tho latter it is comparatively rare This is, however, no reason for dismissing the case. The foreigners are future Americans, and if the aver age intelligence of the American citi- zen is not to decline steadily another vital reason for the support of Fed eral legislation in the apparent fail- ure of State legislation-ls furnished. Truly this is a national issue, and in so far at least as this particular de- partnent Is concerned the constitu- tionality of Federal action is general ly admitted, even by those who seem to regard the Constitution as black flag. It is possible that we may have to wait some time before the drastic reforms needed are put into force. But In any delay caused by mistaken at titudes toward the situation or by in- evitable searching for the wisest method of reform it should not be for gotten that every year the number of
 lliterate children Is increasing and that these children are little likely as adults to require the failure of the State to provide them with an ordi- nary cation.-Providence Journal.