The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-10
THEY ARE GREEDY
Big Factories in Kansas Dodge
Child Labor Law.
Little Children Employed in
Packing Houses.
JOHNSON AFTER FACTS
Labor Commissioner Will Try
to Bring Them to Time.
Thinks Public Officials Are in
COllusiOn With Packers.

What seems to be a coalition between
the public officials and the big manu-
featuring concerns in one of the leading
counties of the state, said to be Wy
andotte. has been discovered by State
Labor Commissioner W. L. A. Johnson,
and Mr.. johnson is now making pre-
parations to break up this alleged COM
pact.
Wnat Mr.. johnson wants is to be al
| lowed to obtain from the recent school
census records the ages of all the pu-
pills of school age in the county, so
that he can use these ages given to
the census takers for the purpose of
taking a lot OF children less than IA
years old out of the packing houses
and other factories. Unless Mr.. John
son can get the information concerning
the ages of the school children from the
census returns, he will be almost help
less in the enforcement of the child
labor laws of the state for he has dis
covered by experience that the parents
OF children will in many instances
swear to false statements in order to
make it appear that their children are
old enough to be allowed to work.
The fact that Mr.. johnson is unable
to get the information needed in this
one county is taken to indicate that in
some way the bic packing house own
ers have succeeded in smothering the
census lists. and do not propose to give
up their grip on the little children who
are employed in their plants.
Last year the total number of chill
dren which Mr.. Johnson took out of
factories and turned over to the tru-
ancy officer to be sent to school was
1851. OF these, 500 were in Wyandotte
county, 450 in Bourbon county, 276 in
Sedgwick county, $50 in Leavenworth
county, 100 each in Cowley and Craw-
ford, and smaller numbers in other
counties. The real child labor problem
of the state is, however, in Kansas
City, where the packing houses are To-
Gated. and where the ignorant foreign
ers have come to work. These foreign
ers have no disposition or desire to
send their children to school. Their
only ambition is to get them a place
to work in the packing house, and they
are perfectly willing, in most cases, to
swear to false ages to accomplish their
object. Unless the labor commissioner
can resort to the ages given at the
school census, which are in most cases
truthful and uninfiuenced by a desire
to get the youngsters job, it will be
almost impossible to prevent children
from working in the packing houses.
In Kansas. the age limit for en-
ployment in factories, packing houses
and mines is IA years. After a child
reaches II, it may go to work. Unless
it is in school prior to that time, it
becomes liable to the truancy laws,
and must be compelled to attend
school.
The last legislature passed a slight
amendment to this act which says that
''It shall be unlawful for any mer-
chant company or other party, with
out the written permission of the
board of directors Of any country dis
trict or the board Of education of any
city of the first and second class, to
employ any child therein. between the
ages of and IS years, during the
sessions of the school year" This
amendment therefore makes 1 5 years
the real age limit for employment
during the time schools are in session.
Last year." said Mr.. Johnson in
speaking of his work, 1--WE were able
to put in school about 1000 children
whom we found working in factories.
This year, expect to keep a still
closer watch on the situation, and will
probably be able to take even more
children out of the factories. C. E.
Bramlette has been appointed assist
ant factory inspector for the state, and
he. with what help Mr.. Doyle and my
self can give him, will be able to keep
pretty close watch of the factories.
Last year I spent about three weeks
working on this proposition in Kansas
City, and 1 know about what difficult
ties are to be encountered. We must
depend upon the school census re-
turns to get reliable information about
the ages of the children. If a child
was in the school district last July,
his age should appear in the census
returns