The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-09
CHILD LABOR MEASURE DIES
 UNMOURNED BY LEGISLATORS

hole in it but the hole is there. just the same.'
 The labor leader then drew the att tention O. the legislator to Section of the bill. It read:
 ..No child under the age of Is shall be so employed, or detained in or about any mill, factory, or manufacturing within this State for more than ten hours in any one calendar day, or for more than fifty-six hours in any one week."
 One word Dropped Out.
 You will notice" said this man who knew. "that the word permitted, is not used in that section at all. Now the word permitted appears in the first section, which forbids children from laboring in the cotton mills unless the child shall attend school for twelve weeks In every year of employment, six weeks of which shall be consecu- tive. The hole in the bill is in the fact that the word permitted is left out of every section of the Dill except the first. :.
 aWhat does that mean? Why it means that the mill operative can ap- portion out a task; he can put father, a mother. a brother, or sister, on big job in the mill. and the children can be called in to help at the task - mill and only one person gets any pay. If half dozen children are working to help father or mother, on task, it is none of the owners business He is not employing the children. He IS not detaining the children. He is not paying the children. Under the opera rions of this bill, the children can be worked in the mills and the min own CTS will not be legally responsible for 1t.
 outside of this, the bill is a pretty good change. One or two changes might be made in 1t, but the changes would not be important But you are not going to have an effective child labor law until you pass a bill which forbids a cotton mill owner from per hitting children to work in the mills, in addition to saying they shall not De detained or employed.
 A great light broke in upon the leg islator, and he prepared some amend ments to the bill which had already gone upon the calendar The amend ments went all through the bill and in each section 1t was made unlawful for any mill owner Ito permit children to work in any cotton mill" The amend ments made 1t unlawful not only for a mill owner ito detain" or employ children, but 1t made it unlawful for any mill owner to permit the working of children in the mill. Under the amendment no worthless father could take the contract for doing task of any sort and have the children do the work.
 The legislator prepared a still further amendment which he wanted to be Sec tion 10 12 which said.
 That the presence of any person whom 1t is made unlawful under this provision of this act to be employed or permitted to work in or remain in or be detained in any mill, factory or man. ufacturing establishment shall be prima facie proof that such person Is employed of permitted to work in or remain in or be detained in such mill, factory or manufacturing establish ment."
 Rest of BnI Effective.
 No one doubts that if the amendments had been adopted, Alabama would have a child labor law that would hold first. last and all the time. The remainder of the bill was effective enough for it provided for an inspector, who should be a physician and receive a salary of S1, 300 year 1t provided further that the filing of afidavits with the Judge of Probate would keep the record of the ages Of children. Nobody had any fault to find with the bill except that under 1t children could be worked at tasks" which would be let out to another per son.
 The friends of the biif knew a fight vas awaiting the bill when 1t came up. They knew some amendments had been proposed, and they knew some meE- hers of the House belteVed the bill had big hole in It and proposed to stop up that hole before it was passed.
 Tn view of this circumstance, the friends of the bill let it stay on the call endar, day after day. No attempt was made to pass 1t, and when the Legisla- ture adjourned the bill was no nearer passage than 1t was a week after the opening of the session.
 In the opinion of the Legislature tho peepuf who had demanded so much had failed to ask for a child labor law.
 The Legislature, however, provided for jail inspector who was also in- structed to visit cotton mills That will be his duty so far as the cotton mills are concerned, to visit them. The amendment to the jail inspector bill