The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-05-11
Sacrificing the Children
From 1.-THE Conmoner."

~ ~. -. IL
solve o>'do part in Kidding the coun-
try of this gigantic evil is not citizen
upon whom the country may with
safety rely: Mr.. Spargo touches the
real point when he says that ut Is
a strange fact of social psychology
that people in the mass, whether ma
tons or smaller communities. have
much less feeling and conscience than
the same people have as individuals
People whose souls would cry out
against such conditions as we have
described coming under their notice
ina specific case, en- masse are unmov-
ed"
Cry of Underfsd Children.
That has all along been the chief
obstacle in the welfare against the
evil Of child labor The sight of one
underfed child would instantly arouse
sympathy in the breast of the be-
holder; the indisputable fact that tens
Of thousands of children were starv-
ing made no impression.
Mi. Spargo's investigation included
almost every branch Of industry in the
country and his study brought him
into contact with the evil of child Ia
Dor in its most hideous aspects. Bear
ing In mind that he makes the declar-
alton that what: he has written "does
not approach the real horrors Of child
labor, the following extracts from "The
Bitter Cry Of the Children may serve
to give the readers some faint idea
IA or,N
| eridge's bill aims to destroy, and
against which the aroused conscience
Of nation must fight If it would wipe
out this crime against childhood-a
crime that Is fraught with the gravest
menace to the future Of this republic.
| An Impressive Picture.
Some years ago." says Mr.. spargo
in one Of the mean streets Of Paris,
I saw, In dingy window a picture
that stamped itself idelibly upon my
memory It was not, judged by artis-
tic canons, a great picture; on the
contrary, it was crude and i'll drawn
and might almost have been the work
of a child. Torn, think. from the
pages Of an anarchist paper, La Re-
vote. 1t was, perchance, a protest
drawn from the very soul Of some
indignant worker. A woman, haggard
and fierce of visage, representing
France, was seated upon a heap Of
child skulls and bones. In her gnarl-
ed and knotted hands she held the
writing form Of a helpless babe,
whose flesh she was gnawing with her
teeth. Underneath in red ink, was
written in rude characters: The
Wretch! She devours her own chill
dren! My mind goes back to the pic
ture; 1t Is. literally true today, that
this great nation, in it's commercial
madness deVours it's babes"
| Two Million Child Workers.
After careful investigation, Mr..
'Spargo declares: lit would, think.
be quite within the mark to say that
the number of.cchild workers under
fifteen Is at least 2,250,0O0." And this
in the United States Of America!
Capital hasosneither morals nor
IDEALS" says *Mrtz Spargo. Its inter-
ests are alwaya. and everywhere ex-
.pressible In terms Of. cash profits.
Capital in the United States in the
twentieth century calls for children
as loudly as 1t called in England a.
century ago." He then arraigns the
greedy capitalists by the unequivo-
cal assertion that whatever advance
has been made in the direction of leg
1slat1ve protection Of children from
the awful consequences Of premature
exploitation, has been made in the
face of bitter opposition from the ex-
ploiters
Employee and Child Labor,
In the New York legislature, dur
Ing the session Of 1903, the owners of
canning factories of the state used
their utmost power to have their in
dustry exempted from the humane.
but inadequate provisions of the child
labor law, Notwithstanding that babies
q years old were known to be working
in their factories. The northern own
ers OF Alabama cotton mills secured
the repeal Of the laws passed in 1887
prohibiting the employment of chill
dren under IA years Of age for more
than eight hours a day.
Describing visit to the flax mill
In Paterson, N. j., Mr.. Spargo says
he tried to get speech with some of
the child workers. but was able to do
so with only one. She said she was
13 years old, but Mr.. Spargo declares
that she could not. have been more
than 10. If she was 1872 says Mr.
spargo, perhaps the nature of her
employment will explain her puny
stunted body. She works in the steam
room Of the flax MILL All day long
in room filled with clouds of steam