Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-28

hibits children under specified age from
being on the streets or in public places
after o'clock at night.
with that showing from our statute
books, while / do not say that IL all that
should be done. am here to maintain
that we have done considerable already,
and are not to be classed with Russia In
these matters" (Applause.)
Good and Had Features.
Mr.. Rosewater then took up the pro-
posed bill section by section and called
attention to the good and bad features.
He endorsed uneauivocally the first sec
ton prohibiting the employment of chill
dren under IA years of age, and the thlr-
teenth section prohibiting the employ
ment Of children between IA and 16 IN
any work dangerous to life or limb, OF
injurious to health or morals. He criu-
cised severely the method of certihcation
required for the employment of children
between the ages of IA and Is.
"It seems to me-" he declared, that IN
the certificate some things are required
which ought not to be required and should
not be required in any place outside of
Russia In the first place 1t must give
the date and place of birth, and describe
the color Of the hair, the height ana
weight and any distinguishing facial
marks of each child. That is what we do
to penitentisry convicts. We take their
measurement. height and weight and we
note whether they have a wart or mole
at any place on their bodies. (Applause)
I'VE are to have a record placed in the
school of every child who has a wart on
his nose to prove that he is At to earn
some money to help support his family.
| The color of his hair his height and
weight, too. II you take the height and
| weight at 10, do not know what you
| would find at 10. 1 do not believe they
would correspond very well. 1t is ridicu-
| lous. If we cannot identify them by
some more polite and civilized way we
| ought not TO identify them at ALL"
AS to the hour limits for employment
provided in the bill, 1 suggest that the
present law governing the labor Of women
was at variance with the new provisions
for children, and would require a readJust-
men all around. 1 presume some of them
are under 10 years of age" he added, but
under this bill tho apprentice cannot work
the same hours that the journeyman works.
II the journeyman works nine hours he
will have to work one hour without the APP
prentice"
The speaker picked up a large book is
sued by the census bureau. on child labor
| statistics, and called attention to the fact
that Nebraska was mentioned in II but three
or four times. While II covered all the
main employments OF child labor Of the
| enumerated list Nebraska contained not a
single cotton mill, silk mill, mine or quarry
| employing child labor and not enought CT
gar factories to be noted separately. Ne
braska figured only in children employed in
agricultural pursuits.
"Out of $4,000 children In Nebraska over
the age of and under the age of 16, only
1900 Of the boys and $500 Of the girls are
employed at actual wage earning. But OF
that list 1919 of the boys are employed in
agricultural pursuits, which are not affected
by this bill. and 292 Of the girls leaving
2107 boys and 2,2O3 girls who might pos
sibly be affected by this bill. From my OBJ
servation and my knowledge of the condi-
tions in Omaha and in the state. 1 do not
believe any large number OF these 1000 boys
and girls earning wages OF some kind ir
the 1900 schedule were employed in harmful
pursuits distinguished from gainful pur
suits