Charlevoix county herald., 1909-06-19
Class Grafton.
BY Bertha Shier,
The Tragedy of Labor.
tContinued from first page. J

lost sight OF; when the health is ruin
ed for mere sustepance in this great
productive world; when the character
is demoralzed by being thrown con-
tinually in the pathway Of vice; when
the whole life is enslaved TO task
which makes that life loathesome and
which causes the dOer 10 pray TO our
Creator for a grave in which TO rest;
when the spirit becomes so crushed
that even the power If PRAYER no long
er remains, Only when such abnor-
NAL conditions exist, when work be-
comes burdensome, is labor such "a
tragedy as TO have an evi! influence on
society. If any kind OF employment
is 50 taxing on the energy or repulsive
TO the senses as not TO be beneficial
but rather injurious to the performer
and the world at large, then that In
dustry tends toward retrogression in
stead OF progress
Yet there are just such labor condi-
lions in our own United States. To
their lives out in tanneries, sweat
shops and other places where the
most terrible diseases are contracted,
To think that women and children
must bend under burdens which
could only be intended for the strong
est men, that they must toll in mills
and factories until the last atom OF
their strength is exhausted. Ladies
and Gentlemen, if you could but
glance into the great glass factories
of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, if
YOU could but pass through the btu
minous coal mines and the many cot
ton foctories and there see the shriv-
eled forms and sunken faces Of little
children who are doomed to spend
their youthful years at work which
destroys their future hope of healthy
manhood and womanhood. your hearts
would indeed he shaken with the
deepest pity.
Did you ever stop to realize that
10000 boys work in coal mines: that
$500 boys and girls are employed in
glass factories; that 10000 children
toll in cotton mills; this means-and
we are not taking into consideration
the thousands Of children working in
bag factories, tobacco shops, nor the
boot blacks. news boys and flower
girls-S0, 900 children which comprise
as many individuals as the total
population of CIR nj Rapids. Many
OF these workers which we have
enumerated are no more than nine
years old and many are only six, in
fact all of them are under sixteen.
To be sure thore are some laws forbid
ding this child labor, but the laws are
lax enough SD that these mills and
factories are filled with children. At
a bag company in Atlanta out of a
total Of one hundred and sixty hands,
one hundred are children. All the
sweepers and dotfers were between
seven and nine, and one little tot on
being asked about her age, responded
alphabetically: "I'm five-Im only
he'pin." OF course the employers are
more than willing to hire such cheap
help and when questioned as to the
legality Of child-labor, they answer
that the factories could not be run
without the assistance of the child
rem; these men Influenced by that al
mighty dollar, seem to think that it
is quite right these children human
beings) should be crippled, deterior-
ated, aud starved slowly to death So
that cotton or glass industry may
prosper. Do we wish to let that
grand old flag, that symbol Of free
dom for which our forefathers shed
their blood, wave over nation so
financially ferocious? Certainly, we
want cur nation TO be one of the most
tlourishing: but IL Is evident that this
prosperity cannot last If this genera
tion Of boys and girls among the poor,
of future fathers aud mothers is TO he
sacrificed TO our greed for gold. If
this generation is to be ruined in
health and intellect. pray, what will
the next generation come to? Mrs.
Browning ably describes these condi-
tions in her poem 1.-The Cry of the
Children"
They look up with their pale and
sunken faces,
And their look is dread to see,
For they mind you of their angels in
high places
With eyes turned on Deity
How long; they say, how long, o
cruel nation,
Will you stand, to move the world,
on child's heart
Stlfle down with mailed heei its pal
pitation,
And tread onward to your throne
amid the mart?
Our blood splashes up, 0 gold hcaper