Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-09
1T SUPPOSE you have every fac
tory inspected. It's awful nice

| KIT SUPPOSE you have every fac
| tory inspected. It's awful nice
Il to have things sanitary" was
the remark recently made to a member
of the Consumers league by woman
who was trying to show her familiarity
with the ideals of the organization.
The remark is typical of many that
are made with reference to the league,
| and indicates its work in seeking
to protect it's members and their fami-
| lies from diseases carried in clothing
made in tenement house shops.
Those who think that this selfish
and narrow though valuable work is
the chief concern of the organization
| should have heard the presidents ad-
dress given by Mrs. B. c. Gudden at
the annual meeting of the Wisconsin
| league in Milwaukee, and the address
| by Miss Mary MacDowen on THE
| Broader Aims of the Consumers
| League"
| Stated broadly, the aim of the league
| is to assist in the creation of a public
| opinion which will result in the recog-
milton of the fact that the joys OF
| labor; of working; of creating; or pro-
ducing; are as important as the joys of
| owning and OF using. The recognition
| of this fact could fail neither to I'M
prove the conditions of labor, nor to
| lead indirectly to redistribution of
the joys of possession and of use. The
whole world works together day after
| day and sometimes night after night
in youth and in age, In sickness and in
| health, sometimes in darkness and
| dampness away from the sunlight, to
| produce food and clothing and shelter
and house-furnishing and ornaments.
| And then the whole world or the more
| privileged portion enjoys the taste OF
| the food the warmth and beauty of
| the clothing, the protection from the
elements which houses afford and the
| sight of art products. To certain
portion of the human race, at least,
| the joys of possession have become a
matter of course. But looking upon
the great mass of wealth which is pro-
| duced by the labor of mems hands,
we are coming to believe more and
more that there should be not one
| joy alone nor one kind of joy connected
with it, but that this wealth should
| bring joy in the process of it's creation
as we'll as joy IN its consumption. If 1t
does not one great source of human
! happiness is neglected and lost.
"Mothering" Legislation for the Child
| But there is no use in talking about
the joys of labor until some of its
unnecessary hardships have been re-
Il
lieves that there are unnecessary hard
ships in the life of the adult worker
who has not received as a heritage
from his childhood a strong body and
a good education. This hardship it
would seek to remove, and for this
reason it is in favor of strengthening
the child-labor and COMPULSORY edu-
cation laws in all the states, and it
supports the Beveridge-P Parsons child
labor bill which, If it becomes a law,
will establish a standard below which
no state will be allowed to sink in the
character of the protection which 1t
gives to it's children.
The league believes that little chill
dren should not be allowed to neddle
on the street. 1t therefore supports
the bill now before the Wisconsin leg
islature which provides that no boy
under 10 and no girl under 16 shall sell
newspapers or engage in street trades.
The league stands for what. Miss
Mcdowell calls 1.-THE conservation of
human resources" and as a first step
| it Endorses, or as Miss Mcdowell aptly
expresses it, mothers" the bill pro-
viding for the establishment by the
federal government of q children's bu-
reau. Looking ahead whittier she
points it realizes that necessity for
"mothering' would not cease with the
establishment of the bureau, for II
knows that If the children of the coun-
! try are to be properly protected there
must be an organized "mothering'' OF
! all children. as effective and as per-