Goldsboro weekly argus., 1909-01-14


factories have attained to that magni-
tude that the public may rightfully re.
quire that hereafter every mill erected
shall be constructed in accordance
with the demands of sanitation to
avoid as far as possible disease among
operatives, as they are now construct
ed in accordance with insurance de-
mands to avoid as far as possible fire
losses.
Every right thinking man Is against
child factory labor, yet every one who
knows that under present conditions
unless our homes for the aged and in
firm and our orphanages are vastly
enlarged some children must labor.
Neither the counties nor the denomi-
nations are ready to shoulder the ex-
pense, however good in theory, of
maintaining all those whom children
now help to support and such children
themselves as now have to WORK
Child labor of some kind at present
is an unavoidable evil 1t appears
that those children who must toll can
earn more in factories than on farms,
| and often they and theirs prefer the
factory. The mill children of to-day
| will be the ancestors of many mill
workers of the future. For our fac
tories to compete with others, high
| class labor will be essential High
class labor must be healthy. A far
sighted wisdom makes our mill own
ers anxious not only to preserve, but
| to improve the health of every oper-
ative, both for present results and fu-
| ture safety.
Our law prohibiting children under
| thirteen years of age from working in
factories should be enforced. 1 doubt
not that our mill managers endeavor
to comply with it's provisions. There
! should be some official inspection to
aid in its enforcement, and it should
be under the bureau of Labor and
Printing. We know the difficulty Of
refusing employment to the child who
must work and who can earn more
money in factory than elsehere, but
the law which has been written
should be obeyed. While a system
lodging in some official the duty of
| Investigating each case of proposed
child labor and ascertaining how 9TH
erwise the child, or a disabled father,
or a widowed mother could be sup
ported, or whether admittance to some
asylum could be had, the conditions
under which such child would work,
his physical development, the number
of hours required and other facts
bearing on it, and requiring upon
such investigation a decision in wri-
ting, giving reasons, and either per-
mitting or denying employment,
might be better than the system we
have adopted, yet ours was adopted,
as 1 understand, upon mutual agree
ment of those employing labor, those
representing the employed and those
representing the public, and it re-
mains for the authorities of the peo-
pie, including the legislature, to- see
that our system is properly carried
out. In wise efforts to perfect this
system you may confidently expect
the cooperation of our manufacturers.
CORPORATIONS.
The Acknowledgement should be au-
thorized to examine every proposed
charter for corporations to see that it
violates neither the written nor IN
written law. He should be specifically
charged with the duty of enforcing
our law against all corporations do
nestle and foreign habitually VIOLA
ting ts provisions. When a corpora
! tion is conducting a business in viola
tion of law, no one feels it his spec
! ial duty to act, but every one is in
clined to wait for some one else to
J proceed, and where the greatest vio-
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