The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-11-26
MANY LESSONS FOR YOUR
UNCLE SAM IN THE CHILD
r. LABOR LAWS OF EUROPE

pedn countries - austria, belgium,
France. Germany, Italy and Switzer-
lands the subject of an article
printed in Bulletin 80, of the bureau
of labor, of the department of COM
merce and labor. All of these ma
tions have recognized the existence of
a child labor problem and have at
tempted to. solve it by means of legis-
lat1on restricting the gainful employ
ment of children and by providing a
corps of officials whose special task it
is to secure compliance with the terms
of the law. The experience of Ger
many and Switzerland in this direc-
ton is peculiarly suggestive for the
United States, because there, as in this
country, there is division of legislative
and administrative powers between a
central government and the local gov
ernments.
This article, the results of a study
by Dr. C.. w. A. Veditz, is not confined
to presentation of the details of the
law concerning child labor, but dis
cusses as we'll the relation Of the
school and labor laws, the organiza-
ton and actual work of the labor in
spectors, and the present extent and
nature of child labor in these coun-
tries.
In most of the countries included
in this study the limitations upon child
labor are not all found in legislative
enactments. In many cases the laws
themselves constitute merely a frame
work, which is filled out by means of
numerous DEGREES, ordinances, police
regulations, and other legislative or
administrative measures. These meas
ures sometimes constitute a relaxa-
ton of the rules laid down by the
statute, when, for instance, the ad-
ministrative authorities are given far
reaching power to set up Receptions
to and Exemptions" from the opera
lions OF the laws, and exercise this
power In such a manner and on such
scale as partially to abrogate the
law. Sometimes, on the other hand,
administrative measures result in q
much stricter regulation Of child la
Dor than appears on the face Of the
law.
Fourteen Years in Austria.
Austrian legislation fixes the regu-
lar age Of factory employment for
children at fourteen years, but chilli
dren Of twelve and thirteen may be
employed if such employment does not
Interfere with school, is not detrimen-
tai to health, and does not exceed
eight hours a day. Below twelve years
no regular Industrial employment is
permitted. In a considerable list OF
occupations regarded as dangerous or
injurious no employment under four
teen is permitted, and in many the
employment of children Of fourteen
and fifteen is much restricted. The
hours of labor for children under six
teen must not exceed twelve hours are
permitted. Night work between the
hours of and 5 Is prohibited for all
children under sixteen, except that in
industries with special needs night
work. is permitted for children of
fourteen and fifteen.
The complaint is frequent in the
reports of the labor inspectors that
the staff of inspectors Is insufficient
to carry out the laws with any degree
of severity and that the increase in
the number Of inspectors has not kept
pace with the increase in the number
of establishments subject to inspec-
ton. Only one-fourth the children
under sixteen actually in industrial
employment have the benefit of an
inspectors visit during single year.
A large number of establishments
subject to the law have never, accord
ing to the reports, been inspected
even once, and to inspect all Of them
with the present staff would require
fifty-nine years.
A recent Austrian official investiga-
ton into the extent and nature of
gainful employment among school
children under fourteen years of age
indicates that in various parts of the
empire the proportion Of these chill
dren regularly at work varies from 20
to nearly so per cent. A large pro-
portion of the working pupils are en-
ployed in agriculture and domestic
service, oftentimes at kinds of work
which require more strength than
children under fourteen may reason
ably be supposed to possess. Orphaned
children and illegitimate children fur
nish a relatively larger quota of child
laborers than the other pupils. In
several of the provinces it was dis
covered that half Of the working
pupils began work before they were
eight years old and a considerable
number began before they attained
the school age of six years.
Twelve Years in Belgium.
In Belgium the law regulating child
labor permits industrial employment
at twelve years, although between
| twelve and sixteen the conditions OF
work are much restricted. For an
| extended list of occupations regarded
as dangerous or injurious, employment
| and even presence in the factory is
entirely prohibited. For children un-
der thirteen the hours of work per day
must not exceed six. For children
under sixteen the hours In many in
| dustries are limited to ten, though in
the cotton industry the limit is eleven
| and one-half per day. or sixty-six pei
week, and in other textile industries
the limit is eleven per day. Night
work between the hours Of 9 and s Is
prohibited for males under sixteen
and all females under twenty-one
years in a list including many indus:
tries.
In Belgium, also, the number Of in.
spectors is reported as inadequate, and
| inspectors complain that the fines i'm.
posed for violation Of law are. alto.
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