The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-15

Awarded first prize in Southern inter-
o,,,eo,ate Oratorical contest at Wander
bilt university, May 4, 1910. BY crank NC
Gov Dominick dean University of Ala
bama)
The industrial and commercial develop
ment of the civilization of today has peen
SO marked and so significant that 'iaoe
has become the leading characteristic VI
our modern life. There can be no gam
SAYING the statement that commerce mas
reached its highest development at tne
present, and that in the work shop, the
mill and the foundry we have attained
an undoubted ascendency. This material
advancement owes its existence TO the
INTRODUCTION of machinery into the me-
chanicaI arts. Steam and electricity, with
their kindred devices and labor-saVlne
machinery of all kinds, have taken the
places of men and changed the work Oh
a hundred into that of one. These oe-
vices have also rendered the child capa-
HE of performing what was once the
labor of a man, and thus opened the way
to a condition of affairs that is starting
tn every careful student of the times.
The labor of the child has become an
important part of our manufacturing HIS,
so much SO that it's continued use ana
abuse constitute a menace, the removal
of which is entitled to the earnest con-
sideration of every citizen
Today two and one-half millions OF chill
dren under 10 years OF age are at "orh
in the shops of this republic. In the re-
mort of the twelfth census the startling
information was conveyed that Is per
cent of all the children in the United
states were employed in our manufac-
turing industries. In the south the pro-
portion was greater, including negroes,
probably reaching 30 or 40 per cent. "
the operatives of southern cotton mills W
per cent were under 16 years of age IN
the Piedmont district of the Carohnas'
while the proportion for the entire soutn
was Is per cent. Two hundred thousaho
children were laboring In southern cot
ton mills. while the great, imperial state
of Pennsylvania contained as many chill
dren toiling in it's mines and shops and
factories. This condition of affairs, this
usins of the life of the child before II
has hardly begun the living, is connned
to no state nor section. In the Caroilnas
and Georgia and Alabama, until within
the last three years, children even OF b
wears of age were found laboring IN the
dust and the lint of cotton factories, ana
today. at the hour for closing, an op-
server standing by the yards of almost
any southern mn, 80 a,r,s mourning
| from the brick buildings. with the light
OF youth gone rom .n ia ,ong
| marks OF age upon nc. y,,s.,,,. :.
oe1ore the,i '',e stan,.s vii, reveal
Visit 10 the siass u,air,ny
boys of even ten years of age, waking
ceaselessly back ana Ior.h aoou. 80
| hot hives of the furnaces, parching ana
| shrlvehng their a.ue ooes, ,,.,a. "a
careless mlsstep iosins uien IVES .s LII
always parchihs anu 81. LIE os ~
minds and souls In the White siare VI zig
molten glass. Go to the coal mines anu
you VIII ma boys IN the preano t,,o...
faces blackened by the aus. anu sn "a
lungs made ready TOT the ravases u sne
Great White Plague ere 'hey a
tered manhoods estate, IN VIZ 49, -
Edwin Markhani' tne eni. Gu hraoth. .
ton are nerued III ieit laoto '..s.s ~ -
ing dust OF fur; they are .~,s.eu IA -
baeco factories lnhaiins tne uesu .,c m,s
tine; they are peht osei ~ ys.oo, ~
soaking III the poisoious uses' ,,,sor,,;,, =
stopped IN Varnishihs ioo ,1 $3.50,
noxious FUMES; tney are s'ipou ~ '.',tr
factories, where they are e.
naptha; they are choNeo ~ n,a.e' ,,',th
tories where they are sane, es"e 80
phosphorus; they are huouieu II. ~
Ifoundries, where tney are craihpeu WIZ"
| the poison OF leau'
Still all day the iron wneeis 70 on"A'o'
Grinding life down from its MARE,
And the childrens souls' wnich uou 10
calling sunwaro, -
Spin on blindly In the DARK
- ,a.o =, tho