Omaha daily bee., 1910-11-13
WHERE CHILD is OPPRESSED
Sensational Charges Made in Special
Report Of Labor Bulletin.
MANY ARE NOT PAID AT ALL
IN Austria many Are Employed in
Quarters which Are Never In
apccted-BeRin 20 WORK
when Eight Years Oid.

when Eight Years OId.
WASHINGTON. NOV i2-sensatio naI
charges Of repulslve conditions In child
labor IN continental Europe are made IN
special report published In the latest
issue Of the bulletin OF the United States
Bureau Of Labor The report. which cow
ers more than four hundred pages Of the
bulletin was made by Dr G. w. 8. We
ditz. a professor OF sociology u George
Washington University, who made a spec
cial Investigation ~ Austriu. Belgium,
France, Germany. Switzerland and Italy.
The investigator gathered all his data
from official records and sources Of i'm
formation
Child labor IN Belgium not paid al all.
children IN Austria beginning work be-
fore six years Of age; child laborers in
France drilled TO disappear through trap
doors at the approach OF inspectors. and
a general Indifferent enforcement Of the
child labor laws through which employers
find II more profitable 20 pay the nomi-
nal fines imposed than to obey the reg
ulations are some OF the conditions de-
scrlbed in the report
The general conclusion is that child la
Dor laws abroad are In many essential re-
spects poorly enforced and that the pen
lousy small and OF practically no deter
rent value. The report gives data indi-
eating that IN most OF those countries 10
would be a physical impossbility Tor the
inspectors to do more than fractional
part OF their work or 20 do that part thor
ouEhly: and that the courts are astound-
inEly lenlent with offenders against labor
laws.
In Austria. only one-fourth Of the child
workers are employed in establishments
that are inspected annually. The force IL
30 inadequate that Il would take fifty
nine years to visit once every establish
ment subject to the labor laws. The ma
jority OF the smaller concerns are never
visited. Child labor In Austria 10 not req
ulated IN workshops, IN household indus
tries or in commercial establishments.
Hence the factory laws, so far as they
have reduced child labor at ALI have sim
ply driven Il out OF the factories into the
homes OF the workers, into small work
shops and into establishments lying out
side the scope or the labor laws.
Young OhiIdren Work.
A recent official investigation disclosed
the fact that about half Of the children
began work before they we're 3 years OF
age, while q very large number began
before they were years old Their CONF
pensation varied all the way from food
and certain articles OF clothing to 9i4
a year for those IN agricultural oocupa-
tons A large proportion received wages
OF 80 cents to s1.5e month. Those
employed In saloons and bowling alleys
usually average 4 cents an hour plus free
beer, sometimes left over by guests.
In Belgium much Of the recently en-
acted labor legislation is attributed to
political coalition OF the Catholics and
the socialists. The Belgium child labor
law provides that ignorance OF the law
Is a sufficient defense OF proved viola
tons
Many violations entirely escape detec-
ton. the report says. The bulk OF those
visited are visited only once a year. Only
a fractional part Of the cases OF detected
violations are brought to trial and In
these cases the fines imposed average
about 81. Specific instances are quoted
in which employers frankly declare II TO
be much cheaper 10 violate the law and
pay the fine than to comply with II.
one-fourth OF the child laborers in
Belgium under 16 years OF age either get
no money wages at all or earn less than
10 cents a day. more than one-half Of
them receive between 10 and 20 cents
day. and less than one-fifth receive 30
cents or more Large numbers Of chill
dren under rs years and women are en-
ployed In the manufacture of sexual APP
pliances.
France a. Better.
In France, the investigator says, the
enactment Of new labor laws has pro-
ceeded much more rapidly than provi-
sions for their enforcement. IL every
establishment subject 10 the laws we're
to be inspected once a year that would
mean each Inspector would have to visit
4.265 concerns.
At the end OF 1908 there were stin
l73.is6 establishments subject to the law
that had never been visited even once by
an inspector. In fact, In 1908 alone sss,-
B7S establishments were not visited.
Although the French law provides that
working children must be subjected to a
physical examination II the work they do
Is apt to prove injurious 10 their health or
their physical development the provision
is admitted by the inspectors 90 be wholly
illusory. some Of the glass works go so
far as to drill their child laborers IN
quickly disappearing through trap doors to
avoid detection. and the employers offer
prizes for the children most agile In that
performance. Among the most frequent
and most flagrant vlolators OF the rules
goveFning child labor are religious and
charitable Institutions, such - orphanages.
says Ana ANNolNt IN WlnNn Nue oullofen
usually get no wages for their labor. are
worked overtime and under conditions vio-
latinE not only the law. but the ordinary
rules Of hygiene. and la which lamentaoie
provision Is frequently made for their edu-
cation
Chiidren WoFk ~ Might.
In France official age certificates are
often forged or altered and a traffic has
sprung up especially among the Italian
children imported into France in droves Tor
employment mainly IN glass works. brick
yards and as chimney sweeps and boot
blacks
bronoh court decisions have made IL next
10 Impossible ~ enforce the prohibition OF
child labor az night, according to the
almost unanimous testimony OF the in
spectors- Also a dead letter Is the law
governing the employment Of young chill
dFen Ia theatrical performances.
0erm6ny's industrial code regulating the
employment OF child iaborora was rocos-
nized as having not 90 much abolisne,i