The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-02-21
KEEGAN CHARGES
UNFAIR TACTICS
Employed in Having Moth
ers to Petition Against
the Child Labor Bill.
palladium Specially

was alleged In the final pubic meet
ing of the senate labor committee on
this subject Monday evening by Rep
Preventative John j. Keegan, the au-
thor of the bill. and by Mrs. Virginia
Lockwood, chairman of the commit
tee on social and labor conditions of
the Indiana Federation OF women's
clubs.
| Michael Turner, bottle maker of
Terre Haute. presented Senator Beal,
chairman of the committee, with Pc
titions of the mothers of working
children, asking for an amendment to
permit the children to work nine
hours day and do night shifts"
| How did you get these petitions
from the mothers?" asked Keegan.
please explain to the committee"
Went to Mothers.
'Weli,-well,-II- were SIM
ply gotten by going to the mothers.
The petitions stand for themselves,
Mr.. Chairman. l am not discussing
them any further" answered Turner.
| Very WE'LL answered keegan.
That's all l wanted to know"
| Then Mrs. Lockwood arose and
told how charity workers under her
direction. women belonging to the fed.
Grafton of women's clubs, had visited
the homes of the working children.
| They found that the children SIM
ply brought home slips with instruc-
tons for the mothers to sign them
and return them Monday morning"
said she. The mothers wrote their
names on those slips and that's how
the signatures were obtained for these
petitions
Il don't suppose there ever was a
petition of any length presented to a
body like this, to which some person
did not object" interposed Turner.
Il suggest that you answer my Or
iginal question and tell how these sig
natures were gathered spoke up
Keegan.
"A Mr.. Richardson got some of
them by driving around in a buggy
replied Turner. Then he left, saying
he had to make a train.
I'VE know sufficiently the duress
under which these petitions were
wrung from mothers" said Keegan,
later on In the discussion.
An Evansville Lobby.
A large delegation from Evansville,
espousing the cause of the Fendrick
tobacco factory, succeeded in getting
the advocates of the law to admit that
in no other state is there limitation
of eighteen years as the minimum for
SiHs employed in the tobacco trade
On the other hand it was shown by
the Keegan bill supporters that the
Evansville factory is the only one in
the state which has objected to the
bill
Two Evansville ministers permitted
themselves to be played as the trump
cards for the Fendrick forces, while
rotund Samuel Gompers was full
hand for those seeking to protect the
children.
Rev. j. n. Jaiser, pastor of the
First Avenue Presbyterian church of
, Evansville, said the girls who leave
the public schools at II and go into
: the cigar factory shoY less immorali
. ty than those who are unemployed un'
, til later age. He said he never
/
corning the factory, and urged the
committee not to let the bill put ur
, the bars to useful employment until
) the girls became IS years old.
Even Pastor Opposes.
Rev. J. n. Schneider, pastor OF
lions church, Evansville, said girls
should be permitted to go into the
| Jrio 70
become deXterous by the time they
are ''of age"
Are you a fellow who used to go to
bed at night and send your fourteen
year old boy out to work through
those hours broke in Senator La
mont suddenly.
We'll, really, 1 am not here to an.
swer that question. 1t is slightly of
the point said the minister.
NO, no. guess he can't" roared
the champions of the children.
Samuel Gompers spoke as the faith
er of a large family of children and as
man who had worked in a tobacco
factory 26 years. and had been forty
years associated with the industry oil
cigar making. He defended the eight
hour day for children by showing that
since 1885, when the cigar makers
union forced the eight hour day the
deaths by tuberculosis among cigar
makers had decreased from so per
cent. to p per cent. and that among
non-union cigar workers, not on the
eight hour basis, there has been nc
such decrease in deaths from tubercu
losis.
Some men must be content with
profits other than that which comes
out of the hides of innocent children
he declared.
Representative keegan, Mrs. vir-
ginia Lockwood, Virgil Lockwood, E
\. Hopper. representing the national
child labor committee, and A. c.
Bauer, president of the German-Am
erican Christian Civic league of Indian.
apolis. spoke in behalf of the bill. B.
F. Johnson. secretary OF the CONNER
cial club of Hammond: H. o. Smith
representing the Premier motor man
ufacturing company of Indianapolis
Matthew Bray. realty man of Evans
vile, DR.. Worsham, Evansville coun
Gilman. and John F. Reilly. Hammond
attorney. sought amendments to the