The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-10-19
by Mary E. Garbutt.

tries
Remedial legislation for the child
and the woman in the factories OF
England began to sweep owe that
country in 1902. 1t was between 1915
1890 that we may late in this country
the establishment of womea wage
earne as n definite, recognized eco
no1nic factor, while that OF the child
reached no large dimensions before
1870.
HI wonderful development of ma
chinery, the marvellous growth of our
factory system as 4 result, in a COM
pa ativeIy short time, the enormous
influx OF immigrants, from where the
large army of wage earning women
and children were constantly recruit
ed. the greed of employers for cheap
labor. M the poverty of the incoming
hurdcs, these have forced these SER
ious and menacing problems upon us
in an acute form before we had any
proper realization of their cnormity,
which helps to explain our hardness
in graphing with them as promptly
or as cniciontly as might have bee
done had our manufacturing develop
ment been slower.
LABOR LEGISLATION AFFECT
ING CHILDREN
According to the Ccnsu of 1900,
we have nearly 100000 children I'M
der the age of sixteen who are wage
earnerS. In some of the industries,
as the textile factories CT the south,
the rate of increase in child labor is
in excess of that of adults. From
Is. O-lSSO Jumbo of men increased 81
per cent: number of women ~ per
cent; number Of children 40 per
cont. From 1&S0-1S9O number of men
81 per cent: number of women 2G9
per cent: number of children Jog per
cent. From 1S9O-l90O the number of
men increased 20 per cent; number
OF women 15S per cent; number of
children 27O per cent. Thus we see
that the increase o. child labor dur-
inE the last decade in the southern
textile mills is more than 30 per cent
in excess of total increase in adult
labor.
: In North Carolina according to
official report. out OF 40. 900 textile
workers, 5000 or onc-fifth are children
under fourteen years of age; in Ala
hanna the number of workers employ
is estimated at 80. 900 with "a per
cent OF them under twelve years of
and ten per cent under ten years.
These children work twelve hours a
day and the oldest get fifty cents and
the youngest get nine cents.
We need not take a moment of time
TO depict the financial loss to the state
and the nation which accrues through
exhaustion of the labor power of
these children long before they have
maturity; one should mot,
even in this material age be justified
is considering this evil from its pc
cuniary side. But when we stop
for 4 moment to consider how capital
ism squeezes the life blood out of
the child of tender Years and throws
it rcmorselcssly upon the scrap heap.
wnen we realize that this vast army
OF boys and girls with Il right to a
Joyous care-frcc life. are simply cogs
in the wheel of commercialism, it
seems as if we should resort to
methods more drastic than remedial
agencies to wipe the whole accursed
thing out of existence. The day is
not far distant when this will be done
In the meantime, we arc Interested in
every step that is axe to curb this
Slaughter of the Innocent" by legis-
lation.
In" manufacturing states of the
north have made notable gains in
legislation for II protection of the
child in industry and a stead i'm
nTovemcnt III the enforcement of these
liws. Eut the legislation in the
southern factory states is like the
legislation of England in 1871. en-
'ept that the English laws made
factory inspection imperative. while
the few inadequate child labor laws OF
IN" So..ln are largely ineffective owing
10 the failure to make such provision.
The laws which have been most
advantageous against child labor have
i'e"n compulsory education and the diff
ii'hitlcS intcrpOsed by law % obtain
!nc required certificate before the child
'"Rlh legally begin to work. For in
@tahc@. in New York since 1896. the
ifldaVit of the parent in regard to
me cilidS aSe.w which before that date
VAS the sole requirement. must be sun
pIcmented with the written statement
OF thc teacher hat the child has resu-
'arlE attended school. in which the
common English branches were taunht
and also with the statement of an or.
.tglll of tho IlnD rJ nF Health