El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-31

M It is a proud thought De-
spite all the efforts made by
phiIanthropists and to some extent by
well meaning legislators, the exploita-
ton of childhood. through the en-
ployment Of little girls and boys for
industrial purposes. IS conducted on
greater scale in this country today
than anywhere at any previous period
in the worlds history.
The urgent necessity to make money
and as much of it as possible, is the
reason why. Child labor invites the
investment of capital because, IN the
first place, it is cheap, and secondly
for the reason that it is helpless and
,,n-esisting. There is no chance that
the little ones will organize for better
conditions and for higher wages
The federal children's bureau re-
created and made a part OF the
de-srtroent of commerce and LABOR mas
11eeT, organized to look after the n g
ests of child workers all i've -
United States, and to see thaI tHey a.
Justly dealt with But lIlei &c riybt of
who 20 so far as to urge the re -
free childhood In other Woros' &c e.
cbiidren of either sex ought not TO DS
,.on1neIled to labor. They are the e1
treuists on this question-Ihee a ~
+ionfs+s of today. Perhaps later SCI
s-s+ion will adopt their views IN. tHe
Meantime il is undeniable thSJ, as liley
-1,e- nero slavery in this country mas
been replaced to large extent vim
recent years by child slavery
Ia worse in Pennsylvania.
One hears good deal about eI C ontiu
1ebor in the cotton mills OF the s SOUL
P,,+ when the facts are ascefta 1le1
one discovers that there are NOR At 80
bovs and girls at work N IuS ,, ~
tories of Pennsylvania Jnah N 81 II
southern cotton mus Pu tbo{ PbiIadeI-
sbould be remembered that I ne --r IF
s.,6 IFS neighborhOod- Is one %
re three great cottonsplhhlhS 60
o,,,i1er districts of this country anu,
in order to realize the STU 4oII5 - that
-+afe one should UNDERSTAND la
9o11svIvania has a fairly Soou 49,
1,ho- law also, that owing TO pOii'AS0-
Influences, it is not enIofceu- f+1,i,,
An interesting phenomena n'5loI-i-,s has
,.aCe1+ years industrially spedhlilS' -
i,aa- the building of many large SIC
-oj11s in the coal-prOduclng regions y
nsvIvania-especlal!y II 1a ,st 90
IA and Luzerne counties. N VIZ Re-
o.sTor, nav he supposed TO exist "
1 ntsc-lOi LII l,1i- and slk7 None whatever
so far as the casual observer can Pc
ceive Nevertheless, as No 80 s,e- %
fact there is a very clOss ~ I -. NJ
dia+e coune ction. The SllkmakeIS va
<rirIs-eirIs by the thOusands-to ~
Their spinning and weaving. IN 'ilo
coal regions the boys are employ , 81 -
the mines. 1t is Gods own proViueIcsss
from the mill owners viewpoint, ina
furnishes an equal number Oh ieiii0i'
children to work for them
No fewer than 600 children IN TINS
country according to the government
census) are employed IN ma KING C 5lsa-l5
and cigarets Twenty-four thousand
OF these are at work in Pennsylvania
and 10000 in Ohio
Children in Cigar Factories.
At Tampa and Key West are i'm
nense factories in which thousands OF
boys and girls are employed IN the
making of cigars. In the town OF
Durham, N c. the manufacture OF
cigarets engages the labor OF hundreds
of young people. The Pittsburg stogle
factories are in most instances dirty
and inSanitary, many Of them DelnS
under sidewalks, and the children com
monty employed in such places have a
most uncomfortable way Of dying OF
tuberculosis
Before the tobacco comes to harvest
children have much to do with the
handling of it Thousands of them
hoe weed and ploW the tobacco fields,
and afterward, as the plants develop,
pick the caterpillars off them IN the
autumn they strip the leaves, and at
the "stemmery" child labor is used to
stem the tobacco.
References was made a moment ago
to the employment Of boys in the coal
mines In sober truth, this is one OF
the WAYS in which child labor is util-
lied with most disastrous consequences.
The accidents in coal mines, fruitful of
such lamentable loss of life, are due
in a large percentage OF instances 10
the careIessness and ignorance of boys.
The burning Of the Cherry mine, IN
illinois, not long ago, which cost some
hundreds Of lives, was caused by two
thoughtless youngsters who backed
If h1-- ao~eaf in c~ .
One Of them was burned to death, the
other lived TO tell the tale.
But. when the circumstances are
justly considered, a coal mine is no
place for the employment Of children
in any capacity. Think, for example,
of the rumbling coal breaker, in which
10000 tons a day are crushed between
monster jaws and hurled down giant
slides, to be picked and sorted for i'm
purities by little boys who can neith-
er see nor hear for the dust and roar!
Is it not the worst imaginable enslave-
ment for a child2 Was ever negro
slavery in this country so exacting OF
physical effort, or so destructive OF
mental and moral possibilities?
Greek BoOtbIncks are Slaves.
It is a fact well known (and which
has been the subject of a special gov
eminent investigation that the Greek
bootblacks who toll in the shine par
lOrs" of our cities are literally slaves,
working without wage and under alb
solute control by the 'padrones' who,
entitled by contract with their parents
for term of years, possess their ser
vices absolutely.
According to the census there are in
this country 50, 600 child workers not
IN factories or mills-seamstresse
tailors. dressmakers. and milliners.
New York state has 1900 Of these,
nearly all of them in New York city,
and Pennsylvania claims 1000. Many
of them are flower makers, of whom
the great majority are in Manhattan
and its immediate vicinity.
One should realize that some of these
flower makers and seamstresses are
only five years old, and from this
tender age they multiply rapidly up to