The chronicle=news., 1912-10-29
by Owen X. Lovejoy. Secretary Ma
tlonal Child Labor COMMITTEES.

through coal breaker short time
ago found him very familiar with
the processes OF that roaring monster,
He knew the experience OF other lit
tie ten-year-old boys who sat for n
nine-hour day bending over the coal
chute, eating coal dust, while with
torn and bleeding fingers they picked
the slate and rock from the coal. Hc
knew how to operate the mechanical
slate picker. the Zig" the "scrapcr-
line and could explain the mechan-
Ism OF the breaking machine itself.
like the old threshing machine cylin-
der. only 10 or / g feet In length and
SIX or eight feet In diameter with Its
giant steel Jaws to crunch the coal
into marketable sizc-but he could
not read.
As we passed ou, OF the bllndinf
dust into the open sunshine. | noticed
IN couple of badges on his aged coat.
One was the portrait OF n famous la
Dor leader and the other cross on
which were the words. THY King
dom Come When said. .'Stciny.
wha, do those badges mean" his
tired eyes Frightened as he indicated
the union button and tried to express
his admiration for the man who had
won the great strike. hut when |
asked him the meaning of the words
on the cross. he saId. Me not un-
dcistand."
| l said. "Stciny, that says. Thy
Kingdom Come With puzzled
+, expression on his dus,-strcakcd face.
he asked. And wha, does that mean.
m!s,er?" "Stciny." replied. II
don't know that I can tell YOU all
that 1t means. but think II means,
at least. that the fellow who wears II
wants the day to come when little
boys can go to school instead OF to
the coal breaker: when their sisters
can have clean dresses to wear and
can learn to read and sing instead Of
being driven to the l:-hour day In
the silk mill: when they can have n
decent home to live In and their
fathers cnn get money to keep the
family well and happy: wncn boys
will be good and kind to each other
and to their parents and will grow
TO be strong mon, able to support
AS I spoke. he took the badge from
the lapel of his faded Jacket and.
holding II In the palm Of his grimy
toii-worn hand. he examined II with
ncwly-awakencd interest. DO It
mean all that. mister he asked
Yes. Steiny. l.elicvc I, does" I
answered. why. u.isi.r." he said as
his eyes klmdlcd. that's jus: what I
want'-and when u II coming, mis-
tcr?" But that could not answer.
One Of the most stubborn obsta clcs
met In attempts to abolish child Ia
Dor is the plea that II children are
taken from the mills. mines and
sweaishops their parents Will be lef,
10 s,arve. Is this the kind of supper;
on which our American prosperity Is
willing to rest It's ease? Was 4; good
economy for us to allow that little
urdcr.;rown French boy In New En-
gland to spend all the days of his
Childhood in u cotton mill to supper,
his widowed mother until that day
when the machine caught him In It's
mcrcilcss grip. crushing his little
fingers to u shapelcss pulp and lcav-
ing him to grow to maturity with
both hands gone?
When you defend or excuse child
labor on the ground that to abolish
1t would !ncrcasc poverty. you
show curious blindness to our pres
cnt social conditions. Whose are
the children whose blood is being
dried up within our factory walls?
They are children of the poor. And,
with the facts that can be produced
to any one who wants to know them,
no self-respecting American man can
defend the systc mwhich today binds
more than n half million of our little
children to our swcatshops. factories
and coal mines on the ground tina,
in 50 doing he has protected the poor
widow.
few months ago. We found'a lit
tic 1-ycar-old oyster shucker working
In one of the large packing houses
OF Mississippi. Wa had seen the same
rirl the summer before. but not in
Mississippi. for she is one OF those
dcfensclcss victims OF our interstate
commerce in children. During the
summer months. she goes with her
family throu I'll tho fruit and vegc-
'ah'r gardens of Maryland. Delaware
and New Jersey. labcring from nine
to fourteen hours a day In the fields
and canning factories. When the
harvest closes with hundreds of other
children. she is shipped from Balti-
more to work In the oyster and
shrimp canning factories along the
gulf She mas never seen the inside
of school house. and Will grow to
physical maturity with the mental
development of an infant. She will
be the mother OF an American voter