The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-12-23
(Exclusive Service, the Survey Press
Bureau.)

(Exclusive Service, the Survey Press
Bureau.)
I bought a toy for a nickel in a cor
ner grocery in one Of the poorest
streets in New York city. 1t came
from the Thuringen forest, paid it's
travelling expenses across the ocean, IS
per cent tariff duty, a profit to the
importer and another to the corner
grocer.
the man who cut the wood for its
twenty-eight parts, and to the chill
dren who glued them together and
packed the toy for shipment?
Standing in the window Of the
shabby little grocery, the toy looked
most attractive. A busy nurse on her
way to visit a little girl, S years old.
Ill with measles, qu%arantined, bored
and lonely, bought a. duplicate of the
original thinking to give pleasure to
her sorry little patient. So long as
the child contented herself with fin
gering the toy, the pleasure lasted.
But it came to a sudden end at the
first attempt to put the tub: to the
uses for which tubs are supposed to
exist. For the tub first leaked, and
then fell apart when water was put
in it,
1t was not made for use. 1t was
created merely to be sold.
Few sorrows are more poignant
than the grief Of q young child at the
wreck of q cherished new toy: and
the kindness is akin to cruelty which
expresses itself in SO perishable a gift
to SO eager a recipient.
Two morals attach themselves tc
this humble plaything. Two questions
are raised by it. Cannot we develop
for the children whose every penny
spent for toys represents a sacrifice
H. 4G>ty NJ ~~TH ~t1I
worth having, less perishable. ant
equally attractive? And have we no
an urgent duty to inform ourselves O.
the sources Of the general toy supply
This year, for the first time, it j:
illegal to make toys in the tenemen'
houses of New York. This year fol
the first time. no s~o-calIed hygienit
dolls are in preparation in over
crowded and unwholesome dwelling
in congested districts, from which Fl
former years came quantities o
shapeless cotton-batting creatures
covered with cotton cloth, to repre-
sent Brownies.
The chief recommendation of thes
toys for the youngest children wa
that they were said to he both I'm
; breakable and incapable of doing tn
5 baby harm. This year the latter as
, surance will, for the first time, be &C
, curate as to all that part. Of the sup
? ply which comes from New York city
T n state has in this way registere
/ it's growing appreciation Of the dut
of ascertaining the sources Of the to
supply, and making it safe so far a
the children who use the toys are con
cerned. -.
In regard to the children who pro
n duce toys, New York state has thi
year forbidden their employment j
!, the tenements before their 14th birth
r day. This is an attempt to make tn
= toy supply harmless in relation to tn
school children in ~wage-earning fam
q lilies.
{ This year for the first time, howev
, er, comes an appeal from Europe tha
u we interest ourselves in the Europea
9 sources of u Christmas gifts fc
> children.
effective check upon the labor of tn
youngest children under the sweatin
= system. Little ones of kindergarte
age can be turned to account for gilt
: ing together the innumerable parts
d the fragile playthings. There is 4
It factory inspection Of the industry. bt
9 cause there are virtually no factorie
There is a cottage industry, mo-
attractive to the eye of America
d travellers, who imagine that the chi
dren work at their pleasure in the II
n tervals of outdoor play in one of tt
loveliest regions of Garminy. In n
atty, however, the situation is essel
TALLY the same as it has been in oil
own tenement house Industries. Slice
u play and school attendance all stuff
: during the rush season, when orde
20 pour in with time limits attached, al
a al. the normal life of h family yiel'
under the pressure of the demand
d the export trade. ~
e Now we are the export trade.
II we insist that we want toys ma,
by older people getting q wage suf
le cient to maintain their families, wit