Evening journal., 1913-01-17

! where such labor Is hazardous It
supplements IN q large way the
proper issuing Of employment GER
tiiicatcs. and the safeguarding OF the
veracity Of Such certificates We find
in this particular that the desire Of
the employer is to preserve the prop
er use Of the child labor employ
ment certificates. but the abuse
comes from the desire OF many par
ents to utilize the work Of their chill
dren who are under legal age All
these questions are carefully guard
ed IN the new law. and In this way
the employer is protected as he is
not now from the damage suits aris-
ing from the carelessness Of the in
spector
The age limit and hours OF labor Of
this bill are the same as in the pres
ent law with the exception Of the can
merry clause
Your commission has incorporated
in this new law a clause prohibiting
children under twelve years of age
from working i'm the cauneries, except
for the preparation and canning of
perishable fruits and vegetables. We
believe from all the evidence submit
ted by the Gamers themselves, that
such labor is not desirable. and not
used by the best class of employers
Consequently it is wise to ino1 por>a
this clause. that there may be no
abuse in the employment Of children
of a tender age.
The new law also takes care of the
children employed in the so-called
street trades, for which the present
law makes no provision whatever.
The permanent Child Labor Com
mission would be given power under
the act as drawn to consider special
cases, which should be excepted from
the provisions OF the new law. AS far
as we are aware. no State has incor-
porated this power into any child la
Dor law and while we may be criti-
cized as Incorporating dangerous
precedent nevertheless your Commits
sion believe that special cases do
arise which should be excepted from
the provisions of the act but that Il
is not wise to leave the decision OF
these questions to the discretion of
the Inspector, and that he should have
the benefit OF the cooperation of the
members of the commission.
Your Commission has been I'm ses-
sion since November 18th. 1911, and
has held meetings from time TO time
since 1t has investigated personally
the conditions pertaining to child la
Dor in the city of Wilmington and in
New Castle county, and In a less de-
gree I'm the other counties; but it has
had a thorough survey made by depu-
/ ties aDDOintod bv the Commission TO
examine into the canning Industries
of Kent and Sussex counties, and into
the other industries where child la
Dor is employed AS a part of this
report. we attach Exhibit A.
AS a result Of these Investigations.
your Commission has arrived at the
following conclusions.
1st That the employment certifi-
cate provision of the present law
works badly in practice allowing
parents to falsify the ages Of their
children. and providing no way Of
getting behind such false afiidavits.
While the disposition of the employ
ers of labor is toward the observance
Of the law, we find in many instances
a complete ignorance Of its require
ments caused largely by the inspec-
tors lack Of insistence upon proper
certificates
End. There Is no authority beyond
the inspector himself 10 see that the
provisions OF the law are carried out.
In this respect the Delaware law