The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-09-07

In undertaking to advocate a meas
ure, dealing with industrial conditions,
there are many phases of that ques-
ton to be considered. oft leading into
devious paths and ny-ways.
Conditions surrounding Industrial
pursuits are notably complex. The
dark side obstrudes itself in glar-
ing light, and its evolution is easily
lost sight Of Labor is an ineXora bic
task master. Its demands become
laws in their vitality, almost impos-
sible t. evade; and this is especial
ly true in the industrial walks Of life
which absorb the child.
His very life apparently is sucked
up and consumed in the daily grind
The appealing innocence of childhood
is soon devoured. 1t would seem that
labor clamors ravenoUsIy for this in
gredient, and takes toll of the adde's
cent soul, as well as body. hungrily.
It is not hard to understand.
Who has not felt the stultifying eff
feet of mechanically going over and
over the same thing? The stenogra-
pher, turning out duplicates day In,
day out, folding and enclosing circu-
lars, notwithstanding the quickened
mind of years training, becomes dull
and lifeless by the noon hour under
L
to longest with the repetition and
stagger under the monOtony.
This is the result of mechanical
employment upon the adult brain: The
child is more seriously affected. Youth
is eager. Its restlessness is the out
ward sign of marvellous growth. Strip
it Of this eagerness and you rob it of
It's essence. Mechanical labor does
this, 1t stunts the growth, checks the
vision, retards development Vital
elements of life, fresh air and sun
shine, are denied the victims in many
factories, making use Of cheap child
labor. where all drafts and currents
of air must be excluded. lest the
manufactured article be impaired In
cigarette and tobacco factories. where
children paste labels and fill bags.
the air reeks with nicotine And still
commerce demands this cheap labor;
and cheap it is when measured by
the monetary standard only
It has ever been FACT mat the hu
man body, when q price be placed
upon it, sells cheaper than any other
commodity. Think Of . human being
selling for one or two hundred dol
lars, as they sold in the past history
of this land. mule will bring more
now. a good mule could not be pur-
chased for less than two hundred and
fifty or three hundred dollars today,
and yet the child is sold body and soul
Gas / shall preently depict) for a pit
lance to keep the wolf from the door.
This Is the cause of the child fac
tor in the commercial world. 1t is
poverty and thriftlessness of the class
that casts its children into the siren
uous struggle for daily bread. Impe-
cunious parents. unable through their
own efforts to supply their daily needs,
thrust small children out into the
commercial world to become the sup
port Of themselves and their nourish-
ed vices, and incidentally the support
of the children too. With sensibili- |
ties blunted, the parent becomes the
slave-d driver, scourging these little |
children with the whip cord of daily |
grind and confinement The efferve-
scence of youth is killed, the spirit |
embittered. and hope buries itself in
an early grave in the hearts of these |
premature burden-bearers. These, the |
children, the natural hope and prom |
Use of the Nation, the material toward |
which all reformers look with con- |
sistent certainty are reduced to bar |
rem, sterile products
There is a strong reluctance in the |
South to face this question of child |
labor. The great manufacturing in |
dustry of the South is that of cotton !
fabric. The child is a potent agent |
and the owners of these mills reput-
able men and worthy citizens. 1t re- |
duires some rightly of purpose to /