Newport daily independent., 1914-09-03
To Be Voted On in September Re- ceived 22,ooo Signatures on
 Initiative Petition.
FIRST ATTEMPT TO INITIATE
 CHILD LABOR LAW.
MT. Flerschel H. Jones of the National Chid Laoor Committee Discusses Weaknesses of the Present Law
 and Provisions of New Law


 mitted to the voters of Arkansas last spring in the form of an initiative pc titlon, and which received 1000 more signatures than the law requires, will come before the citizens of the state for vote next month. The large number of extra signatures which the petition received over and above the required number indicates that the measure is popular one, and every effort is being made to bring the bill before the attention of the entire state so that there will be no doubt that it will become law
 Initiating child labor law is a new process; no other state has ever tried 1t, and people throughout the United States who are interested in child la Dor legislation are watching Arkansas experiment. with interest. They feel that the large number of signatures which the bill received indicates that the majority of people are opposed to child labor when the subject is the initiative petition method. A child labor bill handled by legisla- ture rarely receives much notice un- til after it has passed, and then it seldom satisfies anybody
 Active Campaign for Signatures.
 The campaign to initiate the new child labor law was carried on by the Arkansas State Federation of Labor and the National Child Labor Com mittee through it's special agent, MT. Herschel H. Jones. They received the enthusiastic cooperation of the Trades Union, the Farmers Union, the State Federation of Women's Clubs, religious organizations, news papers, etc, and the result was a de- cided expression of public sentiment in favor of the bill
 State Below Standard at Present.
 "The people ought to stand solidly for this bill at the elections says MT. Jones, who worked hard for the bill in the campaign last spring. For years Arkansas has Jagged behind other states in restricting child labor. The fact that there have been few factories and mills compared with Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas has made the people of this state in- different to the fact that her law was equally disgraceful. The time for Arkansas to come up to the standard of the progressive states is right now, before her child labor problem be- comes so serious that it will be as difficult to handle as it is in the other manufacturing states of the South to- day. And it will become serious un- less law to prevent it is passed now, for Arkansas factories are growing rapidly. In fact they have doubled in the last ten years.
 Existing Law Weak.
 There is practically no law at all now because it is so weakened by ex- emptions. Children under IA may not work in factories unless they or their families have no other means of sup port. Naturally. many lazy or greedy parents soon discover that the easiest way to make living is to assert that "they have no other means of sup port" than their young children. They go to the office of the county clerk, state that they are dependent, and re- ceive a permit for their young chill dren, age not specified, to work in a factory in order to support them. New Law Based on Uniform Child
 Labor Law.
 The new law was prepared by the Arkansas State Federation of Labor in cooperation with the National Child Labor Committee. It is based on the Uniform Child Labor Law which was drafted by the United States commissioners on uniform leg islation and which has received the endorsement of the American Bar As sociation. The principal provisions of this uniform law have been already adopted in the majority of states, in cluding the neighboring states of Ten nessee, Missouri, Kansas and Oklaho- ma. During the last ten years there has been a great movement through out the country toward higher stand ards and uniformity in child labor Legislation, in which the National Child Labor Committee has been the leading force, and the effort to secure better law for Arkansas is only a part of this great nationwide move ment to give children strong bodies aud a chance for an education.
 The New Bill Provides:
 1. A 14-year age limit for all re- munerative occupations. Exemption for children under IA employed dur ing school vacations by their parents in occupations owned or controlled by them.)
 9 A 16-year limit for occupations dangerous to health or morals, includ- ing mines, dangerous machinery, sa- looms and theaters.
 B. An S-hour day, 48rhour week for children under. Is. Night work pro- hibited p. m.-6 a. m