The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-04-20
CHILD LABOR
QUESTION IS
DEALT WITH
Wiley H. Swift Asks What the
People Want for Their
Children.


NEW YORK, April EFF the saw
mill men Of your state had always
fused mules and it was proposed they
lshould give up using mules and use
oxen instead; and If they agreed IT
would be better. to use oxen and 9
law should be. introduced to compel
them to substitute oxen for mules;
and then IL they did everything IN
their power to defeat the law,
wouldn't you think that they wanted
to use mules?'' This parable of the
Opposition to child labor laws which
he has met In his personal experience
is quoted from Wiley H. Swift in
The Survey for April ii In the the
icourse Of a note on the tenth Ma
tionaI Conference on Child Labor
recently neId In New Orleans. The
note is published under the caption,
l."What Do American People Want
! for Their Chf1dren?" and the writer
says:
Fight Is More Vigorous.
The fight against child labor will
enter on it's second decade with in
creased Hgor, wider outlook and a
new method, if the spirit and the
substance OF the tentn National
conference on Child Labor are fair
Indication fthe future.
Child Labor Committee stan who has
attended all these conferences with
one exception put it tersely: These
people have set their teeth against
child labor Thy are in for a fight
to the finish.' And as Jan eAddams
said in her address to the mass meet
ing in Lafayette Square, attended by
some 2 900 people besides the 1,OoV
whom the mayor ahad arranged to
-. GVuhan TSanTN1a VUhn WyfllIn8
Ito stand through child labor speeches
child labor is doomed
/ rs the New Orleans public typdc.
tal? Does the spirit OF the leaders
gathered In conference reflect the
temper OF the American people? Or
is t1ir fighting blood aroused by In
Increasingly ins1stent opposition tc
good Child labr laws
1.-TWO little incidents at the con-
ference do not answer these Ques-
tions but they warn us against an
indoIent optimism. Telegraphfc news
was received from four Legislatures
and from two of these states came
word of defeats on the firing line
Owen r. Lovejoy's review o. the
needs and activities of the COMMITTEES
showed how the activities invests
CATION, publicity. legislative cam
= paigns and study OF enforcement
| had been restricted in scope anc
hindered IN efficiency by the failure
of the rank and file OF thoughtful
we'll to do people to supply the
wherewtthal for sufficient staff.
Every Phase Discussed.
LESS time than usual was devoted
to a description of child labor, bu1
certain unforgettable Impressions or
dentally by Ella Haas and Pauline
-Neuman, VINO had been child work
ers themselves, and by Lewis w
lsIine with his stereopticon lecture
on the high cost of child labor.
1.-THE INDECENT widow, the uninter-
lesting teacher, the misft curriculum
the parent who does not control his
children, the employer of cheap labor
the inspector who does not know how
TO inspect, the judge who is out
of touch with the new industrial con-
seriousness, the editor who adds to the
general inertia by drifting with the
majority, and ourselves, the great
American people who pass laws and
let them die-alI these came In for q
share of the discussion The old
three-cornered fight between the en-
.ployer, the reformer and the legisla-
tor is still on, but it no longer occupies
the center Of the stage.
There was a pretty general feeling
that the m0LIVS lot LHG SHOEL W SOA
relate these scattered erring clements
should be found not 50 much in pity
for the physical harm wrought by
child labor as in keener sense OF
the stunning of the spirit. The loss in
artistic and creative power was
touched on by Jane Addans, the de-
graduation OF citizenship by Felix Adj
Ter. Alexander Johnson made the
statement that unless girls are to be
mothers of a decadent race they
should not be allowed to work IN IN
dustry until they are is, or, better
1S years old
.s'The National Child Labor Commit
tee presented to the conference Tor
the first time a federal child labor
bill drafted by the comittee and pend
ing in Congress. Samuel McCune
Lindsay reviewed the attitude of the
committee in the past and predicted
chat the same reasons which led the
committee recently to endorse the
principle would shortly bring about a
general demand for federal child
tabor law.
1.-The other defenders Of the bin
were Felix Adler, who pleaded for
clear thinking and common sense as
J., - r,,fI1,,<- in division of DOW