The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-01-24
CHILD LABOR
DAY TOMORROW

New York. Jan. 24.-The child Ia
| Dor problem will be put before the
children themselves throughout the
country this year for the first time.
Tomorrow has been designated as
Child Labor day to be observed as has
been the custom for the past ten
years in regular and special church
services generally, but a new step has
been taken by the National Child La
Dor committee in calling upon teach
ers throughout the country to observe
next Monday as Child Labor day In
the schools.
The main idea is to get the children
to think in their own be-
half on the problem of child
labor. To this end the National Com
mittee has been busily engaged for a
month past in supplying teachers, as
we'll as clergymen, with tho latest
phases of the movement against child
labor, and proposes that at chapel ex-
ercises or at some specially designat-
ed period in Mondays school work
teachers shall in some manner take
up the subject of child labor with
their charges.
Interest taken in the matter Is re-
f1ected in the requests which have
| lately come in at the rate OF over 100
a day or information; in reply to
which the national committee has
| distributed quantities OF pamphlets
l ION tho relation pf child labor to ctllr=
cation! Indications arc that thou
| sands of teachers will unite with
| clergymen in some sort or observance
of the day.
Since the first Child Labor. day was
observed in 1906, such striking prog
ress has been made that the rank and
file of states today have advanced be-
yond the standard of the most pro-
gressive ten years ago, according to
Owen r. Lovejoy, secretary OF the
national child labor committee.
The child labor laws of practically
all states have been revised and i'm
proved; knowledge as to the condi-
ton Of working children has been
widely spread; the causes, effects and
methods Of prevention of child labor
have become matters of thorough
scientific study and treatment; a uni
form child labor law for the several
states has been widely approved and
the federal government has put into
successful operation a. children's bu-
reau.
But" Secretary Loveioy adds, "the
white list of states with a really ef-
fective child labor law covering ten
or more Of the common occupations
of children is still very short-only
fourteen states in all, and even these
leave certain kinds of work outside
Of the fourteen-year limit.
There are nine states which have
not yet reached a 14-year age limit
even for factory work; there is no
state in the union that has attempted
to get an age limit higher than 12
years for newsboys; and only seven
states have reached a standard of 21
years age limit for night messengers.
Boys Of Ia or less are still employ
ed at the peril of their moral and
physical integrity in this night mes
senger work in d score of states.
Agricultural work is still entirely
unregulated outside of New York and
Tennessee, and children of tender
years are doing an adults work in the
berry fields and cranberry bogs.
"Many states that have made child
labor laws are not seeing that they
are enforced, and the national COM
mittee is now engaged in a careful
survey of the methods of administer
ing the law in the different states.
"The standard of inspection service
is steadily rising, but we fall far be-
low the English. There are half a
dozen states in which there is no at
tempt at inspection of labor condi-
tions and therefore no attempt to en-
force the child labor law. And there
are perhaps a score IN which the
staff of inspectors is so ridiculously
small that thorough statewide in
spection is physically impossible"
The whole subject of the admins
tration of child labor laws is to be
taken up at the national conference
on child labor which will be held in
New Orleans next March Plans are
also under way for the celebration OF
the tenth anniversary Of the national
child labor committee which will be
reached on April Il.