The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-09

The following conversation related in a recent article from the pen of Mrs. Laura J. Stern, the woman's page editor of the Montgomery Journal, will give an excellent idea of the business-lille way the legislative committee of the state federation has undertaken to get a fa- vorabe passage of tho Hartwell- Fite bill now before the committee on finance.
 Mrs. Stern was present when the com mittee of ladies met and has passed on the word, feeling the work of getting an appropriation to carry out the child la bor law is a necessity and without it the law is worth nothing.
 "Yes, 1t all rests with the legislature" said Mrs. Graves, chairman of the legis- ative committee for the Alabama Fed eration of Women's Clubs. whether the child labor law becomes an effective in strument in Alabama
 The members of the legislative com mitteo of the state federation had gath cred at the capitol to further the meas ures in which they were interested and were talking together in the rotunda They readily admitted me to their circle
  sage of the Hartwell- -Fite bill before they went before the committee for hear ing
 "We must not take up much time be- fore the committee" cautioned Mrs. Graves. These men are very busy, so we must be brief"
 By all means,' remarked Mrs. A. B. Meyer. who is nothing if not brisk. Miss Carolyn Haraldson was of the same opinion, and Mrs. Craighead thought 1t unn ecessary to argue the matter. 'I see no reason why this bill should no- pass It calls for very little money and it only finishes up the work that the legislature undertook in passing the child labor law at the spring session. If they had not believed that the bill should be- come law they would not have passed it, and having passed the measure they, of course, will see that it is enforced. The Hartwell-Fite bill is nothing more than the embodiment of that clause In the original bill which provided for proper in- spection. This clause was stricken from the original bill in committee, because the legislature was passing no bills at that time which carried appropriations, and the friends of the measure feared that the retention of this clause might cause it's passage to be delayed made doubt.
 
 the understanding that a separate bill providing the necessary inspectors would be introduced at a later time"
 "A great many people seem to think that pr. Oates ought to be able to do this work with his present force" said Miss Haraldson, but they are not fla milar with the provisions of the bill. and do not realize how much work 1t entails. The creation of two more inspectors does not mean creating new offices; 1t simply means that the present force is to be rounded out and made affective and eff1- cient People who have not done inspec- ton work have no idea of the amount of careful work it entails if 1t Is properly done.
 Tt also required nicety of Judgment and discretion" added Mrs Meyer. Hap hazard work and careless observation hurriedly made at infrequent intervals is of very little service Such inspection is farce and I sincerely hope that we shall be spared the spectacle of having a law on the statute books which we have labored so long, become farcical for want of enforcement, and the men and women of Alabama who have the welfare of childhood of the state at heart will not be satisfied to have the law that they have built up through 15 years of work to its present point of ef1cieny nulli' l fled for the lack of inspectors