New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1916-08-05
CHILD LABOR.

| SUuhcu races,
And their look is dread to see,
For they mind you OF their angels i
high places,
With eyes turned on Deity.
How long they say, how long, o crue
nation,
Will you stand, to move the world, OIL
| a child's heart
StiHe down with a mailed heel its pal
| pitation,
| And tread onward to your throne annie
the mart?
Our blood splashes upward, o gold
heaper,
And your purple shows your path
But the chids sob in the silence curses
deeper
Than the strong man in his wrath
The protection and welfare of child
hood is now a vital and absorbinw study
of all persons who are interested in the
Development of the race. The time hon
ored maxim, that "the child is father to
the man." is being borne in upon the
consciousness of the community as never
before. We are becoming so impressed
with the necessity of building up a
healthy race that the education Of the
child now has its basis in its diet, sani-
tation, and physical welfare as well as
its mental training and higher Develop
ment
So with the numerous social service
and protective agencies as evidenced by
our Juvenile Courts with trained .nvesti-
gators, all striving to give tn, child tire
best advantage to grow and develop-to
see that it gets a square deal. So, also,
our ever increasing public Fairgrounds
and small parks tending to bring to
childhood its true and natural environ
nent.
Yet, despite all these safeguards, des- !
bite our child labor laws, we find child
abor increasingly exploited by en-
oloyers Of labor. A we'll known writer
las said; Child labor exists in Amer
ca, because three parties want 1.-THE )
Employer, the parent, and the child
lie might have added a fourth factor,
IL, necessity.
To q student of industrial problems
is evident that our unequal and of
ines unjust economic conditions are re-
ponsible for the demand for child labo,
5 well IS for child delinquency. There
an be no substantial improvement UNI
IS the condition and environment in the
ONE Of the child are considered. The
ldustrial and commercial aggression
id competition Of our complex city-life
nding towards the unemployment Of
lults because of higher wage de-
and, is more often the cause of child
Dor than the mercenary desire Of the
trent or the eagerness of the child to
ork. On one hand we hear the slogan
efficiency" and on the other, we see
e stunted, undeveloped bodies of chill
en-, helpless to respond to its call.
AS Lord Macaulay declared when a
lid labor bill was pending before the o
irish Parliament in 1874 Intense I
Dor, beginning too early in life, con- g
lued too long every day, stunting the n
owth of the mind, leaving no time for Il
althful exercise, no time for intellect G
culture, must impair all those high u
alities that have made our country
Eat Your overworked boys will be-
ne a feeble and ignoble race of men, &C
: parents of more feeble progeny; "
r will it be long before the deterioration 81
the laborer will injuriously affect those IN
y interests to which his physical and Ct
raj interest have been sacrificed. If IN
Y we are forced to yield the foremost u
ce among commercial nations, we IN
IL yield it to some people pre-em- NJ
ntly vigorous in body and mind" ca
In industrial system that fails to I"
e note of the wreckage that child w
or strews along its commercial high "a
Us, is indeed short-sighted. Happily IA
find that the legislation of nearly o'
~ State in the Union is now concern az
itself with enactments prohibiting ca
employment of children below a GER os
/ age and also insisting on educa- d
,al qualifications. Documentary n
Of of age of children seeking employ -.
1t is required in eleven state,. The ten
requiring in elecen states. The law r
hiring this evidence has been greatly !
'ngthened in Illinois, Massachusetts,.
o and New York; while large num-
of other states require such docu-
,tary proof, but permit the use of an
lavit if this proof is not obtainable.
onnecticut requires no proof of age
working children, but the educational
lifcations are strictly enforced. We
eAnkion 20 hav> IYu:f..-