The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-05-20
United Democracy, He Said,
Would Bring to Child the
Opportunity to Live
and Live Right.
EQUAL BALLOT NEEDED
When Government is by the
People and Not by Half Of
Them, Speaker Sees
Better Things.

@hSAA13 SHC0ASl SSOD
Better Things.
Baby Welfare Week in Keokuk was
fitt1ngly closed last night by the ad.
dress on Child Welfare and Citizen
ship, which was delivered in the audi.
torium of the Y. w. C. A, by Owen r.
Lovejoy, secretary Of the National
Child Welfare committee. Mr.. Love-
JOY was brought here under the aus
pices of the Baby Welfare league.
which has been so successful In con-
Quoting Baby Week In Keokuk. The
only lack was the crowd. last night,
but those who did attend were afford
ed wonderful treat by the speaker.
Mr.. Lovejoy has a distinguished
presence, a compelling manner, the
most delightful sense Of humor, and
the most convincing way of putting
an argument. These factors count
largely in the success that he has
made. One can imagine, in fact al
most see the picture of this calm,
sllave gentleman, suddenly turning
his scintillating points Of humor and
sarcasm on the "boss and his crew.
1s he argues in favor of some bill for
child welfare, and the resultant dis
comflture Of the boss.
Arguments Compelling.
It Is the same way whether he's
talking suffrage or child welfare. In
one moment the audience is being
held tense while some unusually dra-
matte story is being told, or some In
cident Is being related, and in the
next moment there Is relaxation as
the humor of the speaker reaches one,
and then there Is most convincing
statement to clinch the whole argu-
ment. Some men who heard him yes
terday declared his arguments were
unanswerable, and It is limited that
there were more than one convert.
In his talk last night Mr.. Lovejoy
pointed out the results OF child labor.
he spoke of the milestone about the
neck of the nation which allows its
children to stumble, he pointed out
the need for united democracy in
protecting these women and children.
a need which can become reality II
suffrage Is granted 10 women.
And just by way of adding good
measure to his already Overlooking
Offering Mr. Lovejoy pointed out that
the Child Labor department Of the
government is presided over by a
woman, Miss Julia Lathrop.
Relationship Is Close Here
"The relation between child well
fare and citizenship is close in the
United States" Mr.. Lovejoy said.
"The phase Of child welfare having to
do with child labor is one that for
tunately, you in Iowa, are not familiar
with. You can congratulate yourself
that from the days Of the first settle
ment in this state one hundred per
cent emphasis has been placed upon
the training of childhood. The great
areas of evil and degeneracy are I'M
known in this state.
EVERY state but one has passed
child labor laws. I believe that If n
parade Of all of the children engaged
in labor could be made. if the peo-
pIe could see the little spindling legs,
sunken chests and staring eyes, they
would wipe this off the map in forty
eight hours"
A bit Of the Lovejoy humor came to
the fore here A man, he said, talking
about crowded conditions said there
wasn't enough room to swing a cat by
the tail. Il don't know why II Is, but
when a man wants to talk about n
crowd, he always talks about swinging
q cat by the TAIL" Mr.. Lovejoy said.
perhaps It is a favorite occupation"
Just to prove that there was room in
Texas he drew certain comparisons,
and then remarked that when people
wanted to talk about big things, they
always selected Texas.
Foreigner Not to Blame.
Don't blame the foreigner for the
child labor conditions he said. Only
about five per cent Of the children are
foreign, the rest American. The defec-
tive child, the delinquen. and orphan
are cared for. The only child who
hasn't a chance is the child who
hasn't anything the matter with him.
He is neglected.
when they first talked child labor,
our minds instantly went to England,
where we pictured the workers in the
cotton mills, and the boy chimney
sweeps 1t was not known in America
until 1900, and then it furnished a
problem for practical craftsmanship.
Wherever it is possible" Mr.. Lovejoy
urged, mechanical devices should be
substituted for the labor of children.
Cleaning coal and a small boy are not
what the chemist would call a COM
pound, rather they are a mixture and
the small boy is likely to be precipi-
tated."
The speaker then drew a graphic
word picture of conditions existing in
the coal mines, the glass mills and
the cotton mills, and of how the lit
tie laborers worked under handicaps.
Doctors of the anthracite region say
that IL boy leaves the coal regions
and lives for twenty to forty years,
autopsies at death reveal some of the
coal dust still in the lung cells. Boys
working in the intense heat of glass
factories run out into the cold raw