The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-06-03
CHILD LABOR
PROBLEM SERIOUS
IN WAR TIME

''The experience of war time has
only demonstrated the necessity
technical, economic and even psysio-
logical-of the labor laws enacted .
before the war. In our legislation
secured in time of peace we shall find
the conditions for a better and more 4.
intense production during the war"
These words of NJ. Albert Thomas. F!
the French minister of munitions, il |
lustrate perfectly the official atti- /
tude of both France and England
after two years of emergency exemp- /
tons for war industries, according to /
the Children's bureau of the L. S. |
department of labor which has Just ,
completed a brief review of all avail (
able reports on child labor in the war !
ring countries.
In France and England, earlier
standards of hours are being restored /
not only to protect the health of the !
workers, but for the sheer sake of I
industrial efficiency, present and fu-
ture. In Italy, the central commit /
tee on industrial mobilization has
taken steps in the same direction. .
In Russia, year before the revolu- .
ton, a movement was under way to
raise the age limit for children in
industry.
Canada, Australia and New Tea
land, in spite Of the great armies Of
men they have sent to the front. have
maintained their labor standards with
little or no variation. Victoria has
slightly increased the amount of over
time which may be permitted to wo
men and children in special cases. On
/ the other hand Manitoba has reduced
its legal overtime. No change what
ever in restrictions on woman and
child labor is reported from New Zea
land.
The children's bureau sums up as
/ follows, the Child-labor situation in
/ France and England:
France, afteY almost two years Of
war time exemptions by which chill
dren under Is were allowed to work
at night in special cases, restored
the night work prohibition for girls
under 10 and provided that other
! night workers should be subject to
medical supervision. The reason for
! this is indicated not only in the state
ment by NJ. Thomas, quoted above. but
again in the following extract from
| the French official bulletin des Usines'
de Guerre, for July 81, 1915:
With the continuance of the war it
/ becomes necessary not only to find
/ the best possible disposition of the
forces available for our war indus
! tries, but also to avoid every cause
for exhaustion or weakening of the
labor employed in our factories. There
is a close relation between the con
ditions in which we place our work
ers and the Improvement or the IN
/ crease of our war products. For the
very sake of the national defense we
/ must conserve all their physical
strength for the workers who are re
! sponsible for the manufacture Of arms
and for the output of our factories.
France has now under consideration
an education bill which would in ef7
feet raise the standard of labor pro
lection in war time. 1t was intro
duced in the chamber of deputies in
March, by NJ. Viviani and closely re
sembles a bill passed by the French.
senate in June, 1916. This proposal
to establish a system of continuation
schools and to require part+ time
school attendance during working
hours by all working children under
II years of age has the endorse
ment of the minister of commerce and
of business interests in all parts Of
the country.
A similar advance has been re ON
mended by the departmental commit
tee on education for Juvenile employ
ment after the war. This committee
also advises an effective 1E-year age
limit for required school attendance
without the exemptions permitted by
the present law. Supplementary es-
Inmates for educational purposes have
| been resented to parliament by the
government which look toward a
strengthening of adolescent education
along the lines suggested by the COM
mittee.
In England as early as 1915 some
employers returned to regular labor
standards. The British chief inspec-
tor of factories and workshops writes
in May, 1916:
The tendency grew as the year
passed to substitute a system Of
shifts for the long day followed by
overtime, and this is particularly re-
ported of munitiOn factories in the
Midlands and in Sheffield. The num-
Der of days on which overtime was
actually worked tended in many fac
tories to decrease as experience grew
Of accommodating fatigue and lessened
output. Probably for similar reasons
Sunday labor also has tended latterly
to decrease.
The reports of the British official
/ committee on the health of munition
/ workers on the waste involved in the
long hours worked during the war
! are well known. They urge the restor-
{ ing of restrictions and are full of
such statements as the following:
Even during the urgent claims of a
war the problem must always be to
obtain the maximum output from the
Individual worker which is compatible
with the maintenance of his health
In war TIME the wOrkmen will be will