El Nuevo mexicano., 1917-08-30
KEEP THE CHILD OUT OF FACTORY
AND IN SCHOOL, WOMEN DEMAND

t AAN 0~AAO0
(Publicity Department Woman's Au,
Hilary to Council Of State Defense)
The Federal Child Labor law goe
into effect on September /, 1917. Thi
law provides that no child under l.
years of age shall work in any mill
cannery, workshop, mine, factory o
manufacturing establishment whicl
ships in interstate or foreign com
merce. Thus 1t sets free children
under IA who are today at work il
any Of these Industries. 1t sets then
free to give them a better chance il
the world-so that they may go tt
school.
But no law is perfect tnd no Law
works automatically. This law will no
affect children who work in industries
that do not come under the head o.
interstate commerce, in states il
which the state laws are not CORE
spondingly strict in regard to chile
labor. Moreover, to make the law
truly effective and of active benefit tC
the child, attendance at school should
be obligatory up to the age of four
teen. Fortunately, it Is so obligatory
in the state Of New Mexico; and If the
law is fully enforced, the percentage
of illiteracy in New Mexico in the next
generation will be considerably lessen
ed. AS Miss Julia @. Lathrop, who is
chairman of the Child Welfare commit
tee of the National Woman's commit.
tee, says:
There can be no national program
Iof child welfare which t~olerates ILL
~teracy."s
In tackling this problem of illiteracy
particular attention must be given to
the rural districts, and it should be
part of an aggressive national CAM
paign to see that the children in the
rural districts get exactly the same
educational advantages, the same
length of school term that the chill
ldren In the city districts get. For
tunately, again, this is possible in
New Mexico by reason of the county
unit system which provides for an
equal distribution of school funds. 1t
cannot be too strenuously emphasized
that cutting the school term short, or
taking children out of school to help
with the farm work is a false econ.
omy in the end. 1t is a waste for the
state, and it spoils the child's chances
in life. For only too often, when the
school term is shortened or interrupt
led frequently, the children lose inter
lest In their work, the gaps are not
bridged, and the merely nominal or
~semi-evasive compliance with the law
results in no positive benefit to the
child, since he is only half educated,
and what little education he has is
not enough to count as an economic
advantage. Education mast be a
steady drive, day by day, and month
by month, and the parents and guard
ians must be made to realize that
when they keep the child out Of
school, even for a few days, for any
but valid reasons, such as physical dis
ability, they are actually working
against that chiId's future.
The fact that so many children in
New Mexico, when they start to
school, are set to learn English, which
Is a new language for them, should
not be considered as a hardship, but
as an additional advantage. In many
schools in other states, where there is
guages as there is in New Mexico, the
children in the primary grades COM
mence the study of a language other
than English along with their A. b.
C.'s. In fact the child Is considered
particularly favored If it's family can
afford a nurse for it who speaks some
language other than its own. Here in
New Mexico, the child has the advan-
tage which the child in another state
often has not, Of hearing both lam
guages spoken on every side. This
means that the New Mexican child,
when it is educated, is doubly eff
Gent. not only as regards obtaining
positions in this state, buff trade
are correct--throughout
Latin-America, with which u own
country will no doubt maintain closer
relations after the war. OF course,
this is an economic point of view of
the value OF education; certainly no
one will question the value of educa-
ton as an end in itself, as the great
l~iberating weapon of humanity.
There is probably no phase of war
work for women which is more vital
that of protecting the future of
the next generation. We may not think
Of it as war work, but it is precisely
war times that work of this sort is
likely to be neglected, and there is no
when it is more essential. 1t is
probably due to a recognition of the
results consequent upon
such neglect that the English govern
ment is now, after three years of war,
a new law which keeps Chill
dren in school until IA, allowing no
and including all rural
childreh-and thus going to far great
or length than the United States as
a. whole. ll i
Realizing that this is a , subject
must necessarily appeal to all
women throughout the country, DR..
Anna Howard Shaw, chairman of the
Woman's COMMITTEES of the Council OF
National Defense, and Miss Julia c..
Lathr0p, chairman OF the Child Wei
fare committee. have sent letters to
the state chairmen OF the Woman's
urging them to see that
Child Labor law is fully enforced