Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-12-24

that no minor under sixteen wears of
age small be employed In any manu-
featuring or mechanical establish
ment before the hour Of 4. 20 o'clock IN
the morning and after the hour Of
6-oo O'Clock in the evening Of any
one day: and that no child under six.
teen years OF age shall be empioye.l
at any work or place dangerous to
life. limb, health or morals; and that
| the Federal Revenue Act of fsls en-
titled. Tax on Employment Of Chill
dren" prohibits the employment OF
minors under sixteen years of age in
workshops and factories for mora
than eight hours in any one day.
| In addition Section q provides
thAf: The person authorized to is
! sue q work permit shall not Issue
such permit until such child has fur
nished said. issuing officer a certifi-
\ cate signed by the principal of the
| school last attended showing that hs
has completed tho studies covered in
the nrst Sax yearly grades of. the
elementary public schools or their
equivalent. nor until he has received
examined. approved and filed salts
factory evidence of Gge sin wing that
the cnald - fourteeu years old or up-
wards. such evidence shall. consist
OF a certified copy Of the tpwn clerks
record OF the birth Of sid child. or 4
certified COPY of his baptiunal rec.
| ora, showing the date Of birth and
place OF baptism. or a passport show
ms the date Of birth. In the event
OF ti1s minor being unable to produce
| Inc evidence heretofore mentioned.
and tho superintendent Ia satisfied Of
th2t fact. the work permit NAV b.
iAsued ON other documentary evt :
osnce OF age, provided said docu.
mentary evidence has been approved
| or the State commissioner or labor.
Please consider carefully the man
ner in which the issuing of work per-
mits has been guarded in this law.
rIrst. the minor must furnish eyi-
dence or age and nothing will be ar
oepted that is not in compliance with
Inc law. Second. he must furnish 4
ceFtincate Of education signed by
the principal of the school last ar
tended. showing that he has compiet
/. Ell the sixth grade. In the event that
ne is unable to furnish evidence Of
| birth as mentioned above, he may
/ furnish documentary evidence. bur
| before the Supt. of schools can ISSUE
work permit upon such evidence. il
/ must first be approved by the Com.
missioner Of Labor. Sworn state
nents will not be accepted"
Mr.. Eddy explained in detail the
method By which work permits are
/ obtained from school superinteu
dents. A minor who wishes to get
employment under the provisions of
, the child labor law must have three
papers. an employment ticket from
the firm which is to hire him. an ed
ucational certificate from the urin-
cipai of the school last attended and
| ms birth certificate from the city
clerk or town clerk. These must he
! properly executed and the records
deposited with the Department of
Labor; the Department will then is
sue its approval.
Educators and others interested
IN the welfare of children all axree
that such employment is detrimental
! to the child. both mentally and phy-
sically Thus school superintendents
| throughout the State Of Maine are
discouraging, in every way possible
the issuing OF permits which will
allow children TO be empIoye,j at
Iabori0us work in manufacturer.
establishments during the same days
or weeks that they are attending
| school.
| AT the present time in the whole
state Of Maine there are only 10 such
| permits in extstance. and they were
not issued by the school superinten-
/ dents until after u careful investisa-
ton had been made and it was found
IN most cases that the child was
! working for the purpose OF learning
some branch or the business TO which
ne was esepciailys adapted rather
than for any money consideration"
Several tables had been prepared
showing the number of minors en-
pioyed in the state on Dec. /. 1919.
| the number of adults EMPLOYED in
twelve cities and towns and also a
table showing the PATIO of minors to
ADULTS IN the cities and towns named
Commenting on these tables and
| what they show. Mr. Eddy said:
Your attention is especially called
to Lewiston where the ratio is / TO
Zl5s. This condition cannot be ,iu-
piicated in this state and L doubt if
1t can in the United States. Lewis
ton has about the same class of fac
| tory workers as found in waterville
where the ratio is to Al. l select
these two cities for COMPARISON be-
cause they are the two extremes in
percentage. Lewiston has the least
number employed per capita of any
place in the state and waterville has
the largest number. I will not at
tempt At this time to explain the
| cause of existing conditions. I am
willing to leave it with the people of
Watervfile and trust that it will re-
ceiye such attention as necessary.
In passing. however. desire to
say that the Labor Department,
since I have been commissioner, has
always worked in cooperation and
received much assistance from the
Waterville Supt. of schools and his
predecessors and the same is true of
the school superintendent of Wins