Evening journal., 1920-12-15

Provided, however. that this
Act shall not apply TO children
employed on the farm or In de-
nestle service in private homes
Commenting on the exemption Of
arm and domestic service the report
made this afternoon says.
"This is the usual discrimlna-
ton made in the forming OF child
labor laws and we wonder why.
Farm labor, for obvious reasons,
can be the most cruel. The very
remoteness OF the farm gives rare
opportunity for bad conditions TO
exist unobserved. The work on
the farm is from dawn 20 dusk,
The heat is excessive The insects
Irritating the food often vrotched
and sleeping quarters bad.
"Tho child must rise at i.30 or
3. milk the COWS. feed the stock,
snatch a hasty breaNOsi and be
IN the fields at 7, where he works
until 6 with an hour and a haif
intormissiOl for dinner. When he
comes In from The 1clds at he
must bring in the CONS and milk
them. feed the stock and eat his
sumner and then TO bed.
"As one little boy OF 10, who
gave this routine for the day.
said. Then ] would like TO read,
hui ! am too tired and have to 20
TO be-.
"This Is the usual day for the
children from early In March until
perhaps November or December 1.
Silent but eloquent witnesses 90
the long hours OF hard labor
which the children have under
gone. are their enormous hands,
distorted by hard work, which are
oul OF all proportion to their
bodies"
Comment further is made that
whippings are too frequent.
corporal punishment is freely
used by the foster parents, Is al
lowed hy the majority Of the
agencies and encouraged by some.
A growing. healthy boy is, no
doubt a trial at times, but the
right TO whip him. when neces-
sary. Is a dangerous privilege to
place I'M the hands Of the foster
narent. In MAKING The survey, 10
was rare visit that did not re-
vcal vhippings as the main pun
ishment.
Tho following concrete example Of
how the right 10 whip works out, Is
cited. as follows:
Lawrence. an appealing, pathetic
little boy OF i2, who was FIRST placed
in another state, but was returned
because Of his peculiar disposition and
because he had the habit OF running
away 10 The woods whenever he did
anything he thought he would be pun
ished for. was placed with a tenant
farmer on a large farm Of POO aerps,
M Delaware. with a shabby, rambling
old house. The farmer is an elderly
man OF old-fashioned ideas, very an
Iaronistic 20 the School Code. Chill
iron must be made 10 work and n
hey don't work, must be whipped Is
bis idea. yet he Is anxious TO adopt
hc boy because OF his rare ability as
/ worker"
Underlying Causes.
In explaining the underlying causes
'or employment OF children In Della
Nare. the report states that Sussex
county and the lower part OF Kent
abound in small truck and grain
arms which are largely owned by
abscntoe' landlords, and are rented
usually on shares, that Is the ten
amt farmer living on the place and
lnlng il and turnlng over 90 the
owner each year, certain portion OF
the crops previously agreed upon
Large fruit orchards abound; straw
berries. tomatoes, cantaloupes an'
sweet potatoes are raised In largl
quantities" The report adds:
"The making OF holly weaths a
Christmas time also forms a very con
siderable industry. Hired help Is eN
ircmely scarce and very expensive, In
so since the late war, many
Of the day labOrers getting as high as
30 and Sc a day and board,
"For The past forty or hty years
d has been the custom OF the farm
srs to employ dependent children TO
work on these farms, agreeing TO give
hem proper schooling, board and
'loihes In exchange for their services.
The children have been obtained IN
several days.
and Employees has existed
md siill exists, on the statute books,
which bound the child to It's master
md gave the master' the right TO viii
the child 90 his assigns, and circum-
vented any attempt on the part or the
child 10 run away II Is stated by the
state Board OF Charities that there
are still about twenty children In this
state who have been bound out By
this law. The Northern Home for
Friendlcss Children, the Western
Home for Poor Children, the South.
ern Home for Destitute Children, al
in PHILADELPHIA, were included and al
lowed TO place under this law. Suci
a law must naturally have given risl
20 very possessive feeling on tn
part OF the foster parent and conse
Quenily much cruelty and neglect.
Various Delaware Agencies alsl
placed out on the farm within tn
State under different arrangements
Children were also informall
placed by parents or friends wher
Tor one reason or another, the chill
seemed 20 be dependent.
Nearby States. learning OF the de
mand Tor child labor in Delaware, be
gan placing their children In larg
numbers on the farms In lower Ken
and Sussex counties.
Want Child Workers.
I'm 1916 during a survey that wa
being made of Mental Detectives In
Rural County, by the Federal Chill
dren's Bureau, such large numbers q
dependent or sO-called home chil
dren' were found that it led TO a pre-
liminary study OF placed-0ut chill
dren in the state OF Delaware, by th
Federal Children's Bureau Ihi
study showed the total number q
placed-Out children in the state a
that time 20 be 1857, eco Of whom ha
been brought in from outside IN
State, fourteen agencies placing
"Seventy-nine per cent. OF this en-
tire number were boys, indicating tha
they were more desired because q
their ability 10 work on the farm
Practically an the children from oul
side the State attended school for
very much shorter period than tn
minimum requirements in The stat
from which they GOMEZ
Alter calling attention 10 the fag
that "the higher percentage in Su'
sex is due 20 the number Of feeble