The Irish standard., 1920-05-29
EARNEST FIGHT
ON CHILD LABOR
sTAY-lN-scAooL CAMPAIGNS ARE
BEING CARRIED ON THIS sum.
MER IN TWENTY STATES.
ANOTHER DRIVE IN THE FALL
Having Excellent Effect on the En-.
ployment Of Children in Agricultural
Work-Federal Government Especi.
ally Active in Promoting Education.
BY JAMES p. AoRNApAY.

BY JAMES p. HoRNADAY.
Washinston.--To abolish child labor
not merely by prohibiting employment
but by providing suitable education Is
tEe ann of the stay-in-School campaigns
now being carried ON or completed in
~ states in cooperation With the chill
drens bureau of the department of
labor. The campaign is to be followed
III the fall by Il back-to-school drive
Ill order to round up the children who
fail to report at the opening of school,
since the influence of vacation work
III leading To permanent withdrawal
from school has been strikingly shown.
An encouraging feature of the cam
palSn is ihai six OF the states taking
part in it arc among the ten in which
more than 20 per cent of all the chill
drcn between ten and fifteen years Of
age are regularly engaged in ayricul-
tura work. Rural child labor, which
involves three fourths of all the child
workers in the country, is the most
difficult form OF child exploitation to
reach 1t is subject to no legal regu-
lntion except through school attend
ance laws, and these are, as a rule,
inadequate and poorly enforced In
three OF the six states mentioned, the
percentage of illitrratcS over ten wears
or age represents more than one fifth
of the total population. The other
three states have illitcrucy rates con-
sidcrmhly higher than the country as
whole.
Work Carried on in Many Ways.
The campaign is being carried OH in
accordance with local needs and re-
sources. Moving pictures and slides
are being utilized in some places to
show the harmful effects of too early
work and the advantages of schooling.
Posters and leaflets urging children to
make wider use Of the vocational
courses offered in local schools are be-
ing distributed. Leaders in vocational
guidance and placement work are CIV
Ing talks to seventh and eighth-grade
pupils on the advantages which school
training gives when tho boy or girl
enters the working world.
The 20 states carrying on campaigns
are Alabama, Arkansas, California,
Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa,
Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Min
nesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada.
New Jersey, North Dakota. Rhode Is-
land, Tennessee. Texas anl Wisconsin.
The federal government was never
before quite so active as it Is now in
promoting education along several
lines. While the children's bureau is
fly inr IN %x> hat No oh
dren of the land nre. rs far as possible,
kept in school, the naturalization bu-
reau of the department of labor Is
busy with the work of teaching Amer
icanism to aliens.
Schools in Americanism.
Under the direction of Raymond F..
Crist, schools for aliens were conduct
cd during the season now just closing,
from one end Of the country to the
other. In almost every city and in
many Of the smaller towns classes in
Americanism are being graduated these
June days. Persons who arc acquaint-
ed with what Mr.. Crist has done along
this line say that no government ac-
tivity is likely to produce more de-
SIuDIc IcSuItS.
There is still an immense amount of
work to be done in connection with
teaching Americnnism to the men and
women of foreign birth. 1t Is pretty
generally understood that it will not
be long until the stream Of incoming
aliens will begin to increase and this
will mean more work for the persons
who are engaged in this educational
activity. 10 large extent the teach
ing of the alien classes has been done
by volunteers.
The third educational activity in
which the federal government is
specially interested has to do with
reducing the percentage Of illiteracy
among native Americans: The inte-
rior department is getting ready to
undertake work along this line.
A fourth educational activity which
should not go without mention is the
establishment Of vocational schools In
both the army and the navy. In none
of these activities by the federal gov
ernment is there any attempt to sup
plant the state in matters of educa-
tion. In everything that is being done
there is the heartiest cooperation be-
tween the federal government and the
various states.
Worshipfui Company Of ooldsmIths.
Working in gold and silver was car.
rfed on even In the times Of the an
cient Britons and in Saxon days.
h,,(0t ~,