Pueblo chieftain., 1921-09-19
By Frederic J. Haskin.


Washington. d. c.. Sept ls.-Thous-
question of how old a child is, under
the child Labor section OF the Internal
Revenue Act. which is now in force
and " stld by officials OF the Bureau
OF Internal Revenue to DO practically
abol:shing tho employment of children
under II years OF age In the Industries
TO which IL applies. The validity of tho
law Is yet to be decided by decision
of the Supreme Court which will prob
ably be made some time this fall.
The law provides that n tax OF 10
per cent may bo collected on the net
profits of an employer who employs
children below certain age. No cm-
ploycr can afford to pay such n tax.
The law Is said to work charm.
Employers take every possible prccau-
ton TO avoid employing such children
In 81 OF the states the state laws
against child labor require the child to
have n certificate showing his age.
and this Is accepted by the Federal IN
spcctors. In other states tho Federal
Inspector must ascertain tho child's
age By what means hc can. Where
vital statistics nrs p~opcrly kept. II =
easy. In other cases baptismai records
are available. but sometime the par
cnts or employers of the children are
put to ingenious devices to prove
chiid's age.
In one case In GcorEin no written
evidence could ec found TO provo tho
age of boy. who. his mother claimed
was L, years old. She took tho inspcc-
family and stood 1t in row There
were u children. the youngest babe
in arms.
Count 'om yourself. lady" she In
slicd. There's your evidence
TOMBSTONE PROOF
Tho tombstone Of dead twin prov
cd tho date of the birth OF a boy who
Was trying to prove himself IL years
old. ono family was found which had
prepared "A tombstone and set 10 IN the
cemetery for their daughter when shc
was born. Tho date OF her birth was
carved on tho stone. and space III;
for recording her death. Decorated
mugs presented to children and In
Hcrihcd with tho dates Of their births
have sometimes been offered in cvi-
dcpsc. and many families have been
found which had framed records OF all
tho family births hanging on tho wall.
ono father had dispcuscs. with thn
frame and merely written tho record on
the wall paper. The family record
kept In a Bible q OF course tho COM
morcst form, and many persons sccin
to have thought that any record writ
ton in a Rihic would ho accented. one
fronted by a long file Of women and
children bearing consptcuously ncw
Bibles
Tho effort to abolish child labo-. Of
which this tax law Is the latest nisnl-
festatiorf Is a good example Of how
We iesislate in this country. Tcr or
i5 years aro child labor was one of
the crying abuses Of American IN
dnstry. Children from IN to ~ vrnrs
of ago vctc employed In a number Of
Industries and for long hours Many
~ them were undoubtedly stuutrd nni
Killed. \ great deal Of publicity was
given tho subject. Newspaper rdi-
tnriats magazine articles aud cartoons
aroused thc public to tho abuse IA
result many state laws wese passed
nr restricting child labor.
and = Frra; majority ~ tho states now
have such laws. Many NJ those that
have not ate agricultural states In
which there is little ot no factory Ia
bor of any kind Tho serious abuse
has for some vesrs been confined 10
a frw states where tho interests em-
pluyirE child labor were strong
enough to Influence the Legislatures.
To those who were working for the
arolfiinn NJ chtld labor, Federal
law prohibiting IT IN the whole rnun.
try re-msd the oniy means. They
we're opposed hy tho believers In