Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-10-13
GREED OF MINE OPERATORS
DRAWS CHILD'S LIFE BLOOD

DHn wv Sns&m
4zsasa who have been blaming the
- unions because they strike are
--@ezally the ones who oehese
80 Is called for the sole purpose
5.rreasing wages. The TACT IS,
s..,-sger. wages are usually a second
~. consideration. Improved living
.Isfions have, and ever will be, the
- object of labor organizations,
= while this must be brought about
ssne extent by increased wages,
N Increased wages are sought SIM
pIv that the worker may De apie 70
arssiae for his family in fair degree
at comfort.
few short decades ago, before
~ eoal miners organization came
-, existence, working conditions In
re coal mining industry we're de-
n1srable almost beyond description.
r. combined efforts of the entire
Fse,ilv were necessary to provide
sssIier and the plainest food. Women
bsrpassed to cars performed under
grsnnd the work of mules; children,
set vet strong enough to WELD pick
ar shovel, were given the task OF PICK
iny Jumps of slate from coal while II
moved over long chutes. Miserable
nuts owned by coal companies furn-
shed places of shelter, and provisions
we're bought from stores owned by
those for whom they shaved.
But wherever the union now flour
ishes, these conditions have been
changed. The men work, the women
keep house, and the children 90 TO
school. The union has made life
worth living Tor h,lAipsas !, Of thou.
sands .ef<psople who formerly sliyed
sia,1u because they had to.
- shocking as it may seem in this
sty and age, there are still places In
America where civilization
seems not to have touched-places
where greed defies the law, where
wages are so low and conditions SO
bad that entire families are forced to
sell their services to the mine owner
places where the union has not sue
ceeded in establishing itself or has
been killed by the ruthless warfare
OF combined coal interests.
The United States Department OF
Labor has recently Investigated one
of these localities. There are many
others like it, where greed has estaD-
lshed itself over law, and where the
union does not exist. The following
is a summary of the report of the
commission making the investigation:
BY U. S. Department of Labor
CHILDREN'S BUREAU
Washington.
Child Welfare in an Anthracite Coal
Mining District.
Excessive child labor in a Pennsyl-
vania coal-mining district in the an
thracite region, and direct relation
between child labor and low earnings
of the fathers are reported by the U.
S. Department of Labor through the
Children's Bureau in bulletin just
issued. The study, entitled Child
Labor and the Welfare of Children in
an Anthracite Coal-Mining District"
deals with children from 13 to 10
years of age in a district of the cen
tral field in Schuylkill County. In this
area Of little more than half square
mile 24,726 persons were found llv-
ing,-l3,592 of them with more than
one person per room and 3,045 with
two or more. Rooms were generally
small and cubic air space below a
minimum standard.
The conditions caused by crowding
were rendered worse by lack of proper
sanitation and general disrepair OF
the houses, largely attributed to the
undermining of the land. The mining
companies and estates owning the
land were protected by their leases
from liability for any damage to prop
erty or to life and limb resulting from
the frequent cave-ias due to mining
operations beneath the town. Cheap
and faulty construction and neglect
on the part of the owners were also
believed to be responsible for much OF
the disrepair. The available land,
hemmed in by mining properties on
an sides, was so nearly covered with
houses that even when these were
unsafe the tenants found it necessary
TO remain. Streets, railroad tracks,
and dumps afforded the only space
within the town where children could
play.
Children in this district, the report
says, suffer both from congestion of
population and isolation" From most
OF the outlying settlements of the dis
lnct children had to walk long dis
tances, sometimes by hazardous paths,
IN order to reach school if they wished
Y attend beyond the sixth grade.
ochooi buildings and instruction for
the lower grades were also very defi-
Gent. Of the boys between 13 and 16
years of age in the district, 81 per
eent-S96 out of 1,564-and of the
girls, 29 per cent-453 out of 1,572-
mad left school for work.
A total of 519 of the boys had been
employed contrary to law, before
reaching the age of IA years,-299
mad been employed full time, and SO
per cent of these in or about the
mlnes. Likewise in violation of law,
Iof boys not yet l6 years of age had
oeen employed underground. Of 978
ooys from 13 to 16 years of age who
nad been employed in or about the
nanes, 17S had suffered accidents, in
eludlng serious injuries in the break
efs as well as underground. The girls
were employed chiefly in clothing,
gigar, and other factories, and in
uoo.esnc or personal service. Family
nSed was the reason most frequently
gwen for leaving school and going to
@9rkg and the proportion of children
sao had entered employment was
greater as the fathers income was
less. Almost half of the 4S3 children
NhoSe fathers earned less than $3.50 a
year had discontinued their schooling
1or regular work, while only lis per