Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-12-29
TAKE BOYS AND
GIRLS OUT OF
THE FACTORIES

n amendment i the federal con.
alaaen to enable Congress - fl
+ standards that would take 4 million
f and a half boys and girls Of school
ase oal Of the dfudKery OF mine and
mil, field and factory was recon-
/ mendod by Secretary Of Labor James
]. Davis, IN his annual reoeFt just
made public. Secretary Davis De.
elafed that every instinct OF humanity
prompted the abolition OF child labor.
lie said.
The subject Of child labor has been
given very careful attention in the
lasi year and = number Of important
surveys have been made 10 ascertain
the extent Of this unhealthy economic
factor.
The reports af the Bureau of the
Census would indicate that more than
a million children between the ayes
ef 10 and 10 are engaged in gainful
wafk IN Industry. The details reveal
that children between 10 and ls years
te the number Of approximately &C.,
poo are engaged in the suEar-heet
nelds. the cotton fields. and the onion
lialds OF the land. Apparently the
usual method Is to employ whole
families by contractors To work in
these helds, The children work with
the adults usually from sunrise 10
sunset, walking IN a stopped position
OF crawling through the fields, pulling
an the weeds, pulling up heets and
onions. cutting the tops from these.
aud also ia picking cotton. There are
a number ef definite movements OF
these families composed largely Of
children from Stat, to State where
these agricultural lnduAnes thrive.
More than $4,000 children are EN-.
nloyed as spinning girls and doffer
boys in textile factories. Children
In the cotton mllla. II Ia reported,
work 90 hours week. and those over
Ia years old work nights. Thous-
ands do industrial home work string.
lns beads, pulling threads from lace.
work, etc.
This condition of children In In.
dustry under supervision Of parents
or near relatives seema 10 have gone
on without interruption while the ma
tional child labor laws we're In force.
II il doubtful whether any Legislation
Of the type heretofore enacted or thus
far contemplated would reach this
evil, or children working IN agrieul.
tufal pursuits or In the homes under
the supervision of their parents or
close relatives.
"under the previous administration
the custom grew up of suHpendlng
the operation of the immigration laws
on the Mexican border 10 permit tho
Importation OF Mexican families for
the purpose of working In cotton
fields aud suaaf.beet fields. After
carefully reviewing the whole situa-
ton reached the conclusion that
this waa not only unauthorized by
law but was really encouraging the
most iiagrant form OF child labor Ii
Is true that these industries are
really suffering for help. but IL
aoemad to me improper 10 permit the
importation of eo-ealled cheap labor
In the form OF the labor Of women and
children ", ersier 10 supply the mar
ket feel that II in u practical aid
toward eliminating child labor when
we create conditions which will re-
1nire that adults or people above the
aye Of 10 shali do this work.
"A complete survey would Indicate
| that 100000 American children are
now tho victims of premature toll In
the mines and mills and factories and
fields and homes of this country. This
Is all wrong. The great problem OF
our childhood Is of the utmost I'm
poftanee TO the perpetuity Of the Ma
ton. Our children are entitled to n
life that will conserve their strength
while young and that will educate
their minds and hearts 40 that they
may be efficient when they grow to
maturity.