The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-08-18
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.CAREF.REE CHILDHOOD.


CAREFREE CHILDHOOD.
$|HILDHoOD Is for play. for laughter. 70. free
~ dom from care and responsibility. Child
hood is ronping on tn lawn. engaging In sports
and games, being, cherished and loved and cared
for. Childhood as illustrated by the artists. as
sung by poets, as lived in thousands Of American
homes-is Joy, and sparkle. and rosy health. and
sound sleep. It is always thus? 58}
Not for i, 060,858 children it isn't-f the report
Of the Census Bureau issued last week is correct
for this report claims that this number Of chill
dren between the Of ten and sixteen years are
engaged in ganfu1 occupations Into the grim mill
of labor demand these children are fed, and the
employment Il. which. they engage is q swift ell
ninator OF laughter, of sparkle, Of rosy cheeks
and dancing, rompings feet
Out of the million and more children at work
in prosperous America, 65s.98s OF them are en-
gagged in migratory labor. They are the children
from whom childhood's joys and happinesses are
most completely removed. They follow the crop
harvests. The beet crops of Michigan and Col
orado. the onion crops oiTOhio the cotton crops
Of the south and west the great truck farms about
the large cities.
The Census Bureau tells story Of migrating
families taken by contractors from field to held.
The children pull beets from sun up until dark,
they sleep in tenn porary shacks, and their wages
given to their parents. Try to imagine inc
tired little backs and wrists, the sh ouders rounded
and stopped perm anenty from the sincessant bend
ing posture. There is provision made for the
education of these children, and no supervision
over the hours they ployed.
Squads OF them taken from Kentucky into
Ohio annually harvest the onion crop The
cotton crop also claims them from dawn to dark.
Up and down the cotton fields the tired small feet
travel dragging the heavy cotton bag into which
they stuff the cotton. They are paid by the cotton
producers, SO to So a week for their aor-
There 1884 children between the ages Of
ten and fifteen who work in the coal mines en-
ployed as breaker boys, trappers and spraggers
The breaker boys take out the pieces OF slate from
the Icoal-the trapper boys close and open the
ventilators. Eight hours day these trapper boys
sit in complete darkness in constant draught.
The spragger boys beside the mine trains and
thrust sprays which are stout sticks into the
wheels act as brakes. It's dangerous work, and
the boys in some instances paid as high as
$500.
Fifty thousands OF children spinner girls and
dofer boys in the textile mills In Georgia the
children in the cotton mills work sixty hours a
week, and If they are fourteen and half years
they work at nj ht. The factory claim
that good spinners cannot be made if the girls do
not begin when tn ey ten twelve years old
10000 children work IN the cities as mes
senger boys, cash boys and girls. newsboys and
booth lacks. also piece work in their homes for
the garment shops.
Am erica is mighty. pros porous land the rich
est in the world. Her gold is heaped in her treas
uries yet still permits her little children to
labor like. slaves at the selfish behest Of manu-
facturers and other employers OF labor The ch1ld
labor as it stood when passed by Republican
legislature in Washington, has been declared un-
constitutional by the Supreme Court and its pro-
lection nullifed. This problem must be attacked
state by state. The record of the Democratic
states is black indie in regard their protection
OF their children Those who contested the LEGALITY
Of the child labor law did on the grounds OF
states rights. hiding their selfish, miserable
avarice behind technically.
The women voters are stout1y waglng hte war
Tor protective laws for children at work. West
Virginia has already taken protective measures,
but Others measures will be the next egis-
Iature. One million children need Americas pro-
lection, It will not ong~be denied
The mayor of Morgantown parked his car for