The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-05-25
CHILD LABOR IN OYSTER IN.
DUSTRY

4
| A report made public by the u. S.
Department of Labor through the
Children's Bureau describes child
labor In the oyster and shrimp cam
ming industry during the period be-
tween the first and second, federal
child labor laws, when no federal reg
ulation of child labor existed. Special
significance attaches to the report in
view Of the decision Of the u. S. SUI
| preme Court, rendered on May Is.
which held the Federal Child Labor
Tax Law unconstitutional and thus
leaves the children again without the
protection Of a Federal law The re-
port, entitled Child Labor and the
Work of Mothers in Oyster and
Shrimp Canning Communities on the
Gulf Coast" calls attention to the
very young ages of many of the chill
dren employed, the detrimental con-
ditions under which they worked, the
poor school facilities the marked re-
tardation in school, and the employ
ment of mothers Of young children
The work Of both the children and
their parents was subject to all the
irregularities Of the canning industry,
the report states. Since the work de-
pended on the catch, it began any
time between and o'clock in the
morning. and lasted a few hours.
whole day, or sometimes on into the
evening. OF the ga working children
under l6 years Of age included in the
study more than three-fifths worked
whenever the factory was open. The
others worked only occasionally or
before and after school and on Sat
urdays. The majority of the children
-SS4 of the 544 who worked-were
under the age of IA years, the min
imum fixed by both of the Federal
laws Some We're as young as six
years of age or under.
Most of the cannery work was wet
and dirty, and was done in cold, damp,
drafty sheds, the oyster shuckers. or
shrimp pickers standing among the
empty oyster shells or schrimp hulls.
The workers We're liable to injuries
from the sharp oyster shells, shrimp
thorns. and work knives, and to con-
slant soreness of the hands from acid
in the shrimp. Many injuries were
reported among children.
In order to secure an increased sup
ply of labor which the employers are
able to control, the custom of import
ing families from the North mas been
carried on each winter for a number
of years. These migratory workers
are housed in company camps, which
usually were found to be insanitary
and overcrowded. With no commun-
ity held responsible for their educa
ton, 81 per cent OF the white children
10 to Is years Of age in the migratory
families studied were ilIiterate. as
compared with per cent for approx
imately the same nge group. bdtil
white and colored, for the United States
as whole. Nearly two-thirds Of the
children of these families at the ages
OF IA and 10 had not completed the
fourth grade. Even among the local
children who worked in the canneries
retardation in school was serious.
Nineteen per cent of the resident white
children and % per cent of the coll
ored, could neither redo nor write.
In about one-fourth of the families
in which the mother or the children
We're employed the father was dead
or had deserted the family. The
study was made at time when easn-
ings We're said by employers and wtAk-
ers TO be higher than ever before but
the earnings for the fathers for their
best week during this season were
found to be under S25 in two-thirds
OF the cases, and under $50 in-nearly
one-half; for the average week 70 per
cent of the fathers made less than s25
and practically a third OF them less
than SIS. Four fifths of the mothers
averaged less than $3.50 week.
Working mothers with children un-
der years Of age either left them at
home, in the majority of cases with
only children as caretakers or with no
caretakers at all or took them with
them to the can9eries, where they were
subject to the physical discomforts of
the canning sheds and We're liable TO
accidents.