Evening star., 1923-12-28

trolling child labor. but that the
states may iegislate beyond that
standard. so long as they do not go
below 1t. The simple comprehensive
ness of this phraseology will cover
some of the amendments offered un-
dereake to enumerate specific lines,
which limits the control only to those
lines OF production named IN the
amendment.
For. example: Senator Lodges
In mines quarrtes. mills. canneries.
workshops. factories or manufactur-
ing companies, but makes no mention
OF farms. gardens. mercantile stores.
service. all Of which are covered in
the sweeping general language Of the
Mccormick phraseology.
Several other amendments are Of
fered almost Identical with that Of
Senator Mccormick, vet not quite the
same. Representative Dallinger goes
farther-eome think too far-when
he proposes that "the Congress shall
have power to establish uniform hours
and conditions Of labor for women and
minors throughout the United States,
and to prohibit the employment Of chill
dren under such ages as the Congress
This would enable Congress to for
hid all employment to women. and
might authorize an age limit for
children" at twenty-one years. or at
any younger age.
- + r
The need Of reasonable legislation
on this subject Is realized in view Of
the fact that in ten states more than
10 per cent Of the children between
che ages of ten and fifteen years of
age are in full employment, at the
sacrifice of their schooling. All such
states except Rhode Island are in the
south. and II Is from that region that
opposition to the proposed child labor
legislation is most pronounced.
The percentages OF children under
fifteen years in employment are as
1875; Georgia. EOS: Louisiana, 1875:
Mississippi. 25.5: North Carolina. 1866;
Rhode Island, 1874; South Carolina,
24:4: Tennessee, 1913; Texas. 1875.
The states which have the highest
percentage of children employed are
naturally the states with the great
est percentage Of illiteracy-particu-
larly as shown by the Army tests of
drafted men, rather than the wholly
misleading federal census.
y + -
4 survey Of the fields and gardens
of Maryland, reported by the Depart
ment of Labor's child bureau. shows
that children as young as eight
years (both white and colored) are
employed from one to three months,
and under sixteen years as long as
six months. These work in fields and
gardens picking berries, or vegeta-
bles. OF, in the cases OF the older boys
at plowing and general farm work.
Great abuses exist in sugar beet
regions of Michigan and Colorado and
one or two other states where beets are
grown, where children are employed al
| long hours at wedding and thinning the
plants by hand. In cotton mills and
fields young children are employed by
according to local laws. In the coal
mines boys are given full employment
/, before they are thirteen years old.
Children also are used In opening
oysters and shrimp.
State laws are too often controlled
by influences most interested in evad.
ing enforcement. OF 3,136 children be-
/ tween thirteen and sixteen years OF
age investigated in the Pennsylvania
coal regions, 1t was found that 1919
had left school for full regular en-
ployment, and 2s6 were at work dur
ing vacations or after school. More
than half were working children u
OF these, 1,l07 were boys and 5al
girls.
For the robbing of the rising genera
tfon of their birthright. for a mess of
potta tage-miserable wages-in ex-
change for lost schooling and normal
development, physical, mental and
moral, this nation will answer In the
| next few decades, unless the evil is
corrected