Evening star., 1924-05-28
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS

The twentieth anniversary con-
ference on child labor is in session
at the Washington Hotel. The Sem
ate is about TO consider an amend
nent to the Constitution (already
passed by the House) as follows:
Section 1. The Congress shall have
power to limit, regulate and prohibit
the labor of persons under eighteen
years Of age.
Section 2. The power of the sew
eral states is unimpaired by this ar
ticle, except that the operation of
state laws shall be suspended to the
extent necessary to give effect to leg
islation enacted by the Congress-"
Some Of the promoters of this legis-
lation want the United States to
adopt child protection as radical as
that of China, India and Japan-or
even New Zealand.
X xI* X
The control Of child labor is a
question Of dollars and sense. The
lower the earning power of the
parents. the higher the mortality and
flliteracy of their children. Ten
states have more than 10 per cent of
their children ten to fifteen years
old at work in mills or mines, and
these states have high percentages
Of ignorance and squalor. Alabama
has 24.1 per cent of her children earn
ing wages. and her illiteracy is 16.1.
Mississippi has 25.5 per cent at work
Carolina has 24.4 per cent of her
children at work and her census IL
literacy is 1S.1, while by the Army
test, It was found that over go per
cent OF her white soldiers could not
read nor write. None of these states
protect their children on par with
any European country.
X X X
Practically all Europe forbids labor
in factories of children under four
teen years of age. Soviet Russia pro-
hibits working children under sixteen
years Of age. India has six-hour
per day law for children under fifteen
years; China has an eight-hour per
day limit for children under seven
teen years and prohibits night work
in factories by boys under seventeen
years and by girls under eighteen
years-as do nearly all European
nations. Only about quarter of our
states so protect girls from night
work.
The agitation for federal regulation
of child labor (supplementing but
not prohibiting state legislation), be-
gan in 1906, by bill introduced in
the Senate, but it took ten years to
pass the first law on the subject.
That law Tin 1870 was adopted
through the personal urgency of
President Wilson, who appeared un-
announced at the Capitol few days
before adjournment to urge the pas
sage of the child labor bill introduced
by Senator Lodge.
Three days before 1t went into ef-
feet, 1917, the enforcement was en-
iofned in North Carolina, and nine
months later, the Supreme Court, by
a decision OF 5 to 4, held that the
provision forbidding interstate or for
eign commerce in goods made by child
labor was an illegal exercise by the
federal government of its power to
Thereupon Congress, on February
"a, 1918, passed another law putting
a special tax on goods in interstate
or foreign commerce made In rae
tories employing child labor. This,
too, was held to be an unconsttu-
tional exercise of taxing power, for
power to tax is power to destroy.
The federal government has no
powers except what are expressly
surrendered to it by the states,
through the Constitution. 1t is clear
that since child labor legislation is
not permitted to the federal Congress