The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1924-03-14

Il i
Su6Aao<
They have sought through their vest
ed interests to break down the hu-
name child labor laws of the North
ern states. They carried the fight
into the national government, and
upon the decision of the supreme
court that each state was a sover-
eign of it's own right, in guarding the
lives of children, the national child
labor law was declared unconstitu-
tional.
Not so, however, when it came to
pigs, cattle and foodstuffs, the ma
tional government stated that no
state had the right to send diseased
cattle from one state to another, as
that would be infringing upon the
right of another state to protect its
own peoples.
Why has the continuation Of the
poll tax in the Southern states been
a good thing for those who are in
favor of child labor and in favor of
laws for the wealthy as against the
poor? Quite simple, when you get
their viewpoint. If man does not
pay his poll tax one year, he is de-
linuuent. He cannot at no time vote
unless he pays up all arrearages, and
with the stipulated poll tax and PEN
alties, few of the negroes and poor
white trash" can save up sufficient
to liquidate the charge. True, some
of the Southern states with a popula-
ton ten times more than the vote
shows, have an equal say in national
affairs at Washington, as against the
Northern state where no poll tax is
insisted upon.
Simply disfranchising, that is the
answer And thus, when few voters
say that they are in favor of child
labor for their state, they do so be-
cause the worker has not paid his
poll tax and perforce has ceased to be
a voting citizen. Likewise, when those
few predatory voters go to their state
legislatures and vote constitutional
prohibition, they do so to keep the
worker from securing what they
themselves have privately.
Child labor in the South and in all
Southern states could be stopped if
the principles of Thomas Jefferson
were rewritten into national law, and
taken away as the prerogative of in
dividual states. "All men are born
free and equal" That is the an
swer. The negro of the South was
freed by the civil war, but it did not
free him or the poor "white trash"
from the damnable poll tax. 1t still
continues to enslave their children.
The senators and representatives
will have another opportunity to vote
on child labor laws at Washington
this session. Note how they will emu
late that holier than thou spirit
hands off state prerogatives.
p "a "a pa n
MISLEADING THE PUBLIC
From the international Typograph-
cal Union:
The specious arguments advanced
~ "open shop" propagandists to mis-
cad the public are quite transparent
o all informed unionists, but GER
ain type of employer seems to be |
ably in need of reason in his consid-
ration of them. Defenders of the
Inion principle should contrast the
wo "open shop" conclusions herein
rinted.
81 endorse the open shop, as oppos-
d to the shop in which only men,
ers of the union claiming jurisdic-
ion are allowed to retain employ
lent,' writes F. Lauriston Billiard in
he Atlantic Monthly. "The one is ,
onsistent with the traditions Of
the other is not. As I
onceive the open shop it violates no l
lan's rights, and it secures to all {
len equal opportunity to work. 1t
oes not deny the right to bargain /
The workers, through q
hop committees, may retain every ad- I
antage which the closed shop gives t
hem as to the adjustment Of hours