Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-11-16
CHILD LABOR BATTLE
TO GO ON UNDATED
Defeat of Amendment i'm Massachusetts,
Will Have Far-Reaching Effect
on Final Results.

faced on the proposition and de-
nounCed II. His action may have
been Influenced by Cardinal OCon-
nell Of Boston. whose attack on the
amendment a few days before played
a large part in swaying the Roman
Catholic vote. Some of those who
have returned to Washington after
their fight In Massachusetts, for the
amendments ratification declare that
their defeat was due to campaign
of Misrepresentation on the part Of
the victors. Whatever II was, tho
people Of Massachusetts, resist er e d
their wishes in no uncertain manner.
Proponents of the amendment. how
ever. are pointing to the fact that the
referendum is not binding, legally.
In Massachusetts,, and that the legis-
lature. which meets In January, may
yet favor II, though the chances for
this are slim.
They are not particularly alarmed
over the fact that Massachusetts, Is
the fourth State which has refused
to ratify-if the referendum may be
considered as the States refusal.
Georgia, North Carolina and Louisiana
have refused. and as two-thirds of
the States-36-are required to make
the amendment effective, the failure
to ratify on the part Of only nine
more would defeat II. But there is
no time limit on tho ratification of
the amendment. State legislatures
have been known to reverse them
selves on more than one occasion
So far Arkansas Is the only State
which has ratified the amendment
But the States which have defeated 1t
were manufacturing States which
employ many children. 1t would
have been a distinct surprise IL any
Of the Southern States had favored
ratification. They have been fight
ing child labor legislation for many
long years.
Farmer Against Notification.
Ono OF the most difficult and un-
certain obstacles in the path of rati-
fication is tho farmer. and those who
tell him what will happen-from
their point of view-if the amendment
is added to the Constitution. What
is going on now among tho farmers
can be seen from the following ex-
tract from an editorial in the South
ern Textile Bulletin, which Is pub
lished in Charlotte, n. c., by David
Clark:
Ever since the amendment passed
II we have been laying the
groundwork for the situation that Is
Our first job was to show the
farmer that not only would the
| amendment give Congress the right
to make laws relative to their child
rem, but the fact that they would
probably do so was indicated by the
fact that three motions to exempt
their children had been voted down
| when the amendment was under con-
| sheraton. Fully $4,000 pieces OF
L Ii
in rural sections.
most difficult task was to convince
| the people Of New England that the
were not suffering by reason of the
| employment Of little children ir
| Southern mills"
VIII Explain Amendment.
While Mr.. Clark evidently sue.
ceeded in convincing the people oil
| New England that they would moi
suffer'little children in Southern
| mills evidently being exempted
| from any suffering also-the organ.
| izations in favor OF the amendmen,
| are planning to tell the farmer what
| the amendment means. They will
| show him that tho amendment doe.
| not mean that Congress will keep tht
| boys from milking the cows or the
| girls from washing the dishes. They
| are prepared to quote such authori
ties, for instance, as Senator Walsh Of
Montana: I'VE have listened to very
! vigorous and eloquent argument
about how legislation could be enact.
| ed which would make a criminal ou
| of the farmer who directed his boy
| IA years of age to go out and tenl
the stock" he said. II am not at al
alarmed about that kind Of argument
l am going to assume that in the
| future, as in the past, tho Congress,
Of the United States which will b<
called upon to enact legislation vii
consist Of men who have some