The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1925-01-22
THE CHILD LABOR AMENDMENT

OlAly YSdIO CC s. ho'NO a,
fioht IS on against the near-slavery made possible by lack
of national control of the labor of children. Inc proposed
Goth amendment to the federal constltuUon aWaltS dICli
cation bv twothirds Of the states. Only a few states have
acted but it is very plain that the battle will be OF no small
proportions. 1t is simply the neverendlng, W0rld Struggle
between the rights of humanity and the rghtS OF prop
The child labor law enacted by Congress a few years
400 did not stand the legal test because the courts held
that in passing such a law the legislative arm OF the govern
ment had gone beyond the power vested IN II oy Inc consul
tuition. The remedy lies in amending the constitution SO
as to clothe the congress with authority on this grave queS-
tion. The proposed amendment would give congress the
mower so that it may limit, control or prohibit the labor
of persons under the age OF Is years" Inc scope OF acCS
on the matter. the kinds of labor affected and the age, up
to IS wears. of the persons whose labor is cohtrOlleu, Is
left to discretion of the law making body, a body repre-
sentative of all the states.
The child labor issue is fraught with tremendous impor-
lance Few if anv recent changes in our constitution
hove transcended if. Every citizen should acqualnt himself
or herself with the history of the child labor movement ana
the arguments of it's friends and its enemies. NO one with
confidence in the justice of the American people Will douoV
that the battle eventually will be won by the humanltarlan
forces, but there would be strong prestige IN achleVlhg Che
victory quickly and declslvely.
States rights and personal liberty are the cfleI argu-
n,ents resorfed to bv the opponents of this measure to pro-
tect youth from cruelty and greed. The TWO arguments
are very similar. Personal liberty has well been deIlheu
as the right Of the individual to do as he pleased 50 long
as he caused no injury to the rest Of society. Likewise the
rights of states are limited by the welfare OF the who're
country. Ill.
and Dnrhaps prohibiting the labor Of youth are the very
ones most likely to fail to pass such laws. The state OF Mas
~sachusetts. termed the center of culture and learning, mas
already declared against this amendment. Massachusetts
has scores of mills and factories backed by immense Wea!th
and keen financieTs. Business not sentiment or sympathy
was the controlling influence IN the Bay States declrSloh.
If she could hold all the succeeding generations OF neI
nhvsic3llv and mentally stunted factory youth within her
own borders the injury she, or any state IN like poSltlon,
MIGHT do to her sister states would be minlmlzed But OF
course they would spread to other states. CONSTITUTIONAL
and national control is the only solution.
A shameful amount Of misrepresentation and straw
bugabOos characterize the efforts of the enemies OF the
amendment. 1t requires reading to grasp the great moer-
living humanitarian principles of the issue and arm one
against the S%OphStrieS OF its traducers. Inc most Ioglcdl,
exhaustive and Illuminating argument for the amendment
we have read is the speech Of MOntanas senior senator de-
livered on the floor Of the Senate January 9Th. 1t skaters
utterly the stock arguments used against the amendment.
Extracts Of considerable length from Senator Walshs
speech will be found reprinted in other columns OF this IS
sue of The Herald, and the attention of readers is respect
fully invited to them.
The question of ~ratifying this 10th amendment is before
the Montana legislature. tt is to be hoped that every mem
Der will make himself familiar with every phase OF this
vastly important subject. AS we view it, nothing could be
farther from the true spirit of our great commonwealth
than to fail to place Montana in the ranks of the defenders
of the rights of our nations children.
They are having a terrible time in Washington over the
question of gun elevation. Of course styles change accord
ing to the notions Of polite society but in the days of Wild
BiIl' Hickok about hip high was considered proper.
In Europe they are just having radio rash. Pretty slow,
over there; we're done with that and sitting up with cross
word cramps.
Those nice, compact rolls Of neatly printed copies of
"a bill for an act, etc., etc. are now coming through the
mails to the newspapers, so we know that the government
at Helena still lives.
FEWER SESSIONS.
Representatives Wuerthner and Lobe have introduced
q bill in the House proposing to submit a constitutional
amendment providing for the meeting of the Legislature