Evening star., 1932-12-10
CONFERENCE URGES
I UNIFORM LAWS ON
I WORK OF CHILDREN
kExpIoiting of Juveniles in,
"SWeatshops" Described
at ParIey.
CONNECTICUT OFFICIAL
TELLS OF STATE RAIDS
Miss Frances Perkins Says Jobs
Now Offer Neither Wages .
/, Nor Training.

A general appeal for uniform State
child labor legislation and a complete
check Of the spread Of employment
among children at low wages In the
place of men and women was made to-
day by labor authorities gathered at the
Children's Bureau for a conference on
juvenile problems arising out of the
economic depression.
The conference was called by Miss
Grace Abbott, chief Of the bureau. at
the request of the American Federation
of Labor. Among the speakers was Miss
Frances Perkins, New York State labor
commissioner who is being mentioned
promir emily as the successor to Secre-
tary of Labor Doak after March 4. Mr..
Doak also was a speaker.
Exploitation Of the child, together
with an increase in child labor in East
ern sweat shops" were cited by speak
ers in their appeals for q raise in the
standards of child life, which they said
has been jolted during the last three
years.
Like Raiding Speakeasies.
'Raiding a sweat shop in my State"
asserted Joseph N. Tone, labor commis-
sioner of Connecticut, SIS like raiding o
| speakeasy." He declared the sweat
shops" had the same guard equipment
| used by the illegal saloon, including
doors with peekholes
Gov. Cross Of Connecticut and Tone
recently launched a campaign against
| the sweat shops in that State and al
| ready have prosecuted IA operators,
Tone said.
When We stage a raid on one OF
| these shops" he explained, I'VE knock
on the front door and run around to
the rear to catch the children as they
are being pushed out by their en-
| ployers."
He added that many of the children
were paid only 81 or 50 week.
Miss Perkins told the gathering that
| jobs open at present to boys and girls
from IA to 16 years old offer practically
nothing worth while from the stand
point either of training or earnings.
| Quoting figures Of the New York Labor
Department for September and October.
Miss Perkins said IS per cent Of the
jobs now open TO children under l6
| ere for housework, for which the hours
are long and the pay rarely more than
Il S2.50 a week; 10 per cent are factory
1 jobs Of q monotonous nature, and IL
| per cent are for temporary work Of
about a weeks duration.
| Jobs Close 10 Fraud
'For boys one OF the Objectionable
developments during the depression
period Is the growth, Of commission
| Jobs" Miss Perkins said. always pre-
carious from the occupation standpoint.
they are In certain cases very close TO
/ fraud. Some firms which sell by house
toulouse canvassing seek children to
sell their goods. first coaching them IN
| hard luck stories about sickness and
unemployment in the family.
Sometimes q story is supplied by
the employer. such as that Of the father
in the hospital for six months and nine
children at home. Sometimes the child
Is left to his own ingenuity to invent .
tale which will appeal to the buyers
sympathies.
$50 far as factory jobs for adolescents
are concerned, one of the greatest diff
culties is the increase Of very low-paid
piece work."
Should Bar Children.
In Miss Perkins opinion. 1t would be
better during the depression to keep
children under 16 out of employment
responsibility or the maintenance Of
families dependent upon them.
To countenance child labor at a time
like this Is to sanction extending the
depression into the lives of the next
generation, Miss Perkins said, and In
conclusion, added:
with innumerable adults unem-
ployed there Is no need for children in
industry today"