The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-04-13
More Than Million Children
Holding Jobs Which Men
Could Fill
Editors Note-This Is the first
of two articles dealing with the
hazard Of child labor.
BY PAUL HARRISON
NEA Service Writer

Snameful as child labor IN ITSELF
may be, handicapping the lives OF
young workers exploited by industry.
that is not its worst feature.
For as a parasite of the economic de-
preston, child labor is assuming the
proportions of a new kind of menace.
So it is that sentiment is to have
small place in the campaign of those
who are seeking to abolish child la
Dor. They are going to talk in prac-
teal terms of dollars and cents, jobs
and lives.
With some 100000 minors below
the age Of 10 habitually out of school,
and we'll over a million Of them hold
ing jobs which could be filled by
adults, what of the cost to society o.
such an oversupply Of uneducated, u1-
trained workers? What about the hun
dreds of thousands of men kept out
of work by the cheapening COMPETE
ton of children? What price under
developed and often manned bodies
and the large totals paid each year
in compensation for accidents to min
ors?
Those are some of the blunt ques-
tons that will be asked.
"The most far-reaching effect OF
the elimination of child labor upon
the general industrial situation would
be the removal of a most powerful de-
pressant from wages" said Courtenay
Dinwiddie, general secretary Of the
o1A
More and more thoughtful leaders
in industry as we'll as in civic organic
ations, Dinwiddie declared, are becom :
ing convinced that a concerted cam
paign against the unsuitable employ
ment of children today IS one OF the
most necessary measures for the slim
ulation of industrial production ana
adult employment.
Machines Injure Children
The increasing use Of machines has
introduced q new economic problem.
For instance, reports from the Is
states which keep records Of accidents
reveal that in these states alone from
10000 to $4,000 minors under ID are
injured annually.
Statistics show that the younger the
worker, the more likely he Is to be In
iured in handling machinery. The
white house conference on Child
Health and Protection has called for
many restrictions oh dangerous occu-
pations. But actual laws are far be-
hind these standards.
One 15-year-old boy operating a
punch press clipped off three OF his
fingers because, he said, "the- boss was
hollering at me to work faster"
In a southern state a boy OF Is
hired as an oiler crawled under a
steam shovel to release pin. His
head was caught in the. driving chain,
his skull fractured and his left eye
blinded. He received about $500 COM
pensation. When he was able to work
again sympathetic boss took MIN
back. This time he was killed out
right when the machine he was oper-
ating came in contact with high
tension electric wire.
Wisconsin set an example in 1917
with triple compensation rates Tor
children injured while illegally en-
ployed, and Pennsylvania. New York,
New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan and
Alabama now have double rates.
But these laws, varying among
themselves, apply only to youngsters
who are hired illegally. Boys and
girls hurt while legally employed
usually receive mere percentage OF
their wages. and the latter, OF course
are small.
Shocking Compensation
And in IL states illegally hired min
ors are excluded from any beneiits
under the compensation law. TINS
lack is explained by certain legisla.
tors on the theory that it would tend
to encourage civil suits In which the
injured would be likely to receive
much larger amounts.
Two such boys Illegally employed
received $50 apiece when each lost
his right hand while running saw.
Another got $12 for eyesight perman-
emily impaired. A fourth received $l2
for the loss Of q hand. Their 1am-
lilies declared that they dared not sue
for damages lest the fathers be dis
charged.
Child labor is not always cheap Ia
Dor. especially In those states where
injured minors are more adequately
protected by law. A 16-year-old girl
in the south lost four fingers In q
laundry mangle three hours after she
had started to work. Although she
received but $500, those were three
costly hours for such unskilled labor.
An 11-year-old boy was hired to
help move some machinery in q west
ern packing plant. On the fourth
day he was fatally injured. Because
a child had been given Job that
could have been done with greater
safety by . man, q mother lost her