Evening star., 1933-04-30

q to the best method to be pursued,
,And to this question child labor authori.
ties are at this moment giving their most
careful attention.
The Federal child labor amendment
shows more vigor than it has for several
years, and there is increasing sentiment
in the separate States for the establish
ment Of local legislative safeguards for
their children.
The child labor amendment was 6rst
accepted by Congress in 1924, after the
second Federal child labor law had been
declared unconstitutional on the ground
that it was an infringement upon the
reserved rights Of the States" This pro-
posed amendment to the Constitution
reads:
"The Congress shall have power to
limit, regulate and prohibit the work Of
persons under 10 years Of age"
The amendment was ratified almost
Immediately by five States Arkansas.
Arizona, California, Montana, Wisconsin
and, in 1881, Colorado ratified the
amendment. Then action by the States
came to standstiu. Within the last few
months, however, it has been ratified
suddenly by four more-North Dakota,
Ohio, Oregon and Washington legis-
lators spurred to new concern for public
welfare and industrial morale, and de-
termined that children should not work
while grown men walked the street.
Moreover, these four States had pre-
viously rejected the amendment, and
their reversal furnished conclusive evi-
dence to opponents of child labor that
a more sensitive public conscience was
ready to review the problem in more
generous mood.
TEN States have now ratified and rati-
hcation resolutions have been in
troduced in as many more. Favorable
votes must be obtained from rs more,
and here the friends of the amendment
run up against the practical difficulty
that most of the 1888 Legislatures are
on the point of adjourning or already
have done so, and that the majority will
not meet again for two years, unless
summoned in special session.
Public indignation against the ex-
ploitation of the child laborer under the
cloak of the depression was focused In
the conference last Winter, called to-
gether by the Childrens Bureau of the
Department of Labor, at the request Of
the president OF the American Fedora
tion Of Labor, and attended by repre-
sentatives Of the National Association Of
Manufacturers, the American Legion
and leading religious, educational and
ciyic-minded women's groups.
This conference expressed its common
belief that "in the economic crisis every
available job should be given to an adult,
in the interest Of both the child and
adult" and recommended, the enactment
Of new State standards during this years
sessions Of the various State Legislatures.
The standards recommended were: Six
teen years as the basic minimum age for
employment; 16 and II, the regulated"
period: working hours for minors shorter
than those allowed adults, but never ex-
ceeding eight hours day, and mini
mum wage established for workers under
10, with double compensation allowed for
injuries to minors under 18 in extra
hazardous occupations.
In the hope that public opinion would
respond to their call, and that the neces-
sary laws would be passed, the organiza-
tions represented at the conference
agreed to work for adoption Of these
standards by the various State Legisla-
lures, but, unfortunately, they found that
the calendars were crowded with relief
problems of the most immediate and
pressing necessity and that Legislatures
were being called upon in the name Of
economy to cut the appropriations for
labor nlhlic welfare and education de.