The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1937-01-18
ANSWERS TO AMENDMENT QUESTIONS
Text Of the Amendment
WHAT 1T IS

WHAT 1T is ~. E.9EEsfs
Text Of the Amendment
Section 1. The Congress shall have power to
limit, regulate and prohibit the labor OF persons
under Is years of age.
Section 2. The power of the several states Is UNI
impaired by this article except that the operation
of state laws shall be suspended to the extent nee
essary to give effect to legislation enacted oy inc
Congress.
What Does the Amendment Mean?
1t means if ratified, that Congress may confer
unon the women of the Federal Chdren's Bureau,
in the labor Department, full authority ito limit
regulate and prohibit" every species of labor, IN
cmding that in the home, on the farm, and during
or after school hours of 100000 boys and girls
in the United States under Is years of age.
II means, if ratified, that Congress may empow-
or the Federal Commissioner of Education ito linz
it. regulate and prohibit" all mental labor OF all
these $4,000 900 who are in school, and, as an IN
cidental power, "to limit, regulate and prohiot
all private and sectarian schools, respects per-
sons under Is years of age.
Who Drafted This Amendment?
IL was NOT drafted by Congress. II WAS draft
ed by Mrs Florence Kelley Wschnewetsky, cher
lobbyist for the creation of the Federal Chiidrens
Bureau in collaboration with Misses julia Latnrop'
Grace Abbott and Anna Louise Strong, of the Chill
dren's Bureau (See Senate Hearings, 1924, p. 9o).
Mrs. Kelley as she preferred to be known after
divorcing her Russian husband, translated the
works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels; was
co-worker in Socialism with Engels In Germany
from 1884 to 1897; was the editor OF SOCIALIST
newspaper in Berlin, Archiv fur Socialegesetze-
burg in 1928, and member Of the faculty OIL
the Rand School of Socialism, New York, until her
death in 1882. Miss Strong. who was child wei
I'LL. 1rnn fC KIN
reau. was and is Communist. She has worked for
the Soviet government in eolonizing children IN
Russia and is now editor of the Moscow News, pun
hshed in Moscow, Russia.
When Wa. the Amendment Submitted?
1t was submitted to the state legislatures June
2, l924-Congress rejected amendments to submit
it to conventions of the people Up to March 1S,
1927, the Amendment had been rejected by both
houses of the legislatures of 26 states and by one
house of the legislatures of ~ states. 1t had been
ratified by 5. Having been pending nine years and
decisfvely rejected, it was considered dead But,
under the pretext of aiding economic recovery, the
women of the Children's Bureau, backed by Secre-
tary Frances Perkins, rallied the old lobbying
forces previously organized by Mrs. Kelley, and
naugurated a new drive against the state legisia-
lures in 1888; and in that year stampeded Ia adj
ditional legislatures into ratification.
Would the Power Extend Over Children
in the Home and the Farm?
Yes. Although the National Child Labor Com
mittee, which Mrs. Kelley organized in 1928, says
in its propaganda that it is a mere power ito pass
federal law regulating child employment that
statement is false. A child, in contemplation OF
law Is person under Ii. This amendment would
empower Congress Ito limit, regulate and prohibit
the labor of persons up to IS. 1t is not employ
II A. rnr1l nhrn 70
but all 'Iabor." Employment means paid labor,
and Miss Abbott, chief of the Childrens Bureau,
objected to the use of that word at the House Ju-
dietary Committee hearings, because it was too re-
strictiye. She said she wished to control the un-
paid family worker in the home and on the farm
(see Senate hearings, PIP. 1886, 39). The power
to prevent a girl II from helping her mother In
washing the dishes or a boy II from milking the
cow Is in the amendment and will be exercised II
the women of the Children's Bureau desire to ex'
ercise it.
Mrs. Kelley's National Child Labor Committee
says mo one contempates prohibiting all work foi
children up to Is years." but Miss Abbott asked
for that power at the Senate hearings in 1924, and
got it (See PIP. $500.
Does the Amendment Destroy Parental Authority!
Yes. The power ITO limit, regulate and prohibit
the labor of persons under Is years of age carries
with it all incidental powers necessary to make
that power effective. No part of the rearing Of the
child by Its parents would be beyond interference
by federal bureaus. The amendment would sup
plant parental authority and substitute fedora
guardian. Every home in the land could be Kept
under surveillance by federal police, to see that
no federal rule regulation was violated by chile
or parent.
Have the States Child Labor Laws?
Ur-lx L.. 49, IL
laws usually forbiddding all work of those unde
J