Evening star., 1944-07-02

by traf1cking in everything from gaso-
Gus black market has risen to plague
them. It is what they describe as a
''blsck market in children" which, II
allowed to 60 unchecked, is certain to
have social consequences that will be
felt long after the war is over.
This new type of black market, OF
course. does not consist OF hidden pools
of enslaved boys and girls being sold
to the highest bidder. But it adds up
to almost the same thing in its effect
and socioeconomic Implications 1t is
made apparent by two factual trends:
An alarming increase in child-labor vio-
lations of both State and Federal laws
and, coincident with these violations,
a widespread relaxation of State regu-
lations prohibiting the employment of
minors
The governmental agency directly
concerned with the problem, the Chill
dren's Bureau of the Department OF
Labor, does not blame employers in
general for this unhealthy situation.
With the manpower shortage being
what it is, teen-age boys and girls are
apt to fib about their age in order to
snare the comparatively high war wages
offered, and it takes time to inquire
into the actual age of each applicant
Other employers, definitely in the mi
nority, are willing to take chance on
the law catching up with them"
Too Few Inspectors.
To add to the difficulty, neither State
nor Federal Offices maintain inspection
stats large enough to keep strict
watch over all places where children
are employed. Inspectors first of all
must determine if children under the
legal age of the State are employed,
and secondly if the working conditions
for those above the minimum age are
within the law. 1t is a painstaking job,
and in the final analysis those charged
with the responsibility for the enforce
ment of child-labor laws must depend
to a great extent upon the cooperation
of local communities
Before the war, less than million
children between the ages of IA and
II were working. Recently, even with
school in session, the latest count shows
that 2,750,000 were employed, and by
midsummer the total is expected to
reach last years figure of five million.
In 1910, only 100000 boys and girls
Under 16 were working. Today more
than three-quarters of a million in
that age group are on the job and it's
numbers are increasing out of proper
ton to the older age groups, possibly
because the reserve of 16 and II year
olds wanting employment is nearly ex-
hausted.
Child-labor laws, of course, vary wide
ly in the various States. The minimum
age for employment in factories and
stores and in most gainful employment
in Missouri is IA, as it is in % other
States and the District of Columbia. In
II States basic minimum age of Is
OF 1G prevails. Moreover, in industries
employing six persons or less in Mis-
souri,, II years is the minimum age for
work outside of school hours.
Limit Day to Hours.
Most of the States set an eight-hour
day as the maximum for those under 49,
For work outside of school hours in
industries with less than six employed
persons, the restriction does not apply.
Weekly hours, with the same excep-
ton, are limited to 48 week; Is States
have higher standard.
Most of the States require work per-
mits for those under 16, but none for
those Is and II years of age In the
latter two age groups, however, certifi-
Gates are issued upon request. Twenty
two States require certificates of age
for minors up to 18 years.
The majority of States require COM
pulsory school attendance up to 16
years of age, but permit exemptions
In six States the upper age require
ment for school attendance is 49, in
seven States it is II.
Along with the marked increase in
the employment of young workers
throughout the Nation there has been
an ominous rise in child-labor viola
tions of both State and Federal laws. In
the last six months of 1943, for example,
q total of 1867 minors were found il
legally employed in violation of the
chi}d-labor provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act in 1914 establishments.
In this half-year period alone, the
figures show that almost two and a
half times as many establishments were
founo violating the provisions and more
than twice as many minors were found
illegally employed as in the entire year
ended June 30, 1941, before Pearl Har-
Dor
Leniency of Courts.
Complicating the enforcement task is
the .leniency being shown by some
courts toward the employment of
minors. Early last month, for instance.
United States District Judge Albert l..
Reeves at Kansas City, Mo-, ruled that
war emergencies excuse limited en-
ployment of minors in the Kansas City
and Cincinnati plants of the Interstate
Bakerie Corp. He denied an injunction
against the company sought by the
Childrens Bureau of the Department of
Labor.
The Children's Bureau itself is keenly
cognizant of the Nations pressing need
for labor to win the war. Where Fed
eral courts and State legislatures tenn
porarily have relaxed the child-labor
laws, the bureau has proceeded to
ascertain that actual working conditions
for children are made as sanitary and
protective as possible. At the same time
the bureau has tried to combat the re-
taxation trends. AS Katherine Lenroot,