5 CHILD LABOR LAWS j
SHALL THEY Be RLGULATLD By jj
The FEDERAL Or STATE ?
AUTHORITIES
? r x _ . W-1 I.
v O!? ?? JH* a Ji S_J? ?_*? <*?*> * ?
Monibiy evening, March 28, 1U10, i
llic following questiou was debated
at Benson by representative* of the
Benson and Ken'y Public High
schools: "Resolved, That the Feder- ,
al Government should prohlbft chil
dren under fourtein years of age t
from working In factories." The af-. |
finuatlve was represented by Messrs. j,
Ezra Parker and K. E. Parker, of ,
Benson. The negative was upheld j (
by Messrs. Grover Woodard and ,
Wale Brannan, of Kenly. By re-1 j
<juest we are publtshiiiK the speech-'
es of these young men. Two fol- ,
low: i
t
?Remarks by Ezra Parker on a Na- 1
tional Child Labor Law. (Aff.) 1
1 am glad to have an opportunity ,
lo-nlglit to call the attention of the .
: 1
people of this community and county (
ito what I deem to be one of the gra-1,
vest conditions that confronts this1 (
Ki public of ours. And while I am ',
speaking on the affirmative side of ,
this question, what affords me still (
greater pleasure Is to know that I ,
am speaking for, and not against, the ,
cause of suffering humanity. 1 re-1 ,
fer, ladles and gentlemen, to the con |
<litions of the employment of child (
labor in the factories of our country,',
I *
and I mean to call your attention (
to precisely what It means not only to |
the future of the children, but to thej,
future of our nation as well. First I t
Invite your attention to the conditions ,
that exist In some of the Northern1,
States. For example the state of ,
I'eunsylvnnla. Juuge Gray in going |
through the factories of that state, 'f
Bays that although they have a state 1 v
law In Pennsylvania prohibiting chll- ?]
dren from working In factories, he' |
saw hundreds that were under four- I
4 w?o ou rvf <ura u nrl/liur in tl?f? fill
torles of that state. One particular
?case that excited his sympathy was a
department In which there were sev-,
?eriil very small children employed
?cleaning bobbins at 3 cents an hour.
One little fcirl nine years old. with
whom he talked, told him that she
went to work at half past six at
flight, worked through the dark and
lonely hours of the night, till half
past six in the morning. It took her t
nearly one hour to get from her home P
and the road led across fields that t
ware exposed to the violent storms ,
that sweep down the valley. ,
It was when this child hnd finish- c
?rd her story that that big hearted
man exclaimed with much feeling. t
"Here we actually find the flesh and
blood of little children coined Into (
money." I(
In the state of Maryland there are c
10,000 children under fourteen years ,
of age working in the factories of c
that state. Maine has 2,000 under ?
uge working in the cotton and wool-' (
en mills of that state. Day in and 8
day out the perpetual click of tie n
rattling looms, the whirr of the t
belts, the crunch and rumble of the a
turning wheels mnkc their home a c
deafening din. Here we find chll- /
dren deprived of the opportunity to a
go to school, growing up In ignorance.',
'They know not how to read and ,
write although they have spent their \
.'ast days In school. Our opponents j
may tell you that a majority of these 1
chlldr n working in the mills of the1,,
north are foreigners, however that t
shout 1 not decrease our sympathy; be
cause the children of foreigners. If ?
they have a chance, often make nd-' i
mlrable citizens, especially In a few j
generations if their souls are not 11
?t.TBshed and their minds are not i
stunted; In fact all of us or our an-' i
cestors were foreigners, and while 1 j i
am an advocate of the holding high j,
of the high standard of the Anglo-Sax- j
on Race. 1 have no patience with' t
the narrow view that a few of us'(
monopolize all the real and original t
irainanity of the world, and should (
xreat strangers as beasts. I
isut now, ladles and gentlemen, ev- (
<;n ir this was an acceptable reason (
Tor working them In the mills of the
?T)rth, (however It Is not.) We come i
now to a section of the country |
whi re you can offer the foreigner as i
a sacrifice no longer, where the evil (
is the greatest and most shameful, (
and where It Is practiced upon the i
purest American strain that still i
?axlsts In this country,?the children |
Jn the cotton mills throughout this ?
Vrud old south land of ours. The evil ?
Is practiced upon the children of
these states who are the unadulterat
ed, unmixed, the pure Scotch-Irish,
whose fathers fought at Guilford
Court House and Cowpens and follow
ed Marion to victory. Their blood
bas never been adulterated from that
day to this. Every sociological in
vestigator testifies that our Sou
thern children of this origin are cap
able of Indefinite, development. But
after all the sad. sad story Is they
'jbL.
? -v. fc. a *m m I-I I ? - ?
arc not beingdeveloped, the cotton
mills are being developed Instead. Ac-'
ordlng to to the actual testimony
sworn to by personal investigators,
thes!' children Instead of being Uevel-j
jped are being ruined by thousands. I
U ill we submit to this longer? We1
nust not. Let us rise up as did cur
'orefathirs In the days of old, not to'
resist the unjust laws of some for
?igu country, but to discharge a more
?acred duty-to demand a law that
A-ill wipe out forever child slavery
n the factories in our country.
Our opponents may tell you that this
luestion Involves slate's rights and
s a matter to be left for each state
o deal with for Itself, however I
hlnk you will be convinced other
wise when you remember that there
ire forty-five states in the Union
hat have state child labor laws, and
it the same time there are over 60,
)00 children under age working In
he factories of our country. It has
jeen said, and not without some
neanlng, that a majority of the
stale laws under the existing clr
wmstanceg, so far as remedying the
?vil of child labor Is concerned, are
lot worth the paper that they are
vritten upon.
Here In our own sister state of
Jeorgia there are 33,000 children un
ler age working In the factories of
hat state, yes murdered every year
>y hundreds regardless of the law. Atl
hat Is necessary to prove that the
itates cannot remedy the evil Is their
?ecord. Again, if our state passes
;<>od laws and enforces them and
mother state does not enforce Its
aws the business men of the former
itate nre at a business disadvantage
vlth the business man of the latter,
i'lie business man in the state that
tas the good laws sufers from the
? <???%' i>l(rhtnniiuiwiuu r\t tliof cf'itn'e Imv
vhlle the business man in the state
hat has the bad law profits by the
'ory wickedness of that State's law.
rhe manufacturer in the state in
vhlch the law is enforced can no
onger employ cheap labor, he can
10 longer make children Into gold,
itlll it can be done by every other
nanufacturer in the state In which
he laws are not enforced. Further
nore, what good docs it do so far as
(topping the evil is concerned, for a
itate to enforce its laws, when In
stead of stopping the evil you only
nake it poslble for the mill men from
>thcr states to come into your state
ind gather the children together and
ihip them out by train loads because
hey will work so cheaply.
State laws not only fall to decrease
he evil but at the same time they
lecrease the wages of the employees
if our state at the expenses of the
nanufacturers of another. State laws
annot decrease evil unless they were
ill alike and enforced alike. They
mly cause children to be moved from
itate to state. A national law would
itop all such evils as these because
i person would be subject to th<*
atne prosecution under the law in
lur state that wo would In another.
Ml will ngree that it Is common
ense as well as Americanism that
?very business man under the flag
>ught to have the same rights and
tuslness opportunities so far as the
aw can give them to him. You will
vlth equal readiness admit that there
itv no two states that will make and
?nforce their laws alike. We of the
kfflrmative have no objection to a
itate havlug a law if they want it
iut a state law within itself., as we
mve already proven, is not sufficient.
Hie evil is something which in its
>roader aspect the states cannot
each because it is not only citizens
>f the state that are being ruined but
?itizens of the Republic as well, it '
s not only Georgia children that are 1
>elug murdered but it is American
?hlldren as well. It is not confined 1
o Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North 1
Carolina alone; It exists all over the I
Republic. It is a national evil aud
0 fight it successfully we must have l
1 national remedy.
Again the physical, mental, and
uoral effects of these long hours of
011 and confinement on the children
ire Indescribably sad, however I will
lot discuss that but leave it for my
?olleague. Hut there is a question
:hat I will discuss which seems to
me alone is sufficient to convince any
Irue, patriotic North Carolinian that
we need a national child labor law
ire 11 enforced. This question is a
very Berious one indeed?the race
question. We hear the assertion of
the superiority of the white ra e made
time and time again, that the white
race will never yield to the black
race, yet the children who are at
work in the southern cotton mills are
from the white working class of the
south and this terrible situation
stares the south in the face, that
whereas the children of the white
working people of the south are go
ing tojhe factories and to decay, the
negro child rei) are going to s hool an
development.
Ludi' s in.4 gentlemen if we are
not to give some serious attuetlon
to human facts like these, how can
we wonder at the creation of a class
in this country which when we con
t mplate its existence makes every
one of us tremble. It is enough to
wring the heart and make the blood
boil in the veins of every true sou
thern man to think that day by day
wr are permitting a system to go on
which is steadily weakening the white
race for the future and steadily
strengthening the black. It Is not
In the power of any man to keep "su
perior," by asserting superiority. The
truth of it is the south is face to
face with the situation of our white
childreu in the mills and our tylaclc
children in the schools.
Rev. A. J. McKelway, of North
Carolina, in visiting the mills In the
south said that he saw this very for
cibly illustrated where the opera
tives of a mill were coming out of
the mill for their midday meal. At
the same time he saw a large number
of negro children coming out of a
negro school near by for recess. The
contrast was noticeable In the partic
ular that the negro children were
playing and snow-balling each other
on their way home, while the white
children were hurrying along with
anxious faces to their lunch so as
to return to the mill in time.
Friends there is one way and only
one way to solve the race question
In the south to-day, that Is to take
our white children out of the mills'
while they are bright, young and can
comprehend easily and put In school
instead of the'negroes. I
Again, Honorable Judges, there is
lilt- i uuscquL-urt's 1111 uuiy ui me la
bor of children, not only the ruin of
their lives and health, but the certain
leterlara ion and the establishment
sf an ever lacreaslug degenerate
?lass in America, caused by the weak
ness of the motherhood of our coun
try- To develop a nation of intelli
gent people we must have strong,
healthy, educated mothers. This we
ran never have so long as we let (
jur young girls work in factories. Put (
\ girl In a factory from the ages of (
5 to 14 and she is not only physically ,
infit for motherhood, but at the same
ime she hasen't the intelligence a (
nother ought to have. It is the du- (
y of the father to provide for the ^
lome while It is the duty of the mo
her to teach in the home. And how
;an a mother teach who knows noth- (
ng to teach on account of being kept
n a factory when a girl instead of J
n school. An ignorant, unhealthy (
nother raises up Illiterates and phy- ,
ileal wrecks, while intelligent and
lealthy mothers, whose health and in
elligence has not been wrecked dur- j
ng her young age In a factory or the j
ike, raise up children whose health ,
ind intelligence can be sien at a
single glance in their rosy cheeks
md sparkling eyes.
It is in the name of the motherhood
)f our country and the bright youths J
hat we are pleading with you to-'
light. The evil of taking these bright
youths and murdering them In the |
actories of our country must be
stopped, and stopped now. The evi- ,
lence is before us of their murder ^
jy thousands. The only verdict that
tve can return is guilty. Then how |
shall we stop it? The states have 1
ried, they cannot, they have failed. '
The only remedy is for the nation to1
lo It.
When we think about these evils
-xisting under our government we '
jften wonder what the purposes of ?
)ur government are any way. Why '
ivas It that this Republic was estab- '
lished? What does our flag stand for?
What do all these things mean? La
lles and gentlemen they mean that j
the people shall be free to correct
liuman abuses. They mean that men, ?
women and children shall day by day
grow stronger and nobler. They mean 1
that we shall have the power to make 1
this America of ours each day a
lovller place to live In. If they do not
mean these things, then our Institu
tions. this Republic, and our flag have
no reason for existence. If they
do mean these things we must pass
such laws as will help to develdh a
nation of wholesome homes, true to
the Holiest ideals of man; a nation
whose power Is glorified by Us jus
tice and whose justice is the consci
ence of millions of free, strong, brave
people. It is to make this people
such a nation that all our forefathers
fowht and planned. Friends they
have done their part well. Now, how
are we doing ours? They presented
to us a golden opportunity, and the
question with us Is will we accept
It.
We should show our appreciation
of what they have done for us by
continuing to progress. And I de
Clare to you that th-ire Is no nay In
which we can shnw our appreciation
better lt.au ly, at tl.e pris.nt tirn?,
pausing a national child 'atcr aw.
Speech of E ra Pa-ker de lve:ed
March !i8, 1910.
Gro/er Wooiard De'inds the Negative
Mr. Chairman, Ladies, Gentlemen
and Honorable Judge*:
We of the negative do not propose
to advocate or de'end clii d labor
In factories. We shall not claim that
It does not exist. We shall not claim
that It is Leneti ial to the children
as to society. We know it exists, we
denounce it as a curse, which must
be checked, an evil which must be
remedied. We advocate stroi g leg
islation to correct'It. Put, sirs, what
is effective leglsaltion? You are told
by the affirmative something of the
conditions and how the federal gov
ernment might correct it. Let us
notice also state legislation protective
a ike to the chi dren an 1 lndu try.
Should we judge from the argument
of the affirmative we would get the
idea that the states are not remedyln
fhe evil and are almost powerless to
cope with it. Nor do we claim that
the state laws are perfect. Nothing
of human creation is. But, sirs, by
giving abstracts from the state laws
and naming the states having such
laws, we shall show that the states
are fighting the evil, and fighting it
on a bases the federal government
can never attempt. What we shall
say of such laws is based on the
Hand book of Child Labor Legislation,
compiled by Joseph C. Goldsmith, Na
tional Consumers League, New York
City. It will deal with statistics,
hence it might be a bit boring.
The first thing of importance in
child la'ior legislation is an age limit
which varies from 12 to 16 years,
making a general average of about
14 years. Iowa, Ind., Ky., Mich.,
N. Y., Ohio, Wis., Conn., Mass.,
Minn., Neb., Ariz., R. 1., Wash., W.
Va., Ark., Col., Del., Kan., La., Me.,
Miss., N. J., T< nn , Ala., Mo., S. D.,
Utah and Wyo., prohibit employment
of children in factories Below 14
years of age.
Col., Conn.. 111., Mass., Minn., Mo.,
Me, N. H., N. Y., N. I)., Ohio, Ariz.,
S. I)., Vt., Wis., Wash., prohibit em
ployment In all vacatiors during
school hours until child is 14 years of
age, ai'd any until 16 unless educa
tional requirements have been com
plied with. Ga., S. C., Va., N. C., N.
II.. N. D., Vt., allow no children under
12 to work in factories. In Ala., Ark.
and Ga., in the exceptional cases of
orphans and childr. n of disabled par
snts, they are allowed to work as
?arly as ten. The states having an
ige limit are Ariz., D. of C. and N.
Mex. But these are either territory
controlled by the federal government
>r are new slates whose laws are
ust being formed.
Now, let us show you what the
itates are doing to restrict the hours
>f labor, and to educate those who
ire not allowed to work. Twenty
hree states prohibit night work by
'hildren below 14-18 years of age.
Mich., Ore., prohibit work between 6
J. m. and 7 a. m. Ohio, 111., Minn.,
*Cy., Mass., Ark., Ga. and Ala., prohi
jit work from 7 p. m. till 6 a. m. The
aws of Vt., R. I., Wis., Wash., Penn.,
Mo., Col., Ind, Neb. and S. C., pro
ride that there shall be from 8-10
lours during night in which no chil
Iren are permitted to work.
Ohio, 111., Col., N. J., N. V., Mass.1
ind It. I., restrict work by children
inder 16-18 from 8-10 hours in 24,
md from 48-36 in a week. Ariz., Col.,
Mo. and Utah restrict work by the
lay to 8 hours in 24 by those below
14-18. Wash., N. D., S. D., Md. and
^'a. ten hours in 24.
One of the most effective ways of
preventing legal employment of chil-'
Iren is compulsory school attendance. -
Wy., Ariz., Me., Mo., Col., Minn., N.'
Mex., Penn, Wis., Ohio. N. Y., Mass.,1
ind Conn, require school attendance1
'rom 12 weeks to the entire school
>var up to the age of 16. Mo., H.
I., Vt., Wash., Kan., Neb., and Mich,
require attendance from 28 weeks to
the entire school year up to
the age of 15 years. Twenty-five
states make attendance compulsory
[rom 12 weeks to the entire school
rear up to 15 years of age.
Those states having compulsory
school attendance have the most ef
fective child labor laws. N. Y. and
Ariz, require children under 16 to
have a school record sigt.ed by au
thorities of the school certifying that
they have finished the elemuitary
studies. Moq. and Ohio require those
under 16 and Wash under 15 to have
finished a reasonable course of study
l before they may be employed. Del.,
Ua., and La. require children below
14-16 to have a certificate or affida
vit showing that they attended s< hool
at least 12 weeks of the preceding
year. Fifteen states prohibit children
tielow 14-16 working unless thiy can
r-ad and write Engli-h. The majori
ty of the states require working pa
pers?working ctr<.ifLa es of age
and schooling either from school of
ficials, health inspectors or factory
inspectors. Me., Mass., Conn., R. I.,
N. Y., N J., Ind., Ohio, Wis., 111.,
Kan., Neb., Minn., Mo., Md., Col.,
Ariz., and Wash, require of those be
low 14-16 documentary proof of the
age and schooling signed by one of
the above named officials. In fif
teen states the affidavit of parents
or guardians is required as to the
age and schooling of those below 14
16. Some exceptions are made to
the above. The most important ex
ceptions of those laws allowing work
under age are of orphan children, of
disabled parents or widowed mothers,
or of those too poor to live without
work. Eleven states allow children
12-16 to work in cases of extreme
poverty. The federal government
would have to allow the same unless
the hand of charity were carried to
their rescue. No form of law by
whatsoever power administered,'
whether federal government or states
Is absolute. Exceptions must be mate
to all human organisms. A majority ?
of the states provide for a compe
tent Loard of inspectors and give
them the power to enforce the law. j
Twenty-seven states provide chief in
spectors or commissioners cf labor to
have charge of the work font 4-40
deputies. Co., Me., N. H., N. D., S. |
D., and Vt. pay school officials and
vest them with po'ice powers to en
force the laws.
The penalties for breaking the'
child labor laws fa'l under two heads '
(?penalties for the t mployer and pen
alties for the parents or guardians.
If a factory man employs children un
der age and over time he is fined j
from $5.00-$100.00 and inprisor.ei 10
90 days. If he employs them during
school hours the fine is the same
with 10-30 days imprisonment. In
case, the employer does not kei p or
file the schooling certificates in or
der to be able to produce them for
the inspector the fine is from $3.00
$300.00 and imprisonment 10-90 days.
Should an empolyer refuse entrance'
to an inspector or school authorities'
the fine and imprisonment is the'
same. Should a parent permit illit
erate children to be employed with
out attending day or night school the
fine Is from $3.00-$100.00 and impris-!
onment 10-90 da>s. Should the pa- ^
rent make a false statement in age
or schooling certificate a fine of from
$3.00-$500.00 and imprisonment 10-90
days as the penalty. Now, gentle-J
men, we have shown you what the 1
f ates are doing. We have shown you
I he nature of the states' laws; what
they provide for on age limit averag
ing about 14 years of age; that a lim
ited number of hours for work are
specified, that these laws have pro-'
visions for enforcement, and that the
breaker of such law s is punished by j
both fine and imprisonment. And the
beauty about such laws is that the1
children are not only prohibited from'
working in factories but are compell-'
<d to attend school either night or
day for a specified time. Then too,'
sirs, every state in the Union except;
three, and these are new western
states. having no special need for
such laws, have laws such as we have
presented to you. Would you say |
that we need federal legislation in
st ad of these states' laws, provided
the s'ate laws are enforced? It is
Irue the affirmative will try to make
you feel that the states are doing'
nothing to relieve the situation. But
are such conditions as they present
representative of general conditions?
You are more or less familiar w ith!
factory districts, do their statements j
correspond with your observations?
They are no more representative of
factory conditions than was Uncle
Tom's Cabin representative of slave
Continued on page three.
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