O
THE SUNDAY CITIZEN, A811EV1LLE, N. C, DECEMBEJl 2, 191T.
17
Events of the Week as Seen by the Cartoonist
Billy Borne
I ii n
I Wt$TtM .c.ttMi'CAcw i 3-.
J r-v
f A I V
Expert Tells Why it is More
Necessary During War
Than in Peace Time.
THE FEDERAL CHILD LABOR LAW
f T 1 O. . n . l V4
umiea oiaces oenenu Dy
Experience of Her Allies
Across the Seas.
(By James H. Collins.)
Right In the midst of war, in Sep
tember, a law went into effect which,
at first stent, seemied to have no bear
ing whatever upon our war problems.
It was the Federal Child. Labor
law. Which makes products of indus
tries in which the labor of children
is utilized subject to regulation if
shipped in interstate or foreign com
merce, and will have a very definite
effect in states where social legisla
tion has tended to lag a little behind
Industrial development.
The more one looks into the expe
rience of European countries with
child labor during the war, the more
one sees that the work and welfare of
children are distinctly a war matter,
and something calling for even more
attention during the excitement of
hostilities than In the more orderly
times of peace. England and France, I
particularly, yielded to the apparent
necessity of war time work, and grant
certain "exemptions" under their
laws for the protection of children,
taking the latter out of school, per
mitting them to work in factories,
sanctioning night labor, and doing
under the necessity for war produc
tion what they would never have done
In peace. After two years of this
relaxation, a careful study of the ef
fects upon the children and upon
the country hae convinced the of
ficials of both countries their peace
tlmo regulations should he restored.
JTflh, Wisdom Questioned.
sr The wisdom of a Federal Child La
bor law In this country has been
questioned on several grounds. Critics
I maintain that) work does not really
harm children, and that if they are
taken from the factories, mines, and
other places covered by this new law
Ihey will simply be idle. It is main
tained that children's work is Indis
pensable In certain fndustrles, especi
ally In those with short seasons and
In work of a light nature. It is
especially urged that during war, with
the necessity for the speeding up of
our industries on every hand, the
employment of children in the fac
tories, canneries, and elsewhere Is
justified that children should bear
their share of the national burden
as well as others.
But it is In exactly this war emer
gency that child labor abroad has
failed!
The employment of children did not
Increase production, but diminished
it, just as aiminianea production fol
lowed the relaxation of wise indus
trial regulations set for grown workers
In peace times.
"The experience of war time," said
M. Albert Thames, (he French minis
ter of munitions, "has only demon
strated the necessity technically and
economically of the labor law en
acted before the war. In our legis
lation, secured In time of peace, we
shall find the conditions for a better
and more Intense production during
the war."
France, after almost two years of
war-time exemptions by which chil
dren under 18 were allowed to work
at night In special cases, restored
the night-work prohibition for girl
under is. England found th re
laxation of child-labor regulations ex
hausted and impaired the children
and has been busy repairing the dam
age done by wrong war measures.
Even in Germany, a law-abiding coun
try in peace times,, the relaxation of
child-labor regulations led to unpar
alleled lawlessness among children.
Sound Measure.
So our new Federal Child-Labor
law is clearly a sound measure for
war times. And there can be little
question of Its wisdom as applied to
normal conditions In peace times.
This law provides that no child
under 16 shall work In a mine or
quarry and no child under 14 shall
work in any mill, cannery, work
shop, factory, or manufacturing es
tablishment which ships Its products
into interstate or foreign commerce.
The working day of children between
14 and 16 years of age in factories
may not be longer than eight hours,
and they may not be employed be
tween 7 p. m. and 6 a. m.
Instead of prohibiting the employ
ment of children in those terms, the
federal law accomplishes the same
result Indirectly by forbidding the
shipment of goods in Interstate or
foreign commerce from all establish
ments where children were employed
contrary to the federal law. Manu
facturers and producers may protect
themselves against prosecution by
keetplne; on fHe federal certificate of
age. or, in designated states, state cer
ti.fica.1ws. showing th age of the chil
dren in their employ. These certifi
cates are Issued under simple and oon-
France and England Both Realized the Mistake of Making "Exemptions"
for Children to Work During the War, and Quickly Reversed Their
Rules, Tightening Them Up to Before-the-War Strictness, and the New
Federal Child Labor Law, it is Believed, Will Do More for the United
States Than Any Other Measure Passed at the Last Session of Congress,
in That it Will Aid in Conserving the Youth of the Land Production
Stimulated Rather Than Retarded by the New Law.
of the law has been delegated by
the secretary of labor to the children's
bureau of the department of labor,
and la directly In charge of Mis
Grace Abbott, a Chicago woman of
long experience In labor and Indus
trial problems.
Enforcement of the law Is carried
out by federal Inspectors. The law la
designed, however, with a view to
cooperation with local officials, and
the full benefit expected from It can
not be secured merely by complete
federal enforcement. The final re
sponsibility rests with the cltlsens
of each locality, and demands a ser
vice outslds of the law Itself. For to
simply release the children from the
factories is not enough.
The real object of all prohibition of
child labor is to Insure the child an
education during its natural school
period. To secure the real benefits
of school the child must be well
nourished and decently clothed and
be given a chance In life in every
other respect From a selfish busi
ness standpoint regarding a child
simply as a future producer of wealth
for Itself, or for others, the best possi
ble course ths course that will en
able tblb child to earn the most money
in the long run Is to keep It out
of the factory until It has received
adequate schooling and laid the foun
dation of a healthy body. This has
been found so true such hard-head
ed business sense In communities
which have had the widest expe
rience in the employment of children
venlent regulations. The enforcement and In labor and social matters gen
erally, that those communities have
voluntarily increased their human
wealth by laws which keep the child
In school until It Is 14 years of age
or older, and have supplemented the
public-school training with part time
and vocational training courses in
the very stores and factories where
the children are at work.
The chief misunderstanding of this
new federal law Is found In those sec
tions of ths country where communi
ty experience has not been broad or
extended enough to demonstrate its
wisdom. The states where child la
bor Is greatest also show the largest
percentage of Illiteracy, and the chief
benefit sought under the federal law
Is to bring these states up to stand
ards that have been found best In
communities with broad experience.
and to secure by oommunlty education
and benefit the education and benefit.
ought for the children.
May Appear Radical.
To a community which has not yet
developed for Itself a local child la
bor law on reasonable modern lines,
the provisions of the federal law may
appear radical. But in reality the
federal law Is less drastic than the
child labor laws of many states.
At least 12 states fix standards
which appear to be as high as those
of the federal law, and In some re
spects higher: Arkansas, Illinois.
North Dakota, New York, Montana,
Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wis
consln. In every other state, except
worm uarollna, New Mexico, and wy
omlng. the 14-year age limit Is in
n
y The Heavens in December y
By DR. C. S. BRAININ, of the Columbia University Observatory Staff.
THE astronomers of America
will be treated to a total
eclipse of th- moon this
month which will be -visible in .ts
entirety throughout North America.
Such an eclipse, while not of the
same scientific value as the total
eclipse of the sun. Is nevertheless
of great interest, to the amateur
astronomer in particular. It serves
to impress upon his mini the won
derful achievements of modern as
tronomy in learning and reducing
to mathematics the laws of the mo
tions of the solar system and em
phasizes to him the remarkable
power of prophecy which science
possesses. It serves as a new con
firmation of the fact that the laws
of nature still hold.
Of course, the professional as
tronomers are somewhat blase on
this subject, and a mere eclipse of
the moon evokes very little enthu
siasm In most of them. However,
there are soms, probably many,
who take care not to miss this phe
nomenon, In spite of the fact that
they hardly expect to learn any
thing new from the observation.
It Is a mlllion-to-one chance that
the calculations of the astronomi
cal computer are correct to the
second. But there Is something so
Inspiring, so majestlo in the un
wavering march of the shadow that
one gets here as In few other naked-eye
events In the heavens a
real feeling of the truly awful
movement of the oosmlo bodies
through space.
Circumstances of the Eclipse.
The eclipse will take place on
the night of December T-2i. Ws
will rive the exact time data In
eastern standard time (Washington,
New York, eta) from which the
corrections for the other standard
time belts of the United States and
Canada can easily be made. . At
1:64 In the morning the moon en
ters the so-called penumbra, the
partial or outer shadow, which will
produce a hardly noticeable dark
ening of the moon's disk. At five
minutes past three the moon enters
the umbra or complete shadow
thrown by the earth, and this la
really the beginning of the visible
eclipse, for from then on the
shadow creeps rapidly over the sur
face of the moon, eating out more
DECEMBER
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and more of the bright surface,
until the total eclipse oommenoea
at 4:31. The middle of the total
eclipse Is at 4:46 and Its end at
4:56; the totality has thus lasted
about IT minutes.
The first bright patch now ap
pears, and the shadow retreat as
rapidly as it came on, until finally,
at 6:27, the umbra has entirely
left the . moon. The latter passe
out of the penumbra finally at
1:3. The moat Interesting part
to' watch,' of course, la from Just
before the entrance Into the dark
umbra until the and of the totality
and th reappearance of th bright
surface. There 1 no us la sitting
out tH whole performanoe as list
ed above.
To change the above time data)
to other standard time than th
eastern, It la necessary to subtraot
on hour for these who live In th,.
central belt, to subtract two hour
for those In th Rocky Mountain
belt and three for those In th most
westerly, or Pacific, time belt Ob
servers In the easterly tip of North
America, which I In th Intercolon
ial or Atlantic standard time belt,
add one hour to th above times.
As an example, the middle of the
clips wtll be at 1:46 by Atlantlo
time, 4:46 by eastern time, t:46 by
central time, 1:46 by Rocky Moun
tain Ume, and finally, 1:46 by Pa
olflo time. The phenomenon I
visible over an entire hemlaphsre at
practically the same Instant, for ev
ery person who has ths moon above
hi horlson win be able to see It.
Iiunar and Solar Eclipses.
Th lay reader will probably be
very much surprised to learn that
th lunar eclipse la resjly a rarer
phenomenon than the less often observed-
solar. This I true In th
actual number of occurrences, but
th intrinsic difference between th
two phenomena make th solas
apparently the rarer, Th differ
ence lies In the fact that, as stated
above, a lunar eclipse, when It hap
pens, Is visible to the inhabitants
of an entire hemisphere, whereas
a solar eclipse Is visible only to a
rather limited area.
The sun is ths source of Its own
light, but the moon shines by re
flected glory only. At the time of
a lunar eclipse the earth Interposes
Its bulk between the sun and the
moon, thus cutting off the moon's
light entirely, and any person sit
uated In that hemisphere where It
is night at that particular instant
will have the eclipse. The moon's
surface Is entirely dark, except for
the very weak "earthshlne," which
Is sunlight reflected from the
earth's surface to th moon and
back again to us.
In the case of the solar eclipse
ths moon gets In between us and
the sun, and for those whose view
of the sun Is Intercepted there Is
an eclipse, 1. e , for those who are
in the shadow path of ths moon.
Because of the relative distances of
the sun, moon and earth, this
shadow of the moon never covers
a very large area of earth, partic
ularly the darker part of the
shadow. Sometimes, when the
moon Is relatively far away, the
tip of the umbra or full shadow
doe not quite reach th earth, but
the penumbra or partial shadow
does. In this case we have what
Is called an annular or ring-shaped
eclipse of the sun. .There will be
places on the earth where the sun
will be seen as a brilliant ring
with the moon cutting off a cen
tral disk.- Such an eclipse will also
happen this month, on the 14th,
but unfortunately It will not be
visible In this country at all. The
best place to observe It Is at the
south pole.
Th United States win be treated
to a real total solar oollps next
year on June 6. Th location
which will be favored lie along
a line extending diagonally across
th oountry from north-west to
south-east. We shall before long
publish a map of th eclipse and
oertatn other data Indispensable to
th amateur astronomer who I to
observe this, the moat marvelous
spectacle In th world.
part established by state law. How
ever, in California, Colorado, Dela
ware. District of Columbia, Georgia,
Idaho, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia,
and Washington, the age limit un
der which children, and especially
boys may be employed is variously
reduced by exemptions for specific
Industries, such as canning, and by
poverty and other exemptions. In
20 states and the District of Colum
bia the state law fixes an eight-hour
day for children between 14 and 16
years of age.
In Its provisions against night work
by children, the federal law comes
nearer to a national standard than
m any other renoect For 41 states
have a prohibition of night work for
children substantially the same as that
contained In the federal act. In the
states where this law will bring the
greatest benefits ths night employ
ment of children has been extensive.
The principal machinery for enforc
ing the law Is that under which age
ertlflcates are Issued. When employ
ers, parents, and children observe the
simple regulations governing these
age certificates, the law Is largely
antomatlc in its operation. These
certificates are issued by authorities
designated for that purpose, upon the
application by the child desiring em- j
ployment, accompanied by Its parents,
guardian, or custodian, with approved
documentary evidence of age. The
child must !be fourteen years or over
If "employment Is contemplated in
a mill, cannery, workshop, or manu
'faoturtng establishment, and must
be between sixteen and seventeen
years of age for employment In
or aibout a mtn or auarry. According
to the rules and regulations adopted
by the United Stales Child Labor
boards certificates must contain the
following dmfonmatlon:
"N 1 Name of child.
2. Place ana date or Dirtn or cnna
together with statement of evidence
on which this is based, except when a
physician's certificate of physical age
Is accepted by the Issuing officer, in
which case physical age shall be
shown.
3. Sex and color.
4. Slgnlture of child.
5. Name and address of child's par
ent, guardian, or custodian.
6. Signature of Issuing officer.
7. Date and place of Issuance.
Evidence as to age consists of one
of the following-named proofs:
(a) A birth certificate, or attested
transcript thereof. Issued by a regis
trar or vital statistics of other officer
charged with the duty of recording
births.
(b) A record of baptism, or a certi
ficate or attested transcript thereof
showing ths date of birth and place
of baptism of the child.
(c) A bona ftde contemiporar" rec
ord of the date and place of the
child's birth kept in th Bible in which
the records of the births in the family I
of the child are preserved, or other
documentary evidence satisfactory to
the secretary of labor or such person
as he may designate, such as a
passport showing the age of the child,
a certificate of arrival in the United
States Issued by the United States
Immigration officers and showing the
age of the child, or a life Insurance
policy; provided that such other sat
isfactory documentary evidence has
been In existence at least one year
prior to the time H Is offered In evi
dence; and provided further that a
school record or a parent's, guar
dian', or custodian's affidavit, certifi
cate, or other written statement of
age shall not be accepted except as
openifled In paragraph (b).
(d) A certificate signed by a public
health physician or a public-school
physician, specifying what, in the
opinion of such physician. Is the phys
ical age of the child; such certifi
cate shall show the height and weight
of the child and other facts concern
ing its physical development revealed
by such examination and upon which
the opinion of the physician as to the
physical age of Che child Is based. A
parent's, guardian's, or custodian's
certificate as to the age of the child
and a record of age as glvan on ths
register of th school which ths child
first attended, or In the school census,
if obtainable, shall be submitted with
the physician's certificate showing
phvatcal eg.
Th officer Issuing the age certificate
for a child shall require th evidence
of age specified In subdivision (a) In
preference to that specified in any
subsequent subdivision, unless he
shall reeelve and fil evidence that th
4-
ceding subdivision or subdivisions can
not be obtained.
It Is Impossible to say with any ac
curacy how many children have been
taken out of Industry by this law. In
those states where standards of age
and hours of work for children are
higher than under the Federal law, no
children are affected, of course. But
the standards in a large number of
states are below those of the Federal
law and on the ban is of figures of the
thirteenth census, now more than
seven years old. It Is estimated that the
27,022 children under fourteen years
df age who were employed In manu
facturing eistaibl1sh.ments have been
released, and that the 17,667 chil
dren under sixteen years of age
who were reported working In
mines and quarries are no longer
employed at that work. No one
can eay how many of the children
between fourteen and sixteen who
have been employed for ten and
eleven and over twelve hours a
day In the past will not be permitted
to work more than Sight hour under
the new law. In 1910 there were 119,
690 of these children between four
teen and sixteen emiployed In states
where they were not protected by an
eight-hour law. These census figures
do not include the large number of
children that have worked during the
busy months of August and September
In canneries and other seasonal
industries.
Includes Canneries.
The Federal law specifically Includes
canneries, while thess are exempt un
der the State child-labor laws of Cali
fornia, Maryland, Delaware, Michigan,
Virginia, and Indiana staites which
have in other respects good standards.
Roughly, apeaJdng. at least 160.000
child workers have been released or
benefited under this law. and perhaps
many thousands more. That tho Fed
eral Child Ijabor law Is wise and In
keeping with-national conservation of
our human resources, and especially
thait It la Justified during such a crisis
as that of the war. Is shown by the
fact that nine states have strength
ened their standards in this matter
during the past few months since
the declaration of war in lAjprll.
Those states are Arkansas, Illinois,
Kansas. North Carolina, Oklahoma,
Tennessee. Texas, Vermont and Wis
consin. That higher regulations ifor child
workers are necessary as a matter of
general experience Is shown In the
fact that these states are widely sep
arated, and therefore It Is clear that
they are nroeeiting by legislation the
demand for a higher national stand
ard. Soon after flhe law went Into effect
the children's bureau received a com
plaint from a state commissioner of
laJbor stating that children were em
ployed on a certain governmnt
reservation. They were working in
restaurants, laundries and similar -
tabluihments not enraged In Inter
state commerce, to which therefore
the United States Child Labor act
does not apply.
The complaint was brought to the
attention of the secretary of war,
who. In order to make conditions in
army forts and post conform to the
standards laid down by the United
States OhlM Lobor aot. Issued the fol
lowing Instruction through the ad
jutant-general.
1. That on rovermnemt reserva
tions children under fourteen years of
age are not to be emiployed.
2. That enwtfren between fourteen
and sixteen years of age are not to
be employed (a) more than sight
hours in any workday, (b) more than
six day a week, (c) before 6 a. m.
or after 7 p. m.
1. In order to enforce these stand
ards it Is desired that certificates be
demanded and kerpt on file for every
child between fourteen and sixteen.
I
How Hours Are Fixed.
4. In determining whehr cMI.
dren between Wounteen and sixteen
have been employed more than eight
hours in any day the hour of m
ployment shall be oomputsd from th
tim tho ohUd ts required or per
mitted or suffered to be at th plane
of employment up to th. time win en
he leaves off work for th day,
elusive of a alngl continuous period
of a deftntt length of time d urine;
which the child 1 off work and not
subject to call. AH employers on
government reservation small be re
quired to keep a dally lm record
showing; the hours of euraploymen for
each and every child between four
teen and sixteen year of ago.
Th Federal Child Labor law does
not affect children on th (arm di
rectly, but Indirectly 4t t expected
that It will help th country boys and
girls, especially In those section
where th greatest problem of Illiter
acy exists. .For under It higher
standard th nation can not long per
mit country boy and girls to grow up
untaught while children In the Indus
trial center are benefiting by better
standards.
This new lam will coat money. ,
It should mean wvin on th cart
of all peopl.
It should moan mor raxes for
more schools and better school. -
It should mean extended efforts In
communities where schools ars not
operated on full time, where teach
ers are not well paid nor schools well
quipped, and where povertv neoessl.
tales . scholarships and other ex
traneous aid to th child. But this
Is exactly the effect that was hoped
for when th law was advocated and
passed -to take the children out of
th factories and shop in th years
when they should be getting a train
ing which will fit them to be real pro
ducer, and to put thetn into th
schools. If th schools or not ade
quate, then they must be mod bet
ter. Tho very fact that thr are not
adequate shows that tho law was
needed In that oomsminlty. '
Our whole American standards of
living la based upon universal educa
tion and universal opportunities. Thl
law should grade up to a national
standard those compa rati voJ y few
sections df th country wher Amerl- .
cans have apparently forgoMen Aimer
can ldeala It send th children
back Into the schools, and it will euro
ly create better schools where they
are needed. For there ho seldom .
been a time or a place tai this country
where the need for adequate educa
tional i facilities, clearly pointed out,
did not meet with an tmmedtat re
sponse.
SEVEN SENTENCE SERMONS.
Llffs Is a casket, not precious In it
self, but valuable In proportion to ,
what fortune, or industry or vdrtu
has placed within it Land or. ,
It is safer to trust your eye than
your ears when a man argue reli
gion while his wife carries m th
water. "Rom's Horn."
To thine own self be trusx
And It must follow as th n light the
day t
Thou canst not then be AUm to SJWJ
man.
fihakeepear.
.
An educated man in a man who can
do what he ought to do when h
ought to do it whether ho want to .
do it or not Nicholas Murray But
ler. Our deeds determine us a weB as
w determime our deeds.-1-Oeorg
Eliot
None but God ts worthy of th
whole offering of man. Phillips '
Brooks.
Doctor Tells How To Sfrenglhen
Eyesight 50 per cent In One
Week's Time In Many Instances
A Free Prescription Ton Can Have
Filled and Use at Home.
Philadelphia, Pa. Do you wear
glasses? Are you a victim of eye
strain or othsr eye weaknesses T If so,
you will be glad to know that accord
ing to Dr. Lewi there I real hop
for you. Many whose eyes were fail
ing say they have had their eyes re
stored through th principle of this
wonderful free prescription. One man
says, aftsr trying it: "I waa almost
blind; could not see to read at an.
Now I can read everything without
any glasses and my eyes do not water
any mora At nignt tney would pain
dreadfully: now they feel fine all the.
time. It waa Ilk a miracle to me." I
A lady who used It says: "Th at-
mospnsr seemea nasy wnn or wiw
oat glasses, but after using this pre
spared th trouble and expense of ever
getting glasses. Eye trouble of many
descriptions may be wonderfully bene
fited by following the simple rules.'
Here Is the prescription: Go to any
active drug store and get a bottle of
Bon-Opto tablet. Drop one Bon-Opto ,
tablet In a fourth of a glass of water
and allow to dissolve. With thl liquid :
bathe th eye two to four time dolly.
Ton should notice your eye dear up
perceptibly right from the start and
Inflammation will quickly disappear.
If your eyes ar bothering you, even '
utti. tak steps to save tnem now
before it i too lata. Many hopelessly
blind might havs been saved If they
had cored for their eye In time. .
Hotel Another marines nosh las te wami
ths tbooe article vu submitted, ssidi "Boe-OpW
is a very iwserkable icaMdy. Ha eonstitMBt
Incredirata era wll kaewa to estlmat ere spec
ie. Dill uw "' " - ,Vt T.-
ecripiton for fifteen days everything mtmctmt, it to iZZm JZSiM
caa even reaa nne MDerwntls
seems clear. 1
orlnt without gli
that thousands who
now discard
ana muiuiaaes pari wiu om motw v,
rridsno of age required try th pre- strengthen their era so as to belU
aranta it to stracthea eveiisM
11 is oeueveu er wresa tne mom t. it ess as eouiiwd Tmm
ids who wear glasses eon d dracr d W acaf tbe nrr fcw prrp
them In a reasonable time ftf ' ''" '. P".1. !T"y '
n.r, Mil h ilili ta. ' uaUx. Hbsotdiatasirtty
Adv-t
J