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Show WHWBfli nAarf. THREE SECTION SATURDAY APRIL 19 1919 SALT LAKE CITY UTAH PAGES c ? narter : j .... .... Work Two Set Back Year Law Goes Jnto Effect After the War Britain Sets the Pace For the World in Child Protection, Age For Beginning doing an Example Even to the United States German Law Look Good But Are Not Enforced and Children of 12 Are Still at Work in Saxon Mines Toddlers of S and 6jin German Factories Many Safeguards Thrown Around M Young persons in British Factories Much Still Remains to he Done,Jfowever, For Children in "General Employment Sach as News Bovs, Milk Sellers and Street Traders. . ' BOY WAR WORKERS. Were Piwsnl Into Britain's War Factories While Tlieir Fathers Were Fifth! Ins. like This Children These ISritbh Boys and f.irls A DEAD LETTER. of the big problems which Britain has to jure and rohe after the war is that of the mye earning child, the great education act he uorlc of the Right Hon. H. A. L. Fisher One - is a long step in the direction of solution, Isi i. does not go at! the wag. In the folbrw- rro article, one of the leading English author h on child labor sets out what has been accomplished and ichat remains to be done. , . (Special Corregpomlpnre) OXDON, April" 9. Before the war, British regulations for child labor were of two kinds, one set almost uniform aa to hours, safeguards, age conditions and penalties throughout the United Kingdom, strictly administered, seldom variable at all, modified only when mfrmged, and in the direction of greater stringency.5 These are the regulations of the factory acta, the miners act The other set and the various education acts. varied and still varies from county to county and if- - its- - provisions are imperfectly understood by employers and parents; it is often inby inspection,' and its in- - . adequately seldom is fringement punished by more than trifling of indusfines. This is regulation by kxati bye-lathe war regu-- . tries outside the factory acts. During la lions of both kinds have been relaxed, not through And when the Reg1, pence but from sad necessity. education act of 1918 coroes into force, the first kind will be at once extended to cover two additional years of a childs life, and the second will in two y ir.'po-tarespects be ;nade uniform and eompulso--- safe-guard- w the country. in Britain already compares very favorably in facf (though not on paper) with that ef any other country, and in the near future it will be well ahead of any rival,' unless the 1 nlted States speeds np its already rapid p Torres j in this matter. The new education act, the Ch.ldreng Charter of 1918, is to come into force on day not earlier than the termination of the war. T maythen be the law of the land any time after Child labor regulation m.d'umroer: - , working there. But this act remained largely a dead letter, and the chimney sweeps boy, immortalized by Blake the poet and Charles Kingsley, was little better off when the act of prohibited chimney climbing by per- sons under 21. Still there were no inspectors to enforce the act, and prosecutions were left to public- spirited individuals and associations, among whom the seventh Lord Shaftesbury was prominent. Kot till 1875 did the long martyrdom come to an end. As Frederick Keeling says in his "Child Labor in the United Kingdom:" -- . CHILD STRIKERS. Wage Earners in the. Potteries at Scot been on Strike. 10, 12 hours REAL AGE daily on the "flat-stitc- TTere e-- trade h PROVED. MUST-B- Ihirtas the Wrr Vre Boys of The impossibility of educating m any proper sense a young child who is in school for 6 hours and wage earning for 5 needs no pointing out. and The new education act puts a stop to the worst of these cases of 'cruel wastefulness- by provisions that no child Under 12 shall be employed on Sunday, and that no child of 12 or over shall be employed for more than two hours on Sunday. No child of ' 12 shall work more than one hour before 9 in the mom-- . ,lng on a school day, and if he works for an hour before school he shall be limited to one hour in the afternoon. CHILD STREET TRADERS. . d birth-certificat- , te ibye-law- bye-i.c- ut street-tradin- bye-law- -- bye-laws- -. bye-law- e. bye-law- s, .. There was an old hymn, learned by countless ch Idren two- generations ago, which made the in fent-Thank the Goodness and the Grace Which on my birth has --smiled, , And made me in till Christian land A happy English child. This gratitude in the middle of the last cen- re must Jlave been rather ironicaL The blackest rf Fnglands industrial crimes against children still nt on. The baby sweeps, boys and sometimes f "is, whom James Hanway found in 1760.elimbing from the age naked and tf 5, were in 1788 protected by an act of Pariia-Bic'which shows with' startling dearness bow cal- was the. public conscience of those days.- - It is landmark as being the first measure protecting send boys employed children; it forbade masters to minimum 8 made the on fire, np chimneys actually on Sundays-thethat ?e for "climbing boys, prescribed, and dressed should be washed and properly when nC to .working they public worship, and that ' should be properiy ' clothed, r "r" TJiey i Nor can any child of 12 do factory work un- - . questibr.d in Great Britain. The employer must have a medical certificate as to the real age, and as to the childs physical fitness, and the child must have passed- - an educational Test, -- In Great-Brita- in in the United the difficulty expeiJ-ncestates- - in obtaining seldom arises. Births have been strictly registered for three quarter.-, of a and parents can get a copy of the certificate for 12 cent'. When the child at the age We have the spectacle, at once liagic and ridiThese regulations will sweep away many iniquit culous, of the legislature spending, ninety years in of 14 becomes Itgalt a young person, the s eus and tie a considerable protection for must be renewed. There are other safeunsuccessful attempts to protect a few thou and s children in districts where no exist. They guards foriiidd.ng the carrying of heavy weights boys from the daily risk of being burned, suffohave been much more and the reasons might drastic, children. in motion by or cleaning of machinery cated, or crippled. mild are of interest to are why they comparatively When the new- education act comes into force, all Far more important as regards the numbers of citizens of other countries which are in process of 18&2 the In acts. mine, children affected were the factory factory nr workshop employment of children the employment of children outside facregulating apprentices act allowed children of 12 to work 12 under 14 will be swept away, and local authorities But before dealing with them, mention tories. till his it set the good example much lat may require a child's attendance-aT"scho6T'hours wday.-Bs be made of the g regulating his 16 he must 14 Between in and er followed in other countries of forbidding night fifteenth year. and other occupations dangerous to the health nr time and during ihcworttn; day at--' work at this age. Not till TTTTw aTTbi t vtTT tniplsyet-morality of children Rnd young persons- of eithef sex. vision extended to 1 1 years. America cannot throw tend continuaiion schools for not It's than 8 hours Street trading by chddreh was not effectively stones, for in the early years of this century little a week for 40 week.-,- . And seven years after Che act till the present century, and in 1897 it regulated force, th's lnstpuytion must be continued girls in Pennsylvania were doing night woik in comes-intwas found that more than 40,000 childfn ofjschool mills. In 1819 English cottin manufacture!'? Meto tilfYic age of 48. gy so much will his factory age were employed in street trading either fw cm- -' forbidden to employ children under 9, but boys and hours be reduced, w ithout' encroaching on Sundays, ( layers, for their parents, or on their own behalf. holidays of his girls continued to work underground in coal mines half Saturdays or the ! 1902 "the sys'rm was introduced whereby local till 1812, often doing the work of pit ponies. And trade. And this provision is without exception unauthorities issue licences for street trading and conless the boy or girl shall have received a whole act followed act, excluding children from dangertrol it by Unfortunately plying for ous trades until in 1901 no child under 12 could tie time education till the age of 16. Continuation or messages, was exhire, or carrying luggage schools between 16 and 18 then cease to be comemployed in any factory or workshop, and in 1911 The compressly exempted from the definition. no child under 14 in mines. pulsory for him. mittee on wage earning children failed to carry v Great Britain now knows where she stands and The movement to restrict hours went on conlegislation on the subject through Parliament in to employment of currently., Twelve hours was the legal maximum where she will stand with regard 1912 and 191.7. Consequently the ony conditions children in minFs, factories and workshops. These till 1844, with a working week of 69 hour1 for facs are that which governing the framing of laws are on a par with the American federal laws tories. After that 10 to 104 prevailed in both facfixes eleven as a minimum age for the street-tradtories and mines till 1901, 'but the working week and run from sea to sea. But when we come to and tiie limit (sometimes varied byr bye-laof 6 was reduced to a period of 34 to 60 hours, depend- .employment of children elsewhere what, is known a.m. and 9 p.m. as the legal limit of hours. ing on occupation. The reduction of adult work- - as general employment the case is very different. London has adopted 14 for boys and 16 for girls town or district has the power es the minimum age, but does not allow boys under ing hours in many occupations in this year 1919 Every considerable 16 to trade unless exempt from School attendance. makes these hours 'for children Beem cruelly long, of regulating this kind of employment by towns allow no tradmg after 8. many proSome so done and legislation will be called for without delay. But Those that have exercised the power have hibit ' employment, or allow it only for the Sunday it must be remembered that the 10 hour day was a m the most various ways; many localities have made sale of milk, many restrict the trading of girls uns. no Again, those that have exercised their less accompanied by their parents. Some insist on maximum, the normal working day being much have difficulty in enforcing regula- - proper clothing and proper times for meals. Some great shorter. powers Brnot for, it is difficult to require consent of the child' parents, ft-- rs gensurprising, hard- - ITibnsTThis Are these lawsT dead misdemeanour which is erally felt that much more careful regulation of this even a or crime hearted parents and employers still drive a coach Punish is needed, especially as prosecutions during act a few lawful hundred a yards traffic ar.d heystes through their, provisions? By no means.- - Unquestionably the war have been few owing to scareu'y of The new education act will apply to these Smce the act of 1833 provided home office inspec- - 8wa7- whole-- p now in children and to children in general to acts force as education The and innumerable prevent and factory mines tors far factories, they new the 12 and employment" childreiTlinder of time associations have and philanthropic1 employment rival (persons Why are the hours and conditions of child labor .oi the track of the illegal employers of child- - act will raise the age to 14- They also bar the not further regulated by the centra! government? At the present day the education authority ployment of school children during school hours, The chief reason is the ingrained dlsl.ke of Englishafter school, on Saturdays, to a limit-th- e men for. legislation Which is unlike'y Co be well adwith its school attendance officers is a dragon in j But before-anfronf'school 'ed extent on Sundays, and during school holidays,. ministered. It is obvious that thei is extreme path of the child who stays away in distinguishing ases of intermittent ' to work,' as of those who play truantfrora idle- children of school agi may be Employed if the local by children from cases of merely helping The framing of these byeso- permit s ness. There is no need to go to British sources to When in the family business of domestic work. learn this. The .Encyclopedia Americana says that laws is to a certain extent affected by the provi-i- n hycehiws have been made by a small community . for siens of the law with regard to cruelty to children- ,- its own governance, the, presumption is that priGreat Britain a knowledge of, the- conditionv i t ii seeing in vate, citizens will have a certain conseand that has always preceded legislation, Sunday trading and other matters. But bye-laAnd in observed. such bodies are that practice they child a of on has insisted enforcedo the being employed force. in fact permit qilently public opinion as the advisory committees for juvenile employment of the law. It points out that though in 1901 as a wage earner for as much as 11)4 hoars a day ment,' the association of workers with boys, Che libtbo minimum factory age in; Germany was 13 as on a school holiday, and 5 hours a day In addition eral Christian League, and organization society have done much to insure the enforcement s gainst Great Britains 12, yet' the Saxon mines "to a full days schooling, so long as this s, much more, 'probably than would have were full of children and children, of 5 or 6 were .meat is between the hours of 6 a. m. and 8 p. m. - of 18-1- i-- n over Ire 4l bye-law- . police-officers- em-re- n. -- wage-earnin- nt Eye-law- - - inti-res- y y bye-law- g 13 ami 14 Hare Been Cwtton Mills. .1 ' J ; r In "British. been accomplished if th regulation had been gen- erally compulsory. There is also a general disinclination to dls- courage temporary employment at school age which may lead to satisfactory permanent employment later," and a' recognition that the school. childs, leisure hours may he worse spent than in light work out of doors, and that his holidays if occupied to seasonal agricultural work' may be more bene-final to his health than if spent in loafing. Thera - the argument that the childs earnings' may be needed la supplement- - an insufficient family wag-an- d that they will probably be mainly spent on h: own food and clothing." t t - i" CONSCIENCE SATISFIED. The public is as a rule satisfied by the prohibition of uch undesirable occupations as tho--connected with the sale of intoxcating hquor, billiard marking, barbers Lathering, program selling in theaters, or hotel kitchen work. At this time particularly parents and children ahke will resent and evade any large interference in their right of wage earning, and where this is their attitude, in-- f ri ngemn t the law. are with difficulty brought home to employers. The arr has added to the difficulties of regulation. Boys of school age have con-eien- re e jf. bren from h.gh what referred w i:hout ' cmffiegteofmrcmptfcft' the education, authorify and have obtained wages. 'In some cases boys of 13 have earned was reckoned as a mans wage before the war. Boys of 16 who left school prematurely in 1914 - hn-- r- earned as much as $29 a week. These lads cannot now be .sent back to school. The ministry of reconstructions report on juvenile employment during the war and after remarks that a strain has been puf on the integrity of young person between the age of 14 and 18 which might "have corrupted the integrity of Washington and have undermined the energy of Samuel Smiles. These boy who have done mens work for shifts are no longer children. It is not desirable or possible to choose this moment when one generation has attained a kind of maturity and complete financial independence to retard the development of those are their junors by a year or so. We cannot do as we would while ftill staggering under the impact of a great calamity and there is little support for the partys suggestion that the school age should be at once raised to 16. But the government is doing a good deal. The school agg is raised to 14 and employment redricted as we have seen. Continuation school education is made general and compulsory, first to the age of 16 and afterwards to 18. Children and young people receiving unernp'nyroent, bemfif are. obliged during its leceipt to continue The government is providing thejr education. cla-e- s fo- girl clerks and m-ngers under 18 employed in government office'. Some local authorities are prepared to rnwe the g age to 17. There is no doubt that Great Britan is faced with a.very difficult period. She has to deal with thousands of yoilig- p p?e wlw.-- e education has beep cut short, wljo hive gamij no reil manual skill," who have acquired hib.- - expense e in relation to r.ny pruhab- - pcav.v'eimrg', who have had no parental d v tphne d'tr irg the important years after leaving school. In the ca-- r of girls there is tbo impossibility of their contnu ng war-tim- e work, which is the ony form of they know, chance of marriage and home and a much life. It ri too early to say what will become of the and gXt from II to 18 who f axe felt the worst t.ii n of ih. war. Much, will 1 done for. tty? ra, but that much will not b umugh to restore to them the yea-- s th i the locust has eaten. But the children' now at school mist see xha better Britain"' o vh'.-- Kirt; Gcoqge spoke when he opened Parlia-nwu- ti E. MARY GOODMAN. 7 Copxrjrht, 1919 by Edward MarshalL 6d-ho- ur , l - t ol - I 1 I i v-t school-leavin- I"'1 7 : -- ."ii i , - i. J fi ttl f r wage-earnin- I?.-.'- h it I |