The Enforcement of Child Labor Laws

• Author: E.N. Clopper
• Published date: 01 January 1916
• Date: 01 January 1916
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271621606300125
• Subject Matter: Articles

272

THE

ENFORCEMENT

OF

CHILD

LABOR

LAWS

BY

E.

N.

CLOPPER,

PH.D.,

Secretary

for

Northern

States,

National

Child

Labor

Committee,

New

York

City.

The

National

Child

Labor

Committee

has

renewed

its

cam-

paign

in

behalf

of

the

federal

child

labor

bill,

which

will

go

before

the

sixty-fifth

Congress

enjoying

the

prestige

of

its

overwhelming

endorsement

by

the

last

House.

It

provides

four

standards

already

quite

generally

recognized

by

the

individual

states:

(1)

an

age

limit

of

fourteen

years

for

employment

in

mills,

canneries,

workshops

and

factories;

(2)

a

minimum

work

day

of

eight

hours

for

children

between

fourteen

and

sixteen

in

such

establishments;

(3)

the

prohibition

of

work

at

night

in

such

places

on

the

part

of

children

between

these

ages;

and

(4)

an

age

limit

of

sixteen

years

for

employment

in

mines

and

quarries.

The

power

of

Congress

to

regulate

commerce

among

the

states

is

invoked

with

the

object

of

imposing

these

standards

upon

manufacturers

and

mine

oper-

ators

who

ship

their

products

from

state

to

state-a

provision

vir-

tually

all-inclusive.

For

those

who

refuse

to

meet

these

require-

ments,

suitable

penalties

in

the

form

of

fines

or

imprisonment

are

provided.

At

present

twenty-seven

of

the

states

have

the

first

standard

already

written

in

their

laws

without

weakening

exemptions,

while

seventeen

others

have

adopted

it

in

principle

but

permit

a

lower

standard

under

certain

conditions.

Eighteen

states

rigidly

require

the

second

standard,

while

four

others

make

exceptions.

The

third

standard

is

widely

recognized,

as

no

fewer

than

thirty-

three

states

insist

upon

this

elementary

provision

for

the

protection

of

working

children,

and

five

others

have

adopted

it

with

ex-

emptions.

The

fourth

standard

affects

only

those

states

with

mining

or

quarrying

industries,

and

has

been

incorporated

in

the

laws

of

twenty-two,

three

of

these,

however,

authorizing

departures

from

its

observance.

Hence

it

is

clear

that

the

federal

bill

does

not

seek

to

force

new

and

untried

restrictions

upon

the

employers

of

the

country,

but,

on

the

contrary,

is

intended

simply

to

establish

firmly

and

apply