THE SOLUTION OF THE
CHILD LABOR PROBLEM
BY
SCOTT NEARING, Ph.D.
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Author of "Social Adjustment"
Formerly Secretary Pennsylvania Child Labor Committee
NEW YORK
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
1911
Copyright, 1911, by
SCOTT NEARING
All Rights Reserved
Published, February, 1911
THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS
RAMWAY, N. Y.
FOREWORD
So long as there are immature human beings struggling in the industrial arena, there will be a Child Labor Problem.
The existence of the problem is scarcely questioned,—its causes and the proper remedies for it are alone in doubt.
The writer acted for two years as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Child Labor Committee, and during that time strove earnestly for prohibitory legislation. Subsequent consideration has led to a material change of attitude, which this paper is written to present.
The Child Labor Problem will never be satisfactorily solved by excluding children from the factory, because the two primary forces which are sending children to work,—family necessity and an uncongenial school system,—are in no measure altered by such an exclusion.
The axe must be laid at the root of the tree. Child Labor must be eliminated by eliminating the causes which send children to work.
| Scott Nearing. |
| University of Pennsylvania, |
| December, 1910. |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Chapter I THE CHILD LABOR PROBLEM | ||
| PAGE | ||
| i. | What is the Child Labor Problem?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
3 |
| ii. | Maturity and Not Age the Real Test
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
6 |
| iii. | Aspects of the Problem
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
12 |
| iv. | The Extent of Child Labor
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16 |
| v. | The Child as a National Asset
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22 |
| Chapter II CHILD LABOR AND THE CHILD | ||
| i. | The Body and Work
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25 |
| ii. | Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
28 |
| iii. | The Intellect and Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
34 |
| iv. | Morality and Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
38 |
| v. | Morality and Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
41 |
| Chapter III THE SOCIAL COST OF CHILD LABOR | ||
| i. | Child Labor and Social Ideals
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47 |
| ii. | Child Labor and Family Life
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51 |
| iii. | Child Labor and Taxes
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62 |
| Chapter IV CHILD LABOUR—AN INDUSTRIAL WASTE
| ||
| i. | The Newer View of Industry
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70 |
| ii. | The Industrial Inefficiency of Child Labor
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
74 |
| iii. | The Cost to Industry
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
77 |
| Chapter V THE CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR | ||
| i. | The Discussion of Causes
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83 |
| ii. | Industrial Evolution
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84 |
| iii. | Greed as a Cause of Child Labor
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89 |
| iv. | Necessity and Child Labor
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97 |
| v. | Ignorance and Indifference as Causes of Child Labor
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106 |
| vi. | The Why of Child Labor
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
112 |
| Chapter VI A PROGRAMME FOR CHILD LABOR REFORM | ||
| i. | The Campaign for Negative Legislation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
126 |
| ii. | The Problem in Brief
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130 |
| iii. | The Programme
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144 |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1983, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 40 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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