"I started to work at seven" argument to prevent the enactment of child labor legislation, but a careful review of the facts in the case shows that these men "started to work at seven" as helpers on a farm or in a country store, where all-round educational work was the daily routine. The owner of the farm or store was a friend of the family, and "wanted to see Jim's kid get a good start." From first to last there was a close personal contact between the "boss" and the boy. From work on such a basis, it is a long and fatal step to work in a modern factory or mill, or store, where all is minute subdivision of tasks and of responsibility.
The boy who went to work on a farm or in a country store, "learned the business" early because the head of the business had a keen interest in his success, and kept close watch of every stage in his progress. He was given the best chance that there was to succeed. At all times he was under the watchful eye of "the firm." Under modern industrial conditions the boy starting to work has little more chance of "learning the busi-
