Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/86

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
79
CHILD LABOUR—INDUSTRIAL WASTE

"Question. You believe it has an injurious effect?

" Answer. There is no doubt of it at all in my mind."[1]

The Secretary-Treasurer of the Boot and Shoe Makers' Union, testifying before the same commission, said:—"The introduction of child labor is quite a factor, sometimes displacing the head of the family. There was an instance in Marlboro where a man was receiving $2.00 a day; the firm turned him off and put in his own son at $1.00 at the same job."[2]

Many authorities, dealing with the economic side of child labor, lay special emphasis on this point, insisting that men must give place to children, when the latter are willing to work at a considerably lower figure.

There can be little question that the employment of children disemploys adults. Whether or no these adults ultimately find work in some new industry which springs up in response to the constantly increasing demands of civilization, is aside from the ques-

  1. Industrial Commission, vol. vii, p. 52.
  2. Ibid., p. 363.