Klamath Union High School - El Rodeo Yearbook (Klamath Falls, OR)

Page 31 text:

a 12in! bin I113 Mm. gradqirg DH M: urn- 2!: mm: W m a! hat nfcmq 8.13be q. 4... mums! IMJRIZ? prvcr'i .hp and mi; $. 25: T l 3 VVRm-adf-zr w59 us! uninitir H d rkh'xfm :11 53122:: It nmvrr': 1:3: It 31.5113: dri- rui arm- mm c -89! BL: MT! 32': '27; m - ts. gmqmu 115232! .9 w.ht'fl:at otuzwii re'.09.t9t' p.57: WKI'J tr, wme-i' v.3 .54! 't '4 I I Q? :25 :1. ,QIL .5f'g ll ' k I wig: 5. il 2!? uz'f 9.x. m nffj'jf. ' I 19w nut cu vigil Wu? 5. HM! thin I...'? 1;' Jr' I ' n i l g a H aims - xu JAMS ., l a .19: mai 5'. Q, hu 5 .Mr . I :2! i I ' ft I'M A f KLAMATH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL BOOMER. 21 surely as if they were addicted to the worst use of the narcotic; in coal mines, where the light of day rarely penetrates and suffo- cating gasses fill the air; in box factories, Where little girls become bent and misshapen from constantly bending over the tiresome work, and numberless other occupations. They are not without restraint in these labors. Unfeeling overseers are set over them, even as in the Southland slavery. In one case where a visitor to a large glass factory asked the foreman why a high barbed wire fence was erected around the grounds, he naively replied: HOh, that is to prevent the young ones from cutting and leaving. In some factories the doors are locked till the long, exhausting hours are done. Just a degree removed from the ball and chain system of the black slaves. During the joyous holiday seasons when the more fortunate children of moderate circumstances or of wealth are enjoying their beautiful toys and delicious confections the children in factories - are working over time to fill the demand for these delights of childhood. Christmas, that season of the year which belongs essentially to the children, is looked forward to with dread by these little workers, for they know nothing of the pleasures of that time. Only the exhausting labor is their share. What wonder, then, that they are degenerating? Selfishness, or desire for cheap labor, has always been the motive for slavery. Child labor, or child slavery, is a direct result of this, and began when our great factory owners were forced by competi- tion to seek cheaper labor and thus derive larger profits. To se- cure these they were willing to see happy, healthful children be- come pale, emaciated, dwarfed in mind and body. They saw that in the poverty-stricken districts children in large numbers could be secured for a pitiably small wage and would endure long and unjust hours uncomplainingly. And so we have them, little, helpless Vic- tims of manls cupidity. Not only are they degenerating physically in an alarming degree, but also morally. When their long hours are done, they are very often too tired to walk the wearisome distance home, so they seek the nearest place of shelter, which is most frequently a saloon. Here they pick up every vice and live in an atmosphere of moral

Page 30 text:

i ii i g r! l 20 KLAMATH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL BOOMER. Child Labor. EBY LUE LEONARD, i011 Before civilization had developed to any marked degree man was absolute master in his own family and his powers were unlimited. ' His children were under his complete control and he could sell' them into slavery or even take their lives With perfect impunity. However, this state of affairs gradually gave way to one of a more temperate character where the parent was compelled to recognize the individual rights of his offspring and to moderate his treatment accordingly. Mental development and a state of moral improvement followed. Our present day and race is a direct a result of this refining and broadening. All over the world we Americms are recognized for our high ideals of religious and political liberty, our wealth and prosperity and for our personal freedom. Oar educational systems are being perfected, our literature has developed till we no longer need to take the old countries for models and strive to attain to theirs eminence. Our inventions are used all over the world and the word itAmerican is synonymous with progress and enterprise. Slavery, the one blot on our otherwise stainless history, was wiped out in blood and by the emanancipation proclamation. To the unthinking or the uninitiated our country seems free from any form of this evil; But is slavery abolished? If so, how can we account for the ignoring and willfully breaking of one of the most sacred tenets of our Nation by the great corporations of the East? J In Pennsylvania and other eastern states where great factories are daily supplying the demands of not only our OWn country but of all the world, are thousands of helpless children who, 'forced by necessity or parental authority, are chained to a work worse than the slavery of the Southland. The dawn of the 20th century reveals these children toiling in glass factories, Where the unnatural heat and glass particles blast their growth; in cigar factories, Where the deadly nicotine saturates their systems as ' h Jami ?' i'q f! , w I 1! PM ! .a hm 3 ' u: 0 4M1 JV t gu' W man u an 1'. W' .+wnod WWum ., H U. m rung! N9' C !' i. u ,0; :5 uiafg m w m... .', a w M tam. mum . i'mv'ill , ' . eh. M;j' k l Mitt Mb; 3. an ' tWi injgy

Page 32 text:

22 . KLAMATH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL BOOMER. corruptness. School is out of the question, and there is no hope; nay, no ambition for escape into a purer environment. What good 'do our educational systems do them? If the saying, tithe boy is the father of the manfi is true, what manner of men can we hope for in the future from such factors. Girls who should be trained to become the home makers of our country are becoming stinted morally and physically in the struggle for mere existence. Their,s is the more pitiable lot, for they are the weaker members of this system. We hear the argument that there are laws preventing the very young children from working, and unjust conditions of labor being imposed upon them. So there are; but flagrantly broken and dis- regarded. Parents swear to untrue statements regarding the childis age, and the employer is only too glad to overlook this and take the child into his factory. ' The younger children are in greater demand, for they are the more easily imposed upon. In- human demands upon their time and strength meet with no re- , sistance, and they never riot or organize strikes. Easily intimi- dated, they never ask for concessions, but gratefully take their pittance at the end of the week. The death rate of these children is appalling. The work in many cases is most dangerous. The unnatural labor saps their vitality, and close confinement weakens their systems and makes them an easy prey of tuberculosis. Over twenty per cent give up the struggle before they reach the age of sixteen. Who can say but that hopelessness plays its part in the early taking off of these un- fortunates. What a criminal loss of human life that a few greedy millionaires might live in every luxury. - And what is to be the end? Bereft of the protection of parents who should prevent this outrage and who through necessity or mere criminal indifference allow their children to lead this exist- ence, and preyed upon by the heartless money seekers who devised this barbarous system, they are entirely helpless. Unless the public in general and the law-makers of this land 0f ours take the matter up and improve their condition, their case is hopeless in- deed. You parents Who have loved little ones of your own, compare.