Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/337

 THE NECESSARY SEQUEL OF CHILD-LABOR LAWS 321

from the coarsest to the finest, and every variety of article from paper bags to umbrellas and cigarettes continue to labor for hours limited only by the extreme of physical endurance. Not until tenement work is totally prohibited will these workers be freed from the intolerable conditions of pauper employment in the home: unlimited hours, a bare minimum of pay, and the wreck of all the decencies of home life.

Prohibited trades. Certain industries have already been closed to women by law in the United States, but these prohibi- tions are few and sporadic, enacted in obedience to certain local interests rather than to any broad theories of fitness.

The employment of women in mines is forbidden in most of the states. The employment of women in bar-rooms, such as is customary in England, is contrary to public opinion in America, and consequently is prohibited by many states. Seven states have enacted laws against the employment of women in the trade of buffing and polishing metals, and several do not allow young girls to be engaged as public messengers. The elaborate regulations of -dangerous trades enacted in England and on the continent for both adults and children find no parallel in the United States. The injurious effects of employments involving the use of poisons, acids, gases, atmospheric extremes, or other dangerous processes,
 * Still await adequate investigation and legislation in this country.

Other trades. Of more immediate concern are the great numbers of women who, young and unorganized, so insufficiently guarded by the law, work at the ordinary industries. The census figures, confirming the statements of all careful observers, have borne witness to the rate at which this body of young wage- earners is increasing in different trades. It answers the demand for labor, not only in the vast number of factories and stores, but in many other fields of industry. The telegraph and telephone service a service which strains to the utmost the operator's nervous energy requires every year a larger number of em- ployees. In every state many young girls are employed in laun- xiries and bakeries, where the work is of a peculiarly tiring order, involving hours of standing, the lifting of heavy weights, and .the breathing of overheated or overhumid air. Many others are