Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/507

 THE ILLINOIS CLILD-LABOR LA W 493

Board of Education only to children seeking work in places other than factories and workshops. But the children, and employers too, were confused by the varying requirements ; and we fre- quently found children equipped with these permits working in garment and cigar shops, under the legal age for such employ- ment. The abolition of the permit system marks a long step forward in the care of working children in Illinois.

No law-abiding employer now sets at work a boy or girl under the age of fourteen years ; nor one under sixteen years, unless there has first been filed in the office of the establish- ment an affidavit, made by the parent or guardian, stating the name, date, and place of birth of the child. At the time of the hiring there must also be made an entry in a register kept for the purpose, showing the name, address, and age of the child ; and these items must be entered upon a wall-list posted con- spicuously in the room in which the child is employed. The legal notarial fee for a simple affidavit is a quarter of a dollar ; but affidavits are furnished free of charge by clerks in the inspector's office in Chicago for all children applying there, accompanied by a parent who testifies that the child is fourteen years of age, or older, stating the month, day, and year, and birth- place.

Since the inspectors are not required by law to furnish these free affidavits, we made the rule that none should be made for any child under the average weight of the normal school child of fourteen years of age, which is eighty pounds. We required, also, that children should be able to read and write simple sen- tences in the English language, although the law makes neither of these requirements. We were driven to take these precau- tions because the office is in the midst of the poorest immigrant colonies in the city ; and children were brought to us who seemed to be not more than ten years of age, yet whose parents were ready to swear to whatever might be necessary in order to obtain the affidavit. We hope that in the course of a few years the law may require for all the children the same minimal weight and educational acquirement which we demanded of those for