Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/635

 SOME PHASES OF SWEATING SYSTEM IN CHICAGO 621

all of these requirements, and a violation of the first is seldom found. If children under age happen to be working, they are hidden away or sent on an errand if possible before the inspector enters. There are instances, indeed, where the child looks under age; but, if the parents have sworn that he is over fourteen, nothing can be done unless he is very much under size or is physically unfit to work. In such a case the inspector may require a physician's certificate that the child is able to work, but such a certificate may easily be bought from some unscru- pulous physician.

One open and actual violation of the law was found last winter among the Poles the first case, the inspector said, that he had come across in months. Little Jakubina thought she had an affidavit ; but it was only a statement from her priest that she had been confirmed a month or two before, when she was twelve years old. The child had a slightly pinched, worried face, but her utter inability to comprehend the value of an edu- cation was a more distressing feature of the case. She had a father, a brother, and two older sisters who were at work, so that there could have been no need for her leaving school to work. There were only eighteen such prosecutions in 1898, while before that year there had been two or three or four times as many.

It is less unusual to find children working without affidavits or with defective ones. In 1898 in all industries 932 children were found working without affidavits. One prosecution of him- self or of a neighboring contractor is usually sufficient to teach the lesson that the law must be obeyed. An employer now generally goes for his affidavits the moment the inspector enters the room. The provision has done something, too, toward making children more stable in their industrial life. It was at one time customary for children to go in flocks from one contractor to another ; but now, when the affidavit has been properly filed, an employer is loth to let his workers go.

The growth and development of the inspection and regula- tion of the garment trades is shown in the following table :