Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/137

130 "Thou shalt." In that lies its chief defect. The law forbids the child to work, without furnishing any adequate substitute for the work. It deprives the child of one opportunity, but puts no other in its place.

Briefly summarized, the facts are these: The manufacturer does not need the child. The work of the children can be done with equal if not greater cheapness and efficiency by mechanical devices or by adults. The child does need a school training that will fit him to participate efficiently in some form of life activity. A great number of parents need the earnings of their children. They would not starve to death without them, but they would be deprived of a part of the food and shelter necessary to maintain bodily vigor. Society needs the child, developed eventually into an efficient worker, a good citizen, and a thinking, social being. How can this desired end be attained? What steps are necessary,—