Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/22

15 the child labor problem. On one mill hang two signboards,—

For years the signs have hung there, until they are old and worn, and meanwhile the manufacturer has secured and is still securing the merchandise which he desires. Every morning the children come trooping along the road and into the mill. Many of them answer well to the description of the sign. They are "small." While this mill is the exception, and while few advertisements for "Small girls" are seen, yet the low standard set by the "small girl" manufacturer must, in the competitive struggle, be accepted by other manufacturers; hence the "small" ones secure employment everywhere.

So, from many sides, the child labor problem is a problem. It is a problem to the child who works; to the home which sends its children into the mills; to the schools which fail to educate the working children; to the