Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/26

 which is greatly strengthened by a glance at the following quotation from Dr. Edward T. Devine:

"On Wednesday night of this week, I happened to sit at dinner by the side of a gentleman who lives in Brooklyn, and raises cotton in the Panhandle of Texas.… I asked him how early the children began to work, and he said without hesitation, 'at six and younger.' 'I recall,' he said, 'one boy of six who earned fifty cents a day the season through.' He had described the way the bag is slung about the neck and dragged on the ground behind so that the picker may use both hands.

"I inquired how big a boy had to be before he was strong enough to drag one of these bags, and he said, 'Well, you see we made the bag to fit the child.' I then inquired about the schools.… His answer was, 'It is a pretty rough country. School is kept during the months where there is nothing to do in the fields.… I admit,' said he, 'that is not ideal, but there is a saying down there that ignorance and cotton go together.'

"Finally, I asked him, 'And what is the effect of cotton picking throughout the season on the health and strength and growth of the children?' A thoughtful look came into his face (I honestly believe he had never thought about it before), and he said, 'Of course, it destroys their vitality.'"

Thus far to a limited extent, but nevertheless surely, farm labor and domestic service are ceasing to have their old significant