Child labor seems also to be responsible for a surprisingly large proportion of juvenile delinquency. A superintendent of a boys' reformatory was asked what proportion of his boys were school boys and what working boys. His reply was that he could not answer, for the school boy was such a rare exception." A study of the first one hundred boys who were brought before the Chicago juvenile court in 1909 resulted in the discovery that only thirteen claimed to have never worked.10 In the Report on Conditions of Woman and Child Wage-earners in the United States, prepared under the direction of the United States Department of Labor, the same relation between employment and juvenile delinquency is pointed out. Among children from ten to fourteen years of age who were at work in Boston sixteen percent were delinquent, while among children of the same age at school the percentage was only one and one-half percent.'

11

Of all the forms of child labor, none is so injurious as that of the "street trades", which include "newspaper selling, peddling, bootblacking, messenger service, delivery service, running errands and the tending of market stands."'12 Curiously enough, these especially objectionable kinds of child labor have been accepted by the general public, because it has labored under the delusion that these little "merchants" of the street were receiving valuable training in business methods, and would later develop into leaders in the affairs of men. Consequently, one finds many States with excellent provisions for the protection of children, where there are no regulations of these street trades. Only recently has the control of these forms of child labor been energetically taken up even by those engaged in the campaign against the exploitation of children. Street trades "are not specifically

covered by the provisions of child labor laws except in the District of Columbia and the states of Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. ''13

The evil effects of street work upon children are threefold physical, moral, and material. Little more need be said as to the physical effect, except to call attention to the irregularity of habits and the exposure to the weather at all times of the day and year. Much more serious are the moral dangers to which they are exposed. The superintendent of the John Worthy School of Chicago asserts that "one-third of all the newsboys" who come to the school "have venereal diseases and that 10 per cent of the remaining newsboys at present in the Bridewell are, according to the physician's diagnosis, suffering from similar diseases." Furthermore, the newsboys who come to the school are on an average of one-third below the ordinary standard of physical development.1

14

A recent report for New York City shows that 80 out of 230 inmates of the school for truants were newsboys, while 60 percent had been street traders. Another institution, "full of Italians" (noted as street traders) gives a record of 469 or 80 percent out of 590 who have followed the street profession, and 295 or 50 percent had been newsboys selling over three months. Still another institution (the New York Juvenile Asylum) gives 31 percent of its inmates as newsboys; and 63 percent of those committed to it had been street traders, of whom 32 percent were newsboys. 15 Again, "street work leads to nothing else; the various occupations are so many industrial pitfalls, and the children who get into them must sooner or later struggle out and begin over again. They lack skill and perseverance, shun the monotony of a

permanent job, and as they grow older either follow itinerant and questionable trades or become ill-paid and inefficient casual laborers" 16

Of all the forms of street work the night messenger service is absolutely the worst and should be completely abolished as soon as possible. Night service is very different from the day work. The principal line of business is supplying relaxation or amusement to the general public of day workers. Two groups call for the services of night messengers: (1) business houses open at night, such as newspaper offices, hotels and hospitals; (2) public dance halls, houses of prostitution, gambling houses, Chinese restaurants, police stations, and disreputable hotels. So far as the first group is concerned the chief objection is to night labor for children and young persons. The objections to the second group are obvious. "These boys are thrown into associations of the lowest kind, night after night, and come to regard these evil conditions as normal phases of life. Usually the brightest boys on the night force become the favorites of the prostitutes; the women take a fancy to particular boys because of their personal attractiveness and show them many favors, so that the most promising boys in this work are the ones most liable to suffer complete moral degradation. ''17

The objection that it would not be possible to find a sufficient number of adult men who would be willing to serve as uniformed messengers is not confirmed by the facts of observation. Railroad conductors, motormen, hospital physicians, and others engaged in duties of a semi-public nature do not object to uniforms. Such objection would be based almost entirely upon the compensation. A monthly salary of twenty-five dollars,

supplemented by gratuities, would be insufficient: a service that can not pay its employees more should be reconstructed or abandoned. If it must be continued "cripples, elderly persons, industrial misfits and others beyond the probability of being tempted to wrong-doing, and to whom this meager wage would be a welcome alternative to their present occupation, can be substituted”. That such a course is the only solution is by no means certain. The postman performs a similar service and receives a reasonable wage. Perhaps, if the mail business had remained a private business our letters would be delivered by boys.18

IV

THE SOCIAL COST OF CHILD LABOR

CHILD labor affects family life in a marked manner because of the premature independence from parental control of the child wage-earner. This effect is peculiarly important in the families of immigrants where the parents are dependent upon the children for interpretation and other needs arising from inability to use the new language. An illustration of this effect of child labor is the girl near Hull House who was known to be getting into bad company. Her mother was seen and was found to be aware of the situation, but dared not interfere. When the girl was talked with, she said: "My ma can't say anything to me - I pay the rent."'19

Naturally, the number of accidents among children is greater than among adults. Hence the problem of dealing with the crippled and helpless is largely increased by child labor. No one can expect greater care upon the part of children than from adults, and it is a matter of common knowledge that in America we are reckless of human lives. Witness the high rate of accidents in our industries and upon our railroads. Legislation for compensation in cases of industrial accidents has made rapid progress in all of the States in recent years. Taking children under fourteen years of age out of industry would be the ounce of prevention that is worth the pound of cure.

Again, there is very little opportunity for training in much of the work performed by children. The Massa