Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 266, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1918 — Page 2

State Laws Needed to Correct Criminal Abuse of Child Labor

infringes upon the rights of the states in regulating their matters according to their own views, and is a matter in which the federal government “ , --7~ has no concern. The Supreme court has declared this act in regard to child labor as unconstitutional, as I stated at the time would be the fate of this congressional act It is not for me here to criticize the Supreme court for its decision, but the people, in whom the sovereign power rests, overruled the Dred Scott decision, and three amendments were made to the Constitution, settling forever in the United States the question of slavery. Instead of passing an act of congress subject to being set aside by the Supreme court, congress should havtf passed a joint resolution, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, giving full authority to congress to regulate child labor in all the states of the Union, and to protect, in the most efficient manner the health and development of children and prevent their detrimental employment. A constituent law is above an act of congress, and also supersedes a Supreme court decision. It is really the verdict of the people on a disputed question, and can be .decided by a vote of the individual states on an amendment to the Constitution. Class or bourgeois legislation hereafter will be unpopular in the United States. The young men of our country are risking their lives for the cause of democracy, equal rights and liberty. They will not stand for the enslavement of the children of the republic in the future. They will gay with a loud voice: “It is not equal rights to destroy the lives of thougands of helpless children so that the child of a millionaire can roll in wealth and idleness.” This is no less a crime in the republic of the United States than it is a crime in Bussia or Germany. The state should not only provide means to protect children and educate them, but it should also see to it, through proper commissions, that unprotected ahildren are fed, clothed and guarded until qualified to perform some remunerative occupation. It is stated “two million children who should be at school and at plav are compelled to work in canneries, mines and factories; two hundred and fifty thousand are being starved or their vitality is being lowered by the adulteration Of foods. There are more inmates of our iqsane asylums than all our colleges and universities—that is, we are destroying minds faster than we are giving higher education. “In New York we have twenty thousand defective children, largely

the direct result of the overwork and overstrain to which their mothers we subjected in factories. Conditions are worse here than in any other country in the world” It is clearly the duty of the state to guard and nourish such human life in its immaturity and helplessness, when found unprotected and liable to injury. The state should provide the means not only to educate but, if it is necessary, to feed, clothe and house these children until they are fully qualified to perform some remunerative occupation, if no other means can be provided. Substantial aid undoubtedly would be furnished also by charitable and church institutions.

Peace Day Methods of Conserving Resources and Eliminating Waste.

By S. W. STRAUSS.

It must be assumed that after the war thrift will be just as necessary as it is now. It is not too early at this time to begin planning for our peace day methods of conserving resources and eliminating waste. We might to advantage adopt some of the methods that were utilized by the Belgians before the days of the German invasion. Generally speaking/ Belgium in her happy prewar days was a nation of independents—a country in which pauperism was unknown. Everybody practiced thrift. The government had popular devices not unlike our present War Savings stamps, and, in fact, there was provision even for saving the pennies and investing them with the government. The post offices, the government savings banks and the branches of the government national bank all received deposits as low as one franc. When deposits were made in small amounts the received an adhesive stamp similar to our thrift stamp. These were posted in a book, which was given an official number and delivered to the owner without expense. This book contained the record of all transactions, with the depositor, including the addition of the interest, which was computed annually. Correspondence concerning these transactions was carried through mails without charge. In order to encourage school children and the very poor, postage stamps could be purchased and used as savings stamps. All letter carriers were provided with an equipment of stationery and stamps to supply those who wished to make these little investments. Another form of practical thrift fostered by the Belgian government was the life annuity* which could be contracted for at any place where government savings were accepted, and at the offices of the tax collectors as well. By this system payments varying from one to twelve hundred francs could be paid. When the person ip whose favor the annuity was issued became fifty years old he began participating in the disbursements and received a sum at the end of each completed year thereafter. Special attention was given to teaching thrift to the children of Belgium, for it was recognized that only in this way would the ijaiibn remain thrifty. As the result the Belgians were a happy apd prosperous nation notwithstanding their exceedingly overcrowded domain and their powerful conpnercial competitors. And when the hour of their great sorrow came they stood like a nation of steel before the invading hosts. Overwhelming physical power alone crushed them. But the spirit of the Belgian nation never has been broken, for in their thrifty lives they learned the lessons of fortitude. Some day, am long, the thrifty.,Belgians will again sing in the land of thgjr fathers.

By BARTOW A.

“The passage of the Keeting-Owen federal child labor law waa not an easy fight .1 introduced the bill on the opening day of the Sixty-third congress. A score of cooks had a finger in the pie—Miss Jane Addams, Felix Adler, former Congressman A. Mitchell Palmer and many other prominent persons. The president urged its passage, as did Miss Julia C. Isithrop, head of the child department, bureau of labor, Washington,” •aid Representative Edward Keeting. A lobby was formed to oppose it.-Hoke Smith said: “Why do I oppose the bill ? I oppose it because it

President of American Society of Thrift

ULJUCH, of Chicago

THE EVENJNO REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, mV.

HOURS FOR SLEEP

Bed Should Surely Claim OneThird of Person's Use. " Not Much Difference as to What Particular Portion of the Night la Devoted to Blumber, but Grab Off Enough. For a long time and in the majority of places in this country It has been the habit to stay up late at night, and in soiqe places the early morning hours have not been given much attention. Of course this refers principally to the larger towns and cities, and while there would of necessity be some people getting to work at seven o’clock the average man or woman coining along at eight or even later would find things still in the cleaning-up and opening-up stage. Sunrise, on the mountains of at sea or in the rural districts, is an event worthy of attention and well rewards the early riser with its beauty add significance, but the early riser in the town or city has usually found everything untidy and must step over ash cans and dodge the sweepers and be satisfied with the sleepy grunts of workmen who are getting tilings into shape for the business of the day. It is anything but picturesque and Is most unattractive.

Whoever it was who discovered sleep decided that at least one-third of a person’s life was properly spent Iq bed, and therefore, when the crowd stops up until midnight, it is healthy and wise to remain under cover, or anway on the pillows, until eight o’clock. The dancer or card-player (certainly we mean bridge and other perfectly proper games), lingering for the last onestep or the final hand, until one o’clock, should not be disturbed until nine. And so on, according to the accepted plan of health and happiness. But taking the other side of the argument—or rattier, reversing the program—let the average person retire at ten o’clock and rise at six.

Probably a%hole lot, of people will grumble at the schedule suggested, and we don’t pretend to say that It must be done. W® bftven’t been appointed sleep yet, nor yet given the right to up at a certain hour. A gresthdeal has been done, however, in ycijr that tends to a more reasonably sleeping and waking scheme. Through the winter and early spring two nights; each week were allied limited lighting only. This was calculated to send the people home earlier than usual, and served to keep some folks at home after dinner or supper, according to the designation of the evening meal. A great amount of fuel was saved, according to report, and up to date no damage has- been reported to business, society or individuals. , The stores are closing early and the tendency seem to be for an early retirement generally. In Miami they are trying out a curse it Isn’t a real curfew. It only refers to young folks under a certain age, and it won’t amount to a great deal. The English, understand that sauce should be provided of suitable strength for both the gander and the goose, and. in England the curfew law closes all places of amusement and all business enterprises at a certain reasonable time. Parents are expected to take care of their young daughters and sons and themselves. The theaters and concert halls, restaurants and danee halls and recreation enterprises generally plan their programs to begin early and end in time for their patrons to get home considerably before midnight. There is no penalty for rising early in London or elsewhere, and the population, now very generally retiring about v ten o’clock, is likely 90 per cent up at 6 a. m. A very large per cent is certainly up at five o’clock and many at four, and some earlier.

The eight hours mentioned is not a rigid rule of health or really beneficial to everybody. That it is enough for 90 per cent of the population of this country Is certain, and thousands and thousands can live happily, beautifully and profitably with a smaller average of sleep. A few really need more than eight hours. Thomas A, Edison has been quoted as saying that four hours’ sleep was sufficient —for him. Perhaps he said it, and possibly that is enough for some men at some period of their lives. The great big majority need more than four hdurs, and also cai* do very well with eight. It is then evident that by going to bed as early as ten o’clock and rising at six the worker will have a whole lot of morning time —tSe*! best always for work or pleasure or both.

Slippers Made From Hats.

Now it happened, over there, that, though army hats were plentiful enough, hospital bedroom slippers were very, very scarce. It took a long leap of salvage Ingenuity to take apparel from the head of a man and put It on his feet But that Is what the army did. With dies it cut the brims of the old army hat which was then usually on the road to ruin, into shape of the human foot stitched two layers together, stitched them back and forth, aa is done with Japanese slippers, turned the fragments Into heels, turned the crown Into tips, nsed bits of uniform for the uppers and sent off to the Bed Cross a prodigious supply of bedroom slippers.—Donald Wilhelm in Harper’s Magazine.

Roiling a Plane.

To “roll” an airplane is to torn it over sideways while flying. The pilot continues rolling until the machine is flying level again. The stunt is ptfte* tically a sidewise loop.

WORSE THAN WAR'S HORRORS

Among Aetlve Aids of Recruiting Sergeant May Surely Be Classed the >, Nagging Woman. He was. khaki-clad, with the “U. S, R.”on his collar, and as he clambered aboard the interurban car he swung in his free hand a small traveling bag that appeared to be empty. Preceding him was the other member of the family, all fussed up In her tailored regalia, bound for a town a few miles distant, while the husband’s destination was Detroit. Once inside, he tossed the traveling bag on a vacant rack at the forward end of the car and seated himself faclhg his better-half. Then the car lurched around a curve anti the bag, slipping from the rack, deposited Itself on the woman’s hat and bouncedoff to the floor. “My heavens!” was her startled exclamation, then when she discovered the trouble: “That was a very careless thing to do."

The man gathered up the bag, with profuse apologies and placed it back of his feet, where it could do no further harm. “You don’t know how that hurt,” came the complaint, although the crown of the hat was not eyen dented. “Supposing it had been filled with a lot of yonr truck,” she went on. No response from her vis-a-vis. "You should never put anything like that up there,” was the next bit of shrapnel, in tones loud enough to be heard the length of the car. “It must have been the metal strip on the bag that struck me. “It was n very careless thing for you to d<v “You might have known that it would fall off there. “I’ll probably have a headache all the day that will spoil my trip. "When anything like that comes down on you it unnerves you, I can tell you.” Her vis-a-vis only smiled amiably, and getting no satisfaction from that quarter she turned to her seatmate, who was trying to hide his annoyed expression behind a weekly war digest. “Did that bag hurt you when it fell?” she inquired, although it had missed him by at least a foot. “Not at all,” was the reply; without looking up. “It never touche*! me.” "It was an awfully careless thing to do,” she rattled on, “and —•” “Good night,” ejaculated a man across the aisle, who had tried In vain to read the news from the front in his morning paper. And as he stalked toward the solitude of the back platform he was heard to mutter: wonder 'some men enlist so they can get away from home.”

Conservation Under Fire.

I know of nothing more strange than the usual conversations in which one Indulges at the front in the heat of battle. Recently I was racing down a road to get out from under heavy shell fire, falling on my face every five or ten yards as a whistling scream announced a fresh arrival. A panting lieutenant caught step with me. “Do you know So-and-So?” he gasped, “l'es,” I replied as a shell whirred down out of the sky and we both fell flat on our faces. “Where is he now?” he continued as the sound of the explosion died away and We rose, running together. “I think he’s in Paris,” I an-, swered, and even as I spoke rolled flat with him in a muddy ditch as another shell screamed down and broke nearby. And thus we continued our way for several hundred yards, discussing our friend and his characteristics between dives into the mud. —William. Slavens McNutt, in-Colller’s Weekly.

Animals Die on Substitutes.

Animals in the zoo in Berlin have died' in large numbers recently, principally because the substitutes which they have been given instead of their accustomed food could not be digested sufficiently to sustain life. Among the species in which the mortality has been greatest are the giraffes, mandrills and chimpanzees. The health of the surviving animals is not good. According to Hamlyn’s Menagerie magazine, published in London, the Berlin Zoological society declared that while dates and bananas and other tropical fruits were unprocurable, the apes were fed on a kind of biscuit made of musty flour. The carnivota manage to live on scraps from the slaughter houses, but the animals requiring grain and seeds are not thriving well on the wild roots given them as substitutes.

Identification Tag.

There has been a good deal of unfavorable comment in the navy on the prescribed method of wearing the Identification tag on account of the behavior of the woven jwire necklace, which rides up on the neck and inconveniences the wearer in various ways. These features have been overcome at the naval training station, San Francisco, by lengthening the wire so as to permit of Its being worn bandolier fashion from above the left shoulder to below the right arm, the tag hanging a few inches below the apex of the right axilla. In this way the wire does not rid® up nor Interfere with the movements of the body.—Army and Navy Register.

Too Dark for a Picture.

A young French lieutenant,, on special instruction duty In this country, went to visit one of the universities and was taking some pictures when a colored soldier from tfce camp nearby passed directly In front of him. He looked up and to his companion smilingly remarked: “I wIU wait till M clouds roll by.” ■ v * »

TALES FROM BIG CITIES

Finds a Five Hundred Dollar Ring in a Giant Codfish _ SAN FRANClSCO.—Seafaring'men, friends of H. C. Daily, a fisherman who , has just returned from Bering sea, contend along the waterfront-here that Dailv is entitled to a medal with a palm or two on it, and for-two reasons.

i/uuj ao ruuucu w « »» r Either he is the luckiest man that ever went fishing, or he is. the biggest fishing trip Ananias in or out of captivity. But let Daily tell his own story. “See this ring?” he asked the other day of a small group of friends, at the same time exhibiting a solitaire diamond in platinum setting that had evidently been worn by a woman, and which was inscribed “From C. to JF.” upon the inside. “It’s a daisy, isn’t It?” was Daily’s next question, which he answered him-

self by saying: “It sure is, and ril tell ye how .1 got It. I was up in the Bering sea cleaning codfish at the rate of three a minute and paying no particular attention to anything else, when suddenly I picked up the biggest codfish I’d ever seen in me lifetime. He was a beauty, too. Fat? The fattest I’d ever handled. 1 “All right, mates. I plumped by knife into him and was Just about to pass him along when something shiny in his ’inards’ caught my eye. It was this ring. Yes, sir; this same sparkler that I’m a-sbowin’ you. “Now, lads; how’d that ring get in that fish’s'stomach? Whose ring is it, or whose was it, anyway? I’m willing to return the ring to the owner, but ownership must be satisfactorily established, as the stone alone is worth SSOO, a Jeweler tells me. Yes, sir, 500 beans—slmoleons—piasters. “I’m going to look up a brainy newspaper feller—if there are any brainy ones left, now that the smart guys are all at the front or getting ready to go there—and have him write a story about it, and mebbe Fll get a nice reward, antray, if the owner Is found.” *

Akron Deaf-Mute’s Experience in an Army Camp AKRON, OHIO.—One of the most interesting army experiences that has come from any training camp Is the one that has Just been reported of Hinton Wilson, a rubber worker employed by a local tire company, who for a month

became incensed at my inability to answer , their questions, and unceremoniously hauled me before the examining surgeon. I was pronounced physically sound and the next morning was hustled off to camp, where the boys, taking their cue from the officers, regarded me as a contemptible slacker. “Fortunately a deaf brother of one of the boys paid a visit to the camp* and, after talking with me in sign language, assured my comrade? that I was deaf. Their attitude toward me immediatley changed and they treated me royally thereafter, doing everything possible to make things pleasant for me. “They waked me at reveille and usually connived to get me In the second rank at drills, so that my mistakes would not be so readily observed by the officer, and that I might have the advantage of imitating the‘movement of the £nen In the front ftmk. But occasionally I landed In the front rank, and I suppose I am fortunate that I could not hear the bawlings out I received from Z3cer “hVn-I marched blithely forward while the rest of the company executed a ‘right about face.’”

“Ernie, the Bug Shooter,” Now Eleven-Year-Old Thug tr ANSAS CITY. —The glare of the arc light at Twelfth and Charlotte streets,, Kt four years ago disclosed a small ho, seated on the curbing. His Chubb, tets his Ungers tugging at the trigger. The offlcers heard .

u»i!s gi aopcu u * V » w* » V. , o —- childish cry “Up hands— beetles! The boy smiled as a patrolman jerked him to his feet. Ernest Hardwick, seven years old, living at 620 East Twelfth street, with his “mamma and step-papa,” said he “wanted to be a hold-up mans.” Since then the boy has been known as “Ernie, the Bug Shooter.” In 1914 he stole a coat belonging to a woman neighbor. In 1915 Ernest was paroled from the McCune Home. Then inmost was arrested for steal-

box of candy. A month later he took three packages of tea from a grocer. And In another month he robbed a creamery company of several butter packages. His parole was revoked, but be escaped from the home. Ernest pleaded guilty the other day to and a cigar store. He was assisted by two other boys, Paul B. Buck, nine i j loiß Locust street, and James Swearingen, nine years old, 4342 pISTVP war Tonne" In the hack yard of 816 Locust street the Judge. •T,e got mow eenee thaf the. Send me to Jail. Judge, but don't be hard, on Jimmie and Pa jui? C SoSttcri o eenteu‘ild Bmdet to the, McCune Homo for four yearn. ,im "E™e”l' a^d W Mra P °sll&er““udh and i want to thank you ” “Gwan,” said “Ernie.”

Milwaukee Has Young-Amateur Probation Officer MILWAUKEE.— To be a probation officer one should lonst that was the Information revealed In Judge Karels juvenile conn -J3SL2? fourteen year, 018. faced the tribunal on a charge of

property holders’ rights, the amateur sleuth and probation offlcer. waa leaning against a post with his bicycle by his side. When Billy sauntered down, the Street, Jimmie rode after him. " „ T "My father’s a detective,” Jimmie said when he reached Billy. 1 _ saw you breaking those blocks. You must either go ttfth me to the detention home Ol ßut Billy was in fear of the detention home, so choosing the lesser of two evils he decided to take the “licking." He was to meet Jimmie the next day to receive his punishment At the appointed time Billy was there and ac* companled Jimmie to Washington park, where In a clump of bushes he felt 016 He'wa^fthen made to report with his reader. This time he was taken to a nond on the West side where,, after removing his clothes, he sat, according to orders, and read to Jimmie. However, his reading was not quite hip to scratch ” Jimmie said, and as a result Billy was tied to a tree and left alone. He was found by a schoolteacher and a complaint was filed against Jimmie. Jimmie was released on probation after he promised to behave and not take it upon himself to inflict punishment on younger boy*. /

was detained at Camp Shuman, suspected of shamming deafness to avoid conscription. Wilson Is one of about 500 deaf- 1 rhutes doing their bit in a factory, working on war materials that are helping to equip our armies in France. “I was registered in Atlanta,” Wilson said after his release, using sign language, “but requested a transfer where I was working. One night I found a squad of husky khaki-clad lads awaiting' my return from work, who

“a little too much authority.” It was charged he had punished Billy, ft ten* year-old boy. However, had Jimmie not repeated the process of punishing Billy the case might never have been brought to light While playing near North avenue and Fortieth street Billy spied a pile of cement blocks and not seeing -any one near he proceeded to smash up one of the blocks. That was. his sin. Jimmie, the ardent protector of