Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 71, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1909 — FEWER CHILDREN TOIL FOR WAGES [ARTICLE]

FEWER CHILDREN TOIL FOR WAGES

State Inspector Reports Better Condition In Indiana.

WANTS A CHANGE IN THE LAW

Says That Under Present Regulations Parent Who Makes a False Affidavit Must Be Tried For Perjury With the Result That, If Found Guilty, a Home la Wrecked Some Other Form of Punishment For This Charscter of Offense Is Recommended. Indianapolis, Dec. 14. —In his annual report William E. Blakely, state factory Inspector, makes the recommendation that the law relative to punishment for making false affidavit be amended so that suitable punishment may be meted out to parents making false statements concerning the ages of their children. Under the present law Blakely reports that he has had great difficulty in destroying the common practice because to prosecute would mean that the chief bread winner of the family, and in some instances both the father and mother, would have gone to prison leaving their children as public charges. Blakely reports that during the last three years a decided decrease has been noted in the number of children of from fourteen to sixteen years of age empolyed in the factories. Blakely recommends that the original child labor law, enacted in 1889, be amended so as to enable the inspection department to prevent the employment of children by telegraph and telephone companies, in hotels and in various other establishments not now designated by law. A notable decrease in the number of fatal and serious accidents is reported, due, the inspector says, to the manufacturers having equipped their machinery with safety devices.