Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/106

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THE CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR.

ness," than a British tar has of becoming Lord High Admiral. Furthermore, one-third of the child laborers are girls who do not wish to "learn the business,"—who are not even wanted in the business. They have a commodity to sell,—their labor,—and they are willing to sell it cheaply to the employer who hires them. It is a mere matter of bargain and sale.

Again, the school has to-day in large measure replaced the "learning a business" in the old way. Some firms, particularly those engaged in technical work, will scarcely take any but college men in the higher branches of their business. There is a great and an increasing demand for men trained in Trade and Manual Training Schools, and such are given the preference. The time is past when it is necessary for a boy to go to work at seven or ten, or even fourteen, to learn the business. It is becoming a universal rule in many houses to insist on the completion of a certain amount of high school or college work before starting in business. There is no longer a necessity for the child to go to work