Page:Solution of the Child Labor Problem.djvu/117

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110
CHILD LABOUR PROBLEM.

the law are not observed, because the "business end" of the work is "running behind," and "business comes first every time."

"Good God! Do these children work in my factory?" represents the position not of one, but of many manufacturers. It would fall from the lips of thousands could they be confronted with the conditions of their mills as they actually exist.

The majority of manufacturers are, however, neither ignorant nor indifferent, but alive to the undesirability of child employment. Even in the case of the minority who are ignorant of conditions, or indifferent to law, it cannot be fairly said that their attitude constitutes a cause of child labor. It helps to make child labor possible, but it is not a moving factor, leading children to the mills.

Aside from the ignorance of the child, the indifference of some parents, the ignorance of many others, and the devotion of employees to the "business end" of their work to the exclusion of the "human end," there is a cause of child labor more potent and far-