reaching than all of these combined, for it includes them all,—the ignorance and indifference of society. Attention has already been called to the social greed, the demand for things—many and cheap,—and the fact that such a demand inevitably leads to the production of cheap goods by cheap labor.
Cheap labor means the sweat shops and the labor of little children. Could the average member of the purchasing public be made to see the revolting conditions out of which "bargain" products come, and to demand goods made under fair conditions, a long step would have been taken toward solving the child labor problem. Such a result can be attained only by education extending over a long series of years. The public mind is slow to move, and even slower to change from an old, deep rut.
The social demand for cheap goods makes it possible for manufacturers to employ children, but it does not send the children to work. The chief factor in doing that, also a result of social ignorance and indifference, is the school system.
