SYMPOSIUM OX SAXITATIOX 43 



State for the last five years. The Secretary of the land im- 

 provement association at once wrote to the Secretary of 

 State, asking- for the desired information. The Secre- 

 tarv of State referred him to the Secretary of the 

 State P)Oard of Health, who replied: "'Xeither I nor 

 anyone else can tell you how many people died 

 in this state, or in any portion of it. either last 

 year, or the year before, or for any period since its organiza- 

 tion as a state. We have no registration of births and deaths. 

 j^^'e cannot tell whether our death rate is higher or lower than 

 that of any other state, or whether it is increasing or decreas- 

 ing. You can find out how many horses and cattle and pigs 

 there are in the state and what diseases they suffer from and 

 how to prevent them. ])ut no one in the state knows anything 

 about the births and deaths of human beings." 



This situation came with such a surprising shock to the 

 members of the land improvement association that they im- 

 mediately began an agitation for a registration law. which, 

 I am glad to say. has since been secured. 



Such a law is quite as important to laboring men and 

 women, as it is to capitalists and land owners. Labor unions 

 have, for many years, been endeavoring to secure laws for the 

 prevention of child labor, the desirability of which hardly 

 needs to be discussed. But such a law. in order to be efifec- 

 tive. must fix a definite age before which employment will not 

 be permitted. How can such a legal age be established in an 

 individual case? Only by the presentation of a certified copy 

 of the birth certificate. Unless this is done, violations of the 

 law are not only frequent, but their detection and punishment 

 are practically impossible. The child comes to the employer 

 with a false statement from his parents that he is over four- 

 teen or sixteen years of age. whatever the legal limit may be. 

 The employer accepts the statement and employs the child. 

 If the inspector finds the child to be under age. the responsi- 

 bilitv for the deception is divided between the parents and 

 the emplover. The honest employer never knows when he is 

 breaking the law. while the dishonest employer can not be 

 convicted. If the child were required to present a certified 

 copy of a birth certificate, there would be no question about 

 his real age. and the responsibility could be definitely fixed 

 on the employer who knowingly violated the law, while the 

 law-abiding employer would be protected from deception. 



All of you doubtless remember the terrible mine disaster 

 which occurred at the Cherry Mine a few years ago? But how 

 many of you know that it was a child under the age of six- 

 teen, illegally employed on an illegal school certificate issued 

 by the school authorities and sworn to by its parents, who 



