CHILD LABOUR AND CHILD WELFARE

system- atic child welfare work, the object of which is to promote the mental, moral and physical well-being of children, is a compara- tively modern development and it received little official recogni- tion in any country before the middle of the 19th century. at first, the work was developed on local national lines. later, under progressive influences, the work became of common interest to different countries and a subject of mutual co-opera- tion between them. finally, child welfare has been definitely accepted as a subject of international concern and interest, and this aspect has been further emphasised by the inclusion of international child welfare work among the social and humani- tarian activities of the league of nations. i. child welfare in all civilised countries there will be found legislation directed towards securing care and protection for children. side by side with these official provisions, there will be found work carried on by voluntary and charitable organisations which supplements, and has even in many cases initiated, official child welfare measures. an outline of the english system gives the chief features of the work and a general indication of the lines on which, subject to local differences of outlook and of organisation, each country covers the field of child welfare. welfare of children of school age — under various education acts, and notably the act of 1918, provision is made for the primary, secondary, technical and higher education of school children. the board of education administers the acts through the local education authorities. special provisions are made for the education and care of physically and mentally defective children, for the feeding of necessitous cases, and for school medical inspection and treatment. the board of education has power to give grants to voluntary socictics organising supplementary work, such as play centres, continuation classes and educational club work. neglected or necessitous children —under the poor law act 1889, as amended by the act of 1899, boards of guardians have powers enabling them to adopt neglected children. such children may also be dealt with by juvenile courts under the children act 1908. ‘the reorganisation of the poor law, under considera- tion in 1926, contemplates the transfer of the powers of boards of guardians to the local authorities. progressive movements in child welfare w ork tend to spread beyond the country of their origin. the main reasons for this extended influence are that child welfare 1s an interest common to every country, that much of the work is carried on by organisa- tions which are international, and, lastly, that the co-operation of one country with another is necessary for solving certain child welfare problems. the influence of national schemes —new experiments in other countries often lead directly to the local development of national schemes. thus, the consiuliation des nourrissons, started in nancy in 1890, and the gonties de lait, instituted a few years later in france, attracted widespread attention, and were largely instrumental in inspiring other countries, including england, to develop infant welfare work. codifying and consolidation of 606 national child welfare legislation, as exemplified in the english children act 1908 the belgian loi sur la protection de l’enfance 1g12, and in the children’s codes of the united states of amer- ica, have also influenced the legislation in other countries. the federal children’s bureau, established in washington in 1912, is another interesting national scheme, consisting of a special de- partment of state established to deal with child welfare. influence of voluntary societies —voluntary societies, engaged either on general or on some specialised child welfare work, are often international, and so form another channel through which progressive ideas pass from country to country. these associa- tions, from their central office, guide and develop the policy of their many branches throughout the world, and can thus intro- duce enlightened methods from one country into their institu- tions in another. official international child welfare work will be shown, later, to derive its source from the formation of interna- tional child welfare organisations and from their congresses. even where international associations are not primarily con- cerned with children, it is common to find at their congresses, whether on penology, on industry, on hygiene, or whatever the subject may be, resolutions which encourage international co- operation in some branch of child welfare. agreements between different countries —lastly, where there are problems affecting the mutual interests of two or more coun- tries a national solution is insufficient, and must be replaced by agreements for reciprocal action. as regards child welfare such problems arise chiefly in questions of relicf, of repatriation, and of emigration. reciprocal agreements for relief often contain clauses to include the relief of children. france has recently con- cluded a series of “ assistance’ agreements with other coun- tries, 1.e., with italy (1919), poland (1920), belgium (1921), and with luxembourg (1923). belgium and luxembourg exchanged a “ declaration ” on similar lines in 1923. general repatriation agreements concluded between states cover also cases in which children are to be repatriated. there are two agreements which relate only to minors, i.e., between belgium and holland in 1913, and between belgiumand france in 1925. where these two agree- ments apply, a minor can be repatriated to his home country, but it must be judicially proved that this is done in his own interests. a few agreements on emigration and kindred subjects contain clauses relative to young people. there is, for instance, an ar- rangement between i’rance and italy, dated june 15 1910, regulat- ing the formalities which govern young workers of the one country emigrating to work in the territory of the other, child migra- tion from great britain to her colonies is subject to regulations made on either side, but not usually to joint agreements. an ex- ception to this arrangement is the agreement of april 11 1923 be- tween canada and great britain concerning a grant towards the cost of emigrating children. the first hague convention 1go02 relates to the guardianship and protection of the person and of the interests of minors in a foreign country. by dec. 1923 this convention had been ratified by germany, belgium, spain, hungary, italy, luxembourg, netherlands, portugal, rumania, sweden and switzerland. international ciild welfare it is convenient to consider international child welfare work under three divisions. firstly, there is the history of its develop- ment, which includes children’s charters; secondly, there is the organisation and scope of the work under the league of nations; and, thirdly there is the specialised subject of the regulation of child labour, which falls within the province of the international labour office. development of international child welfare-—several interna- tional congresses were held in belgium between 1890 and ig, which were known as congres des patronages. these “ patron- ages” were semi-official associations which dealt primarily with the after-care of prisoners; but, so far as child welfare was con- cerned, they early began to interest themselves in the particular type of child who was in moral danger or who was delinquent. switzerland, in 1911, was the first country to plan the institution child labour and child welfare of a central office to deal with all branches of child welfare on an international basis. the belgian govt. also interested itself in the matter and. organised the first international congress for the promotion of child welfare at brussels in 1913. the con- gress resolved to found an international child welfare association, but the outbreak of war in 1914 prevented any immediate reali- sation of this project. in 1921 the council of the league of nations had before it a suggestion from three international organisations recommending that international child welfare work should be carried on by the league itself. this suggestion was based on article 24 of the cove- nant, which provides for placing under the direction of the league all international bureaux to be established “‘ for the regulation of matters of international interest.” after consideration the council decided to await the outcome of another child welfare congress about to be held in belgium. the second international congress for the promotion of child welfare was held in brussels in 1921, and resulting from this congress the international association for the promotion of child welfare was founded in brussels. it was established to facilitate study by centralising all information on child welfare work, to assist co-operation between one country and another, and generally to further and encourage international interest and progress. the new office did not, however, obtain the full measure of support that had been anticipated, since some coun- tries desired, as a matter of principle, to see its work carried on by the league of nations. this principle was finally accepted, and the council was asked to recommend to the assembly that the league of nations should undertake international child welfare work. the recommendation was made, and was agreed to by the assembly in 1924. the association continues its activities as a private organisation, serving as a link between voluntary child welfare work in different countries. the famine and privation in many lands after the war told es- pecially heavily upon the children. relief was organised by the save the children fund, and branches of the society were estab- lished in many countries. starting at first as a relief organisation the save the children fund gradually enlarged its scope to in- clude general child welfare work. the headquarters of the save the children fund (international union) was established in geneva in 1920, and under its auspices the first general child welfare congress took place in genevain 1925. in america, also, a gencral child welfare association was set up in monteviceo in 1924, as a result of pan-american congresses for child welfare. it is known as the american international institute for the pro- tection of children. | children’s charters national measures for the protection of children are generally found embodied in a special child welfare law, and this legislation is often popularly described as a chil- dren’s charter. the term has, however, been applied specifically to a new development in the ficld of child welfare. it seems to have been felt that though in theory child welfare had been ac- cepted as an international responsibility, yet practical results would not follow unless a clear statement was drawn up as to what that responsibility represented. to meet this requirement a children’s charter was enunciated by the international coun- cil of women in 1922. this charter sets forth under headings, and in some detail, the minimum rights which should be accorded to childhood. the form of the charter is general, but it is intended that each nation shall remodel the charter for its own use, and make it an exposition of practical child welfare aims capable of being worked out locally. the national council of women of great britain, in conjunction with the save the children fund, have followed this lead, and issued in 1924 a children’s charter for great britain. akin to these children’s charters is a shorter and more gener- alised expression of the duty of humanity to childhood known as the declaration of geneva. this declaration, published in may 1923, was drawn up by the save the children fund (international union) and has been translated into many languages. the league of nations has recommended the declaration as a guide to the principles which should inspire child welfare work. child labour and child welfare child welfare under the league of nations.—by resolution of the fifth assembly on sept. 26 1924, the league of nations un- dertook the promotion of international child welfare, and the work of organisation was entrusted to the advisory commission on traffic in women and children, which is served by the social section of the secretariat. the advisory commission reconstitu- ted itself into two committees, one to deal with traffic in women, and the other to be known as the child welfare committee. the child welfare committee consists of the delegates of certain governments named by the council, and of special assessors, representing international organisations dealing either with gen- eral child welfare, or else with special branches of the work, such as recreation. in addition, a representative from the health section of the league, and one from the international labour office, serve as liaison officers. the scope of the work falls into three categories:—documentation, or the collection and analysis of national child welfare laws, which includes the administration of these laws; research, or the local investigation of child welfare schemes or problems; and discussion or the consideration by the child welfare committee of the results of the work of doc- umentation and research. a subject of special international im- portance may be referred for consideration to international conferences, and may form the material for an international convention. the child welfare committee, as reconstituted, held its first annual meeting in march 1926. the subjects submitted included infant welfare, child labour, the legal age of marriage and the age of consent, the repatriation of foreign chil- dren, family allowances and the effects of the cinema. other mat- ters of equal importance will, in due course, claim attention. breliocgrariy.—children’s bureau, u.s. dept. of labour, a tabular summary of state laws relating to public aid to children in their own tomes, chart no. 3 (1925); e. o. lundberg, unemploy- ment and child welfare: a study made in a middle-western and an eastern city during the industrial depression of 1921 and 1922, pub. no. 125 (1923); state contntissions for the study and revision of child-welfare laws, pub. no. 131 (1924); habit clinics for the child of pre-school age, pub. no. 135 (1924); juvenile courts at work, pub. no. 141 (1925). see also g. b. mangold, problems of child welfare, rev. ed. (1924); w. j. schultz, the izumane movement in the united states (1924). (rucr,) il, child labour the most important question relating to the protection of chil- dren against industrial exploitation is the fixation of a minimum age below which all employment is prohibited. as a consequence of the adoption by the international labour conference of the i.l.0.of draft conventions in which the minimum age is fixed at i4, a general tendency has developed to incorporate this age in national legislation. a survey of existing national legislation will make this clear. argentina.—the act of sept. 30 1924 forbids the employment of children under 14 in industry or commerce. it also prohibits the employment of children under 12 in agricultural work. australia.—in australia labour legislation comes within the com- petence of the states of the commonwealth. in five of the states the minimum age for industrial employment is 14, viz.: new south wales (i'actories and shops act, 1912), victoria (factories and shops act, 1915) with a minimum age of 15 for girls, queensland (factories and shops act, 1900, 1908! and i914), western australia (factories acts, 1904 and 1911) and tasmania (factories acts, 1910, i91i and 1917); in one state, south australia (factories acts, 1907, 1908, 1910 and rg1r5) the minimum age is 13. austria.—the act of dec. 19 1918 provides that children under 14 shal] only be employed insofar as health is not injured and the carrying out of compulsory school attendance is not prevented. belginm.—the act of june 14 1921 provides that children under 14 shall not be employed. caunada.—the act of july 19 1924 provides that no child under 14 may be employed on board ship. in the case of employment in industry, conditions are governed by provincial legislation. the minimum age is fixed at r4 in the following provinces: alberta (girls 15), british columbia (girls 15), manitoba (girls 15), nova scotia, ontario, quebec and saskatchewan (girls 15). chile.-—the act of sept. 8 1924 fixes 14 as the general minimum. china.—the provisional factory regulations of march 29 1923 provide that employers shall not hire boys under io or girls under 12. czechoslovakia.—the act of dec. i9 1918 provides that in indus- trial undertakings and also in agriculture and forestry children shall not be employed before the conclusion of their compulsory school 607 attendance and before they are 14. the act of july 17 1919, how- ever, permits, with certain provisos, the employment of children over 12, and the employment of children on light work in agriculture and domestic work as soon as they attain the age of io. denmark.—the act of july 10 1922 provides that children under 14 shall not be employed in undertakings, in handicrafts, industry or transport or in branches of such undertakings, and the seamen’s act of may 1 1925 provides that children under 14 shall not be employed on board ship. estonia.—the act of may 20 1924 provides that children under 14 shall not be employed or work in any public or private industrial undertaking. finland.—the act of oct. 24 1919 respecting conditions of em- ployment in shops and commercial establishments, offices and ware- houses, provides that no child under 14 shall be employed in any establishment to which the act applies. france.—the labour code (bk. ii. sect. 2) fixes the general minimum age for the employment of children at 13. germany.—the act of march 30 1903 fixes the general minimum age for the admission of children to industrial employment at 13, if the child is not required to attend school. in some respects this act has been amended by the tome work act of june 30 1923. great britain.—the act of dec. 23 1920, women, young persons and children (employment) act, provides that no child (¢.e., ‘““ person under the age of 14 years ”’) shall be employed (a) in any industrial undertaking, or (6) on board ship, except to the extent to which and in the circumstances in which such employment is per- mitted under the relative draft convention. detailed measures with regard to the employment of children are also embodied in the education act, 1918, and the education (scotland) act, 1918. in certain british colonies special ordinances are in force govern- ing child employment. thus in ceylon the ordinance of july 30 1923 provides that no child under 14 shall be employed in any indus- trial undertaking, and further that no child under 14 shall be em- ployed in any ship. in hongkong the industrial employment of children ordinance of 1922 provides that no person shall employ any child under to in any factory, and further that no person shall eupley any child under 12 in carrying coal or building material or debris. greece.—the act of july 29 1922 provides that ‘“‘ young persons who have not attained the age of 14 years shall not be employed unless they are provided with a certificate showing that they have completed their attendance at an elementary school.” itungary.—the act of feb. 23 1922 provides that children liable to compulsory attendance at an elementary school shall not be employed in undertakings covered by this act or the act xvii. of 1884. the act of march 24 1923 provides that children under 14 years of age shall not be employed in the work of manufacture in industrial undertakings for the production of bread, bakers’ wares or confectionery. india.—the act of july 1 1922 provides that no child shall be employed in any factory under 12. this act also prohibits night work of persons under 15, and stipulates that no person under 15 shall be employed in any factory for more than six hours per day. by the act of feb. 23 1923 it is further provided that no child under 13 shall be employed in a mine or be allowed to be present in any part of a mine which is below ground. italy —the act of nov. 10 1907 provides that no child under 12 shall be employed in work in factories, workshops, building opera- tions or above ground in mines, quarrics and pits. for work below ground a higher age limit is fixed. the regulations of june 14 1909 contain further detailed provisions. japan,—the act of march 29 1923 stipulates that persons under 14 shall not be employed in industry; provided that this rule shall not apply to persons over 12 who have finished the course at an elementary school. this act has not yet been enforced. another act, of march 29 1923, provides that persons under 14 shall not be employed as seamen, except as permitted by the genoa convention. latvia.—the acts of march 24 1922 and april 26 1924 fix 14.as. the minimum, afexico.—the federal constitution of 1917 provides that the work of children under 12 shall not be made the subject of a contract. netherlands.—the act of july 21 1922 provides that a child who is under 14 or who ts still bound to attend school shall be excluded from all work. this general prohibition is, however, modified by provisions permitting the employment of children of 13 who are exempt from school attendance. the decree of oct 7 1922 provides in addition that boys under 44 shall not be employed in mines or works above ground, and boys under 16 shall not be employed under- ground, the decree of dec. 19 1924 provides that a child under 14 shall not be employed on board ship. new zealand.—the factory act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 in any building, office or place in which two or more persons are employed. norway.—the act of sept. 18 1915 fixes 14 as the minimum age for admission to employment in factories and works where handi- crafts or other industrial operations are carried on. by the act of feb. 16 1923, it is provided that children under 15 shall not be employed on board ship. | 608 persia.— by the decree of dec. 17 1923, concerning the protection of workers in carpet factories in kerman and baluchistan, it is pro- vided that boys under 8 and girls under 10 shall not be employed in carpet factories, peru.—the act of nov. 25 1918 provides that children under 14 shall not be employed in industrial or commercial undertakings. but children under 14 but above 12 may be employed if they are able to read, write and reckon, and if they produce a medical certificate of physical fitness. | poland.—the act of july 2 1924 fixes 15 as the general minimum. rumania.—the acts of feb. 11-24 1906 and july 3 1924 fix 12 as the minimum if the required educational standard is reached. russia.—the labour code of sovict russia (nov. 9 1922) fixes the general minimum age for employment of children at 16. it is, however, provided that the labour inspector may give permission in exceptional cases for the engagement of young persons of 14. kingdom of the serbs, croats and slovenes.—the act of feb. 28 1922 provides that children under 14 shall not be employed in under- takings carrying on handicrafts, industry, commerce, transport, mining and similar activities, south africa.—the act of april 15 1911 fixes 14 as the minimum. spain.—the act of march 13 1900 fixes the general minimum age for admission to employment at ro. for work on board ship, how- ever, the age of 14 is fixed by the decree of may 31 1922. sweden.—-the acts of june 29 1912 and june 17 1916 fix 14 as the minimum age for the employment of girls and 13 as the minimum age for the employment of kane in industrial work. the acts of june 15 1922 and feb. 27 1925 provide that children under 14 shall not be employed on board ship. switzerland. —the act of march 31 1922 and the order of july 5 1923 provide that children who have not attained 14 shall not be employed in the undertakings covered by the act (in general, in- dustry and transport, but not agriculture or commerce). turkey.—the labour act of 1925 contains a provision that no children under 12 may be employed in any public or private under- taking, either as apprentices or as workpcople. the legislation which has just been analysed relates to indus- trial undertakings and in some cases to work on board ship or in commerce, but it does not usually cover employment in agricul- ture. the scope of its application to industrial undertakings varies widely, as the definition of “factory” or “ workshop”’ is by no means uniform. minimum age legislation usually does not apply to work-places or ships in which only members of the same family are employed, nor to work done by children in technical schools, provided that such work is approved and supervised by public authority. in the case of dangerous or unhealthy work, and night work, employment is often forbidden under 18. for work in mines the minimum age is usually fixed at 16. [enforcement usually depends on the factory inspectors, and in order to facili- tate their work it is often provided that every employer of young persons shall keep a register of all such workers up to 16 or 18 showing their date of birth. the provisions of minimum age lcgis- lation are reinforced, in actual everyday practice, by a variety of other measures. under the family allowance system, for instance, now widely applied in france, belgium, the netherlands, germany and other countries, by which wage earners in certain industries receive, in addition to the basic wage, allowances for dependent children, an age limit is fixed beyond which children are not considered to be dependent. as this age limit is usually 14, the system has some influence in inducing parents not to put the children to regular employment before this age. the same sort of iniluence is exer- cised by social insurance systems. while national systems of workmen’s compensation, health insurance, unemployment in- surance and other forms of social insurance differ greatly from country to country, the existence of dependent children ts gener- ally taken into account in assessing benefits. these provisions, therefore, tend to protect the children from being sent to work at too early an age. most important of all, in this connection, is the system of compulsory school attendance regulations. in most industrial countries the statutory age-limit is now 14, coinciding, as it logically should, with the minimum age for admission to em- ployment. in general, it may be added, most labour legislation has some sort of repercussion, however remote, on the welfare of the chil- dren. legislation providing for the establishment of minimum wages, for instance, by preventing the payment of sweated wages, results normally in safeguarding the standard of life of the child labour and child welfare family asa whole. similarly, legislation fixing an eight-hour dav may be considered to have a real influence on child welfare, inas- much as it permits the normal man to devote more of his time to family life and to the well-being of his children. tue american system the u.s. census of 1920 reports over one million (1,060,858) children 10 to 15 years of age, inclusive, as ‘ engaged in gainful occupations ” in the united states. this number was approxi- mately one-twelfth of the total number (12,502,582) of children of that age in the entire country. the number of child workers 10 to 13 years of age, inclusive, was 378,063. the census does not report the number of working children under 1o years of age, but it is known that such children are employed in large numbers in agriculture and in smaller numbers in other occupations. of the child workers 10 to 15 years of age, inclusive, in 1920, 647,309 or 61%, were reported to be employed in agricultural pur- suits, the majority (88° %) as labourers on the home farm. there were 185,337 children, or 17-5 °%, employed in manufacturing and mechanical industries. over 80,000 children were engaged in some type of clerical occupation; approximately 63,000 were in trade; 54,000, the majority of them girls, were working at occu- pations classified under “ domestic and personal service ”’; and +.tg1—almost all of them boys—were employed in the extraction of minerals. during and since the world war the number of working chil- dren fluctuated greatly. the scrious industrial depression which followed the outbreak of the war brought a sharp decrease. by the latter part of 1915 the effect of foreign orders for war goods was beginning to make itself felt, and an unprecedented rise in the number of employed children followed. after the united states entered the war, the rising cost of living, the absence of older members of the family on military duty, high wages be- cause of labour shortage, and a restlessness on the part of the children themselves, led many under 16 to leave school for work. available statistics show that in most places the peak in the em- ployment of children was reached in 1918. the shutting-down of war industries and the return of soldiers resulted in a temporary decline in 1919. the census of 1920 records a considerable decrease since 1910 in the number of children reported at work. although the total child population ro to 15 years of age, inclusive, increased 15-5 % the number of working children reported decreased almost half (46-7°%). a corresponding decrease took place in the proportion of all children of these ages who were employed in gainful occu- pations, from 18-4° in 1910 to 8-5 °% in 1920. the decline is most striking in connection with agricultural pursuits, in which the number of children employed decreased 54-8 %. the most important legislation between 1910 and 1920 was the enactment of the first federal child labour law, which came into operation in sept. 1917. this act prohibited the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of the product of any mine or quarry in which children under 16 were employed, and the prod- ucts of any mill, cannery, factory, workshop or manufacturing establishment in which children under 14 were employed or chil- dren between 14 and 16 were employed more than cight hours a day, or six days a week, or before 6 a.m. or after 7 p.m. it was attacked as unconstitutional and on june 3 1918 the u.s. su- preme court held, by a vote of 5 to 4, that it did not constitute a valid exercise of congress’ constitutional authority to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. a child labour tax clause was then inserted in the revenue act of 1918. it placed a 10% tax on the net incomes of establishments employing children of the ages and for the hours specified in the act of sept. 1 1917. this was held an unconstitutional exercise of congress’ authority by the supreme court in 1922. a proposal for an amendment to the united states constitution specifically giving to congress the right to regulate or prohibit the labour of persons under 18 years of age received the requisite two-thirds vote in congress and was submitted to the states in june 1924. up to jan. r 1926 four states had ratified the amendment and it had been rejected by both houses of the legislatures of 21 states. children, diseases of in the child-labour legislation enacted by the various states there are many differences. it is usually required:— (1) that a child must reach a specified age and an educational and physical standard before he can be industrially employed; (2) that an official work permit must certify his ability to meet the standards established by the statute; (3) that the age at which children may be employed at night or in hazardous or unhealthful occupations must be higher than the age at which they may be employed in gencral occupations. of these standards the minimum age was the first to be gener- ally adopted. with some exceptions, every state except two (utah and wyoming) has prohibited the employment in industry of children under 14 yearsof age. that the present tendency is to- ward the establishment of a hizher age is indicated by the fact that seven states (california, maine, michigan, montana, ohio, rhode island and texas), representing all parts of the country, have raised the age above 14 years. in 44 states child-labour laws prohibit the employment at night of children at least up to 16 years of ave in an enumerated list of occupations. the hours vary. for example, new york prohibits the employment of children under 16 years after 5 p.m. or before 8 a.m.; california after 10 p.m. or before 5 a.m. in 31 states, including those of most importance industrially, laws prohibit the employment in certain unhealthful processes of children, usually under 16 years of age, sometimes 18 years of age. dependent children.—according to a census taken in 1923, there were in the united states nearly 220,000 dependent children being cared for away from their own homes. of this number approximately 140,000 were 1n institutions and 80,000 in family homes. information compiled by the children’s bureau indicates that approximately 125,000 were supported in their own homes through so-called mothers’ pensions, the first laws providing for such pensions were enacted in [llinois and missouri in 1911. this movement for public aid to dependent children in their own homes spread rapidly so that by jan. 1 1926, 42 states (all except alabama, kentucky, georgia, mississippi, new mexico and south carolina) and alaska and hawaii had adopted legislation of this sort. the principal considera- tion was aid for the children of widows, and many of the laws are restricted to such children. the trend of recent legislation is toward a broader application of the law, giving the benefit of the aid to all dependent children if the circumstances are such that in the interests of the child the home should be maintained and assistance is neces- sary to secure that end. in 25 states the aid may be given for all children under 16 and in two states under 17 years of age. in new york city allowances were paid to 8,440 widows for the care of 23,108 children in their own homes at a cost of $4,500,000 in 1923. that year the city paid $4,000,000 for care of 13,680 children in institutions. the laws of six states—<arizona, colorado, maine, massachusetts, rhode island and virginia—do not specify the amount of the aid that may be granted to each child or each family but leave the deter- mination of the amount to be made on the basis of the family need for providing adequately for the children. mlost of the states fix a maximum amount varying with the number of children. for three children the maximum ts between £50 and $70 in eight states, and less than that in 27 states—1o states fixing the maximum monthly allowance for three children at from $20 to $29. for delinquency among children, see children's courts. g. ab.) bibliography.—international record of child welfare work, with supplements (brussels, 1921), issued by the international association for the promotion of child welfare; an international year book of child care and protection (london, 1924), issued by the save the children fund; o. b. king, the employment and welfare of juve- niles, etc. (london, 1925); reports of the children's branch of the ifome office (london, 1923, 1924, 1925); league of nations’ publi- cations, report of the advisory committee on the traffic in women and protection of children, official jour. (july 1925); report of the chi'd welfare committee (1926). texts of child labour laws are in the bulletin of the international labour office (basle, 1906 and 1919), and in the legislative serics (international labour office, geneva, 1919). information on the application of legislation is contained in the factory inspectors’ reports and in official reports issued by government departments in the various countries, (cr. cr.) children, diseases of.—the study of this subject, known also as paediatrics, is comparatively modern. there was ho recognition of the need for special instruction in it as part of the curriculum at the medical schools, until, in 1899, king’s college hospital (london) appointed a physician to treat children only and to teach the students this subject. gradually the recogni- tion of this need has spread to other medical schools, or been forced upon them by examining bodies. 609 infant feeding has passed through various phases. in the 17th century, when the mother was unable to suckle, wet nursing was the recognised alternative. in the 18th century hand-feeding began to replace suckling and brought with it the ills of faulty feeding; in the latter half of the roth century the importance of infant feeding as one of the largest factors in infant mortality and diseases began to be recognised. afethods of feeding.—an attempt to replace the haphazard methods of the time was made by the introduction of percentage feeding in america. this necessitated an exact knowledge of the percentage composition of milk, cream, etc. directions for feed- ing were given as a prescription ordering the percentage of proteid, fat, and sugar, and laboratories were established in which such foods could be prepared. this method involved fallacies of theory and practice, but it encouraged more accurate and in- telligent understanding of infant feeding. a new departure is the so-called calorie feeding. the energy- producing value of a food, calculated in units of heat which the food would produce on combustion (1 calorie=heat required to . heat 1 kilo of water 1° c.), determines its adequacy for the infant. at certain ages a certain number of calories per ib. weight are found to be requisite, so that food requirements can be deter- mined by mathematical calculations. the fallacies of this method are considerable, but it is occasionally useful. whilst the physicians and laboratory workers were investi- gating the subject from the scientific standpoint, a great step forward was made by the establishment of consultations de nourrissons (1892) in france, and a little later of infant consul- tation centres or infant welfare centres (1906) in great britain and in other parts of the world. mothers take their healthy infants to these and are instructed as to their feeding and care. biochemical research has shown that, besides the gross chemi- cal composition of foods, there are subtler constituents, viz, “accessory factors’? or “ vitamins,’? which are essential to health and, indeed, to life. (see birociemistry.) related to jack of these vitamins are two diseases, infantile scurvy and rickets, the former definitely due to lack of vitamin c, the latter to deficiency of some anti-rachitic factor of which little is known. in connection with the latter, the value of ultra-violet rays has recently been recognised; whether from sunlight, arc lamp, or mercury vapour lamp, these rays improve the general health and vigour and are beneficial in certain diseases, particularly rickets, in which they effect a rapid cure of the bone affection. to a less degree they are useful in some forms of tuberculosis. amongst diseases affecting nutrition in infancy, congenital hypertrophy of the pylorus was formerly one of the most fatal; but now has been so successfully treated by surgery that the majority recover. the rise of bacteriology has revolutionised our views of many diseases of children, but some still await fuller knowledge. in- fantile paralysis is one of these. flexner and his co-workers in new york, by a series of experiments on monkeys, have shown that, as had already been suspected, this disease which wrecks the lives of so many children is due to some infection, and they have investigated the conditions and ways in which it can be communicated (sce spinal meningitis). the exact nature of the virus is uncertain, but experiments have shown that infec- tion may enter by the naso-pharynx and may probably be spread by carriers. isolated cases occur every summer and occasionally epidemics, as in england in ro11 and in america in 1910. the specific fevers (see infectious fevers) to which children are most liable, scarlet fever, measles, chicken pox, and mumps, are still a mystery as to their exciting cause. whooping cough, however, has been traced to a specific bacillus and a vaccine of this organism has been used extensively, but with doubtful bene- fit. the discovery of an antitoxin for diphtheria in 1893 led to a large reduction in the mortality from that disease; the deaths from laryngeal diphtheria fell within two-years from 62% to 28%, and a few years later to 11-7 %. tests for diphtheria.—various efforts have been made to im- munise children against measles by serological methods and suc- cesses in this connection have been reported. the most 610 notable advance touching specific fevers has been the schick test for diphtheria (1913). susceptibility to this disease can be letected by intracutaneous injection of a minute dose of the toxin of diphtheria; a slight redness or swelling at the site of infection within 24-48 hours indicates that the person showing it is sus- ceptible. such a means of distinguishing between children liable to infection and those who are not liable is clearly of great value when diphtheria occurs in a school or institution. as a sequel to this a new method has been introduced of conferring immunity by subcutaneous injections of a toxin-antitoxin. in this way a child found by the schick test to be susceptible can be immunised for several months, whereas an orinary antitoxin protects only for a few weeks. a similar test, the dick test, has been used to detect susceptibility to scarlet fever by the intracutaneous injection of a very dilute toxin prepared from streptococci. there has been a striking decrease in the mortality of the specific fevers of childhood during the past forty years. the annual mortality in england and wales per million persons living _was in 1883: scarlet fever 1270, measles 962, whooping cough 1086; in 1923, scarlet fever 83, measles 508, whooping cough 309. the effects of congenital syphilis (see vrenereal diseases), first studied in detail by diday of lyons in 1854, have been more fully realised since the introduction of the wassermann test (1906), in which the examination of the blood indicates the presence or absence of this disease. it may be present when no characteristic symptoms occur, indeed without symptoms of any sort. applied indiscriminately to children attending hospitals, this test has shown a positive result in proportions varying from o-59% in london to 10-4% in glasgow, but for the general child popula- tion these figures are probably too high. syphilis causes a large waste of potential lives by miscarriages and still-births, of which there were 40% in a series of 187 pregnancies in syphilitic fam- ilies, whilst of 112 live-born children in these families 33% died in infancy or early childhood. nor does this represent the full extent of its mischief, for mental deficiency, various forms of paralysis, impaired sight, deafness, and various deformities in the child are in some instances direct or indirect results of syphilitic parentage. of late, a wider knowledge of the effects of syphilis and its prevention and treatment in adults has reduced the frequency and severity of the inherited disease in children. the latest treatment is by subcutaneous or intravenous injec- tions of arsenical or bismuth preparations. luberculosts—amongst the diseases which not only account for a considerable mortality in childhood, but also add to the number of the unfit when the child grows up, are tuberculosis and rheumatism (see tuberculosis). of children dying in hos- pitals about one-third have tubercle, although in some of these it is not the cause of death. tuberculous disease of bones or joints in children is responsible for much lifelong crippling, and tuberculosis of the lungs or other organs often means at a later age years of delicacy and unfitness for the battle of life. tuber- culosis takes its heaviest toll during the first five years of life, especially in the second year, to which belong 26% of the deaths from tuberculosis in children under 12 years of age. the danger of tuberculous cow’s milk has become recognised. in 1913 9°3 % of samples of london milk showed tubercle bacilli. the educa- tion of the public to the danger of unboiled milk is tending to safeguard children from this infection. rheumatism.—rheumatism, unlike tuberculosis, hardly ever occurs under three ycars of age. it affects chiefly children from 5 to 12 years of age of the hospital class, and perhaps more amongst the poorer middle class than amongst the very poor. of children from 6 to 12 years old admitted to the medical wards of a hospital, nearly 25% were suffering from some rheumatic affection and in an out-patient department of children 5 to 12 years old 13% were attending for rheumatic troubles. rheu- matism in children affects the joints much less than in adults. often, especially in girls, it takes the form of chorea, often the only indication is vague pain mistaken for growing pains, or per- haps a stiff neck, but however slight such manifestations the rheumatism which they indicate is specially liable in children to attack the heart. heart disease in childhood is mostly rheu- children’s courts matic; sometimes it is rapidly fatal, more often after some years of invalid existence the heart gradually fails and the child dies. the duration of life in these children with rheumatic heart dis- ease depends chiefly on the possibility of prolonged rest and care- ful restriction of exertion, perhaps for two or three years. com- plete recovery is not impossible in some cases, and in others life may be prolonged many years in usefulness and comfort if such treatment can be obtained. brstrocrapny.—l. emmett holt, diseases of infancy and child- hood (3rd ed., 1918) and the care and feeding of children (ard ed., 1918); henry ashby and g. wright, the diseases of children (1922); hugh t. ashby, jufant mertality (1922); j. h. lless, premature amd congenttally diseased infants (1923); g. f. still, common dis- orders and diseases of childhood (1924); fe. m. s. chesser, health and psychology of the child (1925); r. manning clark, children's diseases: prevention and cure (1925); emil feer, the diagnosis of children’s diseases, translated by c. a. scherer (1925); r. ehut- chison, lectures on diseases of children (1925). (g. f. st.) children’s courts (see 6.140).—special tribunals for dealing with juvenile offenders. ‘the system, first suggested and established in the united states has since been extended tc the principal civilised countries. i. courts in the united states age of delinguency.—the age of delinquency has been raised in most states to include all children under the age of 18 years, and in two states (wyoming and california) under the age of 21 years. to be consistent with the disabilities of minors in civil matters, it is believed that eventually the age of delinquency will be made 21 in all the states, with exceptions covering cer- tain serious felonies like highway robbery, murder, etc. the theory underlying these special jaws for delinquent minors is not an assumption that the child cannot commit a crime, nor do they aim at excusing him for it without punishment in proper cases, any more than in civil cases is it assumed that a child could not make a contract. he could; but only under conditions different from those applying to adults. in the same way a child (if over the age of seven) could commit a crime, but the commission of a crime in this case is assumed to differ suffi- ciently from the commission of such crimes by adults as to justify a different, more elastic, intelligent method in dealing with the offender. methods of probation.—the laws referred to also provide for the use of probation in the cases of offending children. the power to place a person on probation in these courts was legally authorised and used in massachusetts as early as 1878. pro- bation in such cases is an effort of the state to enable offending children “‘ to overcome evil with good,”’ to accomplish their own redemption with the aid and assistance provided in the juvenile court. the “ good ” is the more intelligent attitude of the state in literally teaching children, brought to these courts, to over- come bad things. this is gencrally attempted in the child’s. own home. proof of a child’s good conduct is furnished tn some courts by reports from kis parents, teachers, playground or community-house directors in the neighbourhood. similar re- ports are also obtained by the visitation of probation officers who keep in kindly touch with the child and his parents. there may be more severe methods of discipline provided by these laws, such as confinement in a detention home school, or in the industrial or training school, or even in a jail, but always with the proviso that if so incarcerated the child is to be sepa- rated from adult criminals. in this so-called “‘jail”’ there is generally a tutor or teacher and a kind of home life which, while designed to correct children, is also designed to protect them against the evil influences which attach to other jails. methods employed.—in juvenile courts, the state now fur- nishes probation officers, doctors, psychiatrists, child experts and social workers, with their various agencies to search fox the causes of crime in childhood and youth. the child’s health, mental condition, social and economic status, as well as that of his parents, his neighbourhood, his opportunities and tempta- tions as causes of crime are all carefully considered. there are few limitations upon what the juvenile court may do since its chile chancery procedure is free from the hampcring and inflexible rules of criminal courts. as the entire purpose of the court is to help and not to hurt the child, its actions are seldom questioned. not one case in thousands heard in juvenile courts is ever ex- _epted to or appealed to other courts. the juvenile court may in fact be properly regarded as a moral hospital rather than a court. it is believed that 80% to 90% of offenders dealt with in this attitude correct their faults and become good citizens, as against what has been shown te be about 75% who usually repeat the offence or return to scrious crime when dealt with only by the old criminal court and incarceration methods, enlarged activities—the juvenile courts of the united states, especially in the years following 1910, show a marked widening of scope. the power of parens patriae, as first applied to children, has in a limited way and in some states notably in colorado, been applied to adults, their jurisdiction being broadened to in- clude all cases concerning children or adult persons (parents or others) whose offences are against children or whose conduct, responsibilities or controversies concern them. a judge, selected for his particular qualifications to preside in such a court, is specially appointed or elected for that purpose. in this type of juvenile court, as well as in that conducted asa part of thealready established judicial procedure, in which different judges are usually assigned to the juvenile court for limited periods, the jurisdiction differs in different cities. even in the juvenile courts, administered as part of the regular judicial sys- tem, a tendency is observable to assign one particular judge to this special work. while good results may be accomplished in either type of court, the weight of opinion in the united states (1926) seems to be in favour of the separate special court pre- sided over by a specially chosen judge, for the handling of all cases concerning children and also cases of adults who offend against or have responsibilities for or controversies over them. (see also borstal system; probation; punishment.) binliography.—bulletins of the children’s bureau, u.s. de- paiahoie of labour, the chicago juventle court, no. tog, juvenile elinguency in countries at war, no. 39; probation tn children's courts, no. 80; juventle court standards, no. 121; the legal aspects of the juvenile court, no. 99. declaration of genera (1924); f. c. hoyt, the juvenile court in new york city, the international year book on child care and protection (1925); b. b. lindsey, twenty-five years of the juvenile and family court of denver (1925). see also articles in the world’s children; league of nations publications on the child. (b. b. l.) il. courts in other countries great britain.—for the main provisions of the children’s act (1908) regarding juvenile delinquency see 6.140d. sec- tion 131 of the act defines “a child” as ‘a person under the age of fourteen” and “a young person” as “a person aged fourteen and upwards and under the age of sixteen.” by section iii. (5) separate juvenile courts for the metropolis may be set up by order in council. the london courts function now, how- ever, under the provisions of the juvenile courts (metropolis) act 1920, by which the holding of the courts is arranged in places other than ordinary police courts, and the court is con- stituted of a police magistrate, nominated by the secretary of state and two justices, one of whom should be a woman, selected on the grounds of special qualifications for dealing with juvenile cases. these arrangements opcrate at seven out of the nine london juvenile courts. another special feature of the london system is that twelve highly qualified probation officers are attached to these courts. they are appointed by the home secretary and all of them are women. juvenile delinquency has diminished considerably in recent years. returns furnished by the children’s branch of the home office in 1905 show that the number of persons tried in the juvenile courts was 38,351 in 1912 and that the figure had fallen to 29,264 in 1924. it should be stated that during 1917 the number rose to 51,323. since the passing of the children’s act in 1908, there has been a mark- ed increase in the number of juveniles placed upon probation. in 1910, 10:62 % of the persons tricd in juvenile courts were placed upon probation. in 1924 the figure had risen from 3,568 to 5,812 or 19-62 per cent. at the same time the number of children and young per- sons committed to home office schools has decreased from 5,744 in 1913 to 1,89f in 1924. 611 the practice of the various courts in dealing with juveniles is marked by wide divergencies, and suggestions for widening the scope and character of the juvenile courts were considered (1925) by a departmental commmittce presided over by sir thomas molony. the evidence given showed that liverpool, for instance, was the only city possessing a juvenile court specially constructed for the purpose. in 676 cases there was no rule requiring the police to attend in plain clothes. reports on the children's homes were ob- tained in 404 courts from the police. only 203 courts relied entirely on the probation officer. the school record was obtained in 303 courts, but 285 dis#cnsed with it altogether. only 27 courts made a medical examination an essential preliminary of dealing with the case. in 260 cases no medical examination was asked for at all, and in 462 cases only when it appears necessary. the question of further medical help for the courts, of extending their jurisdiction to young persons up to 18 years and especially of altering their general pro- cedure by applying the principle of the chancery court in place of a criminal jurisdiction were considered by the committee, the british dominitons.—to ontario (canada) and to south australia belongs the honour of having taken the initiative of setting up children’s courts by legislative enactments as early as 1893 and 1894. ontario, by section 30 (1) of the protection of children act 1893 required towns with a population of more than 10,000 inhabi- tants to make separate provision for the detention of children await- ing trial, and laid upon the judge the duty of trying children’s cases in premises other than police courts or where this was not practicable in the private room of the judge or in some room in municipal buildings. under the juvenile courts act 1914, power was taken to pay the magistrate or officer constituting the juvenile court. the juvenile delinquents act 1908 and its amendments operate in most of the larger centres of the dominion of canada. the spirit of the measure may be judged from section 16 (5) which provides that ‘ the action taken shall in every case be that which the court is of opinion is for the child’s own good and the best interests of the community.” juvenile courts were established by ministerial order in south australia in 1890. legislative action followed in 1895, when it was laid down by section 31 of “* the state children act,” that the hear- ing of complaints against children within the city of adclaide and the town of port adelaide should be held in some room or place approved by the chief secretary but not in any police or court house. outside the city, hearings were to take place at a different hour from ordinary trials. special children’s courts are now the rule throughout the commonwealth of australia. in the union of south africa there are juvenile courts in operation at cape town and at johannesburg. the continent of europe.—on the continent of europe the pro- vision of juvenile courts has made much headway. by the belgian jaw of mar. 15 1912 for the protection of children (** la protection de l’enfance "'), special children’s magistrates are appointed under art. 11, whose jurisdiction extends to all minors under 16 and to young persons charged with begging and vagrancy up to 18 years. this measure is notable for requiring full investigation into the physical and mental health of the children charged and into the so- cial and moral condition of their environment (art. 27). in the netherlands and in austria and germany, the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts is concerned with young persons up to the age of 18. this is the case also in the canton of geneva and in sweden. in france the children’s courts only deal with juveniles under the age of 13, offenders between 13 and 18 being tried 12 camera in the ordinary courts. there are no juvenile courts in italy, but cases of child offenders are heard in camera. juvenile courts have been set up in egypt and since 1922 in japan. the japanese law of 1922 defines minors under the age of 18, as “‘ juveniles.” bisliography.—children’s branch of the home office, third report (1925); jour. of comparative legtslation, new scries, vol. 8, pt. 2, p. 375 (1906); jour. of comparative legislation, third series, vol. 7, p. 215 (1925); the international year book of child care and protection (1925): ‘‘ lot du mar 15, 1912 sur la protection de ’en- fance,” afonifeur belge (1915); citldren’s act, great britain and ircland (1908); protection of children act., ontario (1893) with amendments act (1922); juvenile delinquents act, canada (1908); state children act, s, australia (1895); juventie couris (afetropolis) act (1920). (n. a.)