CHILD LABOUR

Otago Witness, Issue 3513, 12 July 1921, Page 23

CHILD LABOUR

THE COW MILKING TROVBLE.

EFFECT ON BUTTER, PRICES,

(From Oub Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, July 6. One of the school medical officers (Dr Henderson) recently reported that: “ Among hand share milkers there is a noticeable amount of overworking of file child. Cases are met with where a child of 12 rises at 3.45 a.in. and milks by hand 10 cows before walking some miles to school.”

_ At a mooting of the Education Board today Mr King asked what the board intended to do about this report. He had been a farmer, and he knew what it meant for children to b© milking. To him it seemed a. dreadful thing to think they had a national system ot education in .this country, and yet permit certain parent* to make their- children work from 4 o’clock m the morning until school hours milking cows, and then expect them to do good work at school. it was neither fair to the school, nor the master, apart front the child, and it was a case of cruelty on the part of the parent. lie considered that if the board could do anything at all to check this sort of tiling it should do it. They felt so strongly against this sort, of thing iu Great Britain that they had introduced legislation to prevent the employment of children under a certain age. This report drew attention to a very serious evil, and he hoped to have some remarks passed, on the part of members, which would assist the doctors to have this sort of thing stopped, and 10 sec that justice was done to_ these unfortunate children. ; Ihe chairman (Mr Batiks) was of opinion that there was not now a quarter of the child labour utilised that there was 16 years ago, when the price of butter-fat- was Bi<l per lb, and the public got their butter for Is per lb, as the result of the farmers, their wnyes, and their children working m the cowsheds for about 3d an hour. Things wore different now, because the farmer got a good price for his butter-fat, and could afford to pay for labour. If the public warned cheap butter it would have to be produced again largely with assistance of child labour. Mr King: There is no harm in children nilking in moderation, but when wo get a report like this concerning specific cases is not something to be done to deal with tlie evil? Mr M Kenzie: There is a society to take this sort of thing up. Mr King: We should deal with such cases when we hear of them, and prevent their recurrence. The subject was talked out.