CHILD LABOUR ON FARMS

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 335, 8 February 1911, Page 5

CHILD LABOUR ON FARMS

BOYS DWARFED BY HARD WORK SOME AUTHENTIC CASES. An inquiry which has produced some interesting results has been undertaken by the Country Teachers' Association into the use and abuse of child labour throughout the province. Circulars were sent out to the teachers of country schools asking how long children were employed in farm work, morning and night, how many hours' sleep they had, what distance they had to come to school and what satisfaction they gave as scholars. A considerable number of circulars have been filled in. and returned, and from these it is apparent that child labour is employed chiefly for milking cows. Several cases which seem to involve distinct hardship on the children are given, and circulars have been furnished from so many schools showing that the pupils were empluyed morning and night in the milking shed, that it seems fairly well established that child labour is employed to some extent in the dairying industry almost right throughuut the province. Of course in many cases the amount of work allotted to the children is so reasonable that no exception can be taken to it.

The return furnished by a teacher in the Upper Thames district showed that 12 boys were milking in the aggregate 86 cows in the morning and 89 at night, an average of over 14 cows per boy each day. One boy of nine was milking eight cows night and mornng, and walking two miles t" school, and the teacher remarked of him that he was physically and mentally dwarfed. A boy of 15 milked 13 cows night and morning, and the teacher said of him that he was dull and undeveloped in every way, also his attendance was irregular. A boy of nine milked 12 cows daily and walked two miles to school, and the teacher observed that he was generally worn out. A teacher in the Kaipara district mentioned the case of a boy of 13 who milked 15 cows a day, and always appeared to be fagged. In a school in the North of Auckland 22 pupils milked in the aggregate 138 cow 3 night and morning, an average of over 12 cows per child daily. The aggregate time occupied in farm work was 115 hours a day, or a little over five hours per child. The hours of sleep ranged from about 8.30 p.m. to 4or 4.30 a.m. As the milking machine is generally looked upon as minimising the use of child labour, it is curious to note that one boy said he was employed six or seven hours a day looking after the machines. Of the 22 pupils mentioned, only one was a girl, but the teacher remarked that many girls had such duties as feeding calves and washing milking utensils allotted to them. The children, he said, appeared inert, and, to have no elasticity even for play. He had some difficulty in keeping them awake. In another school, north of Auckland, there was a pupil of 12 who milked 22 cows a day, and went three miles to school, while a boy of 10 was milking 14 cows a day. In this school eight pupils were milking 120 cows a day, an average of 15 a head. There must be something remarkable about a boy of 14 who milked 28 cows daily, slept only from 8.30 p.m. to 4 a.m., attended school regularly and is described as sturdy and intelligent. The committee which made inquiries into the matter observes in its report that moderate home duties are beneficial, rather than harmful, to the young, and there can be no objection to the limited employment of children in dairying. It is with the abuse of child labour the committee quarrels, and the curtailment of the hours of sleep necessary for the proper physical and mental development of the child. The committee extends its sympathy to the teachers whose reports showed that they did their work under grave disabilities, owing to the demands of the dairying industry in their districts.