A Call for Labor Reform From Outside Parties
Despite most of New York supporting child labor, there was always a call for it to stop. However, it was not because of unsafe working conditions or excessive hours. Initially fueled by a lack of children's education, people were concerned about young children never receiving an education. Prior to the time period being looked at in this exhibit, New York passed minimal laws relating to children working. Some bills that were proposed were denied due to potential money loss, as child labor was cheap labor. By 1890, children ages eight to fourteen were required to attend school fourteen weeks a year, and children under the age of thirteen, later raised to fourteen, were not allowed to work in manufacturing establishments. This bill, the Factory Act of 1886, served as New York’s first step towards the formation of labor laws.6
In the early 1890s, calls for child labor reform were not widespread by any means.“The charitable organizations failed to pass their bills because they had been unable to mobilize public opinion against child labor. Most people, if they thought about it at all, believed that a comparatively small number of children were working to support needy parents.”7 As the leading industrial state in the nation, and children only aiding in this achievement, the greater New York population was in no rush to put a stop to the children working on the streets.8
6 Felt, Jeremy P. Hostages of Fortune ; Child Labor Reform in New York State. Syracuse University Press, 1965: 9-20.
7Ibid., 9.
8 Ibid., 1.