If ever there was a self-made man, that man is
the son of the immigrant. But the street and the street gang have a
great responsibility; they are making the children of a hundred various
languages from every part of the world into American citizens."
[Sidenote: A Plain Duty]
How long will American Christianity allow this process of degeneracy to
go on, before realizing the peril of it, and providing the counteracting
agencies of good? That is the question the young people ought to
consider and help answer.
[Sidenote: Child Labor]
But far worse than all else, "the nation is engaged in a traffic for the
labor of children." In this country over 1,700,000 children under
fifteen are compelled to work in the factories, mines, workshops, and
fields. These figures may mean little, for as Margaret McMillan has
said, "You cannot put tired eyes, pallid cheeks, and languid little
limbs into statistics." But we believe that if our Christian people
could be brought for one moment to realize what the inhumanity of this
child labor is, there would be such an avalanche of public opinion as
would put a stop to it. This evil is a new one in America, begotten of
greed for money.
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