To the Editor of the "Norra-Cuina Datuy News."
Sir,—No. one who has the true prestige of Britain at heart can fail to be gratified by the news in Saturday's issue—that a British firm is taking the first -step in getting rid of the child labour which is such a deplorable feature of modern industry in China. Such promptness in carrying out the recent Peking legislation will certainly serve as an! incentive to other firms and other centres.
Your comments on the matter, however, seem to me to throw too much of the onus of understanding and taking possible the reform on the illiterate workers in the mills, who have of course no idea of the social and economic principles in volved.
More than a century ago when machinery was being introduced into England the ignorant workers struck, broke the machines, and burned the mills, because they could see only their own immediate loss. And yet the innovation was pro tected by the Government of that day, and the new era iw industry inaugurated by the people in authority, against the wishes of the workers, because of the ultimate gain to all concerned.
We need to guard against expecting more from" the workers in China than from our own people the same stage of development.
It would be easy to stand aside and sce this reform fail, and thea salve one's conscience by saying the workers do not want it. But in the case of our children we often see an unwanted dose of castor oil or a page of Latin verbs go down willy nilly, because experience has taught those in authority that it is necessary. So if this reform is for the good of China, then. all cou-cerned, owners, managers and social workers, must cooperate to help the workers understand plainly, what is behind this new action, and to adjust wages so that parents may be able to support their young children, instead of being support ed by them.
Tam, ete., Historicus.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.