Child Labor in City StreetsClopper, Edward Nicholas
History
Child Labor in City Streets
Clopper, Edward Nicholas
Child labor
The direct result of the reports of these committees was the passage
by Parliament of the Employment of Children Act, 1903. Section 3 of
this act provides, first, that no child under eleven years shall
engage in street trading; second, no child under fourteen years shall
be employed between 9 P.M. and 6 A.M.; third, no factory or workshop
half-timer shall be employed in any other occupation; fourth, no child
under fourteen years shall handle heavy weights likely to result in
injury; fifth, no child under fourteen years shall engage in any
injurious employment. Sections 1 and 2 of this act give to local
authorities power to make by-laws regulating the employment of
children. The provisions of Section 2 concerning street trading are in
substance as follows: any local authority may make by-laws with
respect to street trading by persons under the age of sixteen years
and may prohibit such street trading subject to age, sex or the
holding of a license; may regulate the conditions on which such
licenses may be granted and revoked; may determine the days and hours
during which and the places at which such street trading may be
carried on; may require such street traders to wear badges and may
regulate generally the conduct of such street traders; provided that
the right to trade shall not be made subject to any conditions having
reference to the poverty or general bad character of the person
applying for this right, and provided also that the local authority
shall have special regard to the desirability of preventing the
employment of girls under sixteen years in streets and public places.
Section 2 b of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904,
imposes a penalty upon _adults_ who cause, procure or allow boys under
fourteen or girls under sixteen to trade in the streets between 9 P.M.
and 6 A.M.
An official report made in 1907 gives the names of all counties,
boroughs and urban districts in Great Britain which had up to that
time made by-laws to regulate street trading by children. In England
and Wales, 2 counties, 60 cities and boroughs and 4 urban districts
had done so; in Scotland, 3 burghs and the school board districts of
11 burghs and 12 parishes; and in Ireland, 4 cities and boroughs and 1
urban district had made such by-laws.[159]
By 1910, out of 74 county boroughs in England and Wales, not less than
50 had made street-trading by-laws, and these included most of the
larger places; but out of 191 smaller boroughs and smaller urban
districts only 41 had done so; while among 62 administrative counties
only 3 had made by-laws. In addition to these, 4 county boroughs and 2
of the smaller boroughs had made street-trading by-laws under local
acts.
In Scotland, of the 33 county councils empowered to make by-laws, not
one had done so by 1910; while of 56 burghs only 3 had passed by-laws;
of 979 school boards only 27 had made such regulations. Edinburgh
passed by-laws under a private act.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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