The first five chapters of the book review present conditions and discuss causes, the next two deal with effects, and the final ones are concerned with the remedy. The scope has been made as broad as possible. All forms of street work that engage any considerable number of children have been described at length, and opinions and findings of others have been freely quoted. I have attempted to show the bad results of the policy of _laissez-faire_ as applied to this problem. Simply because these little boys and girls have been ministering to its wants, the public has given them scarcely a passing thought. It has been so convenient to have a newspaper or a shoe brush thrust at one, it has not occurred to us that, for the sake of the children, such work would better be done by other means. Although good examples have been set by European cities, we have not introduced any innovations to clear the streets of working children. The free rein at present given to child labor in our city streets is productive of nothing but harmful results, and it is high time that a determined stand was taken for the rights of children so exposed. A few feeble efforts at regulation have been made in some parts of this country, but this is an evil that requires prohibition rather than regulation. There is no valid reason why just as efficient service in streets could not be rendered by adults. Certainly it would be far more suitable and humane to reserve such work for old men and women who need outdoor life and are physically unable to earn their living in other ways. We could buy our newspaper from a crippled adult at a stand just as easily as we get it now from an urchin who shivers on the street corner. It is only a question of habit, and we ought to be glad of the change for the good of all concerned. E. N. C. Cincinnati, 1912. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE PROBLEM OF THE STREET-WORKING CHILD--PUBLIC APATHY--RELATION TO OTHER PROBLEMS 1 II. EXTENT TO WHICH CHILDREN ENGAGE IN STREET ACTIVITIES IN AMERICA AND EUROPE 24 III. NEWSPAPER SELLERS 52 IV. BOOTBLACKS, PEDDLERS AND MARKET CHILDREN 83 V. MESSENGERS, ERRAND AND DELIVERY CHILDREN 101 VI. EFFECTS OF STREET WORK UPON CHILDREN 128 VII. RELATION OF STREET WORK TO DELINQUENCY 159 VIII. THE STRUGGLE FOR REGULATION IN THE UNITED STATES 189 IX. DEVELOPMENT OF STREET TRADES REGULATION IN EUROPE 214 CONCLUSION 243 BIBLIOGRAPHY 245