A great Frenchman once said of the alphabet, “These twenty-six letters contain all the good things that ever were, or ever can be, said,—only they need to be arranged.” To complete the truth of this aphorism, he should have included all the bad things as well. And so it is with the children of a nation. Capable of expressing all the good or evil the world has known or may know, it is essentially a matter of arrangement, opportunity, environment. Whether the children of to-day become physical, mental, and moral cretins, or strong men and women, fathers and mothers of virile sons and daughters, depends upon the decision of the nation. If the responsibility of this is fully recognized, and the employment of children under fifteen years of age is forbidden throughout the length and breadth of this great country; if the nation realizes that the demand for the protection of the children is the highest patriotism, and enfolds every child within its strong, protecting arms, then and not till then will it be possible to look with confidence toward the future, unashamed and unafraid. ----- Footnote E: “Messenger boys” includes errand boys in stores. Footnote F: No inquiry was made among mine workers because, on account of the large number of boys whose fathers have been killed or permanently disabled, the data would be less representative. (See Roberts’ _Anthracite Coal Communities_, p. 176.) Footnote G: Mostly foreign born or the children of foreign-born parents, Slavs and Italians. The entire absence of reference to school matters is suggestive. Most of them never entered a school. IV REMEDIAL MEASURES “But pity will not right the wrong, Nor doles return the stolen youth; When tasks are done without a song And bargains wrung at cost of truth, ’Tis mockery to talk of ruth.” —DAVID LOWE. I