The spinning-room overseer and his flock in a Mississippi cotton-mill.
The subject was given national prominence through the Beveridge-Parsons
Bill introduced into the Senate, December, 1907, marking an epoch in the
history of federal legislation. This bill proposed to exclude from
interstate commerce all products of mines and factories which employ
children under the age of fourteen. The bill was not, however, brought
up for discussion. The leading arguments of its opponents were as
follows: (1) That the question was local only; (2) there was no reason
to believe that federal would be better than State administration; (3)
that it was limited in effect since it could not prevent children being