CHILD LABOR
Dyke, Henry Van
Child Labor By Dr. HENRY VANDYKE In "Who Follow the Flag" AH, who are these on whom the vital bloom Of life has withered to the dust of doom? These little pilgrims, prematurely worn And bent as...
...their tender lives are bound To service of the whirling, clattering wheels That fill the factories with dust and noise...
...Before their strength is ripe they bear The load of labor, toiling underground In dangerous mines, and breathing heavy air Of crowded shops...
...Nay, for a million children now Are marching in the long, pathetic line, With weary step and early wrinkled brow...
...These childish faces, pallid and forlorn, Too dull for laughter and too hard for tears...
...For unto them is given No cross to carry, but a cross to drag...
...These little pilgrims, prematurely worn And bent as if they bore the weight of years...
...They are not girls and boys, But little "hands," who blindly, dumbly feed With their own blood the hungry god of Greed...
...Is this the ghost of that insane crusade That led ten thousand children long ago, A flock of innocents, deceived, betrayed, Yet pressing on through want and woe To meet their fate, faithful and unafraid...
...And at their head appears no holy sign Of hope in heaven...
Vol. 5 • December 1913 • No. 52
