my efforts against child labor were being undermined by the Catholic Church. It seemed as if every time we took one step forward in reform, someone tried to push my efforts two steps back. These laws violate the sanctity of the family, priests preached from the pulpit, because it was apparently a father’s God-given right to send little Bobby down into a mine to get lung rot. Governor Smith was losing support over the issue and being pressured to compromise. “They say we’re trying to keep children from doing the dinner dishes!”
