The struggle of youthful ice cream peddlers at Coney Island to retain the right to vend their wares on the beach and boarwalk in the face of a police campaign received the support of the New York State Youth Committee against Child Labor which made public today a letter to Mayor LaGuardia appealing to him for better police treatment of the peddlers.
The letter, signed by Murray Plavner, chairman of the committee, explained that while the committee is opposed to child labor, it believes that the city should not interfere with the peddling before the youths are freed from economic insecurity.
“We realize,” the letter stated, “that child labor and its evil effects cannot be abolished until those social and economic forces which compel youth to leave the school and seek employment have been eliminated. Pending the solution of these problems, we do not believe that additional mistreatment and abuse of these unfortunate youths will in any way help to make life more agreeable for them.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
