The "reasonable excuse" was found in the overpowering clamor of farmers and munition makers who were suffering from lack of workers, as in Staffordshire, where the petition sent to the Education Authority by the bolt-and-nut manufacturers at Darlaston stated that owing to the enlistment of men in various branches of his Majesty's forces and because of the fact that the firms concerned were largely engaged on work of great urgency for the naval and military services, "it was desirable, in order to prevent delay in the execution of this work, that the school-attendance by-laws should be relaxed for the duration of the war so as to permit of the employment of boys over the age of 13 years."[4]
It cannot be stated too strongly that England has realized too late the practical impossibility of recovery for school of the children thus released, and the dangers to the nation of allowing the junior population to go into industry without supervision. There will be introduced into our legislatures in 1918 and later many bills which will parallel English action, and the various states must watch carefully to see that in their zealous attempts to increase food or necessary manufactured supplies they do not create and sanction disastrous conditions for the health and morals of the young.
Now action in regard to our schools may be of several types. First, there may be passed laws which abrogate the existing compulsory-attendance law; such legislation would be that permitting children below compulsory school age to leave school. Second, it is possible to have the existing laws interpreted so as to excuse absence from school, as in North Dakota, where the attorney-general in an open letter to school officers, April, 1917, interprets the section of the school law exempting children from school attendance in cases of necessity to apply to children of school age actually engaged in tilling the soil. A third type of action is that which suspends the compulsory-attendance law under certain conditions; such a law is the so-called "Brown Bill," chapter 689 of the Laws of 1917, New York legislature, to which reference will be made later. Action may also be taken in regard to shortening or lengthening the established school year, shifting vacations, and changing hours of session. For instance, the Bureau of Education at Washington has suggested keeping school open twelve months, and this advice may be taken in some localities; it is possible, also, that a continuation of the demand for agricultural labor of students may result in a different allotment of vacations in the apple- and peach-growing sections, so that students employed in harvesting may lose a minimum of school attendance.