Defeated?

The opponents of the Child Labor Amendment proposed as a part of the Constitution last week burst into rejoicing. The news was out that 13 states had refused to ratify. Since three-quarters of the states must ratify (that is, 36) if the amendment is to be adopted, the opponents cheered that the amendment was defeated. The proponents took a different stand. Miss Julia Lathrop, Vice President of the National League of Women Voters, typified their stand when she exclaimed: "We have not lost the fight. . . . A State once ratifying ratifies for all time, but a State refusing to ratify may at any time reconsider."

Since most state legislatures are in session and have the amendment in their calendar, the final score of ratifications and rejections cannot be given. The score at time of writing stood, however, as:

Ratified by three states: Arkansas, California, Arizona; approved by one branch of the legislature in New Mexico and Montana.

Rejected by one or both Houses in 13 states: Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Delaware, Wyoming, Washington and rejected by advisory referendum in Massachusetts.

The significance of this tally is that although the ratificationists are technically right--the amendment is not and cannot be definitely rejected --the trend is so definitely against ratification that for the present, and perhaps forever, the proposed amendment is done for.