Actually, it could still be worth it. Lives are, by and large, prolonged and bettered with wealth. It could very well be that they did the math and 1 in 5 for 30 years due to rapid industrialization is better than the alternative.
And from that we go to "was _this_ particular thing really necessary?", which doesn't really change the main argument. Sure, they could've done without maimed children. Add 8 hour workday, weekends, maternity leave, minimum wages, social security, pensions, health care and pretty much all the things we take so much for granted I can't even think of them. Like I said, it's about wealth - some things you can afford as a country when you're US and some you don't when you're Moldova or Albania, not to mention Congo.