Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-03-28
A BIG STRIKE.
80
The Pacific Cotton Mills Closed and
Spindles Idle.
What II Will Cost the 0wners-Ihe Opera
tiyes Able to Stay 0ut-Difficulty
of Securing Skilled
Workmen.
BOTH SIDES STUBBORN AND FIRM.

shall not return to the looms and spindles
of the Pacific Mills until the old scale oil
wages is restored" The managers OF the
corporation, stolid and immovable as the
gigantic structures of brick by the side OF
the North canal, say in return: "Thegates
of the mills are closed, and they shall never
be opened to you until you yield uneondi.
tiopally, and accept the terms we offer.
Such is the situation-a deadlock OF deter
mined operatives and an equally determln,
ed corporation. On the one hand several
thousand young women, with small per
centage of men and boys, most OF them
capable and quick-witted and in the
very prime OF life, but not blessed
for toilers in the mills rarely
are-with a superabundance of the worlds
pecuniary goods; on the other hand few
men-the Lowells, the LymanS and the
Littles of Boston-who have amasSed CrG-
sus-like fortunes by their business sagaclty
in turning to account the labors OF the men
and girls. Now, of these two parties in the
present struggle, which shall yield? 1t
might be discourteOus TO certain dlstln-
guished old BoStOnians to touch upon What-
ever moral phases the question may have:
Let il be regarded in more practlcai
sense. AS business men of Lawrence say
the strike is to be deprecated, as indeed
strikes are with hardly an exception, for
they cut off the income OF both capital and
labor, while the expense of living remains
the same. The cost to the operatives OF
each day of idlcnesS is over S3,uOO the
monthly payroll being about $l6O,OOO. To
take this amount daily from the money in
circulation here will soon seriously affect
the prosperity of merchants and dealers oil
every Kind and degree. The trade at
many of the stores has already Stacked oil
to an extent that is very perCcptiblc. Even
those who are
Not at all Cramped for Funds
rs vet feel the necessity of retrcnchmcnt,
in view OF the uncertainty attending the
next pay day. The cost to the Pacilic
Mills corporation is more difficult to esti-
mate with accuracy. The interest on the
money invested in the plant is an item OF
no noinconsiderable importance. The CAPT
tai stock is s., 100000, bat the plant is as
SeSsed for nearly double this amount, and
if DESTROYED probably could not b. re-
placed for anything under SS,OOO,OOO. Sup
posing the figures are put at S6,OOO,OOO 1t
will be seen that the interest account for
one day is about 81, 900. Then there is the
insurance, which cannot be very light.
Add to this the cost OF the water power,
which it is said must be paid whether the
every one knows that it is very injurious
for textile machinery to lie idle. An agent
of Plymouth mill gave it as his opinion
to-day that $4,000 could not represen
| the loss sustained by the Pacific Mills
| in this respect in the course of three.
months shutdown. Finally the
large salaries of the Treasurer, superinten-
| dents and other officials must continue the
same. 1t is doubtless a very modest esti-
mate to state the daily drain on the cor
poration'S surplus under the present con-
dition as little short of 5000. Therefore,
| if the strike continues month, not only
will the stockholders miss their customary
90 per cent. dividends, but $3.50, 900 will be
taken from the Treasury. There is no
corporation rich enough to stand such a
draft for a long period, and few stockholders
would be patient enough to see their sur
plus melting away at the rapid rate and
their securities declining heavily in the
market, as will be the inevitable result
without making some remonStrance and in
curing the occasion OF this state OF things.
The adjunCts to the mills, already in pro-
gress and contemplated, will cost S5OO,OOO,
and will not materially increase the pro-
duCtive power, as it is intended to Use one
of the largest and most expensive of these
as storehOuse merely. The INTRODUCED on
OF new textile machinery and the repairs
considered necessary on the old mill also
Foot Up Formidable Bill
for the stockholders to contemplate. Now,
promising, which is very uncertain at
present writing, that the mills start up at
the expiration of a month, they will labor
under the most serious disadvantages.
Everyone who knows anything whatever
about the subject is aware that to run a
| mill successfully old and reliable opera,
tives who are familiar with the internal
| workings OF the establishment are ncCcS
| sary. But where will the skilled workmen,
who have made the reputation OF the
Pacific cloths, be found four weeks hence!
| Look at the hotel registers and there you
will find the addresses OF mill agents
from all parts Of the State,
of the Pacific operatives and
are here to secure the most skilled and re.
| liable among them for positions elsewhere,
at prices fully equal to those which held
sway here before the cut-down. The trains
which are hourly leaving the North Law
| renee depot for points to the North, West,
| South and East are bearing hundreds of
| these men and girls away to destinations
| from which the are not likely to return.
| Green hands may he found to take their
places. or experienced hands may be i'm.
| pense, as intimated by all official lately.
| But in whatever way the difficulty is
! bridged over il may readily be seen that
| the outlook for the Pacific Mills Corpora.
ton is not that of prosperity unallOyed.
Now, for the strikers. Can they stand q
| long period of idleness? Your correspon.
! dent has thoroughly investigated the facts,
and knows whereof he speaks. He, how
ever, does not rely in any degree upon his
| own opinion, but chiefly re-eChocS those OF
! gentlemen who are in positions that give
! them peculiar facilities for becoming ac'
! Quainted with the circumstances of the
operatives. There is not much doubt but
| the majority of the strikers can get along
| for month or six weeks with little depri'
| vation. The system of payment in vogue
at the Pacific mills leaves
Three Full Weeks Wages Due Them
at the present time. Some of this NAV
| have been spent i'll advance of receipts, but
| it is thought that large proportion is free
| from the claims of back bills. But the
major part of the operative are not wholly
| dependent upon their wages, as has been
! imagined These tOilcrS in the mills OF
Lawrence have laid by many snug sum,
which will come very OppOrtune in an
emergency like the present The account
| books of the various savings banks tell q
| tale OF WOnuerIuI tnrltt anu economy
Look at these deposits, said the treasurer
OF the Essex bank to your correspondent
running his pencil down long column OF
! figures in small amounts which footed VI
| to sum of s., 900 or so. They have come
in to-day from the operatives in the mills
Many of these very depoSitors are among
the strikers. Seven thousand dollars is
| only an average showing; some
days We get as much as 5000 and
! $4,000, or more. The amount of money
withdrawn is comparatively small. We
have as yet hardly begun to feel the effect,
| of the strike. Most OF that which has thus
far been called for by the Pacific operative:
| has gone into the hands of those who have
! found employment out of town. In my
| opinion most of the strikers can be idle fol
! six weeks or more without coming 70 want
A great many of the men have little places
of their own about the city, and not few
are real estate owners to the extent OF TIVE
or three pieces of land with cosy cottages
The women are mostly young girls, VIII,
have practically been brought up in thu
mills, but who are smart and capable anC
can turn their hands to anything. Many
| of these live with their parents and are no
wholly dependent on their own exertions
! A part of those who board in the corpora
ton and other houses will not unlikel!