Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-11-30

IAAoN1a nNl AOuA INV
that fallacy. Says President Young
We have an advantage OF ~ on q
bale over the New England mills,
We have the additional advantage Oi
getting cotton direct from the farmer
without the cost of bagging aud ties
Being right here in the cotton fields
we have another advantage Of select
ing just such grades Is we want. "
Mr.. Young is one OF the pioneers u
Columbus. He came there in 1876
when there was no town there. The
indians we're just moving back before
advancing civilization, as he saw huns
dreds Of them fishing along the river,
He saw during that visit the aivant
ages Of the place as manufacturing
site, and about thtty-fve years ago
erected the first mill there. His ties.
timony in his own language is inter.
esting
We made money until the war,
when our Federal friends burned US
out; but before they did so we had
purchased another mill OF equal size.
We raid our stockholders % per cent
We manufactured white goods. We
had about ll,0O0 spindles and 25O
looms. In year after we were burned
we organized a new company and
built a new mill known as Eagle
and Phoenix No |, Alter two years
we doubled our capacity. In 1916
we began No. 3. We now run $3.50
spindles, 1885 looms, consume yearly
| IA, 500 bales, employ 1888 hands, 1879
insides, 81 out'ide the mills. Those
inside the mills are all white-S32
males, 739 women, and 3l2 children.
The average pay roll weekly is $500.
We prod1ce in round numbers daily
$4,000 yards OF cloth, 25O0 pounds Of
rope, 1000 pounds Of sewing thread,
400 pounds of yarns. Wf
We do all our own spinning, weav-
lug and dying. Our capital is 81 300
001. Out Of the earnings we built
| No. 3 Our actual investment i
about S2,5OO,0OO. Our daily average
outlay for cotton, wool aud all mates
rial, including labor, is $500 We
use about 800 or 1000 pounds Of wool
per day. Our labOrers are obtained
right about Columbus-msle and ie'
male. At first our bosses
were mainly from the North
but now they are mainly
from the South. We taught then
10 the mills. Some Of them have
been with Us many years. They are
paid by the piece, and their wages are
governed BY their efficiency. The
spinners are mostly children, and they
make an average Of thirty or forty
cents day. The weavers are mostly
women, and the most skilled maxi
! 81 % to 81 30 per day. Our dividends
are yaried-from 6 to l0per cent. No
3 was built from our earnings; ant
while building it we reduced OUT div
idend 70 per cent. We have 1 sur
plus fund, and our earnings are fealiI
I about II per cent. We now pay 5 pei
\ cent dividend, Our goods are sole
mainly in the South and West, w
sell very few goo5sin the North, 0al
goods are OF q good quality, and as
rule, heavy weight goods. There is
good demand for them, and the dis
tributors are compelled to have them
We buy all Of Jur cotton here. 0ui
wool We get from all over the country
\. Mr. Young, among other things, tolC
the Senate subcommittee that the
factories there we're built with home
capital, aud that the relations between
the whites and the blacks was very
satisfactory. He says there is no limiI
70 the manufacturing facilities Of thu
South, aud be specified many thing
that could be made in the SOuth with
profit. On this point we quote hin
, literally:
Right now We are driving the New
England goods out Of the North, anC
ale beginning to drive them out Of th,
Northwest. When they get into til,
finer classes Of goods, 1t will be lonl
time before we trouble them on thai
point. 1t takes a good deal Of taste
etc., to make those goods. We make
the heavier goods for the masses. Til,
South, however, will ultimately d
the manufacturing Of North America
Most Of our cotton here is shipped
abroad, good deal Of it to Europe
We could use it all if VI
had the facilities. We sci
all our goods in this country
We have had applications from South
America, but we prefer to sell al
home, where we can manage our OWL
business. Some of the goods made Al
Augusta 20 to China. We find oul
goolen department very profitable
| We have been forced to refuse orders
because we couldn't gil them w,
sell the goods all over the South.
! my experience has been that oul
labor ~ better than the English labor
AT one time about City hands Wer,
brought to this city from New En-.
Gland, and the superintendent SAID
there wasn't one among them who wa
as good as our own laborers. They
we're turbulent and wanted to live be
you'd their means. We bad som,
English also, and prefer our own ma
tive lsborers. | don't believe therl
are any peop.e more capable Of be.
coming skilled operatives than tht
white people Of the South. The
learned 70 weave before there wer,
any mills here. When | came Lert
fifty years ago there was not a mil
south OF Mason and Dixon's line. 0ui
help now is about equal to what il wa
in New England about thirty year.
ago We work eleven hours in the
day all the year round.