The Brookhaven leader., 1888-07-19
The Beauregard Alliance and
Mississippi Mills.
CAPT. DIVERS VERSION.


| EDITOR PICAYUSE: ! notice in your
issue of the 10th inst. communication
| from Beauregard criticising and complain
ing of my having discharged some Of my
employees. The communication reads as
/ follows:
Beauregard July Q. Considerable excite
ment and Indignation is manifest in our
community at the action OF Capt. Oliver,
Of the Mississippi Mills, in discharglng
from his employ a number OF people who
were members Of the Farmers Alliance Of
Of Beauregard, who do their trading at the
Alliance store at this place. Capt. Oliver
stated that any one could join the Alliance
that wanted to, but hc don't want them to
work for him and don't intend they shall.
This was direct blow at the Alliance,
and as it has over 100 members resident at
Wesson, majority of whom are workers
for their daily bread, it will work great
hardship on most Of them. The Ali
ance is ordered to assemble on Tuesday
evening and there is no telling where
the war will stop, as Oliver has thrown out
his colors with war to the knife. This
may have tendency to bling down prices
to a living percentage among competing
ers some Of the realized reductions The
origin of the wholesale discharging bust
ness it seems was because the Alliance
store here, managed by Mr. VIII }. Biggs,
is under'written contract with a number Of
alliances, aggregating membership OF
about 500 farmers and labOrers, to fur
nish goods at first cost with per cent
for cash trade, The trade was growing
fast, and il being the cheapest store quite
a number of operatives joined the alll-
ance and they moved their trade here,
which cause quietly brought down the
odium Of Capt. Oliver and the merchants.
| would not notice this communication
at all if it were not intended to injure the
Mississippi Mills with the farmers alliance
abroad, with whom we are on good terms,
and we beg a small space foI an explana-
ton. The Mississippi Mills employ now
about 1000 men, women and children,
about 500 Of them working inside the mills.
We believe we pay our employees as good
or better wages than any other man
ufacturng establishment OF a similar kind
in the United States. and since the labor
trouble two years ago all has gone along
harmoniniousiv. We have now Il popu-
lation of about 5000 and are building a
new mill which will about double our
capacity and increase our operatives to
abont 1900 and our population TO five or
six thousand. The mills buy all their
raw NATURALIZATION and wOOl-dlrect
from the farmers, paying highest prices,
and have no fight to make with the
Farmers Alliance, and are not opposed to
the organization, but our people here are
not farmers, they are employees of a mapu-
featuring establishment. In order to
work successfully employer and employees
must be on good terms, and more particu-
larry is this the case in large mills Ike
ours. The mills own the greater part OF
the town OF Wesson in which the mills are
located and we have in our town ten or
twelve is good and reliobl" merchants a
can be found in any town OF Its size in the
state.
The town oi Bearurcgard, Is You see
from the telegram at the head Of this
article, has in 1t what they claim to be 4
Farmers Alliance, and they have induced
! quite number OF our employees to join
/ them, a. their telegram sets forth to build
up the mercantile business of one w. J.
/ BIggS About halllozen OF our en-
/ ployes were very active in trying to
persuade others TO JOIN, and it really be
came labor organization, or was one at
/ Beauregard from the start, and the said
Alliance simply took them in under THEN
wing The whole object was to injure the
/ trade OF Wesson and the Mississippi Mills
/ and l claim the right to discharge any
one in my employ when find them work
! ing against the interest of the Mississippi
| Mills, or when becoming dissatisfied with
any one in my favor, as | believe any
other man would do ii he did his duty
AS stated before, we have no fight to make
with the Farmers Alliance, and we do not
| for moment believe the wellmeaninS
! Farmers Alliance OF the country will sus.
/ tain the action Oh lnt DCduItSdFu AIll'
ance in this matter. They haye no right
to come and interfere with our employees
and try to dissa tisfy them and bring or
trouble between the employer and employe
! The fact is, just such troubles as this caus-
e. many manufacturers to hesitate about
putting out their money in such enterprises
Two years ago We were prevented from
building the new mill we are now building
| because of labor troubles. Now, i'll conclu
sion, we defy any one to show or make q
better showing toward helping the poor, and
especially the poor widows and orphans, by
giving them employment at good wages and
and providing comfortable homes for them
and protecting them evry way in our pow
err than has been done by the Mississippi
Mills. Respectfully,
WIN. OLIVER.
Secretary and Treasurer of Mississippi
Mills.