The sun., 1894-08-21
COTTON WORKERS STRIKE.
hLB nut FIVE or NEW BEDFoRD's
"a MILLS SHUT DOWN.
Three Concerns Make Co.cessions 90 the
Operators-Tke UntOns Ready for =
Ioug FrRht-The sttusttou AZ Fau Rtvsr


Lons Fight-The Situate. st Fsn River.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass, Aug. 2o--This morn
ing the cotton operatives began their general
strike, and nearly IL 900 are idle. But ive Of
the twenty-seven mills in the city were not
affected. and II is thought that these mills will
soon be shut down with the others. Secretary
Ross OF the Spinners' Union said this morning
that the members Of his union have lined up for
a long struggle, and confidently expect that II
will be Of six months duration.
The strike promises to be the most important
which ever occurred In the textile industry in
Massachusetts,. The manufacturers must fight
perfectly organized unions. some Of which are
fairly wealthy. The Spinners' Union Las fund
in It's treasury aggregating at least $50, 900. The
splnners have voted, however, not to touch any
Of this money for a month.
The situation in New Bedford Is quite differ
ent from that in Fall River. There print cloths
are manufactured for the most part. and there
Is larger stock OF goods on hand. Here, how
ever. the mills manufacture a finer grade OF
goods and some OF them have orders which
would keep the mills busy for several months
During the early part OF the day the streets
presented a holiday appearance as the thou
sands Of neatly sttired operatives wandered to
and fro brimful of hilarty and confident OF
victory. With the exception OF a slight dis
turbance at the Bristol mill. where a dozen OPP
eratives who were at work were attacked by
the strikers at noon without any serious
result the behavior Of the strikers was peaceful
and orderly. As the day advanced signs of II
weakening of the manufacturers were mani
fest, and the announcement was made In the
afternoon that three Of the corporations had
made the necessary concessions. Some other
corporations gave evidence OF falterlng.
William ID. Rowland, Treasurer of the How
snu mH,.n Ian anu M new srai"ra manu- %
he wa. onnossd IN the strike Mr. UowIand
SAT- ,ha, % he has simply waived the cut.down
till he can decide what action he will adopt. He
,va. mn, ,res.nt ,vbsn IN. cut. .dov,n ,vas voted
else he would have opposed it, but the action
was taken aud the notices up before he realized
f. When he found what trouble was to ensue
he ordered the notices down In his mills and
notified the other manufacturers that for the
present he should not make any cut;
IL have shut down my mills" said Mr.. How
land, TN nna II. Jus. mh", can @O hs, nave
a're"u, .onu =. ,,"a,,, a. ~, ."V ,,i,,'.,
10 When pU ascertain tbs po.on
-, h,,b then 7 will decide what course will
o0'% whsp seI =, !. @ Sulv % decided ~bs, term. the
helm will accept and the whole matter is adjusted
between US. then will start up the mills /
CANT AFFORD To- let the helm run my mills 10 suit
Themselves. but will grant ali can"
And suppose it comes to a dead open and
Of fu the manufacturers and a demand for the old
schedule on the part of the help will you say
wbet vour course would be then ~ "'' 'oN '"'
replied. Il would waive the cut down and run
tbs mills
canI afford tn take action which will re.ult
In sbnttinq down our plant and seyering the
sInuoth and friendly relations we have In our
,ha 'c sonneera1inn NJ tbs helm and II I impose
such conditions that the men refuse TO work
INV silent spindles won't make money for the
siSScl holIers '' '0
Rut how about this oyerproductio ~ WINS
asked.
to reduce the cost OF goods but am of a diff
ferent mind from most manufacturers. I look
for better times in the near future. II curtail-
ment ia the remedy let us curtsil: hut IL re-
ducing wages is going to bring everything to a
standstill, II is pretty evident that is not the
nroner cnurse -
Mr. Uowland said that he did not like TO an
,a1nnjze the other manufacturers. He thought
il a good thing for mill men 10 act in harmony.
but still did not see why he should be bound
down g policy which & he did 4! not agree with
sented Had he been present at the meet
ing he would, have voted against the cut.
arrive at a conclusion and arrange terms with
his help as soon as possible. so as TO leave the
Uowlands action will restore TO work about
ZOO hands and most OF them represent families.
urer Of ths Wamsutta mills, was as ked, in view
OF the action taken by Mr.. Rowland what would
he % of the other COrpOratiOns. He
niied.
THE mills will lock up tonight for an I'm.
definite period
His statement he said not only anplied IN the
Wamsntta coronation. hut TO every mill in the
city outside of the mills controlled by MIR How
land
II has been supposed that. inasmuch ss the
Sninners' Union was much stronger than the
cater for the spinners in the reduction. and con-
ciliate them II possibie Every mill posted its
reduction schedule On Saturday and they we're
comnared nv the labor leaders yesterday' The
schedules are dissimilar. and il was found
Thai The n,snufactnrers had cut down The snin
ners more than 10 per cent in many Instance
but the weayers We're not cut at ali or very
iit,le This ratio ia nreserved systematicslIy
thrnnUhont The mills and the oneIsTiyss baiieye
thai he manufactnrers hone IN Uet the weayers
back before many weeks.
xS tha ,reaversS are NOT back cd nm bv n stron0
treasury The mannfsrtureTs think they will not
hold oni very long narticularIy as their wages
tYiii' not he 81 nosd and they will only he I'M
naiiad to s,a,, on1 thronah mn.thy Tbe man
p1ac,nrers a6inL thai hv : hs time 6ev are ready