Birmingham age-herald., 1894-08-21
ANOTHER STRIKE ON. Cotton Operatives at New Bedford,
 Mass, Go Out.
MAY LAST SIX MONTHS,
As the Unions Are We'll Fixed .FinanCially-ReduCtion in
 Wages the Cause.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. Aug. 20.-This morning the cotton operatives innugurated their general strike, and nearly Il GOO are idle. The machinery of but five of twenty seven mills in this city are in motion, and 1t is thought these mills will soon be shut down with the others. The manufacturers have nothing, but notices of reduction, {, against which the help rebels, are still posted. Secretary Ross of the spinners' union stated this morning that the nem- bers of his union have lined up for long struggle, and confidently expects that it will be of six months duration.
 The strike promises to be the most im- portant that has ever occurred in the tex tile industry in Massachusetts. The man. ufacturers must fight perfectly organized unions, some of which are fairly wealthy. Notable in this particular is tho spinners' union, which has fund in it's treasury aggregating at least S30, ,000. The spinners have voted, however, not to touch any of this money for a month.
 The situation in New Bedford is quite different from that in Fall River. In the latter city print cloths are manufactured for the most part, and there is larger stock of goods on hand. Here, however, the mills manufacture finer grade of goods and some of them have orders which would keep the mills busy for several months.
 A conference yesterday developed a new feature, which the operatives say reveals the plan of the manufacturers with reia- tion to the impending struggle.
 It had hitherto been supposed that, in- asmuch as the spinners union was much stronger than the weavers' organ ization the manufacturers would cater to the spin ners In the reduction and conciliate them If possible.
 Every mill posted its reduction schedule Saturday and they were compared by the labor leaders yesterday. While the sched- ules are dissimilar, it was found that the man nufacturers had cut down the spinners more than 10 per cent in many instances, while the weavers were not cut at all, or cut very little.
 This ratio is preserved systematically throughout the mills, and the operatives believe thai the manufacturers hope to get the wee .. back before many weeks.
 As long as the weavers are not backed by a strong treasury, the man nnfacturers think they will not hold out very long, particu- larIy as their wages will not be changed, |, and they will only be impelled to stay out through sympathy.
 The manufacturers think that by the time they are ready to start up the weavers will be ready to come in, and that yarn can be bought from other mills until the spinners are ready to succumb. But there is no trepidation on the part of the oper- atives. All are buoyant and confident of the ultimate success. Some of the mills, no doubt, are preparing for long shut down.
 ''The. meeting of the manufacturers Thursday was an adjourned session, '' said a gentlemen who was present, "and was not called because of the action of the spinners, as supposed. In fact the deter imitation of the spinners was but briefly touched upon. The meeting was held to decide upon some plan of reduction where by the best paid employees in the mills might be reduced, and those who are chased as small paid help either be but slightly cut down or not touched at all.
 s'This matter was fully discussed, and finally it was decided that each corpora tion should regulate it's own adjustment of cut-down, which is from 21s per cent to 10 per cent. In a great many instances there will be no cut down whatever, it is said. As a rule all of the spinners, who are the best paid men in the different mil Is, outside of officials, will be affected by the new order of things. That the spinners would resent such action was the unani- nous opinion of those present, but the plan adopted is considered the only one which will insure the running of the mills without loss under the present condition of business. .'
 Whether or not the operatives are suc- cessful they will be more contented to re- main idle In the summer months than later in the season.