Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1896-05-01
LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND.


port and the Consequences Thereof.
"What Lancashire says to-day, England
will say to- morrow Yes, but it s not a
matter of saying now, but doing, says the
Labour Leader. What Lancashire was
formerly doing for others, they are now
doing for themselves. We sent to British
East Indies $50, GAS, 900 yards Of
cloth less in 1895 than in in 1894.
Nay, more, foreign countries are
ready to do work for us, with our machin.
cry. Machine shops here are busy sending
most of their work abroad. Much Of that
machinery is being sent abroad by British
capitalists who have the wealth previously
made by British Labor. Which seems to
prove that Individualism is good thing
for individuals who don't work; that
competition is good thing-when you are
sure of beating the other competitor; that
capital can see its rights sooner with one
eye than it can see Its duties with both.
And surely its blind actions of rush and
scramble in cotton affairs should help the
cotton worker in finding his wits and put
ting them to some use.
The successful days Of the trade were
used to advance all manner Of personal
gains and private interests, as the public
good is now finding to its cost. Mills were
promoted and built to satisfy those inter
ested in contract work, brick making, stone
and wood cutting, house building, mill.
fitting, brush, oil and coal selling and other
businesses. Then all parties bore them
selves with the arrogance Of success. The
British Empire was saved-propped up by
the little piecer'' and half time ''tenter''
working under the driving system tenn
pered by the factory acts and weak tea.
wonder why the children had to ''pass
the doctor'' before starting work, instead
of when they had been at it some timeS
Pride goeth before a fall, and now the
cotton god is down, fallen like Lucifer,
never to hope again. We are humbled
and abashed, and go about with fear and
despair as alternate companions. The
silver lining in the cloud refuses to appear
though, Heaven knows we have made
clouds enough to give the lining plenty of
chance All say that something must be
done, but everything has been so overdone
already that we don't know whether it
would be best to work longer or shorter,
more or less, short time or double timo, or
stop altogether.
The sayings and occasional shrieks of
those financially interested in various mills
are funny enough to make one weep with
joy, whilst some of the poorer shareholders
have lately given us the most comic read
ing in the local reports of their meetings.
height of our success, given an intelligent
body Of workers, l see little for sadness in
our fall. The loss of this very doubtful
glory will make us think, and give us a
chance to act. do not say that the trade
is dead and that no profits are being made
but l do say that it can never hope to re-
cover to its former self, that there is a
great deal of loss, and that time, which
was never on our side, is now deadly
against us. The well managed firms hav-
ing the best machinery, luck in specializing
avoiding accidents, and spinning fine ma
terial, can yet do we'll. They may con-
tinue to do so until their competitors can
equal them in the matter Of fine spinning.
Then will the British operative go down
to rice and go up to seventy hours week.
Isn't there humiliation enough in skilled
operatives being reduced to street organ
grinding, improvised bands of uncertain
music, casual relief from plying neigh
bors, and bowls of soup from the local
butcher? The position would be far more
degrading were it not for the creditable
and loyal manner in which the men have
held together in their various trade unions.
l have just seen the returns for Dec
ember 1895, of the Card Room Workers
Amalgamation. Just short of 5000 in
the cardroom department are officially
shown to the unemployed. How many more
are out of work who are not in the society,
or who have drawn all their out of work
pay, we can only guess. AS the card
room is the department through which
the cotton first passes, it is fair to assume
that the spinners, weavers, and others are
unemployed in relative proportions. Very
well, now, it ''requires dealing with by
the Government, does it? But why
didn't we think of that before the
elections? The surest temporary relief to
the cotton trade could be brought about !,
nv tho Government chaclin0 or abolish |