The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-01-23
SOUTHERN
CONDITIONS.
As Applied TO Labor in Manufac,
turing Facts About Cotton Z
Mill Workers.
THE MILL OWNERS CHANCE

THE MILL OWNERS CHANCE,
Ih-y Can fur-u- = C.ur-~ that ~ IN Hr-.d
-'rii~. >trik-. and An.rch, m TITO,
faa adopt Plan. that ~ni N.As ~s-h
occur. Imp edible w-ic-."~ tn al
In az interesting series OF articles
concerning Labor, Ac rom repre-
sentative men all over the country.
printed by the Tradesman. the FOL
lowing appears from ,h. pen o.
Hon. b. X. Lacy, Commissioner Q,
La Dor of North Carolina:
In discussing the subject of South
ern labor il should te remembered
that | see them through the eyes of
y Southeruer and of one who, Tot
| only was born and reared IN this see
ton but also of one who went into
the shops and served an apprentice
| ship as a machinlst.
In North Carolina very large
per cent. of the millbelp are native
| North Carolinians. and those who aro
not, are from the North and not for
| elgners. Of these II ,O63 grown peo-
pie working IN mills. not over J per
| cent. are from outside the State; the
,6Sa children are, of course, ma
tives. These people are for the most
part of the sturdy Scotch Irish stock.
This class OF people. while opposed
to the late war, billow-d every hard
| fought field with their bodies, and
the same spirit that m ade them so
easily disciplined and managed, and
yet SO loyal and true then, when they
were tried with fire, will make them
eventually the very best operatives
in the world. This labor comes al
most entirely from the farms, and is
conservative, and not spoiled by
contact with anarchist or in fact
any kind of agitators. They have
the great advantage of inheritiug
sound, healthy bodies, not weakened
by dissipation, and while il is a fact
that they are slow. owing to climatic
influence and early training in farm
life, it should not b" mistaken for
laz!ness. They take a gait that long
experience has taught them they
can maintain. 1t is not always the
whooping, bustling, showing of
man, that is accomplishing the most
but the steady, ploddipg safe one
That training will quicken them and
that gradually they will do as much
hour for hour, as their more ener
getic brothers at the y orth. there /.
no shadow of doubt.
FORCE OF HABIT.
That man inherits almost all trait,
of his character there is no eainsay
ing. We see this in animal life anC
man is nothing but Christianized
cultivated animal: the setter is the
very best illus ration of this. Few
people know that on account of pat
riotic sentiments Srotchmen, wher
Great Britain was at war with
Spain, would not use the Spanish ol
pointer dog, and made their trainer,
undertake to teach the trick spanie
to point" Now the habit and trail
has been taught and transmitted un
til the setting spaniel is now as tn,
setter" the equal if not the supe
rior of the Spanish pointer. Will
man it is the same way the children
Of the present mill help will be de
clded improvements on those of to
day, and in a very short time tn,
South will not only have as skillfu
operatives but by far the most SAT,
l and conservative. These people hav,
their faults, but lawlessness, ant
! tendency to communism, or tn,
; equally dangerous character, the an
4 arcbist are not among them. Re
cruited from the rural district
> where days are long and wages low
they feel that they have been ad
vanced when they get out OF th,
weather" and have regular pay
1t rests with the mill men of thi
d section what their future shall be
If they educate their help to fee
that they are machines, they viii
find that human machinery is tn
= most unmanageable of any kin,
o known to man. If, on the othe
? hand, they try to make their hel
s better men and better citizens the
o will reap the great reward in a ma
n telial way. Almost all Of the strike
h and trouble of the older manufas
o turing parts of the world are due on
e tirely to the short-sightedness Q
+ mill owners and managers, wb
l. wanted TO get rich too fast and pai
Y. no attention to the moral or inte
d lectual training of those who turne
e out to be exactly what should hxv
o been expected by the way they ar
q treated. The South is no. onl
>. blessed with the very best class ths
Il could be selected to make help on
70 of, but to q great extent the owner
N and managers are real gentlemen i
8, the truest seuse of the word, an
le while they desire wealth they do nc
IN place it above everything; and in .
er most every case they understan
that "What they SOW that they wi
d reap" if they SOW in the wind (
{. grinding out the ambition and maj
=. ~ hood of those who have to take sui
is ordinate places, they will certain
m reap the whirlwlnd of strikes ar
of friction and unrest. The mill me
er Of the South have their opportunit
Mt Will they profit by the mistake
pr. other sections and try to elevate al
he build up their section with men
we'll as fac,oriesi If their who
no treatment and intercourse tends
no bring out the bad and vicious 81,
&C. Of their people, they should not Lo
an up their hands in holy horror 81
y, try to pose as martyrs when q
We storm of their own making brea
oi over their heads. 1t is a great pi
that, ON account of the ereedine
of some few, stringent laws are g
acted. There is no law in this Sta
iat a. limiting the hours of q day; Meth
.ed U is their any concerning chlld-lsb'
est Most of the mills have, of their o,
25 accord, come to an eleven hour ds
SO but as some still stick to twel
ed, hours and even more, they v
u