New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-08-06
PACE AND LABOR PROBLEMS AT THE

| cor,o rocont attcmpts 10 Introduce negro labor
| in the cotton mills of South Carolina ana 'eor-
| gin call attention afresh to one of the dftcnlt
and nuzzlIng phases of the labor problem In
| the cotton producing ard manufacturing States
| of the South In South Carolina the employ
ment Of colored operatives has been seriously
discussed by the mill-ownprs for several moh'hs
rast. and public opinion has been keenly d-
| yded over the expediency of this radical ihho-
walton in Industrial policy 1t fell to the Fulton
BAG and Cotton Mills. Of Atlanta however, 10
take the first step toward admitting negroes
| as full-hetged cotton workers, and the expert
ment begun on Wednesday last. resulted In
| the most formidable strike yet known IN the
brief history Of Gtorgias textile Industries. The
| Atlanta concern had proposed simply 10 employ
| twenty-five negro women in one OF the Sim
| plest branches Of mill work. but their appear
| ance inside the factory doors was the signal
| for the immediate withdrawal OF the fourteen
hundred white Operatives-men. women ana
| children-On the cOmpany's rolls.
II is inevitable. perhaps. that Southern opin-
| ion should in the main side unreservedly with
the strikers on an issue involving so directly
| all the antagonisms Of race rivalry and race
prejudice But 1t is interesting to note here
| lions which have led up to the Atlanta walk
out very reluctant and hating approval Of
the theory that negro labor, as such, should be
excluded from the cOttSn factories, no matter
what the effect Of that exclusion on the textile
| industries Of the cotton States might be. One
con, arvative authority takes satisfaction in the
sugg pstion that white operatives, II displaced
10y cheaper colored labor in the mills which
| IA
| maintain themselves In new factories devoted
to turning ont higher grade goods, yet II Is some
| what surprising TO find representative n
| Southern newspaper as "The Baltimore Sun" 0d-
hitting that colored labor is available in all
! branches Of the cotton industry. and facing
| with equanimity the prospect of general EN-
ployment of negro operatives by the mill-own-
ers of the South. Colored cotton workers, "The
Sum argues are likely 20 prove Il more con-
tented, more tractable and far cheaper class
| of operatives than the whites. who now mOnOp
ollie the market for factory labor in the South.
and with the decreased cost Of production fol-
lowing the admission Of negroes TO the mills.
Southern supremacy in the manufacture Of all
but the very finest grades OF cottons would
be practically assured.
| On purely economical grounds. no doubt. the
Southern m-Ownprs would have little trouble
in jusifying their desire and purpose TO ex-
pertinent with negro labor In all branches Of
the cotton industry. How far inherent prcju-
diccs of race. coupled with the lack Of we-de
veloped industrial spirit, will allow the pro-
gramme OF the manufacturers to be carried ont
the Atlanta strike may do much 10 determine.
The surrender of the mill-Owners TO the demands
Of their white operatives throws a searching
| light on the temper with which the Southern
| public views proposed change I'm Industrial
| conditions which may prove eventually Of de-
| clded economical benefit, but which clashes
| with the traditions of social order whose
| narrowing and sinister influence is still felt in
| every problem, moral or material, set the new
SOuth 10 solve