The Portland daily press., 1897-12-28
MUST ACCEPT OR STRIKE.
Latest Proposition Of Fall River
WOrkmea Declined.
LOGICAL LETTER FROM ROBERT
HOWARD ON SITUATION.

Shows That Fall River Mill Stock Is Quot
ed Above Par and That Mills Have Av-
eraged To Earn Dividend of Seven
Per Cent.
Fall River, Mass, December 27.-The
latest proposition from the operatives and
the answer of tie manufacturers have
again left matters in this city in rather
an uncertain condition although by many
the outcome anticipated is an acceptance
by the operatives, at least for the present.
of the reduction. The proposition is un-
derstood to be a compromise between
two factions in the conference committee,
one favoring an immediate strike an1 the
other postponsment of all action until
March
1t differs from what the manufacturers,
when they first heard of it, expected.
and is a request that the reduction be
halved, that is 5 la per cent. instead
of / 1-9, until March l., when another
conference is suggested.
The answer of the manufacturers, de-
cided upon by the committee at meet
ing this afternoon, is a rejection of the
proposition, and there is nothing now
for the operatives to do. but accept or
oppose the reduction. In view of this
condition of affairs, it is now improbable
that the operatives conference committee
will make any recommendation to the
Textile unions, but will allow them to
act for themselves. The conference COM
mittee will meet again. tomorrow night,
and on Thursday night general meetings
OF the weavers, spinners and carders will
be held for final action. The other unions
will meet for the same purpose before the
close of the week.
Both of the communications figuring in
the latest phase of the situation were
carefully kept from the public until the
answer of the manufacturers was held by
| Secretary O'Donnell, late this afternoon,
when he allowed the newspaper men to
copy both. They are as follows:
December 26, 1897.
Cyrus 9. bonneville, secretary of the
| Manufacturers association:
| Dear Sir7-At a meeting of the confer
| ence committee of the Textile unions held
this day, the following resolution was
| adopted:
| That we, the representatives of the Tex
1 tll6 uulOuS VI pdll hltSf AdfluQ UQ6 D6EC
interests of the city at heart, and desiring
to avoid conflict with our employers,
request them to make the proposed reduc-
tiOn 1-2 per cent, instead of II 1-9 per
cent until the first of March, and to hold
another conference at that time to try
and settle the differences existing between
employers and employees.
(Signed)
Thomas 0 Donnell on behalf of the Tex
tile unions.
The reply:
Cotton Manufacturers association,
Fall. River, December n, 1897.
Thomas O'Donnell, Esq, secretary of con-
ference committee:
Dear Sir-Yours of even date received
at hand. In reply would say reduction
of wages has been under consideration
for nearly 12 months, during which time
we have tried curtailment-of of production
while our competitors in the South and
other parts of the country have run their
mills and supplied our customers. In
price of such curtailment, the price of
goods has declined, and today is at the
lowest point in the history of the busi-
ness. ; The amount of the reduction pro-
posed is, we feel, very moderate, much
less than is thought by many to be neces-
sary to meet the situation in which we
found ourselves placed In view of these
tacts we feel Obliged to decline your pro-
position.
Yours respectfully,
BY order of the Manufacturers associ-
alton.
(Signed)
Cyrus Rounseville, secretary.
Secretary O'Donnell has received anoth-
er letter from ex-Secretary Robert How
ard il which he discusses the matter of
Southern competition and the local mar
ket stock. The letter is as follows:
Boston, December 27, 1897
My dear O'Donnell-I send you q report
on Southern competition written by the
correspondent of the Boston Journal It
sounds in some respects like the informa-
ton l obtained from persons interested in
the mills which l saw South year ago.
Many of these persons claimed that the
Northern manufacturers had many ad-
vantages over the Southern manufactur-
ers in the line of more efficient help by
being nearer to the principal markets of
sale and being able to obtain money moro
easily.
Business was not in a fourishing con-
dition there. The Eagle and Phoenix
mills in Columbus. Ga, which operated
more than 1000 looms, were in the hands
of receiver. the president of one of the
national banks in Columbus. l was told
by some of the business people that the
cause of the mills being in such poor
financial condition was that the man who
had been treasurer of them was paying
himself too large salary, which gobbled
up all the profits.
In Atlanta I found one mill entirely
stopped. In Augusta l was informed
from relia BILE sources that the Sibley mills
were loaded with goods to the amount of
sou, 900, for which there was no market.
The operatives with whom 1 came in con-
tact, who had worked both in northern
and southern mills, oontended that they
received as much money in proportion to
the looms, spindles or machinery they
operated in the Southern mills az ever
they received in the Northern mills.
Practical information cannot be obtained