The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-12-10
THE TWO SITUATIONS
SECRETARY OF WEAVERS' I'M
ION SEES LITTLE HOPE.
THE COST OF COTTON MANUFACTURE
1t Costs Mill in Georgia or North Carolina
3 3l-2 Cents to Produce Pound Of
Material and in New Eng
land Six Cents.
land Six Cents.

~~''NNa
Fall River, Mass, Dec. 9.-Everybody
is waiting for the presentation of the
new schedule of wages, which the mill
mems committee has been given authori-
ty to put into effect. The geaeral belief
is that the cut down viii be about II per
cent, though this cannot be definitely
stated.
Business men complain that the deci.
sion of the mill men yesterday will have
baneful effect on the holiday trade. A
cut down of IL per cent. would mean a.
reduction of about $50 600 a week to
the operatives in this city.
Matthew Hart secretary of the Weay-
ers' Union, today stated that the condi-
tlons In e--ls city are so different that a
cut would not be likely to occur here.
In New Bedford" said Mr.. Hart.
there is such variety of goods that
1T is impossible to establish any standard
of wages"
lie believed that a shutdown in Fall
Rover ought to be agreed upon, as a re-
duction in wages will simply mean a
cheaper production of goods, and the
mills will keep on piling up a big pro-
duction at full speed to be sold at
cheaper prices.
THE market will still be over-stock-
ed, he continued, land when the manu-
facturers try to restore prices in the
market they will have a hard fight with
the Jobbers, while the employees win
have to fight the manufacturers to get
their wages restored.
Although Boston is the center of the
cotton mill business of New England,
the men connected with the trade would
have little to say concerning the action
of the Fall River manufacturers in yot-
ing to reduce wages, beginning Janu-
airy LIST. The treasurer of one of the
Fail River mills, who was willing to
discuss the matter at some length, said
he regarded this cut as the beginning
of serious time, not only for the Fall
River print mills, but for all the cotton
mills, both there and throughout the
State, and, to a certain extent, through
out New England. The key to the
whole situation, he said, is the relative
cheapness of Southern labor, which
could not be better shown than by the
fact that it costs a mill in Georgia or
North Carolina 315 cents to produce a
pound of material and in New England
6 cents.
With this fact in mind, it is evident
that the cut of 10 per cent. is not going
to help matters much, and the only
thing that viii do any good at present
will be a radical cut of, say, 20 or %
per cent. This would inevitably bring
on a strike, but with cut of 10 or IL
per cent, he says, there would be little
likelihood of a strike, as the operatives
are we'll acquainted with the conditions
and know that reduction of some kind
is necessary. Even this would still
leave a difference of about % per cent.
in the cost of labor in favor of the
Southern mills, too great difference to
struggle against successfully.
I'm the first place, says this treasurer
the Southern mills have every natural
advantage. They have cheaper cotton
and less burdensome taxation. Some of
the big mills in / all River, for instance,
have yearly payment of $4,000, $15,-
600, and even $4,000, in taxes to
make, whereas, in Georgia and North
Carolina, the mills are in many instances
exempted from taxation for ten or
twelve years.
1T is in labor, however, that the great
difference lies, according to the official
quoted, for labor in the South is as
good as it is here, and, taken as
whole, is about 33 per cent. cheaper.
Another great advantage the South
ern mills have is not being hampered
by legislation. In Massachusetts the
hours of laborers are limited to fifty
eight hours a week, while in the South
they are unlimited.
The only hope for the New England
mills, according to the speaker, is either
in the Improvement of the print cloth
market or in general evening up of
conditions between the North and the
South.