The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-12
Cotton Mills South and East.


Few weeks study OF manufacturlnc in
the South. its advantages and disad-
vantagcs and prospects for the future.
but wish TO say at the start that my
Investigations were not so thorough as
to detail IS could be wished. Still. a
fair idca of conditions was obtained
aud the conclusions will be found.
think, to be fairly correct.
reasoned hefcrc ! started that the
main point to be considered was til Z
efficiency of the Southern operative.
Was he equal to the Northern op-
eratiyc, or likely to develop equal
skill?
If he is not equal or incapable of
reaching the same degree Of skill as
our operatives, then Southern compe-
tition does not amount to much. ex
cept temporarily, but if the Southern
mill help is Of as good material as our
help here, there is no reason why the
South snould not take up any line Of
cotton manufacturing and make sue
cess of it, and at lower cost than
would be possible at the North.
Now, as far rs my observation went.
the Southern operative was doing
about as much work as ours hero, and
doing as good work. | have seen no
better running mills anywhere than
some Of those visited in the South.
And when got at in detail, it was
found they had no more help than
would be the case in Il we'll regulated
mill here
The speeds of the various machines
were fully as high as usual here.
In appearance they compared well
with our help in the North, except in
the case of some of the older mills,
while found that the newer mills
were getting the best Of their help
and compelling them to struggle along
with the poorest operatives | had ever
seen, either North OF South.
| have examined mills where every
thing compared well with the North,
where the managers would claim that
Southern help was the best in the
world; and in the same town I have
visited mill where disorder rcigned,
and mismanagemcnt was apparent.
and where / was told that the South
ern operative was lazy and shiftless,
and would never be any good.
But judged from all this that with
proper handling. the same results us
to skill and efficiency would bo OBJ
talned there, US with us here.
When it is argued that the Southern
operative will never equal the North
crn operative, it is proper to ask why
not?
The material we are getting in our
Northern mills at present embraces
nearly all nationalities, large num-
bcr of which are ignorant of our Ian
guage and without any previous cx-
perlence 20 cotton mill. Now why
should they make better operatives
than the native Americans of the
South, the descendants Of those splcE-
did fighters of the Confederate army?
think little reflection will satisfy
any one that they should hc better
than the average material We get here
CT arc likely to get in the future.
The wages in the South arc % to 35
per cent. below the average prices
paid in the North for the same amount
OF work, but it is expected by many Of
us in the North that this is but tenn
porary, and within few years wages
will have reached the level of New
England wages.
The conditions arc against this
theory. To begin with, there is an
abundance of white labor subsisting
on farms where the income is very
small, to whom the present wages of Il
cotton mill seem large. They have to
labor in competition with the colorcd
race whom they dcspise, while in the
cotton mills they are free from their
competition and presence.
Their living expenses and wants are
small, as compared with the Northern
operatives, and the mild climate they
are in means q saving in fuel and win
ter clothing, all of which goes far to-
ward making their present wages salts
factory.
Again, they are too far apart for
any united action. The cotton
mills are scattered over vast ex-
tent of te-..::..ccs.yJ, uauy oi them In
very isolated districts.
Communication is slow and difficult
except, of course, at the large towns
where several mills are located, but
the tendency is toward building the
mills out on the cotton fields rather
than in large centres, and the mills
usually own their own villages, SO the
chances for any strong organization is
very remote.
Newspapers are scarce and cxpen-
sive, and as education is very limited,
they do not circulate very extensively,
so that the operatives of one factory
ere not apt to be very we'll informed
as to conditions in other places.
Next in value to low wages is the
advantage of long hours. The usual
week in the South is supposed to be
66 hours, though as matter of fact,
they get in about 68 hours.
Now 10 hours more per week than
Massachusetts, means about II per
cent. more time in which machinery
10 turning off finished product. This