Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-11-17

| often reminded of the shortcomings of
| thu south. It is a favorite pastime of
many to tell us Of our supposed sins of
omission and commission. The gentle
mar from Maine loves to point us to the
error of our ways, and he earnestly
sought to impress on III the other day
the mistake Of raising the large crops of
cotton which he claims have helped to
bring about New England distress.
He would reform the southern farmer.
He says in effect that the southern farm
er should diversity. I tell him that his
| reform should begin at home and under
his own hat. The New England manu-
| facturer should diversity. The great
Creator, in his wisdom, gave to the
south sunshine and seasons, soil and
labor adapted to the growing Of cotton.
Our people have but taken advantage OF
these God given forces to make the
great crops which go TO clothe the
world. Can our New England friends
| say as much for the cotton mannfactur.
| ers Of Massachusetts, and Maine? You
| must learn the lesson of diversification
Of labor, my friends.
You must not forget that one ideaed
cotton manufacturers are no better than
one ideaed cotton growers; that too
| many cotton mills stand as immovably
In the path of New England progress as
do too many cotton bales in the path OF
southern progress
In the Sunny south.
Other gentlemen, while claiming q
disadvantage to New England mills In
the lower wages of the south, admit that
the southern mills have in addition adj
vantages from cheaper coal and cheaper
cotton. Mn. Chace names as the advan.
tages enjoyed by the southland in this
order-''proximity of cotton, free water
power, cheap fuel, lower taxes, low
wages. old fashioned laws, new ma
chinery, night work and submissive EN-.
ployees."
It costs, Mr.. Speaker, about a cent a
pound to carry cotton from the interior
market town of the south to the factory
town of New England. If the southern
manufacturer pays 5 cents a pound for
his cotton. il must then cost the New
England manufacturer 6 cents a pound,
an advance of 20 per cent in the cost Of
the raw material, the raw cotton used
in the manufacture of coarse goods being
about 80 per cent Of the total cost. This
would make a difference Of about 10 per
cent in the cost of the finished product.
a fair margin Of profit itself.
It is claimed that this advantage il
apparent only and that it is lost by the
southern manufacturer when he ships
his finished product to New York and
other commercial centers for distribu-
tion. The finished product is not ship
ped to New York or other cities for dis
tribution. It is distributed from the
mills. The selling agent in New York
or Chicago sends the orders received by
him to the mills and the finished product
is shipped direct to the purchaser by the
shortest available route from the fac
tory.
II the difference in labor cost is 40
per cent, as claimed by the Arkwright
club, and the other admitted advantages
are advantages at all-and I have shown
q decided advantage in the proximity of
the raw material to the ~mills-then,
MI. Chairman, with perfect equality in
labor conditions, the New Highlander is
still at q disadvantage which will for
eyer preclude him from competing sue
cessfully with his more fortunate brother
of the southern states.
On the question of difference in wages
in New England and the south I have
another witness, one who speaks from
sad experience, m who has drunk to
the dregs the bitter cup of industrial
slavery in New England. Mrs. Picker
ing, long a laborer in the mills of New
Bedford, says:
It is all a farce to say that they reduce wages
because of southern competition, because
have letters from the south which show that
they get about as good wages there as we do
O., says, 1--WE get what We work for and ara
robbed Of none of il under the name Of
fines"
How Wages Are Cut Down.
When wages are once fixed, the manufactur-
ers resort to filming to scale the total earned
down to their own figures. 1t is the only eff.
fective scheme they have, and they work ii
an extent the filming is carried. The
weaver no sooner gets an advance by an In.
crease of price than the boss commences to
modify his pay by filming.
Any one who studies the filming system can
see that it Is only robbery and Is used only
when the overseer thinks it Is safe to do it.
They hne women much more than they do
men, and when help is scarce the fines are
much lighter than they are when the appliea'
tions are pouring in for work. 1t all rests with
the oyerseer, and he can do as he pleases when
he gets dow on any one. II that is not a yoke
Of slavery. I would like to know what it is.
In confederation of this witness I call
your attention to the Massachusetts
statute regulating fning in cotton mills.
The gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr..
Moody failed to name this statute in
his very excellent speech a few days
ago, in which he called the attention of
the house to the almost maternal inter.
est Of that great state in her laboring
men and women.
Mr.. Chairman, the question of high
or low wages is a comparative one.
That which would suffice for a comfort.
able living in M place would not sup
ply bare necessities in another. I agree
with the gentleman that the laborer is
worthy Of his hire, north and south,
east and west, whether in the field or
In the factory.
Cost OF Living.
Mr.. Tompkins says the average north
ern operative would probably not be
satisfied with the southern wages and
conditions of life, but northern wages
and conditions would probably be equal
ly as unsatisfactory to southern oper-
atives,