The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1898-05-07
COTTON PROBLEMS.
Struggle for Supremacy in Great
Industry.
How the south Has Mustered Her
Forces Into the Industrial Compe-
tition with the Cotton Manu-
facturers of New England.


facturers of New England.
Augusta, Ga, April l2.-Standing a.
its base and looking sl<yward one be-
holds, rising majestically, n symmetri-
cal structure OF brisk and stone and
mortar. Once this towering chimney
sent forth it's smoke, thick and black.
which, ascending and curling and way
ing and floating away on the southern
breeze, beckoned southern soldiers on
TO scenes of battle. To-day, that impos-
ing mass OF masonry stands an obelisk,
inscribed 10 the memory of the dead
who persisted for the southern cause,
a silent reminder of the stirring scenes
once enacted about it's base. Over there
but few yards was a huge building,
and in il were made munitions of war.
About here, in the sixties, men gathered
in gray for the army. There were
marching and drilling; there were
skirmishes and firing near by; then on
and on they marched to other fields,
meeting i'm deadly conflict their own
countrymcn from the northland.
But new scenes are being enacted
now. Here, to-day, is gathered another
army. A regiment $50 strong is seen on
the identical place where stood the old
confederate powder factory, OF which
this now dormant obelisk chimney is
the last remnant. 1t is not an army OF
war but one of peace; not an army of
the unemployed but one of busy, work
ing men and women-and children.
Their product is not the black pow
der with which to send the leaden bull
let's TO northern hearts, but the white
woven wool and warp with which to
warm and keep them. In place of the
click and boom OF the musket, in place
OF the hum of the bullet are heard the
click and hum Of the loom and shuttle
and spindle.
Close by is another regiment, over
yonder still another, and down there
one more. In Georgia there are many.
North Carolina, too, is swelling the
number OF this force. South Carolina,
Alabama, Mississippi, the entire South
numbers them by the thousands upon
thousands, and they are marching on.
Disauiet In New England.
But n few months ago when all the
land TO the north seemed astir with re-
newing prosperity; when the farmer
was putting the profits Of dollar wheat
into his trousers pocket; wh.n prices Of
beef and pork and mutton were on the
rise; when rolling mills began TO turn
and furnaces, long closed, again belched
forth their flames OF fire; when idle
hands were again returning TO their toll
at stcadier employment and better pay;
when the head Of the Federation of La
Dor reported an improved condition in
16 out of % of the classes of laborers
into which his organization subdivides
them; when million families that had
looked sorrowfully into the future had
been made glad by the renewal OF
wages 10 husband and father; then IL
was that the country was startled by n
shock in New England
There was rumbling at Fall River,
a shaking at New Bedford, n jar at
Lowell, a depression all along the line,
and il left the wages of most of the cot
ton mill operatives of that section IL 10
per cent. below their former basis.
The Young Giants Of the south.
AS the people of the country began TO
recover from their dazed condition, they
rubbed their eyes and saw clearly; they
beheld. standing before them. young
giant of the industrial world. II seemed
TO have sprung as II by magic from the
cotton fields OF the south.
lie is, today, in the prime OF young
manhood, every muscle developed and
hard, every nerve steady, every sinew
like steel. There he stands ready, not
TO do battle. but TO work with his south
ern army Of laborers, not for the over
throw and determination Of his north
ern competitor, but for self-existence.
And il was he who caused the shaking
in New England.
1t is TO the study OF this young giant
OF the cotton industry OF the south, 10
his more mature brother Of the north,
10 their relations TO each other, to their
separate and united relations TO the
people of the country, and to their com
mon welfare that this series OF writings
will be devoted.
Cotton Industry In America.
The cotton mill, north or south, is not
operated as "A matter OF public policy
nor for the PRONUNCIATION OF the prin-
ciples OF any political party. Its pur-
poses are purely those OF personal
profit. The ever watchful eyes of the
treasurer and superintendent are on
the margin between what is paid for
raw cotton, labor and operating ex.
penses combined and what is received
for the product of the mill.
All the world is trying TO buy in the
cheapest market. This great country
cf ours is full OF retailers, wholesalers
and commission men who constantly
endeavor TO buy their cotton goods for
| just a little less than had been paid
previously. That mill or section which
can make its cost of production least
will multiply It's sales fastest, and a,