The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-09
here in Fail River in the possession o, tn.
manufacturers association"

Borden. NJ. c. ID. Borden Is the proprietor u,
the Fall River Iron Works mills. There ara
four OF them. He is also the chief owner of In,
print works. Mr.. Borden has nevor iibed win
the other Fall River manufacturers. lie has NOT
SO far mado any statement regarding the wages
he will pay in his mills. lie has stated publicly.
however, that he was not connected with tho
association, and the superstition is that he Will
not reduce wages In his mills, but will let the
other manufacturers fight it out with thor en-.
ploy ees when the fight comes; then II tho manu-.
facturers win he will reduce the scale OF wages
In his mills to that paid in the other mills. andIf
they lose and the employees win the " ages in
his mill will not be changed. MIR. Borden
has not said this is what he will do
but IL Is what no did on one other
occasion. Mr.. Borden before this has been ,
very important factor in the Fall River situn.
ton. He is to-day, and he may be a much moro
important ono. Once or twice be has gone into
the market there when there was a tremendous
surplus OF goods and no demand and has pur.
chased outright for cash n half or a whole otthe
stock, thus relieving the strain on the market
very considerably. and 1t is related that after
one OF these instances at least the other Fall
River manufacturers, instead OF standing hy
him to keep up the price. deliberately went %
work and undersold him-a little matter that
was aftcrwari squared when Mr.. Borden vol.
unfairly TalSeu mo wages OF ms employees 10
per cent. and forced tho other Fall River manu-.
f%acturcrs to follow him. Mr.. Borden is the most
popular manufacturer, so far as the operatives
are concerned. in Fall River.
DECLINE IN MILL STOCKS.
II tho situation rs It has been Outlined
In this article is clear in the readers mind.
It will be plain to him why the stock OF
the various corporations is selling to-day
to,-or ,lno "a -. ,aIl l. -.z..
Investors realize the danger. and stock offered
at 10 and 20 per cent. less than It was
selling for a year ago finds few takers. Tho
following figures will show the fall In the
stocks. They are obtained from G. NJ. Hazards
& Co., Fall River bankers: American Linen
Company. from 100 to 90: Barnard Manu-
featuring Company. from 97.5 to s5; Bourne
Mills. from 100 to $50; Border City Milin;
Company. from 135 to ITO; Chase MI.
from IFS to 1OoL: Cornell Mil, from 12o -
l13: Davol Mills. from 1O4 to 100: Flint
Mills, from 112lo to 100; Granite Mills. from
liz to 1885,: King Philip Mills. from l02ie %
80: Laurel Lake Mills. from % to 80; Mer.
chants Manufacturing Company Mills. from
l18ia to 100: Mechanics Mills, from 99iq TO ~;
Narragansett Mills. from 10 TO 100; Osborne
Mills, from 11s to 1929; Pocasset Mills Mann.
featuring Company, from ITO to 100; Rich ,rl
Borden Milling Company. from HOB 20 loo;
Sanford Spinning Company. from 100 to ~;
Sycamore Manufacturing Company. from li'
to 97ie; Seaconnet Mills. from los to %; Sltds
Mills, from so to 90; the Troy c. s. W. MAN.
featuring Company, from /. $50 to 1880; Uniua
Cotton Manufacturing Company, from $50 10
las; wampanoag Mills. from ll6 to 100. and
the Weetamoe Mills. from 62ls to Ala.
or these mills eleven paid no dividends last
year. and in all but two cases the others paid
greatly decreased dividends. or the dividends
paid this year one of the mill treasurers. whose
stockholders got a dividend. said:
NEARLY all the dividends that have been paid
this year have been paid either from the sur
plus or from the depreciation account. Every
cent taken from the depreciation account OF a
mill must be restored. because II a mill is to 10
run successfully that account must be kept W.
If the machinery wears out and is not renewed,
the mill is useless. and machinery used in a cot.
ton mill wears out like lightning
NO STRIKE LIKELY VOW.
There will be a strike at tho present time.
The leaders Of the labor unions adopted the
following resolutions for presentation TO tho
operatives:
Resolved, That we. the representative OF tho tex:ls
workers, unanimously agree to present to the several
textile unions the following resolutions for Their
approval:
Having dons all in our power to prevent q reduo.
ton In wages. but knowing full well that q reduction
Is not q remedy for an overstocked market,
Resolved. That we accept the reduction. as 1t would
not be good business policy on our part to enter into
q strike at the present time. But we inform our EN-.
ployers that As soon as we think there Is a margin OF
profit SUFFICIENT for the restoration OF the present
wage schedule. we shall demand 1t. even II we have
to go TO the extremity of leaving our employment by
going on strike.
These resolutions were agreed to by the
unions. They merely postpone a strike, how.
ever. and it is altogether likely that in the
spring the matter will be fought out. Some OF
these labor leaders are pretty wise fellows, par.
ticularly the leaders OF the spinners. They will
be against q strike. They know that II a strike
comes there are a large number of mills that
will throw out the mules" and put IN ring.
spinning frames in their place. Mule spinning
requires a man; ring spinning can be done by
children and women. And IL the mills throw
out the mules. the spinners lose their work per.
manently. The spinners profess TO believe that
the work cannot be done as satisfactorily by tho
ring-spinning system, but the manufacturer say
that a great majority Of the work can DO
done, and a great number Of them are ready to
throw out the mules at the first strike. The
spinners' org anization is very rich. The SIN
reporter was informed that 1t had In its treasury
$400 for each man. to use in case OF u strike.
With $500 q man. the spinncrs could stay out a
long time. The other organizations are not IN
80 good condition financially as Is the spinners'
union. but they all have funds on hand 20
fight with. and. as n reduction In Fal
River means a reduction in the mills in
other cities, the operatives in these other
mills have promised substantial financial
aid in case the Fall River operatives
will undertake to fight the mill owners. The
mill owners say that there can be but ono OUT
come OF a strike. because In the present con-