The Atlanta constitution., 1898-10-03
A Plea for the South.

In searching for words of Wlsdom,
we always look to the north ana east.
In those quarters, age has brought up
experience on the bottle, and allowed the
patent medicine men to use her name as
a. guide to health and wealth. But tho
north, in our geography, implies the
west and so. when we are searching 1of
real wisdom, We do not venture out-
side the domain of New England. There
we find it in all its freshness and beauty.
Thus. if we want to find out facts ABOUT
the cotton wear. we have oil the New
ENGLAND papers to select from, ana IL
our choice falls on the remarks or the
Springfield Republican it is because Wis
dom seems to ooze out of their very ret
icence. From an abundance of materlai
in sight we select the following, "hlch
is OF some interest in this benlghted re-
gion:
The Financial Chronicles review Oh tlS
cotton cron and movement for the year
ending September LIST, an eActpIioi,''l,3 p, a
thorough performance, gives parIlcut.si ~
tention to the matter OF southern colnpo cIIp'7it
ton in manufacturing. 1t must pc ''ilir ,
ted that for the moment the south .tppeoiis >
to be in possession of the 1leld; ocdi oetg ~
any addition was made during the year ~
the number of spindles in the norlh' "inI7
the south increased its number OF EN-
p1oyed spindles by nearly II per cent anu
tho consumption Of cotton by ~ per ceh'
The southern mills have increased thelf ca
pacity by n per cent in five years, ana
their consumption of cotton has more thah
doubled in the past seven years.
Nevertheless, The Chronicle can ma no
certain evidences of transfer of the IN
dustry from tho older northern centerS TO
the south, or from England to America or
India or Japan. England should be the
first to exhibit signs of such a movement
If it exists since England Is more reno e
from the cotton supply than New England.
But Old Englands $ exports of cotton goods
were larger the past year than in the pre-
vious year and her trade In this particular
IS one OF pretty constant growth. Lower
wages IS affirmed to be the chief advantage
of the southern over the northern mills, but
the tendency here is toward an equalZa-
ton Of rates. The southern operatives will
not long put up vita wages considerably
below the New England standard.
This shows how wisdom may go hand
in hand with consolation; but it is sin
guar how large a door is left for omis-
sion to escape by. There is not word
here in regard to the recent discovery of
the editor of The Cotton ard Wool Re-
porter that the wages of the New Eng
land cotton mill operatives are on q
lower level than those paid to the pau
per labor in the English mills. Tie
chief note Of complaint is the sO-called
cheap labor of the south. This, we
take for granted, is dwelt on with in
tent to deceive. Misrepresentation
could have no other object in this case,
no matter whether it appears in the col
umns Of The Financial Chronicle or in
those of The Springfield Republican,
The remark of the latter that the south
ern operatives will not long put up with
wages considerably below the New Eng
land standard" can have no other pur-
pose than to convey to the minds or
the New England operatives the false
idea that they are earning more money
than the southern operatives. Ihl5 IS
not true now and has not been true ior
some years. The statistics on when
the conclusion is based are not only in
accurate but are intended TO be mae
curatc. They are compiled with the in
tention of dcceiying. 1t might be SHIo
with truth that the southern operatives
would not tolerate a movement to re-
duce their wages TO the New England
level, which is known to be 0eIo" tue
pauper level of England.
According to the statistics with when
the public has been made familiar, the
wages of the New England operatives,
ten years ago, We're about 80 per cent
higher than those paid to southern
operatives. But all this has been
changed. The New England standard
has fallen below that of Lancashire, ana
the result is that the eastern operatives
are In a state of dire poverty. When the
strike occurred last fall some OF 1hen
were in a state of starvation before q
week had passed. and our correspondent
saw them fighting over ration OF stale
fish The southern operatives nave
been saving money for years, and they
are saving money now. They earn
more each week than the Ne" Eng
land workers. They have no summer
vacations, no shut-downs, no agsfa-
waiting fines. They have hardly begun
to make fine goods, but when they 90
begin. as they will, they VIII run tn7
New England fabrics out Of the market
We are not gIoating over the sitna-
tion nor are we expecting the New eng
1and mills to succumb at once ne
whole process Of changing the center
of cotton manufacturing is one "hIcn
will cover many years, but it has Deeh
Going on at a very rapid rate during the
past decade.
o