Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1898-02-18

When it was announced few weeks
ago that $4,000 operatives in the city
Of Fall River would have their wages
reduced II per cent there was great
surprise. When this was followed by
the news of a cut in every textile CEN
ter in New England the people were
dumbfounded.
The excuse, and only excuse, offered
Is competition with Southern cotton
mills. The writer has toiled SIX
years for the greatest cotton corpora
ton in the world He has also been
in some of the largest and best South
ern mills. mention this only that the
reader may know that know OF some
things in connection with the textile
industry. If we take into consldera-
ton the kind of work done and the
amount turned off per hand, there is
no great difference between the South
ern and Northern mills. That compe-
tition between the said manufacturers,
both North and South, is partly the
cause of this gigantic cut, is true. Let
me add right here that the cotton mil
lionaire lords who own our Northern
mills are to very large extent the
very same lords who own the Southern
mills. A sort of competition between
themselves for revenue only. Well,
they can't lay this cut to the tariff, for
they have their own sweet tariff. I'm
der our present system we are max
fbop COLL this
ia true of both Northern and Southern
mills. In Fall River, a surplus OF To-
900 pieces are piled up each week, and
the total surplus in that city today Is
more than 100000 pieces. Goods are
being piled up in every textile CEN
ter.
And even on the same work the
worker has to do 30 to so per cent more
than was required ten years ago. To
illustrate: A loom-fixer who received
$225 per day to look after 40 looms
ten years ago looks after 60 today for
$3.50; 80 men, women and children do
Is much in the dye houses as 800 could
only fifteen years ago. The Northrup
or Draper loom, which was invented
some two years ago, promises to rev.
1lutionize weaving-at least on plain
goods. Thousands of these looms are
already in operation. They run 100
picks per minute. One operator can
tend from twelve to twenty looms
an average of sixteen. The loom has
two novel features, one is a stop mo-
ton by which the loom is stopped when
ever the work happens to break, and
the other is an arrangement whereby
when the filling on a shuttle runs out
another is substituted automatically.
The loom will run for more than an
hour with practically no attention. A
good weaver by running sixteen looms
can make about IS per week, the aver
age being about 81. One weaver will
weave from 1000 to 5000 yards in a
week. Compare this with the number
of yards your grandmother could
weave.
In 1892 Bingham weavers received
46 cents per cut-43 yards-for weav-
ing. In 1897 they received 81 cents per
cut, new they receive "a cents. In 1890
there were 1859 cotton operatives in
New England, and the average wage
rate was, according to Carroll D..
Wright, 1856 per year. By 1896 the
wage rate had been reduced to 1920
per year, while the productivity of the
workers had increased more than 20
per cent The average pay at present
is $2SS per year. This is for New
England. The great 10 per cent re-
duction which has just taken place af-
fects more than 100000 textile workers
in the six New England states. In
round figures these wealth producers
will receive 100000 less wages per
month in 1898 than they received in
1897 And they will consume $500, 1000
less goods per month. This will in
tensify and make worse the already
miserable conditions. During the past
dozen years the stock of these New
England cotton corporations has aver
aged six per cent above par.
A history of one of these corpora
lions is history of all. The great
cotton manufacturing company in the
world, commenced business seventy
five years ago with capital Of $780,
600. They bought several thousand
acres of land at SO per acre. They
have sold some of that land at $4,000
per acre. The original investment
was paid back several times during
the first, few years of their operation.
This great corporation is worth from
forty to fifty million dollars, all made
by the toilers. The $500 wage slaves
who create fabulous wealth for the
cotton lords are unorganized. They
vote the old party tickets, just about
half exist, and think protection to
American labor" great thing.
The condition of the textile workers
in America is steadily growing worse
Their average wages are not above
$3.50 per year. In his report for 1890
Carroll D. Wright instances hundreds
of cases of wage hands working for 81
cents a day. His Investigations were
made in twenty states.
Ninety-one per cent OF the textile
workers are homeless, only nine pc:
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