The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-09
Southern mill owners have 10 send their finished
goods here and pay the freight on them.
wAoRa NORTH AND eorTH.


goods here and pay the freight on them.
WAGES NORTH AND SOUTH.
In the matter OF wages the South has an un-
questioned advantage. The question OF just
what that advantage is 10 one OF the matters OF
dispute between the operatives and the mill
owners In Fall River. The mill owners say 1t is
about % per cent. The Arkwrieht Club. an as
ISOLATION of New England manufacturers, re-
Gently sent q special committee to the South to
look into the matter Of Southern competition
with Northern cotton mills. and they declared
in the report which they made to the club about
three weeks ago that the cost of labor to the
Southern mill owner was about 40 per cent. less
than to the Northern mill owner. That Is for
skilled labor. For unskilled labor the Southern
manufacturer. the Arkwright Club Committee
said. had to pay only 30 cents against the 90
cents and 81 that the Northern manufacturer
has to pay.
These assertions Of the Arkwright Club com.
mittee stirred up the operatives. and they have
been getting figures from the South. too. Their
figures do not support the Arkwright Clubs re-
port at all. The fact Of the matter is that both
sets Of figures are honest, but each side looked
for the mill that would show the most favorable
result TO sustain argument. Other Investigators
who are disinterested have also been ut work.
They have taken the mills as they came. 1t Is
not possible to give q table comparing the wages,
department by department, but the figures foot
up q difference of about . cents per pound Of
labor cost in manufacturing.
Several bankers, who by reason OF their largo
loans to mill owners are very greatly interested
in oil this question of Southern competition.
agreed that the difference in wages paid by tho
Northern mills and the Southern mills was not
less than % per cent. and probably not more
than IS per cent. in the average mill. In ad.
dition to the difference in the amount of money
paid for wages. there is n further and greater
difference in the matter OF time. Where the
Fall River operative works but fifty eight hours
n week and gets % per cent. moro wages. tho
Southern operator works s~lSty.six hours q week
and gets less for It. The situation was put by
these bankers to the reporter thus:
Here are two concerns In precisely the samo
business. making exactly the same material.
the product Of each as good as the other, and
sending that product to the same market. The
one has to pay % per cent. more for the labor
that enters into this product than the other.
Now, how long can tire man who has to pay the
higher wages compete with the man who has TO
pay the lowerr'
But while the South has this advantage In the
matter of wages. there are advantages enjoyed
by the Fall River mill owners that go a long
way toward offsettinG 1t.
SOUTHERN ADVANTAGES OFFSET.
Let US take the advantages that each has over
the other, and see how far one offsets the other.
First. the advantages that the South enjoys.
The greatest, Of course. Is in the matter of
wages. which has already been discussed. Next,
the matter Of taxes. The Southern States arc
all anxious to advance manufacturing indus.
tries. and they have favored those industries by
making tax rates very low. In some places tho
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nal. and in some no taxes at all are paid. as. for
example. in Georgia and Alabama, where the
Legislatures recently passed a law exemptlng
cotton industries from all taxes for ten years.
Next. the South has an advantage in the matter
of machinery. This advantage is confined, how
ever. to the very newest mills that have been
established. In these mills they have a newly
patented loom which is q great labor saver.
With this loom one weaver can take care OF
sixteen looms where with the old machinery ono
weaver can take care of only eight looms. Next.
there is perhaps some small advantage in be-
ing close to the cotton fields where the raw
product is produced. But. as said before.
that advantage is very small. Next. in the
matter of hours work. This advantage Of eight
hours a week Is really second in value to the
wages. Now. to offset all these advan-
tages. Fall River has these:
The mills are older and have been in operation
q great many years. They are all in the hands of
practical mill men who have been brought up in
the business. and their operatives are all of them
experienced. Experience in manufacture has
taught these mill owners economies that can be
learned only by experience. There Is less waste
by far In Fall River mills than there is in any of
the mills Of the South. The second advantage
for Fall River Is that New England is a centre
of capital. and capital is more active there than
IA a. L. Al o--L
can be borrowed ct lower rates OF interest.
and nearly all of the mills have accumu-
lated surpluses that reduce tho necessity OF
borrowing. In the North 1t is no favor to
lend money to q man. Money Is cheap; 1t
is constantly looking for an investm emf, always
provided the security 10 good. This advantage.
1t will be seen, is very great. The Southern
mill owner has to come to New York to borrow.
His business is not so long established, hence
his security is not SO good. Lending money to
him Ia more of a favor and the added risk war
rants the demand for a higher interest. Tho
Southern manufacturer buys as no needs be-
cause his capital costs him so much. At a time
like this. for instance, when cotton is selling
below the cost Of production, the Northern mill
owner. with his large surplus and with his
ability to borrow money at a low rate of
interest, can go into the South and buy
up great quantities of cheap cotton to
rus his mills. The Southerner can buy only
small quantities. Now. suppose cotton goes up
one, two or three cents a pound. The Northern
mill man has got a great stock OF cotton. for
which he paid only five cents a pound, and the
Southern mill man who didn't have the money
to buy when it was cheap has to purchase at
the higher rates.
The next advantaR e that the Fall River man
has Is In the matter of marketing his goods. He
borrows of whom he pleases, because his secur-
ity is the best, and he Is under no obligations
to the man he borrows from. He 10 at liberty TO
sell his goods to whom he pleases. through
whatever broker he pleases. He docs sell
his goods through a broker OF his own
selection, and to this broker he pays
a commission of one'half of l per cent. on mar
row goods and Of / per cent. on wide goods. The
Southern mill owner borrows from his commits
sion'broker and must sell through his commission
broker. The broker in a largo measure fixes the
commission, and the Southern Mill owner to-
day pays a commission of from 4 to 5 per cent.
to get rid OF his goods. Weighing these advan-