Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1900-12-01
VALUE OF FACTORIES.
PROSPERITY OF THE MODERN CITY
DEPENDENT ON THEM.

Growth of the Community Keeps
Pace With That OF Manufacturing,
Reputation OF II Town Depends on
Its Work.
That n great modern city can grow
only as its factories grow and that the
growth of these factories is now indc-
pendent Of local water power or water
transportation, these were among the
sagaclous, practical suggestions made
by Emerson W. poct before Il meeting
of the Northwestern manufacturers
association.
The growth of Il city nowadays, said
Mr.. pect, means chiefly additional pop
ulation attracted by opportunities for
profitable employment in additional or
expanding manufactures. New York,
for instance, exceeds all other Amcrl-
can cities in the amount of capital and
the number Of employees Interested in
its factories. Philadelphia he's grown
because It's factories have grown,
Rochester, Buffalo as well. II Mime
apolis were to lose all its mills and al
lied factories, its population would fall
far below st. Paul'S Although the
symmetrical growth of Il city includes
the growth Of all interests, the manu-
featuring interest is most important.
And factories now do not need water
power at hand. The electric current
will soon surrender to St Paul the
combined water power Of the Apple
river and the mississippi. Nor is water
transportation so important to Il manu-
featuring center in this railway age.
Relative to the strike that manU-
facturers' nightmare, MI Pcot urged
liberal common sense communion be-
tween employer and employee as the
= well tested preventive of labor trou-
bles. The employer must get In close
touch with his employees ana must
never forget that they are men like
himself, with equal common sense and
equal honesty of purpose. In this CON
nectiOn Mr.. Poet read the following
letter from New YOrk'S famous arbiter
Of labor disputes, Bishop Henry c.
Potter:
''In the matter to which you refer |
Ihliiict say lllil llltIt WIS any lOGildl
method. We have indeed committee
of mediation in this city made up of (a)
citizens not in business, (b) employers,
(c) Workingmen, which has, | think,
helped to bridge the chaSm between
classes. But in the cases in which |
have settled strikes the workingmcn
have come to me and asked me to ar
bitrate, and have communicated with
their employers. Each side has then
named arbitrators, and have acted as
umpire.
''But the success Of such things con-
ssts rather in the temper ana tone
with which they are undertaken than
in anything else. First, find some one
whom both sides trust and who has
no interests either way, and then let
him treat both sides with equal and
scrupulous courtesy and get them to-
gether as his guests to talk the whole
thing out for the clearing away of mu-
tuai misunderstanding. Just here is
the hlunder of the employer, who usu-
ally says, Take my terms or get out"
1t is foolish attitude, for, if persisted
in, it will ultimately develop Organiza-
tons of labor that will crush all oppo-
sitiOn by their force of numbers. La
Dor is an ignorant giant as yet, but
more defiance of it will teach it to
think. And then-stand from under!'
A. f. Slalght, a manufacturer Of
Rochester, who first saw n smaller st.
Paul in 1854. argued cogcntly that the
city, having the advantage in railway
rates over eastern cities, should
promptly establish itself "On the
ground floor" of the oriental trade and
thus secure a permanent advantage.