The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-11-14
COTTON MILL OPERATIVES.

The CHARGE That the Factory Breeds
Immortality among VOuien 10 No
True-The Factory Has q Civiliz
ing Influence, LiltinE Operatives
to q Higher state ef seeieiy-At
tainments or Factory Girls-splen
did Results 60 All.
Recent criminal acts In Paterson. n. j..
have had the ensss O hringiog ineo Promin ron D.
factory @ towns. The reverse sioe OF the
picture is presented BY tho Hon. Carroll D
Wright, ehsef or the Goveftznent Bureau OF
bin before the New England Cotton Manu-.
fscturers' Association In Washington. He
prot ssts against the idea that "the factory
creates ignorance. vice, and low tendencles.
"It does bring together larEe body OF
comparatively ignorant persons" be says;
at congregates these persons into one com.
munity, and hence the results OF ignorance
apparent because of the concentration. Be:
fore the concentration. the ignorance e1istad
precisely the same. but was dlfused and
hence not apparent" He continues:
ADVANTAGES OF FACTORIES.
systss, an and he pOpaisS E that the
.wsssles ,iy..sse is III dds q modern p
T. hand q ss ssste@ eaa the S ssssbilsh:
ment of the factory. Jd6s4sst as the sweat
hops are developed in8 the factory and
S5D1Eet Saaea so rg The 20 @
ing system being eliminsted. The only cure
is to make Of the sweat sAop the factory.
The social Life Of sweaters can Defmproved
only by lifting them to the grade or factory
operatives. -
FACTORY WOMEN AS PURE aAs 'rHE WOMEN
OF FIFTH AVENUE.
1--WE sometime hear of the immortality of
the factory operatives. l have no doubt that
the same as it exists In Fifth Avenue, and
eyerywhere else on earth where men and
women are found, but do not believe that 1t
exists in spy greater proportion IN me FAC
tory than In any other walk OF life. On the
other hand, believe that Immoral lives are
less frequent among the factory population
than among any other class In the oommuni-
ty, and In Investigations. and extensive ones al
that. in this country and abroad teach the
truth OF this assertion. The charge that the
factory breeds immortality among women is
not true, and can not be sustained by any
facts that have ever been collected
THE UPWARD TENDENCY.
Colonel Wright claims that the factory in
this country has ever been civilizing IN
fluence among the operatives. reaching
them up to q higher standard" While II
may be true that the factory operatives OF
oday do not compare, In physique and
of fifty years ago. the change is largely due 10
the character Of immigration. When the
American and English girls were forced out
Of the factories, they we're crowded not down
came the Wives Of foremen and superinten.
dents, teachers In the com mon schools, CLERKS
In atores and counting.rooms, ana iost noth.
whatever by their life and services In the
rSsssa psSes were n In % turn displaced BY French.
Nationality, declares Colonel Wright, was
benefited by Its experience within the factory
walls. he adds:
TEXTILE OPERATIVES NOT ONLY DEs1R.
, ABLE BUT A VALUABLE ELEMENT IN
s, THE SOUTH.
1.-THE establish ment OF the textile factory In
the South led TO the employment OF oody OF
native people, those born and bred IN the
South, popularity known as the poor whltes,
who up 10 the time Of the erection OF cotton
factories had lived precarious existence.
To day these people are furnishing the textile
factories Of the southern states WIN CLASS
the country. The poor whites are now able
to educate their children, TO bring them up In
q way which was never possible TO them BE-
less rapidly becoming not onlyia desirable
but valuable element In Southern popula-
tion.
THE FACTORY MEANS EDUCATION, ENLIGHT-
EMINENT, AND INTELLECTUAL DE-
vELoPMENT.
"Ihe experience in the South is simply that
OF other localities, whether In this country or
In England. The Factory means education.
en,ightment, and an intellectual develop.
ment utterly impossible without i'll mean
TO class Of people who could not reach tnese
social life BY Its educational influences II 10
constantly lifting the people from lower to
q higher grade. =.