The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-12-09
A. c. MIIIIIER.
Proprietor Belmont Cotton Mills.
Shelby. n. c.. Nov. II. 1900

Truly yours,
A. C. MILLER.
Proprietor Belmont Cotton Mills.
Shelby. y. c.. Nov. II. 1900.
To the Editor: Your letter, in which
you ask me TO write you on the subject
of child labor in Southern cotton mills.
has been duly received. | at first hest
tated but with the sole hope that | may
set right few erroneous ideas and that
may throw some light on the subject, /
have decided to write you.
The child labor problem is a subject
that Few men understand thoroughly,
and it is a subject that should be handled
most carefully In arriving at solution
of this problem it is well to note that
the elimination of one evil may give
rise to other and more serious evils. The
interests of the working children are i'll
many cases the interests of home. Let
me ILLUSTRATED We have hundreds or
widows in our State whose sole depend
ence for life's necessities rest upon the
labor of a few small children; many OF
these mothers are physically incapaci-
tated for work. What if legislation
should offer her kindly hand and forbid
the working of these children? What
The mothers? Either the legislature
must enact laws providing for them, or
they must throw themselves on the cold
charities of the world.
| would not impugn the motives OF our
honorable legislators, but would suggest
that they exercise great care in legislat-
ing in behalf of a class upon whose real
conditions and responsibilities they are
r..ll~, tod Ian &c
hence liable to err. 1t is possible for
ones feelings to impair the correctness
of his judgment. Men who do not con-
tinually come IN contact with the chill
dren in our textile mills have most err
roneous ideas of the condition of these,
children. That the children are being
worked to death or made dwarfs by rea-
son of being put to work in cotton mills
are ideas as false as they are prevalent
AS matter of fact the children of from
s to II years of age do not work half OF
their time: they are given just enough
work to make them happy and contented
In the spinning room, for there most OF
the children work girls Is to IL years or
age can attend to eight or ten sides of
spinning and make from soc. to SLIGO per
day of eleven hours: child can attend
10 two or three sides and make zoe. to zoe.
per day.
repeat that am perfectly willing that
the children be prohibited from working
i'm our mills provided the same law
makers make full provisions for the chill
dren and their mothers. The only fear
Is at the hands of men who do not know
the situation. and if these men should
forbid by law enactment the working of
nd hnu I'M
for. they will invoke the curses of the
children and their mothers. rather than
their blessings
II the Legislature wishes to confer
blessing upon the mill children let it pass
an act making it compulsory for the chill
dren to attend school three or four months
out CT each year. That is the only hope
for the education Of these children.
| am interested in four mills in Gas
tonia, at each Of which We own a school
building of modern style and we'll equip
ped For each school we employ first
class teacher. and all We ask is for the
children to attend. the children of each
home too young to work alternating in
their turns Our experience is that only
Il small per cent attend these schools.
Great have been the Improvements
made in the factories during the past 25
years. There are today few dangers to
operatives: comforts. conveniences and
safe guards are many. The children are |
well cared for and protected.
The writer wishes to say if you will !
pardon a personal reference that he |
started to work in a cotton factory when |
he was just eight years old, and in the |
good old days of long ago when they |
worked IA hours per day, and longer if /
the lard OIL in the little tin lamps |
would hold out. and he did not work for
fun either. nor yet for his health; he |
worked for bread for self and mother He !
has seen yon Summers sun twice twenty |
times return since he started to work in |
the mill. and those who know him will /
testify that he is neither a dwarf nor an |
invalid.
The children of today are not being /
hurt they do not work half so hard nor |
half so long as they did in the long ago.
1t must be admitted that some children |
work in mills as a result of indolent and |
trifiing fathers. but that is problem
that cannot be solved.
1t is claimed by some that there should |
be law fixing days work at ten hours.
would be in favor of such a law pro- /
vided that same law should be enacted
in each of the Southern States. or rather
in each and every Southern State in which !,
there are cotton mills. But to pass such I
an act in North Carolina. while in South
Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Ala
bama the working day is IL and II hours,
would be an open discrimination against
our State. and that too. by our own legis-
iators
North Carolina is just now rising full