The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-23
TACTICS OF NEW ENGLAND MILL

Il would be interesting to know whether
the charge made in dispatch from Ports
mouth. Va, to the Washington Star, that
the New England mill men are behind the
movement to organize labor unions in the
cotton mills of the South. rests upon a
substantial foundation. II it does the
New England mill men occupy a very IN
enviable position.
1t is a fact that the mill operatives in
| the Southern states are being organized
into unions, and in some localities strikes
/ have been ordered because the demands
of the unions have not been complied
| with; but the impression has been that
the movement in the direction of unions
in Southern mills was being engineered
! by agents acting under the authority of
the labor unions of the New England
mills. 1t had not been suspected that
| New England mill men were the instiga-
tors of the movement for the purpose of
destroying the advantages which South
ern mills have.
| 1t is true. of course, that mill labor is
| cheaper in the South than in the North.
| This is due largely to the fact that liv
ing in the South is less expensive than
in the North. Because Of cheaper labor,
and also because Southern mills, being
close to the cotton fields, get the raw ma
| terial at a less cost than the New Eng
land mills, Southern mills make larger
dividends than those of New England.
! Because of the advantages which the
! South has for manufacturing cotton goods
many New England cotton manufacturers
have either moved their plants to, or have
established branch mills, in the South.
The growth OF cotton manufacturing In
the South has been remarkable. And the
building of new cotton mills is going on
steadily. There does not seem to be any
reason to doubt that within very few
! years the bulk of the cotton goods pro-
duced in this country will be manufac-
tured in the South. 1t is natural, of
course that the New England mill men
should feel some jealousy of the prosper
ity of the Southern cotton mill men, but
we had not thought that it was within the
bounds of probability that they would de-
lberately and systematically set to work
!
fore the charge made in the Portsmouth
dispatch is accepted as true there ought
to be thorough investigation of it. If
the facts sustain the charge then the New
! England mill men should receive the con-
demnaton they would deserve
AS a matter of fact, owing to the cheap
ness of living in the South, Southern op-
|
! England operatives-that is their earn
ings will purchase about as many of the
necessaries and comforts of life. They
| have no reason, therefore to complain
that they are not dealt with as literally
in the matter of wages as New England
operatives.
OF course, if the union movement is
purely the work of New England opera
tives, Southern mill men have no ground
for finding fault with New England mill
men. In that event it is a matter be-
tween the operatives of the two sections
Of the country. 1t is a matter, however,
which Southern operatives should consid-
er carefully. If New England operatives
are trying to get them into unions they
may be sure that the motive is not a
wholly unselfsh one. The New England
| operatives are trying to use the Southern
| operatives to promote their own interests.
| They want to stop mill building in the
South so that work in the Northern mills
viii be steadier at a scale of wages fixed
! by themselves.
The question for Southern operatives to
consider is whether in the long run they
would be as well off with strikes and
/ lockouts, which would be certain to come
with unions as they are now with steady
work year in and year out.