New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1900-05-05
COTTON FACTORIES IN THE SOUTH.

In a speech recently delivere
f before the Manufacturers Club o
f Philadelphia, Mr.. Frank Leake dis
cussed favorably the growth of tn
cotton manufacturing industry il
: the Southern States. Mr.. Leak
very candidly admits that cotton
manufacture is no longer an ex
pertinent in this section Of tn,
country. South Carolina to-day
: ranks second to Massachusetts il
the number of her spindles. NORTH
Carolina contains more mills thar
South Carolina, but her plants are
smaller and she has a less number
Of spindles than her sister State
Georgia and Alabama are rapidly
following the lead of the Carolinas,
and with the cotton, the labor, the
water power and transportation all
assured there can be no doubt of
the eventual supremacy Of the South
in cotton manufacturing.
Mr.. Leake seems to think, how
ever, that the cheap labor the cotton
mills Of the South now employ will
be a permanent condition and he
looks forward to the time when the
present white workers will be re-
placed by negroes who will be con-
tent to work for the small wage
rate that prevails. In this, how
ever, we agree with the Atlanta
Constitution that Mr.. Leake is mis-
taken. The Constitution quite cor
rectly says the cotton mills of the
South are still in their infancy and
subjected to the great losses result
ing from inexperience and a want
of knowledge of market conditions.
What the Southern mills have ac-
complished has been in spite Of
adverse circumstances and cannot
be compared to their future success
when to their natural advantages
will be added those which spring
from energy and experience. The
Atlanta Constitution says:
"What is true of the mill owners
is equally true of the operatives.
They have been brought in without
training or experience, and their
work is not to be compared to that
of the future mill operative who
will be able to do more effective
work in a more expert manner. It
follows as a~consequencs that the
wages which are paid by pioneer
mills to mere pioneer operatives,
does not mark the condition which
shall exist when the mills are under
perfect conditions, and when the
operatives are trained to the highest
skill. The wages which will then
be paid must be correspondingly
larger, and will continue to attract
the same people who are already
engaged in it.
Given were mill men here and
there to think Of employing negro
labor, they would soon discover
that it would fail to Bring them the
advantages which they might look
for. The negro lacks foresight and
plan. He lacks the continuity which
would enable him to work to pur-
pose. Given bread and meat for
the day, he has no thought of the
There is in such labor no
progression, and no dependence can
be placed upon it in an emergency.
That spirit which would induce
white laborers to work all day long
on a feast day, when necessity
called for it, is totally absent from
The negro who, once he gets $3.50
in his pocket, would refuse to work
until he had spent it. Therefore
we feel that any fear based upon
the shortness of labor in the south
is i'll founded, because the white
people will continue to supply the
labor, and the improved pay them
figures sufficient to reward their
labor. The negro must remain a
cotton producer. Under the guild
snce Of an employer and engaged
IN a work which changes but little,
he can be successful, whereas in a
abor which requires the progress
live action of mind he would be q
.otal failure"
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