Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1901-02-13
s NEGRO COTTON MIL LABOR.
Why II Failed at the vesta NIL IN Charles
ton-Tho MIL VIII be Moved to Georgia. 4

JygSf s4pSs 81 .tlss -
Why IL Failed at the vesia Mil In Charles
ton-Iho Mil WIN be Moved TO Georgia. 4
Charleston, s. o., lis q place with
ample capital and whose people have
been in the past and are still pecu-
liarly capable in financial and COM
mercial pursuits. Few men of the
South realize to what extent the
citizens of Charleston have con
trihnted to the promotion of tho
manufacturing interests in the Pied
mont section Of the South. 1t has
been claimed on good authority that
more than half of the stock Of the
cotton mills in the upper part Of
South Carolina is owned in Charles
ton.
Some years ago there was built in
Charleston large cotton mill. It
was designed by excellent and capa-
BILE engineers-in fact, by the same
engineers who had most TO do with,
the development of the modern
cotton manufacturing industry in
the Piedmont region. It's opera
tion was begun under what seemed
to be normal and average conditions.
The management appeared to be
good and the white labor was similar
to that employed by other mills in
the State. It's selling agencies have
been the same as those who have
most successfully handled the goods
from tho factories of the Piedmont
region. After two unsuccessful eff
orts to operate the mill with white
labor and later two others with col
ored labor it is now announced that
the building will be abandoned and
the machinery moved to Gainesville,
Ga, in the Piedmont section. Natu-
rally the earlier failures were attri-
buted to bad management. But when
the property was put in charge of
Capt. John IL. Montgomery, of
Spartanburg, all questions Of good
or bad management were eliminated.
His very superior ability to handle
with marked success cotton mill on
the GLASS of goods for which the
Charleston Mill was equipped re.
daced the question at issue to one
outside of the management. His
demonstrated ability to produce
goods for domestic and export mar
kets in competition with the world
places him in the front rank of
manufacturers not only of this coun-
try, but of the world.
Except for the two unsuccessful
efforts to operate this mill with
white labor and in view of the fact
that Capt. Montgomery's experiment
was with colored labor, it might
seem that the removal of this mill
was because of the demonstrated
unfitness of the colored race for
work in a cotton mill.
The people not only Of the South,
but those of other manufacturing
regions of the United States are
undoubtedly very much interested
in this subject of the adaptability Of
the negro to cotton mill work.
Besides the general proposition Of
colored labor in the cotton mill and
assuming that the decision as to it
was adverse, this question arises !:
"Why did not Capt. Montgomery
abandon colored labor in Charleston
and organize force of white labor
then instead of moving the mill to
the Piedmont region2''
! On these .wo interesting proposi-
tions, in behalf of the Observer. /
called on Capt. Montgomery in his
office here and got the following
frank statement:
The Vesta Mill was built in 1882
and it has $4,000 spindles and 748
looms. We bought the mill nearly
two years ago. Three other COM
I panies had owned it before and over
a million dollars has been spent on
II. 1t was equipped for s-yard
sheetings.
eve purchased the mill at an auc-
tion sale at price 60 low that we
thought we could run it with colored
labor. The mill company did not
own the tenement houses and the
operatives were scattered all over
the CITY. When ou.Sof the mill we
had no control overtho help, We
could not call in hands, as in our
country mill towns.
aThe principal cause Of our failure
al m, a III ax Ne, II; = - & =. IL = N. -