The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-03-13

CdcH CHiiu IcSuldIIy dIIcpulng ScnOOl
during the month. How effective
this system has proved to be is shown
by the attendance at the school, which
averages abous 700 out of the total
population Of about 5000. Under these
requirements the minimum age for
employees in the mills is twelve years.
aud no children are permitted to work
who have not reached that age.
Although the houses are owned by
the corporation, their rental is not a
part OF the employment contract, as
wages are paid in full scmi-monthly in
cash. Inc store buildings are owned
by the corporation, but are rented to
shopkccpcrs, and the operation of the
stores is entirely independent of the
company. Employees and residents in
the village are entirely free to trade
wherever they please. There is no
store order evil.
The wages in these mills average
about seventy-six cents per day for all
employees. The company maintains a
library and reading room, which con-
tain about 5000 volumes and twenty
five periodicals, and handsome build
ing is provided for this purpose, which
is open during the evenings and on
Sundays.
In order to encourage savings among
the mill hands, the company conducts
q savings bank, and when the writer
recently visited Pelzcr the deposits in
this bank amounted to $l07, 900. This
would mean an average of about $38
each for the 2800 names on the pay
roll. AS it is very doubtful If | per
cent. OF these operatives ever succeed
cd in laying by such a sum of money
prior to their employment in the mills,
this is one Of the most striking evil
dcnccs of the advancement that has
come to this class Of people through
the establishment Of cotton mills in
the South.
The moral and religious welfare of
the operatives is not forgotten, as
there are three churches, Baptist,
Methodist and Presbyterian, in the
town. This factory settlement is an
exceedingly interesting study from
many points Of view. The conditions
which it presents may be found else
where in the South in varying de-
grecs, but possibly more thought has
been given to the welfare of the opera
tives in Pelzer than elsewhere, as
Capt. Ellison A. Smyth, president of
the Pelzer Manufacturing Co., has de-
voted great deal of attention to these
things, and has always been an cnthu-
siastic advocate Of the Improvement of
tho conditions of life in factory towns.
The influence of his advanced views
and his personal devotion to the in-
terests Of the people who work in his
mills are manifest on every hand.
The study of the conditions in Pei
ger and the numerous other Southern
factory villages where the same prin-
ciples have been applied in varying
degree will abundantly substantiate
the claim that the influence of the
Southern cotton mill and life in the
factory villages have been in every
way beneficial to the laboring classes.
The employment of people who have
always lived apart by themselves in
remote country regions, and who new
er before have met any Of the csndi-
tions of village life, has brought many
peculiar and often serious problems
with which employers have had to
deal, but there seems to have been an
honest and very earnest endeavor to
solvo all these problems, and to make
factory life beneficial to tie employees,
not alone from purely material stand
point, but also with regard to their
moral and intellectual welfare.
1t is not uncommon to find that the
corporation through its executive Of
ficer maintains strict censorship and
promptly excludes from the town linn
its any man or woman Of questionable
morals who may be discovered. The
summary action that is often taken in
such cases if quite surprising to those
who are familiar only with factory
conditions in the larger and older cen.
.ers O. the North.
1t Is of interest to note that the
help employed in the cotton mills of
the South is almost exclusive native
born American. It is rare thing to
find any foreigners in any of tho mills,
and tho few who are employed are
mainly stragglers who have wandered
Southwark from Northern mill centers.