New-York tribune., 1902-07-27
LABOR SUPPLY SHORT.
SOUTH CAROLINA CANNOT FIND ENoOGh
ADULTS TO RUN HER MILLS.

Columbia S c. July 26 (Speciall-The prooieih
Of labor supply is confronting the nanaseHeh.s o'
b cotton mills now building in this State ana tie
an,,,tors extst In n lesser degree In the next
,orgest manufacturing States OF North Carohha
and Georgia For eight years south Oaroliiia mas ,
been the leading cotton manufacturing Sta'e VI
the South and the mills continue 10 De ou'ie' ou'
n IL the opinion OF some OF the largest ihai'u-
,a.,urers that after those mills now under con-
struction are completed there Will be uerloo oi
little or no mill building until. from one cause VI
another the supply OF labor In measure sfaii
meet the demand a,.
Thousand whites there already In the mills or
required for operation of machinery oein8 ihs'iieu
about sixty-hve thousand operatives Aha' 10 I"
condition new in the manufacturing industry-using
N nor cent of her population In the cotton miiis-
ond some large factories that have been In opera
tion two years have been unable to get tui quota
NJ hands despite the importation OF thousands
from the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains
further embarra ssment is threatened by pro-
,osad child labor legislation. this being the main
issue In South Carolina at present The older
mills with settled populations VIII not De ailecteu'
hut those factories already short of help VIII feei
the effects OF a law fixing the age limit at t"elVe
wears AS rule the mill arrangements discourage
the employment OF children and some OF them pay
as much as 20 per cent more for piecework done oS
adults but the fact is that P@Fe&R{s & G5 not so where
their children cannot be employed .h
mills Of the two Carolinas and Georgia to fix an
age limit This would have put all on an equal
ject but effective agreement could nc, not ,tSs be
reached. The child labor law Is fought Dy the Hlli
the age affected by the law. They are opposed to
legisla ton, and say that they nave inaue .;
ments under existing laws and should have tune
10 let conditions adjust themselves. They say they
DO not want to use children, but that they should
be forced to have ma hgen 1ds MoF
The majority of mill operatives oppose the law
The fact that there is no age limit undoubtedly % h
condition OF children and parents is Infinitely bet
ter than II is the farms from which they came;
In the present campaign the demagogue has fun
swing and both sides have naturally drifted TO ex-
tremes. One side paints the mill owner IKE huse
sucks their life blood the other opposes legislation
eSucatio1 will follow this class legislation. and
then the negroes Will acquire education ana i, rue
dren TO do what he pleases with them and should
not be interfered with in this God given priyi-
iege" Is freely advanced by candidates for the
iesisla ture and takes very well In the country.
In the mean time, proposition has been made
by w g Monteith. formerly OF this State but now
OF New-York that might relieve the situation II II
could be carried out He proposes 10 the mil
owners to secure immigrants from Continental
families ird il difficult to obtain employment and
mand for labor in the mills. and at the same time
relieve the farms from the demand for labor. and
enable of the native whites to continue farm
Some of the mill presidents fear experiment
built several mills in this State has organized
q 80 coo 900 cotton mill company in Missouri, says
NJ the foreign labor OF that class breads the 'negro
country and will not come South. This kind of
labor is in the Southwestern States In abundance.
and that was OF the reasons that influenced
the building of the largest mill In the world In
There are some persons here who firmly believe
that in a few years negro labor will be employed
operated entirely by negroes with white bosses.
The rank and file can make more money in mills
than in any other employment There is no ques-
tion of their competency.