Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-03-17
TWILL BE NO STRIKE,
Unconditional Surrender of
Owners to the Operatives.
The 10 Per Cent. Rise Granted and
Hands Will Go to Work
This Morning Under Highest Wages
Fall River Ever Saw.

Fall River, March 16.-Unconditional
surrender to the demands of the labor
unions was the record made by the Fall
River Cotton Manufacturers Associa-
ton, Saturday afternoon. A serious
battle between capital and labor was:
averted at moment when all hope of
avoiding the conflict had, been aban-
doned by the operatives and by 50 per
cent. of the members of the associa-
ton.
The welcome news spread over the
city like wildfire. 1t seemed too good
to be true, because every interest had
resigned to the apparently inevitable,
and when it became rumored that all
the mills would post notices of a 10
per cent. advance, Monday morning,
the story was looked upon as hoax.
The morning conference, brought
about by the business men, resulted in
failures to reach an understanding. At
noon there seemed to be no possible
way in which the threatened strike
could be averted. Later in the after
noon it was announced that the Chase
sand Shoe mills had surrendered. At
labor headquarters the news was re-
ceived with great satisfaction. Before
O'Clock the Seaconnet, Flint and
WampanOag had fallen into line, and it
was evident that the labor unions had
won a great victory.
Another meeting of the Manufacture
ers' Association was hastily called. and
then for the first time it became known
in the ranks of the association, to
Il; nh, Ia of ,,,;ll ll-
was undoubtedly due.
A stormy meeting followed. The
treasurers realized that it was useless
to enter a fight after the action of the
mills named, and they voted to grant
the 10 per cent. advance, to take effect.
Monday morning. This was done in
the face of the official statement, made
at 10 o'clock, to the effect that the mar
ket conditions did not warrant the in
crease, and that the manufacturers
would not under any circumstances
grant that advance.
Members of the association admitted
that the surrender was humiliating to
them, and that, in view of their Oft
repeated statement that the market
conditions did not guarantee such a
course, they were placed before the
public and their operatives in most
unenviable light.
Said one of the first men to surrender
to the operatives:
'Tn breaking the original agreement
not to advance, by promising per
cent. half of the mills in city were
forced to do a thing which they did not
want to do. I am willing now to fight
to a finish if we could stand together
in opposition to 10 percent, but / re-
fuse to fight for the difference of per
cent. BY failing to unite we have lost
to the labor unions, who have taught
us again the lesson of standing to-
gether in times of trouble. The labor
leaders are to be congratulated upon
remaining firm in their original de-
mands. We are obliged to surrender
because we have failed to agree"
Monday morning, the help will re-
turn to the mills and commence work
under the highest scale of wages ever
paid in the cotton mills of Fall River.
Secretary Whitehead of the Weavers'
Union was notified by the manufactur-
ers of the action taken by their asso-
citation, and was further informed that
the matter of standard length Of cut
would be taken up at once. This is the
issue upon which the weavers decided
to wait until the wage difficulty was
settled, and it is in an effort to. put in a
standard length of cut that the weav-
ers of Sycamore mill No. 1 are now on
strike