The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-09-04
CHILD LABOR.
Two Articles Defending tn
Mills
West Point, Ca. Sept. 1,

Editor The Advertiser
Your editorial on "A Significant Para
graph think does great injustice to
the mill managers in the State. While
know that The Advertiser is conservative
and strives to assume only tentative po-
sitions, think certainly you should have
informed yourself in the matter of labor
employed by Alabama mills, and their
treatment, and as an old subscriber TO
your paper and a mill manager in Ala
bama for more than thirty years, and
one who has all the humane instincts of
| Christian gentleman. must ask that
you allow me to reply to your article.
To begin with. no mill In the State of
Alabama Is making their profits from
and none are working labor at 10 and L
cents per day A few children may be
found in the mills under II years of age,
with but few exceptions these children
are but temporarily filling the places of
older children, or from other causes,
Providential or otherwise. In my expe-
rience l know that no child's intellect or
health has been affected by service in
either mill here; and the mortanty rate
of the three mill towns of my corpora
tons will show as low death rate as any
towns in the State their size. The opera
tives in the mills outside of the cities
land there are very few mills in our CIT
ies) are as class as healthy in appear
ance and in fact, as the citizens of any
town in the State. There is an element
in the city mills that the country mills
know nothing of, and doubtless children
from unhealthy quarters in the city are
employed by the city mills, but this rep
resents very insignificant number. as
the mills through the State. in Isolated
mill villages, or small towns, employ 80
per cent Of the mill help in the State, and
the mill managers are doing more today
to advance the poor of the State, and to
establish their independence and educate
them than any municipality or County Is
doing, or the citizens of any town In the
70 ifa fair for the
mill owners to be so grossly misrepre-
scented. This Is a warfare begun by very
much interested mills in other localities
than the South. and the staunch papers
learning the facts. that the industries
here might be properly defended.
The Greenwood mill Is owned by Bal
timore corporation. and the owners are
familiar with the Souths advantages tof
which the employm mt Of children cuts
comparatively no figure). and they are
moving THEN machinery South Mills
have been built and are being run in the
State of Alabama purely on Eastern cap
ital and l especially invite you to visit
any of these villages built purely on Eas-
tern capital, that you may see just what
effort Is being made with this Eastern
capital to advance the interest of the
citizenship OF their towns. ! have East
ern capitalists associated with me in the
mills here. and no suggestion whatever
has ever been made in the direction that
WOuiu lcUQ To care LOT
vance their interest Intellectually and
socially that my associates have not
heartily co-Operated in, and we have in
vested in modern school houses churches
and libraries, and we are supplementing
with our own funds to provide schools
nine months in the year. not only for
children between the ages of Z and IS
years of age, but We are running kinder
garten schools at our own expense where
children from to are being taught and
trained by teachers employed by our cor
porations. The children are encouraged
to go to school. and a great many of them
are going to school, who under different
circumstances would never be permitted
to do so probably. They are not en-
ployed under u years of age through
choice; they are not desirable, nor profit
able help and its rarely the case that
any help under II years of age will be
found employed in the mills except under
peculiar circumstances, and circum-
stances that would commend the manager
to any fair-mnded man, and If regularly
at work they receive from 20 to N cents
going to feed the widowed mother or
younger children, and in some cases it's
the establishing of an independent life
in that family or relieving the poor
house to that extent, and these are as
good people as are in the State. Circum-
stances beyond their control have placed
them in position to require such help, as
could only be furnished them through the
cotton mill and not one mill manager in q
hundred Is taking any advantage of their
condition.
Yours very truly,
l.. Lanter President.