The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-08-12
ALL FIVE ARE FALSE.
hey Slandtr the North Caro-
Ina Cotton Wills.
Operatives Are Treated With Kindness and Cor
sideration Itat Is Not Known in the Great
NIL Centers

al 81 ltit Ut Stdlt neal > tOi
years ago, it is quite natural that i
should feel interested in everything rela-
tive to the dear old Commonwealth,
where SO many happy years of my life
were spent. If mere sentiment, instead
of business interests. controlled me,
should lose no time in renewing my al
lcgiance to a State which has become
SO important a factor in the political
and industrial progress Of the nation.
It is now generally conceded that IN
many respects, North Carolina is the
most prominent part of the North Ameri-
can Continent. Favored with splendid
natural resources and blessed with an
Industrious, God-feariEg population, the
State is destined to continue its grand
march along the pathway of progress
and prosperity. But III the midst of the
most encouraging development, it is not
improbable that instances of injustice
and oppression may occasionally arise
requiring investigation and correction. 1t
is a case of this nature which | desire
to lay before the News and Observer and
its many fair-minded readers.
During the carly part Of the present
summer, l was travelling through the
anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania
in the interest of a large manufacturing
concern, located in the east. While in
Oil City, my attention was called to a
printed speech made by one of the repre-
sentativcS of the American Federation
of Labor, which was almost startling
in its abusive reference to Southern mill
owners and operators. The North Caro-
lima cotton mills were especially men
toned. After boldly declaring that the
mills as operated would prove a greater
curse to the South than slavery before
the war, the speaker said that he would
endcavor to explain the situation by pre-
scnting the five following assertions, all
of which were absolutely true. l quote:
The conditions of the Southern tex
tiIe-workcrs may be summed up as fol-
lows:
they arc treated worse than slaves.
They work longer and for less pay than
Sny class of mill laborcrs in the world.
"They are subjected to a'docking sys-
tenn under which they are shamefully
cheated and robbed.
They are forced to live in the mill
owners houses, trade at the mill-owners'
stores, support the mill-owncrs' churches
and d%octors; and, should they dare to OPP
pose any of these requirements, they are
driven like dogs from the mill district.
The child-labor system in the South
ern mills is a disgrace to our boastcd
civilization. The health, and even the
lives, Of thousands of little children is
being sacrificed to crafty the demands
Of capitalistic greed.
The mill bosses in the South ~enslave
the operatives, who formerly were limo
cent country people, by taking advantage
of their astounding ignorance and cred
ulitv.'
Doubling the truth of the above ASST
tons, I decided to clip and send them to
some reputable paper in the South for
contradiction l can scarcely believe that
the Southern people, so distinguished for
their generous conception of Christian
duty, would for enc moment tolerate the
sad condition here described. Labor adj
vocatcs have been going all over Now
England exposing the horrors of white
slavery in the southern mills. Now Mr..
Editor, ii these advocates, by exaggcr-
atlng or misrcpresenting the true facts
IN the case, are doing gross Injustice
TO the mill managers, then it would seem
that 1T is the duty Of the Southern press
to discredit and suppress them.
W. b.. E~DMUNDSON.
Baltimore, Md, Aug. 3, 1902.
mot one of tho five statements is true.
In fact the whole speech is cIandcrous.
1t is false that operatives are swindIcd
in North Carolina. 1t is a base slandcl
that thcy are treated worse than slaves.
The whole attack is so unture and wicked
that it must defeat it's object by it's OWL
, intcmpcrancc.
Most of tie mills in North Carolina are
| managed by the men who own large stock
IN them Most of these men treat the
l OnCratiVCS with Ein1nccc and co,cjJOr1-
ton not known in the mills in the great
centres. They take interest in the cdu-
cation of the children. and the advance
Z ment and bottcrmcnt of the condition o
7 the men and women. To represent Their
y IS harsh, cruel. or dishonest is to Sian
der many of the best citizens Of Nortl
y Carolina.
. Tho work hour in the mills is clever
hours. Last year nearly all the mill own
"rs signed an agreement not to work an,
children under twelve years of age il
the cotton mills. Most Of them have live
UP to it. Tho Commissioners of Labor j
quoted as saying that a few have broke
it There ought to be a law prcventini
he working of children in cotton mills
Private agreements will not accomplis
the end desired. That law would be wei
coined by some Of the best cotton mi
mon in the State. They do not wish I
employ children in their mills. Som
skilled parents require the mill owner
TO employ their children or they will no
accept employment for themselves.
law is needed.
As TO cducation: The present year ha
2 shown that a large number of the mi
men have been leaders in the educationf
revival, have contributed money to bull
modern school houses. and used their II
fuence to induce all the children to At
tend. The educational spirit is grown
among the mill owners, the mill opera
: tives, and everybody else in North care
lima. II there is no trust organized
take the mills out of the control and maj
agement Of the present OWncrs, there WI
he Improvement in every Way-aS
al hours, education. and child labor VIII
III vigorously STANDARDIZATION.
Hk r. yettpyilIe. N. c., August 9.-Fa.