The San Francisco call., 1906-07-27

TOR the purpose of learning. what
n manufacturers of cotton goods in
i the South have done to ameliorate
the conditions under which their
employees work and live, Miss Gertrude
Beeks, secretary of the welfare depart
ment of the National Civic Federation.
recently visited South Carolina. Ala
bama and Georgia. A complete report
of her investigation appears in the cur
rent issue of The Review. The subjects
covered are the working conditions of
the operatives, their homes, education
of children, recreation, and child labor.
For this investigation mills were Sc
1ected not only with reference to their
relative Importance, but a special effort
was made to inspect those toward
which public attention has been partic-
ularly directed in the criticisms of sem
sational writers. This is the first op-
portunity afforded the general reader to
learn from a disinterested, practical
investigator the truth about conditions
in the Southern cotton mills. Much lit
erature has been published on the sub
ject, frequently emanating from
source interested in circulating social
istic propaganda rather than depicting
facts Miss Beeks not only frankly
criticises where the employers are at
fault. but also tells of their remarkable
beneficent efforts. Probably no other
woman in this country has had as wide
practical experience in dealing with all
phases of the problems connected with
the employment of labor and provision
for its well-being.
Relative to the conditions under
which the operatives work, she reports
that the mills are well ventilated.
lighted, cooled in summer and heated
in winter through the use OF modern
devices. In South Carolina seventy
three mill presidents determined, June
5. upon a gradual reduction of the
working hours from sfxty-six to sixty
week. Owing to the long hours the
operatives have been too greatly IA
tigued evenings to avail themselves to
any extent of the opportunities for
recreation and Improvement offered by
the employers.
Children being employed, the ques-
tion of child labor was naturally in
volved in the inquiry. While there are
isolated cases of very young children
at work. as well as far too many under
twelve years, the legal age in South
Carolina and Alabama. it is necessary
to examine the cause before offering g
criticism. Until industry was organ
lied child labor was prevalent upon
the farms. Labor for the cotton mills
was recruited from the farming dis
tricts, principally the isolated regions
in the mountains. 1t was only natural
therefore, that the parents should send
their children into the mills In the
economic development OF the South
remedial legislation has not kept pace
with industrial progress. nor has pub
lie sentiment educated the parents
who have lacked opportunities for edu-
cation themselves. and. therefore, be-
lieve that 1t is unnecessary for their
children, to the point OF sending the
children to school instead of the mills
On observing the general prosperity
which has been wrought through the
cotton industry, the question arose al
to whether ii would have been better
to have left the people in pauperisn
and illiteracy than to have taken them
into the manufacturing districts where
they could secure an Industrial train