The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-01-11

Conditions and Afairs OF the In
dustry IS Made by the Commits
sioner OF Labor and Printing. and
"a summary Given OF Conditions by
Counties.
The following report of the Com
missioner OF Labor and Printing viii
contain very full statistics concerning
the cotton, WOODEN. silk ard Knitting
mills OF the State, with reference also
to tho conditions Of labor and child
labor in the mills, and to other con-
ditlonS which are with this
line Of industry in North Carolina. In
that section OF the report these mat
tors are discussed and there is given
i OF affairs by counties as
follows:
The same conditions that apply to
The miscellaneous factories ii the
state may be said TO be representative
Of the cotton. WOODEN, silk and knit
ting mills. There a few peculiar di1ti-
cuIties, however, which apply espo-
tally to his class Of manufactures,
some of which il is possible to rcTnoVe
and others, the practicabiiity OF the
removal Of which is more or Jess q
difficult p~roblem-and whose removal
viii take an influence wider than the
State alone can WELD.
41iCSe - "4Ait HIic&iS
the representatives Of this department
have discussed the labor and child Ia
Dor questions haNe expressed hem
selves as being DESTROYS OF Ooeying,
and even Of participating in the en-
fOrCernent OF reasonable laws and re
StrictiOnS. The age limit, as set out IN
the present law, is generally satisfac-
tory, and the prevailing sentiment
among mill mon is for its rigid en-
forcement, to eliminate the posi-
1acturers violating It to the
disadvantage Of the conscientious
employer. Child-labor, as q general
proposition. is said to be not protita-
bic, but at times necessity to the keep
ing Of parent labor that is profitable.
This works greatly to the detrirent
OF tho honest manufacturer, as the
dishonest ones sometimes strain 4
point to get certain desirable labor.
"Another proposition is the baling
and baling material. The wasteful-
ness and ineficiency Of the present
methods IS 50 apparent as 20 need
nothing more "a mention here.
From the farmers standpoint it re-
suits in direct loss IN value, and from
the manufacturers standpoint ii re-
suits in = great loss III quality after
purchase, simply from agencies that
have commenced to get in their de-
YOgatOTy processes before the bale
comes TO the mill or to the warehouse.
\ coarse cotton cover, in the nature
Of Il heavy sail cloth, would so a long
way toward prtecting the staple,
which iS now treated as If its earliest
destruction were the end sought.
Congresses at gins are badly needed
to the END that inflamuability may be
reduced, as Well as a saving made in
freight rates. This would also result
in q much more expeditions handling.
"A ~fluctuating market IS no doubt
- : Z oil ~ III Op hin ne
manufacturers have to contend. Inc
immediate result Of the advance in the
price Of cotton III the latter part Of
his year has been the curtailnlent or
production by as many OF the mills
as were rot sold head. II specula-
ton could be eliminated, the variation
in price caused by supply and de-
mand could probably be handled, but
until this is done there Will be losses
and Impressions in the legitimate field,
tor which it IS no way responsible ana
for which II ought not to have TO
stand.
The industry represents by far the
largest investment Of capital in q
single line in the State, and leads II
the number OF employees and volume
Of wages paid.
Figures on the Mills.
The 312 cotton, woolen and sill
mills reporting show an authorized
capital OF s51, 083,550. and the EN-
pl0yment Of 3,143,511 spindles, 55,.
692 looms and 130,355 horse power
The total unbe OF employees re-
ported is 55,129. Thirty-one thous-
and seven hundred and ninety-on,
are males; 23,358 are females. The
estimated umbe of persons depend
ent on those mills and on the 55,12&
employees for u livelihood is 1885,
SiHty-siX per cent of the mills re
port that there is an Improvement il
general proficiency of operatives,
seven per cent on Improvement: TWEEN
ty-seVcn per cent do not answer: sixty
fVe per cent report Improvement il