Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-03-01
AS NEGROES LOAF
SOUTHERN PLANTS
ARE HANDICAPPED
Lack of Labor Causing Vir-
ginia- Carolina Chemical Co.
Serious inconvenience Say
Negroes Will Not Work
WILL HAVE DIFFICULTY
IN GETTING OUT STOCK

With a majority of the negro pool rooms
and near-beer saloons crowded from early
morning until late at night and with
idle negroes lounging around in Dark
town all day long. one of the biggest in
dustries in the south is literally begging
for unskilled labor and cannot get IL at
any cost. As a consequence this indus
try in going to be seriously handicapped
during its busy season which will in
dude the next two months.
EMPLOYS A LARGE FORCE.
The industry in question is the Virginia.
Carolina Chemical company, which has
30 plants in TIE south and 2 in the state
of Georgia. During the busy season,
which usually lasts about two months,
the company ought to have at least g.
600 negro men at work in its fertilizer
sheds. Nothing like this number has been
secured up to the present time, and I'M
less more help is gOtten-and that quick
ly-the company will be unable to get
its product to planters in time. and the
consequent loss will be heavy.
SEASON is RESTRICTED.
Formerly the season for buying fer
tilizer lasted four months. but now il
has narrowed down to two months, the
farmers prefering to buy only when fer
tilizer is needed. Consequently the bust
ness becomes congested and when help IS
needed IL is badly needed.
r F. Sans. manager of the manufac-
turing departments Of the Nirginia-Car-
DINA Chemical company. said Monday:
with the present scarcity of labor, il
looks like we cannot get out our fertilizer
in time this year"
Continuing he said that the trouble
could be traced to two sources. In the
first place all the factories and oil mills
OF the state are in full operation and there
is a good demand for labor; i'm the Sec
ond. thousands of negroes in the state
simply refuse to work at any price. The
company pays its negro laborers from 81
to 81 % per day. This amount IL earned
by the men now loafing would go into
legitimate trade channels and would be
a, great benefit to the several communities
where plants are located.
The plants of the Nirginia-Carolina
Chemical company are situated in At
lanta, Rome. Social Circle, Macon. New
nan, Columbus. Albany, Americas, Sa-
vannah. Augusta and Valdosta. In each
OF these cities and towns the labor stu
alton IS The same.
The output of the company i'm Georgia
is approximately 10000 tons. valued at
S., OO0, 600 What the loss i'm profit to the
company will be this year is difficult to
estimate at the present time, but it will
be large.
Some years ago the company tried Ital-
ian labOrers. but the experiment did not
work well owing TO their lack of knowl-
edge OF conditions.
THE TROUBLE is GENERAL.
II negroes persist I'm their refusal "a
work IL is only a matter of time when
white labor will have to be pressed into
/ service. il is said. The problem of ne
gro labor is one which the big manufac-
turers of the south say they find more
and more difficult to solve. The more
advanced predict the day is not far dis
tant when the shiftlessness OF the negro
will eliminate him as a factor in the in
dustrial life of the cities.