The Washington herald., 1912-03-25
by BAILEY MILLARD.

ny
Everything about the big cotton mill
seemed TO have gone wrong. Careless
spoilers were winding bad bobbins,
weayers were turning out skip-thread
fabrics, bleachers were away behind in
their work, and customers were growing
and sending back defective goods.
In despair the president OF the company
called in a famous factory expert, man
who did not work for a salary, but for
the love of humanity. They went over
the whole mill together. Standing in a
dilspidated, close-smeIling. poorly lighted
room, packed with frowsy female opera
lives, the president asked in querulous
tones of the expert:
What shall do with these people to
get more and better work out Of them?
increase their hours?"
No was the quick reply. They're
iong enough already"
What, them"
You won't get angry IL / tell you?"
No, I promise you. What shall 1 do
with them?"
Permit me TO suggest that YOU treat
them as il they were human beings.
What do you mean?' demanded the
magnate, ruffied in a moment.
Il will answer your question in detail
II 9Ou VIII Adht lAAt ~ n AOoAA
can breathe"
Come to my ofice.'' said the president.
And he led the way to a palatial room,
clean, well ventilated, and well lighted.
Now" he asked grufly, what's wrong
with the miIl?"
simply that you. like a great many
other factory proprietors. like fresh air,
plenty of light. and pleasant surround
ings, but cannot understand that what is
good for you Is also good for your en-
ployes. II you were TO treat your opera
tives as one big family and you the
father of il, you would find that the re-
suit would be better work, an increa sed
output, decreased cost Of production.
and bigger returns all around" Then he
went into the details OF his plan OF fac
tory improvement.
But the expense" objected the mill
owner, throwing up his hands. I'VE
can't afford 10 do it
You can't afford not to do it, insisted
the expert.
And he was right. and the record OF
the mill showed at the end of the next
two yeats in which the one big family
idea WAS grudgingly adopted and en-
thusia stically continued.
For the one big family idea is the great
idea in factory operation to-day. 1t Is
the idea that has restored one OF our
largest railway systems from palsled de-
crepItude TO sound prosperity. II is the
idea that has made a number of flag
Eing industrial enterprises pick up spirit
and strength like a horse whose musty
hay has been changed to nourishing oats
1t is the idea that the welfare or work.
ers all over the country have been pray
ing for and insisting upon Tor the past
ten years, and which they nope TO see
adopted everywhere.
Carried Out in louisville.
The women are working tor II. Miss
Urith Gait. OF LOUISVILLE, Ky. has done
wonders in carrying out this idea in
big Touring mill in that city. Miss Jane
khnk, OF New \ ork, has made a name
Tor herself by her untIrIng Iaoors IN be
half of the laundry workers in and about
he metropolis. The women OF the Con-
sumers' League have done much to dis
courage the buying OF sweatshop cloth
ing. Consumers everywhere are becom-
ing more fasrdIous and want to know
what kind or places the garments they
wear next TO their skins are coming
from.
Progressive factory and mile owners
have caught the spirit OF reform. The
whole industrial world has suddenly
awakened TO the DEMENT'S to be derived
from it, but as yet only a beginning
has been made. Thus far most OF the
efforts in this line have been sporadic
and tentative. But so vital are the un-
derlying principles of the one big family
plan that wherever it has been adopted
IN a large way It has come to stay. SO
well has It paid both worker ana master
that many are now marvelIng that il was
not introduced years ago.
1t is illuminating and fascinating to
witness the best examples OF what has
already been done in the adoption of tnIs
dea by certain large concerns. In MAX
ing the rounds OF these worthy estab-
lIshments 1 found one that STANDS out so
conspicuOusly as really to serve as a
model for those that appreciate ana wish
TO undertake genuine. wnoIesouIed work
in this line. The plant to which 1 refer
is that of kops Brothers, manufacturers
of the Memo Corset. whose new twelve
story factory. erected at a cost OF over
81, ,25O, go. is situated at Sixteenth street
ana irving place, New YORK. / should
like to have every ardent advocate OF the
Improvement OF social ana economic con-
dItIons visit TINS wonderfuI place. Tor
not only would II gratIty his heart, out
1t would give him something concrete
TO talk about instead or the vague ap-
stractions which lead nownItner. ror
mere he wouId see MS dream OF InuusJrIaI
see an utter defiance OF the outworl
uuntariamsm wnIcn TOR years has peen /,
preaching the gospeI OF InIngs as Iney
are. lie would see the factory or twenty
years hence I'm actud operation to-day.
Effort mt Industrial Reciprocity.
PhiIanthroptc intent and genuine er.
fort at Industrial RECIPROCITY are evldenr
you go IN this factory. T-ere
the "one Dig TamIIy- Ioea Is carrieo our
in way that Ieaves no doupt as 10 the
policy behind II. and yet
the whole enterprise is so uazznngIy new
as TO suggest dubious experimentansm II |
not a Utopian munincence. But the pro- |
prietors modestIy resent this intImation,
ana declare Inar the wnoIe scneme Is
based on what they consruer common |
sense ana sound business principles.
An entire page OF this newspaper would 1
De required to give an adequate idea |
II the various contrivances to insure the |
bodily well-being, the comfort, and the |
'afety of the thousands of busy workers |
n this great Industrial hive. In the first |
,lsce, the building is absolutely fireproof. |
rhis word means nothing, as all news I
PAPER readers know, save where the es-
'epce Of the idea Of safety to employees |
S perfectly conserved. and nowhere has |
his been done with a broader margin
or contingency than In this factory. On /
very factory floor in the building are /
ireproof partitions, so arranged that /
Ither one side or the other will be 10
tantly available for fre-imperiled en-
,loyes. who can either retreat at once /
o the broad outside FIRE escapes, or they /
an rush through broad exits to a con-
.rete fire tower. extending from roof to