Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-03-26
TUESDAY, MARCH as, 1919.

paper that commented upon the biased
report in the Columbia morning paper!
What did that paper print? It printed
some statistics that 1t alleged were
obtained from Commissioner Watson's
annual report.
Those papers, for the most part, that
commented (and many Of them in this
state, and one or two in Georgia did
comment) upon the matter, based their
conclusions upon the story In the Co
lumbia sheet.
Now let's see what I actually did do
with regard to those statistics:
| In the first place statistics as 70
child labor, number Of persons en-
ployed, capital of the mills. etc.. were
furnished to the department Of agricul-
ture, commerce and industries by the
mill managers. Last year, 1t should be
Explained, there were no factory in
spectors under the act as to mill in
spections, that is from the department
of agriculture, commerce and indus
tries. The statistics sent In by the mill
managers covered certain points in the
inspection that needed In pursuing my
own work in the mills, and openly and
above board I wrote to Commissioner
Watson from time to time for statistics
as to mills In certain counties. These
statistics, in nearly all cases In which
I made the request, were furnished me.
Duplicates Of these statistics were on
file with the managers, superintendents
or presidents Of mills, as the case
might be, and In some instances made
comparisons between the ones sent
Commissioner Watson and the statis-
tics on file with the several mills. This
was for the purpose Of keeping tab on
some Of the mills as to statistics fur
nished. In some instances Commis-
sioner Watson's statistics, even IL fur
nished me, were not used, as I exam
ined the statistics on file In the offices
Of the mills and from these obtained
the data / wished. have never denied
asking Commissioner Watson for sta
tistics to aid me in my work. however.
and thanked him for them In my let
ters which he chose to make public dur
ing the legislative session. The sta
tistics that were used were incidental
parts Of my reports and In the one case
where used form Of the department
Of agriculture, commerce and indus
tries included the statement that the
matter was compiled from reports made
out and signed by the mill managers.
Hence, there was no effort to conceal
the fact that was seeking to cooper
ate with all persons charged with the
work that was doing. The same thing
Is true Of the yearly summary which
was appended to my last monthly re-
port. endeavored to have this state
ment read as II was given out from the
department. The summary Of general
statistics begins as follows: Accord
ing to reports that are on file In the
department Of agriculture, commerce
and Industries for the year 1917. etc.
Newspaper men who have handled cap
| ital correspondence know that often
| 10 from Sny,,a af1naa raYa nffrp lIv AL
ways) statements are given out ready
| for appearance In the newspapers. To
bring this home to the matter In hand,
was under the impression, which
have verified as far as possible, that
the short summary Git took up half
page, or little over, In my report) was
given out in that form from the de-
Ipartment Of agriculture, commerce and
industries. and 80 appeared In all the
papers. This public information should
| not be used as an incidental part Of my
report? II had wished to conceal the
source Of my information should have
changed the wording and not given
credit to the department at the very
opening sentence!
1t Is extremely difficult, In the con-
fines Of a statement such as I am seek
ing to make, to explain to persons who
may not be familiar with the laws In
this state for the inspection Of manu-
featuring plants, just what the situa-
tion was as to these statistics.
To sum up, with regard to the sta
tistics:
These were used merely as an Incl
dental part of my report.
The statistics were duplicates OF
compilations on file In the Offices Of
the mills throughout the state.
The statistics were obtained by let
ter in several Instances from the de-
partment Of agriculture, commerce and
Industries and were not obtained by
the scissors, as has been erroneously
stated and, in some instances, design
edly misrepresented.
In some cases the statistics were not
used at all In my report, but data OBJ
tained by me were given.
Actual Physical Inspections.
The greatest Misrepresentation that
have been made as to the work done.
consisted Of the impression sought to
be created that the statistics constitu-
ted my entire reports. Only briefly has
1t been mentioned in the press that my
reports consisted Of % printed pages.
What then constituted the bulk of my
reports?
Any one familiar with the inspection
laws knows that II Is required that in
spections OF mills be made as to: /.
Hours of labor. 2. Child labor. 8.
Sanitary conditions and other import
ant phases Of the manufacturing indus
try in this state. or course the actual
physical Inspections of mills are the
lmost important feature of the work
Statistics constitute only part Of the
matter, as I understand the laws. In
my reports I dweIt particularly on the
question of child labor and upon physi-
cal conditions, etc., as mentioned above.
ato As ha uarfAad hv
reading of the reports In the senate
journal.
AS to my authority to visit mills: 1t
will be noted in the quotation from the
commission given In the first part OF
my statement that ! was expressly
given authority to "enter buildings",
etc. The commission, of course. was
so framed as to give me the authority
needed to do the very work that was
to be engaged In. Yet some Of the
newspapers have stated that did not
have the authority to make inspections.
The insinuations Of long distance"
ticed. My reports in general way
showed what inspections were made.
In many cases the authorities in charge
Of mills probably were not aware that
II was making inspections. It suited
me In some cases not to make my
presence known In advance and, some
times, not at all In all Of which I was
guided by the desire to do what was
right by the state In making the in
spections worth while.
AS to the work that I am now do
ing I have nothing to say, except to
suggest that your own statement might
we'll be seriously considered by some Of
the biased newspapers Of South Caro-
olina when you say, And whether We
like Mr.. Blease or not we cannot see
why he Is not entitled to the same
rights as other governors"
That Is the crux Of the whole mat
ter l might add that the people OF
our state are beginning to awaken to
the fact that the press has made an
effort to shut out one side Of the prop
ositions that face our people. / am
speaking of the large majority Of the
newspapers Of this state that have
taken such a bitter stand in politics
that their news columns are often
nothing short Of editorials.
I am glad to see that The Enquirer
Is not in this list. And some of the
things The Enquirer has written late
ly have certainly gone home, judging
from the howls that have been set up