The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-08-11
MANY VIEWS ONE-SiDED
Unfair To Mills To Select Dis
agreeable Features and
Hold Them Up as Represen-
tative - Mills Are Making
Progress and Condition of
Mill People Is improving

For 50 long the stories Unat nave
been published about the mills of the
South have been adverse criticism tha
there are quite a number OF people
bviue in mill towns. to whom the
word cotton mill means something
horrible rather than d place where
people of industry are earning a liveli-
mood. as every person should do. II
Is remarkable to see the number of
Suthern people who are patriotic in
almost every other aspect looking
upon "A manufacturing int: est that
by first right belongs to the South
as If ii were a ~treSpaSser or a menace
Ia the country. Ii is strange 70 hear
a word of criticism from them of an
industry that is as yet only in it's
fancy. and that taken as a whole has
been doing the best il could. AND
stranger still when one finds that the
speaker knows nothing Of experience
aud only speaks from opinions gath
cred by reading some story or an ex-
terror and passing view of one or two
mills that made an impression.
The truth of the matter is that the
very worst conditions in the mills have
been pictured before the public and
those conditions said to represent the
mil operatives as "A whole. | do not
mean to imply that bad conditions
cannot be found in the mills. They
can he found in the Stun Of any city.
Bat the bad conditions do not repre-
sent the mill people Us q whole, and
from my observations l would con-
servativeiy say that not more thar
10 per cent of the mill operatives
would approach the class that is be-
fore the public mind to a certain eX-
tent.
So much have they been criticised
that for "A long time a family looked
upon 1t AS 81 disgrace to enter a mill
and many of them held back unit
they were forced to go because it W !.
the only place hat afforded them &
means of support. Consequently the,
have felt ostracized and that is one
al the causes why they will no mingl,
with people outside of the mills.
Each mill has its share Of condi
Mons That may be improved, but tn.
bad conditions are not all in the mills
and neither are all of the condition
III d mill bad. Ii would be just abo
a. fair TO pick out the worst con
oitl"h in a city and picture it as
representative type Of citizenship 0
that place IS il is To select one of tn
poor unfortunate families in a cot,ol
MN and say that il represents the in
oostfial workers in the mills.
Mills Have Progressed.
But the mills have progressed an
the people have improved their con
uitiors IN spite of all this. and IN
conditions today in the cotton mill
OF the State are much superior [
what they were five or ten years age
Some of the girls in the mills of Char
iotte when dressed up" cannot 4
told from any of the other nice ooh
ing girls Of the city. One girl l re
member particularly last fall was s
'aStetuliN dressed that MANY peor
turned To glance in her direction
was not one of the attractive costume
either. the skirts was not even sli
one Was wearing a nice blue 1ailore
sun. Colonial pumps " hich were tf
i"S' lhen, Sllk hose, a very l.ecomir
ht' ana gloves n match and at NJ
waist q large bouquet Of pink carr
uohS with ferns. ne Girl is weav.
10 . in1ll III Charlotte and makes an,
"here from $40 70 sl1 g week. and
ohe among the many nice girls III;
"oFk IN the mills Of Charlotte. 81
"ot an extreme case. as there a
hundreds of Others Just as nice lool
ing
The Bad" Conditions.
every bad condition trat
l"u"d. If we will look = little furtt
W can always find Scmethin. of ]:
u'tS' and something that will ma
talrer toward me mill operat
ano the operative. tBy bad co.
"'l'hS mean what has been ri
%i'u I poor unfortunate famiii
a"@' through ON calamity or i
90 are extremely poor
One Family.
't" was a family that | foui
Un' one OF my trips that ! consider
"''restnS. 1t was e. family late
"'oNeu 10 the mills from T. mou
Gus III Burke county where the at
nao evidently been one Of the m
"''ishiners Of that section. When
ypuhs man he acted after the ma
W. or the other young men Of l
ro'ioii and married early. eta mi
w. IT'S bride ii girl just Il few ye1