Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-05-05

though il was giving no heed to the
devastation OF its forests, nor to the
development of its natural resources
in general The cotton factory had
appeared in. the cotton fields, and
there were other beginnings OF in
dustrial life. The cotton factory Of
fcred the small farmer chance to
get money for his labor, and he want
ed money-he and the mountaineer.
He had livedt,a long time without
spending money, for generally his
crop would barely pay his last years
debts. So out. of the mountains there
came operatives for the mills in the
Piedmont section, and from farms here
and there, as well as from the noun
tains, came operatives for the fac
tories around Columbia, and through :
out Horse Creek Valley on the Geor-
Gia lines The mapufactpre of cotton
grew rapidly into ithe chief industrial
pursuit of the state. < The housing
question had to be met, and each mill
met 1t by building village adjacent
to the main plant. The houses be-
lcnged always to the mill, so the man
ufactWtnsi company became both
employer and landlord to its opera
tives The workers must be near to
the mill, and there seemed no other
way. Out of an unfortunate necessity
sprang the villages.
There was never great difficulty in
getting labor. The isolation of the
mountaineer and his family made
them willingly leave the hills and
come where human contacts were TO
be made daily and where. money was
to be had for similar reasons.
The smaller farmer was still living
without much hope. He was always
a year behind. With the cotton he
gathered he paid his supply merchant,
and Immediately started making new
accounts. He was one-crop planter
because he knew no other crop to
grow, and because cotton always hGi
a cash market, and other crops in that
section had no guaranteed sale. Over
and over he had lived the cheerless
cycle Of running race with his debts.
catching up once year, only to be
left. behind again. The mill operative
was put at work that gave him no
great chance for self-eXpression, liv-
ing among others Of his kind and
taking no pride in his product because
1t could bear no marks of individual
Impress. The floating population of
the villages was large, and generally
tie workers were. bit restive; cer-
tainly not enthusiastic. The spirit of
life in them was not being satisfied.
The physical surroundings were bet
ter than many had known before, but
that did not suffice. A few of the mill
executives, in one way and another,
were forever telling the operatives
how fortunate they were. Individual
instances of promotion were cited and
recited in efforts to allay growing
disquietude. Welfare work in the
villages was seldom an unqualified
success. because it came as gift, and
a gift with a, motive behind it. In the
main, tho poor, white men of the state
were relatively in ignorance. Their
standard of living was not founded
upon education. Domestic science
was barely beginning to be taught.
The man who rose early for 4 greasy
breakfast, then worked and came in
for greasy dinner, going back again
to his toll until a fried supper was
ready could scarcely be expected to
view politics or life with sweet phil
osophic calm.
Along came Blease, Tillmanite of
old, but repudiated by Tillman after
Bleases first term as governor and
described by the sententious old sena-
tor as the "illegitimate political son of
Tillmanism." But the .Tillman follow
ers were for Blease, as they had not
yet seen the promised land. He came
with no constructive program for de-
Hverance. He had no far-reaching
plan for effecting Encouragement of