The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-05-15
Geo. Harris Addresses
Mechanical Engineers

Ulenl must MAKE greater eIIOrCS 10
10 its share in maintaining the three
legged table that supports industry,
George II. Harris, President of the
Exposition Cotton Mills of Atlanta,
declared at the National Spring meet
ing of the American Society of Me
chanical Engineers here today.
The South, Mr.. Harris declared,
was forging to the front in the cot
ton industry because of advantages
of labor, accessibility of raw material
and absence of discomfort which han
dicaps what he called 1.-The union-rid-
den mills of New England"
"Our recent road has been hard
one" Mr.. Harris said, in discussing
Management Applied to Textile
Plants" land now the capital is
here, the labor is here, but world
competition is also here, and it is go
| ing to take brains and active brains
in the heads of management to direct
capital and labor so as to place AM
erican industry in the front ranks
and hold it there.
can industrial plant is not mill
| tary establishment and cannot be
handled as such The main object in
any army, it seems to me, is to pass
the buck while in industry every
man in authority should be prompt
to stand firmly on his own response
bility and never attempt to shift his
burden to others"
In contrast to the New England
mill, where, he said, the labor is be-
ing replaced each year Eat steadily
increasing percentage" with untrain-
ed immigrants, Mr.. Harris described
the typical Georgia mills thus:
an a Georgia mill is class of la
Dor, all American, recruited from the
farming class. The manager has
grown up with them and knows them
| in their homes. In many cases the
mill, being comparatively young in
stitution, was built from small unit
| by the present owners. | know of in
stances in Georgia, during the re-
cent depression, where values depre-
| CldleU 50 luSl lIltl IL "dS ilIlpoSSlolS
for mill to continue operating with
out tremendous losses, but the en-
ployes quickly sensed the situation
and voluntarily submitted to reduc-
tions in their pay in order that the
mill might continue to operate.
"Do you hear of any such actions
in the union-riddcn mills in New Eng
land? | have not. The result is that
while the Georgia mill is in posi-
tion to sell its product today IN line
with the deprecated value rf raw
products, the New England mil has
its manufacturing cost held up tic
titiousy and is forced to take heavy
losses in current values or shut down.
"The Southern worker is often ig-
norant, even illiterate, prejudiced ard
proud but he is of a mechanical tu!n
of mind, has common sense and is
generous to a fault. He is not easily
taught, but when once trained, de-
velops skill and ability, which added
to his native stability, enables him to
outclass in many cases the workers
of other sections of the country.
Manufacturers of the South have
never understood that pride in arti-
sanship is one Of the prime moving
forces in the Southern worker.
unlike the immigrant worker of
the North, who misinterprets the
symbolism of the Statue of Liberty,
| Il, lny
ity, for in his home he has lived n
patriarchy, in which the whole fam
lily follows the laws laid down by the
father.
"On the other hand, he has less in
telligence and is not so energetic as
the worker of the Middle West, where
French and German elements pre-
dominate. The Southerncr, however,
has more 'stickibility.'
"The problem Of securing uniform
results from all factories, whatever
the location, can be solved through
planning, scheduling, disciplining,
and especially, the proper knid of
training.
The South needs training schools
20 teach all arts. Having been raised
! thr,ugh generations to do things in
crude manner, no artisanship has
! been tau hit the mass. The South
needs leaders in the management of
every industry. Specific and scien-
tilic methods of training and carry
ing on OperatiOnS must be deyeloDed
| The worker cannot train himself
he needs help-he needs instruction,
and he must have it. General educa-
tion must be made available for the
majority, so that the South may take
its just place in the Industrial world"
| More than 5000 miles of nets are
set nightly during the herring season
IN the English channel.
Mo:c than 600 warshps have been