Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Shall We Profit by the Experience of Others? 1 ' ? .' '* '....? ' (The fact* printed herein are taken from an article which appeared in the Qctoher 10th, 1929 issue of the American Wool and Cotton Reporter, of , Uooton, MaHH.) v ' ' X' , > 4 Aid prompted by the best of intentions sometimes actua lly becomes a detriment. - Over-zealous reformers have unknowingly and without a possession of vital facts Wrought havoc, when naught but good was intended. Certainly such has been the sad experience in Massachusetts. With the apparent intention of uiding the textile operatives of the then leading cotton manufacturing state of Amer ica, the avowed friends of labor induced the passage of restrictive labor laws that have witihin the short space of ten years almost ruined the industries of that state. A 48-hour law and other drastic legislation has been responsible for the greatest calamity that has ever befallen th4t state. ' ' if. ' ? i.. . , In an effort to help the working people, with no consideration of the economic laws that are unavoidable, hundreds of thousands haV<rbeeh legislated out of their jobs; millions oT dollars of wages have been destroyed; thousands of homes vacated; millions of dollars of good textile machinery has been scrapped; hundreds of manufacturing plants , r abandoned; millions of spindles and hundreds of thousands of looms have been silenced; real estate has gone begging,, as'has water power and many other natural resources of Massachusetts. Communities have been abandoned, towns and cities comparatively depleted and financially ruined. The entire commonwealth has been seriously crippled^ and it will require many years to overcome the shock. ji Perhaps the saddest part of the picture is that it has rendered jobless, penniless, homeless, the very people it was , . , intended to help. 1 To scan the list of casualties is appalling and depressing. Vet it stands as an example that may cause South Carolinians to stop and think. ^ <5> , 1 " , 1 & . . All of the casualties cannot be listed, nor perhaps will the full realization of the enormous damage done ever be fully comprehended. *The following recital of labor disasters in Massachusetts during the past 10 years is only partially complete. v c " f LOWELL, oqce one of the largest of cotton manufacturing centers, has lost more than 24 mills. Over 15,000 people have left the city; 4,000 residences are vacant. Thousands, are penniless and jobless. Over a hundred thousand have been financially injured almost to the point of ruin. Six million square feet of floor space in fine mills lie's now unused and begging. 0 . LAWRENCE lost eleven mills, including a number of the largest and strongest textile plants in America. ' V FITCHBURG, once boasting over 5,000 looms in operation, has now practically lost them all. A half dozen mills have been deserted there. f ' FALL RIVER, once the leading cotton manufacturing center of America, with over four million spindles, now has ^ scarcely a million left in operation. Thousands of operatives have been forced to walk the streets. The city is pros- . * trate. 29 mills have closed their doors, plants abandoned, machinery junked. Many of the surviving mills have par- tially liquidated. - * t NEW BEDFORD. Once there was no city in America that could hope to compete with New Bedford in the manufacture of fine cotton goods. Eight large mills there have been forced to quit. - % \ " TAUNTON, once a flourishing center, 'has lost 12 mills, Millsbury 4, Brockton 3, Enfield 5, Holyoke 4, Hyde Park 4, Webster 6, Worcester 9, and each of the following communities'has suffered the loss of one or more mills: Adams Adamsdale Andover Ashland Assonet t Athol Attleboro Auburn Ballard Vale Beverly Byfield Cambridge Canton Cantoi\ Junction Charlton City Chelsea Cherry Valley Concord Cordaville Dodge Dodgeville East Dedham Fiskdale Gardner Globe Village Gloucester Great Barrington Hebronville Hinffham Hinsdale Holden Holliston Hoi yoke Hubbardston Hudson Hyde Park Ipswich \ Lancaster Maiden Manchaug ^ Mansfield Mattapan Medford Medway Methuen Middleboro Millbury Mnnutn Needham Needham Heights Newbury port Newton Newton Lower Falls North Adams North Andover Northboro North Brookfield North Chelmsford North Oxford North Uxbridge Otter River Oxford Palmer Pittsfield Plymouth Quinapoxet Quincy Readville Rockland Saugus Saundersville * Shattuckville Shirley Southbridge South Hadley Falls South Harwich South Milford South Naticlc Springfield / Thomdike Unionvilie " ' ' Uxbridge - Wales Waltham Warren V Watertown ? - *- Webster Westford West Rutland White Valley Whitinsville Wilkinsonville Williamston In 1922 Massachusetts had 11,922.57.1 spindles in place. . In September 1929 they had only 8,Gil,812 and only 6,280,978 of these in active operation. (U. S. Govt. Report.) The actual dosing of a mill, however, is not the only d; nage done. Nor is the damage confined alone to cotton manufacturing. Other industries find it equally impossible .o successfully operate under sueh severe handicaps. *The shoe industry for which Massachusetts was far famed is injured, as is the automobile industry, machinery plants and many other industries that formerly were established and- dourishing. Shall South Carolina Profit by the Experience of Others? (A reprint of an original article which appeared in the 'American Woo! and Cotton Reporter will he gladly supplied upon request. Address the Cotton Manufacturers Association of South Carolina, Clinton. S. C.) Cotton ManufacT^ers^Association South Carolina ' . i : ....