The Rise of Cotton Mills in the South

THE MILLS

s broached to him, but three characteristic sentences as to the capacity of Southern cotton ma

ge investor in cotton factories, who said: "The history of the industry abundantly vindicated what Edward Atkinson said about the South not knowing the difference between a penny and a nickel. None of the projectors, with the exception of H. P. Hammett and a few like him, could carry to the mills more than a general business and executive capacity."

ous mills in the South, in which he is a heavy investor, was moved to declare: "Mismanagement and incompetency (the So

s, as obtaining in the past and yet not overcome, held out a more hopeful view for the future: "Lack of capital and lack of trained management have been the great

neral topic of financial administration, to dispose o

hirteen plants, and the latter, which is no longer in existence, once numbered as many as sixteen mills. These combinations were financed on opposite plans. A gentleman trained by Mr. Parker, and at one time in a leading position in the management of the mills in the Parker Merger, so called, explained that "... Lewis Parker in

holders in all the mills. Lewis Parker had a merger, and tried to run it all from one office. my view is that each mill must have its own management and separate attention to secure success." He admitted that "There is not much saving on concentration where each corpora

rom the fact that all officers and higher employees of the combination would want increased pay for additional work, and not in proportion to the extra labor and responsibility im

watched by the people of the community. This tends to be a confirmation of the view the writer brought to take of the development of

successful plant under its patronage, and placed him at the head of a mill in which the firm was sinking large sums, was angered at his effective attempts to free the second mill from the influence of the selling agents, and sought vengeance by ruining the original mill of which he was president. In the second instance, it is said, the president of the merger, during years in which his associates and the general public had every confidence in him, had been owing, unknown to a soul, $400,000 to the holding co

he Piedmont Factory declined to pay their subscriptions. For the three months during which the machinery was being installed, the only pay the workmen got was credit for groceries at a small store in Greenville, two officers of the company giving their indi

ssive spinning place. But in most of the companies, especially the smaller concerns, the president is in chief control of financial affairs. He often stamps his personality deeply on every department of the business of the mill and village and region even. A case in point is that of Mr. Charles Estes, when interviewed 98 years old, and for twenty years before his retirement in 1901, president of the John P. King Manufacturing Company, Augus

ger. The directors do about as the finance committee indicates; they hold a less important place because of the ill health of several of their number. Though nominally the whole f

stance whenever he asked them."[354] With respect to certain wholesale merchants of New York, Philadelphia and Boston, the writer was made to believe that they have so much confidence in a particular North Carolina manufacturer, that they give him any amount of capital he needs.[355] Mention has already been made in another connection, of the fact that Mr. Parker was offered large sums of money at 3 instead of

at $600,000, about what it was worth. It must have been a device to lend financial prestige to the mill that Governor Jenkins o

eferred New York and Cincinnati subscriptions to large blocks of stock, to local subscr

bleness, singularly responsive to the material condition of the section, and to the state and trend of public opinion. The degree of success of the mills has displayed the fundamental fact that the South has in the past forty years been above all else in a process of growth, and has given fresh proof of the intimate connection between the fortunes of the companies and the changes in

ed there, can make a profit of 10 to 30 per cent. This has been done by the smallest as well as the largest mills on the coarsest and the finest yarns, single as well as twisted; and on the heaviest as well as the ligh

the South for twenty years and over, and which have always been kept well up to date, it would ap

put, that for the last ten years the average earnings for well-managed Southern mills have been $2.50 per spindle, which, reckoni

ve been consistently profitable, he found special advantages accountable for their favorable showing. In one case it was tidewater freight rates, in another skilful cotton buying by a manager of

. The earnings at several points in the dev

is nearly or quite six cents per pound profit over all expenses in spinning No. 14 yarn, or three cents per spindle per day; this would give $9 per spindle per year, and as spinning mills can be built for less than $18 per spindle, no other figures are required to demonstrate the statement that the spinning mills in the South bid fair to realize this year fifty per cent. on the capital invested. Nearly all of these mills are running night and day, and every one of them is realizing handsome profits. These are facts."[363] The goods of the Wesson Cotton Mills, Mississippi, took a premium at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. The company started wi

arning capacity of a 4,000-spindle, 125-loom mill, making 6,000 yards of cloth per day.[367] It may not be

shirting at 6

-4 sheeting

oss inco

10 1-2 cents, 15 pe

mill exp

general e

l, starch & s

ranc

ling goods, 2

achinery 5 per

profit per d

ng days or one y

as before, money otherwise invested about the business, there is a c

ficient to pay all obligations has been accumulated." He cites as a particularly favorable instance, that of a mill which requi

on the topic now being considered. It seems that the founding of the Piedmont Factory by Colonel H. P. Hammett in South Carolina inspired a notice from Mr. Edward Atkinson, of Boston, in which he reasoned that cot

hat the big profits made attracted the energies of the people to mill building.[370] Going a little further back, the mill

use Mill at a cost of $361,513.24 without calling for assessments upon stockholders, and five years later had accumulated a cash surplus of

s Pr

ville $

se 37,

ofits $1

fits 80

esented 13.5 per cent. prof

eriod. There is shown a degree of success

receding chapter, that many additions to plant, which were being made after the mills had been a few years in operation, were accomplished from earnings. The Salisbury Mill is a case in point. Its inception and that of the Gaffney Mil

she described, regretted that the companies are still laboring under decreased profits as a result of the fact that mills were built more rapidly than the market for goods expanded to meet the development.[375] Another mill president thought that no more mills are likely to be built in his section too many years. "They went it too rank, you know," he declared with some f

lumbia, South Carolina, said that "1890 to 1900 was the heaviest borrowing period, as this w

on the mill by the loan of running capital that brought the ill effects. At any rate, the commission houses became more deeply interested in the mills as the plants increased in numbers, and profits were hurt by this fact, he believes.[379] This influence contin

mplating cotton factories. The property of the Charleston Manufacturing Company was sold under the hammer to the Vesta Cotton Mill Company, which was not more successful with the plant. After standing a year idle, the attempt was made to operate the mill with colored help, and a reorganization of the Vesta Company was had for this purpose. A large proportion of the subscribers to the original company remained in the two reorganizations that followed.[382] In the experiment of negro operatives the old factory was again opening up a vista to the South, for, as it was vainly pointed out to the negro population of Charleston, if the trial of colored op

d by the genius of H. H. Hickman, a merchant of Augusta, who became its president at the critical juncture. He died in 1898, and his son came in as president. At his retirement and the reor

he period of stress just noticed. George Wagener, the original manager, left the mill at his death with a surplus

too largely by the unsatisfactory history of these two conspicuous factories or not it cannot be told, that there have been more failures among the large than among the small mills.[387] It has been said of the North Carolina manufacturers as opposed to those of South Carolina that the

ect to taxes, the Southern mills have made less profits than their older competitors because of poor financing. However this may be, the total losses on $100,00

low miles of sodden country and ill-kept settlement, all at once to alight at the neat station and view the trim town of Gastonia, North Carolina. It is not attempted here to account for the New England psychology that animates this nonetheless Southern place, but it is deserving of better praise

cted much credit upon the community of factories at Gastonia, and is spoken o

l at Gastonia, paid 100% in cash during the first five years of its operation. The Majestic Mill, at Bel

the place, as to the earnings. He therefore wrote for a restatement on doubtful points, and found himself confirmed. To quote the case of one mill from Mr. Robinson's reply. "We have a mill here that had $150,000 capital paid in, and after a short time issued a stock divid

,000 spindle mill; not one of the most successful

e, as near the end of the old year as November 28th, expected to show from 75 to 100 per cent. net profits for 1916

roduct with which his four mills would be kept busy for the next four or five months. He expected to clear $60,000 on the output of each plant for this period.[393] Mr. Robinson, previously quoted, recognizes that the cotton mills at G

ion, labor was most plentiful and cheap, the lack of advantageous marketing facilities was to some degree offset by purely local demand for the product, and the deficiencies of management tended to be neutralized by the presence of physical advantages which disap

s. When outside influences came in-commission and machinery men-new and difficult problems had to be faced. The factories were assuming the physical proportions which they were bound to assume, and which it was right they should assume,

the European War. They were having a hard time enough until the war came and put them all on velvet, a

not yet clearly seen by any means, and in not a few points apparently contradicted[398]-a manufacturing spirit in the South, an industrial faculty that is able to cope with difficult conditions, the results of economic progress. This promises th

ustry has been and is now in constant process of growth. With the exception of perhaps a few years, earnings could always be profitably invested in the business,[399] particularly in expansions of plant.[400] As w

ent. quarterly dividends for eight years and nine months from its founding.[403] In 1858, eleven years after establishment, the plant was sold to a company with Wm. H. Jackson at its head, for the sum of $140,000. Though the stockholders in the Jackson Company paid $60,000 for repairs to the property, the purchas

rgia, paid about 8 per cent. interest per annu

president, and until recently himself president of the mill as his father's successor, said: "Graniteville was so successful

8] Mills as Pulaski, in the same State, were anxious to double their capacity; $50,000 was subscribed for a mill at Jackson, West Tennessee; Dallas, Texas, was starting a $200,000 spindle plant, and the town of Sherman wanted a $75,000 factory.[409] The following year, the same paper printed an item showing further that dividends were being paid to stockholders in factories all over the South: "The cotton mills in Mississippi have proved bonanzas for the owners. The one at Wesson (it has been seen that th

2] It is true that for the first three or four years of its life, the concern was in an uncertain way, the panic of 1893 proving embarrassing to it, though not as seriously so as in the case of the Newry Mill, just cited. For a long time the investment paid 8 per

t worth about $800,000; the company owed no money, and the only liability against it was $350,000 of common stock. There was a cash surplus, probably small. For six years it had been paying 12 per cent. annual dividends. The mill was incorp

se of $100,000 capitalization, with shares payable in weekly instalments of 50 cents, which after 70 weeks, with only $35 on the share paid up, declared a dividend of 4 per cent. on the capitalization. This plant, whi

hose of the rest of the section. He said: "If the people of South Carolina had put their money into farm loans at 7 per cent.-the same people and the same money-they would have been better off personally

ot "the fifty more important cotton mills of South Carolina," he would have found an annual aver

the problem: "When it is said that the mills (have) made such and such dividends, it is to be remembered that in many cases the plant had cost more than the capitalization would show. Twelve or 10 per cent. on a $50,000 investment is very d

on the investment, it is because they are neglecting to reduce the debt on the plant. They are real

ts. This is exclusive of depreciation, or wear and tear. Even in cases where an item of depreciation is carried in the accounts, it is often simply a matter of bookkeeping, and not a sum set aside for replacing of machinery.... Where large profits are reported, and la

capital. A man would build a 10,000-spindle mill and add to it greatly, not increasing the cap

rms this calculation. He says: "The average South Carolina weaving mill costs about $20 to $21 per sp

well-managed mill properties in and around

s on plant cost

spindl

t""

ized at

dividends on the actual cost of the pla

state loans, and fire insurance, who has besides long been identified with the cotton manufacturing industry in the Piedmont region, said: "... as far as I am able

nagha

ndon

ntries of th

al young men who began trading in these stocks large

& Co Spart

nn Sparta

t & Co Char

ibbon Charl

hose names I do no

in the same line of business, and from small beginnings, have develop

rs of machinery would take part of their bill in stock, and later dispose of these holdings at co

is less sale for them now, but in those ten years they used to go like hot cakes. All these brokers take a whack at them, but any man would starve that tried to deal in them exclusively. I had a friend that t

350,000 extra capital stock to be made in connection with enlargements to the Enterprise Factory. It was said that one man and his friends would take $140,000 of the stock.[424] This was, howeve

"[425] There is no doubt about either of these points, judging from all the information received. And further: "At the

quently has inquiries for stock; he refers t

he third curve of market values of mill stocks follows more or less the other two curves. There will be mentioned first the cases in which the securities sold, fo

be taken as accountable for the fact that "mill stocks usually sell below their book value."[429] This consideration has not, however, as will appear more

that: "Stocks of mills in Augusta haven't sold at par in twenty years. You can buy preferred stock of mills in Augusta at less than par. You can buy the stock of the Augusta and Enterprise mills at 20 or

lue of the stock is almost always above par, increasing in proportion to the age of th

the prevalence of this condition is seen in the fact that the people of Charleston, who previously had been generous subscribers to cotton mill stock, every promoter going to Charleston for the placement of a large block, "about 1905 or 6 ... got canny, and quit subscribing to the stock of new mills, for they found they could wait and buy the stock at less than par. For twelve or fourteen years Charles

e would take half of the amount in stock. Machinery was in great demand, and high in price. The machinery manufacturers could throw their s

mills. The factory had been making heavy goods for the Chinese market; this market was so unfavorably affected by the exclusion act that the goods became unprofita

ter the fight between local shareholders and Northern selling agents, the dividends got down to 5 per cent. and the stock fell from 175 to par.[438] A similar decli

he built the Buffalo Mills. The projector of these mills was, however, a cotton speculator, it is said, and

dividends, and the stock is worth over 300."[440] Pacolet was built in 1880. The architect suggested a certain firm as selling agents for the mill, and Captain John H. Montgomery, the projector of the company, was introduced to a member of this firm. In consideration of receiving the account of the factory, th

pitalization. These sold additional stock to the original subscribers at a reduction-say at 75 or 80 when the par was 100. The ventures were so profitable that the stock remained at par value.[442] The same observation comes o

sfully.... These factories aggregate about 2,500 looms and 10,000 spindles; they consume about 50,000 bales of cotton annually, manufacture about 50,000,000

, the plant had cost to build $375,000. By 1867 the stock had increased to $716,000, and the shares had fallen to $62.50 in value. The mill was $50,000 in debt. Colonel Hickman cancelled $116,000 capital shares, bringing the int

contained in a prediction made by the gentleman who knows most about the Graniteville Mill, that the stock

several mills sold for $300 per share. That of the Tucapau Mills, in South Carolina, is not to be had today

at by looking long enough, and waiting for his chance, he might induce some stockholder to sell at 200.[447] This comparatively low figure in his prognostication is perhaps accounted for by the conservative character of the company from the start, and the uniformly sati

ine months' operation declared a dividend of 10 per cent., sold three s

s to the Augusta mills' securities and those of the plants in and about Gastonia. The latter are as optimistic as the former are the reverse. Mills i

I

1911 was a member of the reportorial staff of The Daily Record, Columbia, South Carolina; graduated from the University of South Carolina with A.B. degree in 1913; from June, 1913, until October, 1914, was a member of the reportorial staff of the Richmond Evening Journal; entered The Johns Hopkins University in 1914; was a Hopkins Sch

tno

ith, The Cotton

ople away from manufactures to cotton planting. On the abolition of slavery, the capabilities of the people to organize and conduct manufactures showed itself again.... The re-establishment was not commenced immediately after the civil war, because of the chaotic disorder brought about by the abolition

influence of the cotton gin and Arkwright's inventions were fully felt in the South, was a period when agriculture yielded

very was strong during the first quarter of the nineteenth century", and there is remarked the foundation in 1816 o

Cotton Mills of South

Mills of South Ca

ompany of South Carolina, for a loan on account of a patent, but it was recommended that he be allowed until the next meeting of the legislature "to report on the utility of the machine

manuscript of M. R. Pleasants, "Manufacturing in North Caro

in Building of Nat

n Mills of South

n Mills of South

] I

] I

is citation is of the South Carolina and American

arly to the City Gazette and Daily Adve

is of the American Museum, VIII, Appendix IV, part

Mills of South C

, A History of Mar

Charleston and Statesburg, and to carding and spinning machinery set up in eastern Tennessee in 1791, he concludes, "H

f causation in these earliest ventures, it is said: "Maryland is hardly typical industrially of the Southern

ishing the coarse cloths woven by hand in the looms of our ancestors; and in the latter, the carding mill, the wool was prepared for the hand-wheel. At the close of the Rev

cotton mill. It is said that here Lyon conceived important improvements on the Whitney invention, making a saw gin. (Southern Cotton Spinners' Association proceedings seventh annual convention, pp. 41 ff.) Here is a rather striking ind

ending Crisis of the South

nterview, Raleigh, N.C

by Michael Schenck.... This mill was the forerunner of that remarkable industrial de

. A. Thompson, President of the Raleigh Cotton Mill, expressed

nterview, Concord, N.C

. Charlotte News, (N.C.) Textile Industrial Edition,

disposition toward the community, the sons were said to be wild and reckless, and when they fell heir to the plant ali

n, interview, Raleigh,

. 6, in U.S. Census of Manufactures, 1880. Cf. Cla

Clark, Bates, Hutchings, Stack, the Weavers, McBee, Bivings, etc., consult Kohn, Cotton Mills of S.C., and The Water Powers of South Carolina; for those in North Carolina H. T

owing scarce, the machinery was taken to Mountain Isl

tton Mills of Sou

ina, p. 14. Cf. Charlotte News, Ibid.,

hompson,

] I

interview, Spartanburg

son, pp. 42-4

rview, Greenville, S

rview, Greenville, S

V., p. 321. Cf. Kohn, Cotton Mills of South Car

r yarn to be woven by the women at home. (Theodore Klutz, interview, Salisbury, N.C., Sept. 1, 1916.) In 1862 the Confederate government commandered the Batesville factory in South Carolina, a

mpson, p

on Mill, Commercial

interview, Spartanburg

rview, Greenville, S

terview, Winston-Salem

tton mills in the South before the war were third-rate affairs. I speak of Graniteville and Batesville and such plants as these. I remember my mother's telling me that the warp ... used to be supplie

700 and 7000 bales of cotton c

uthern States, except Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida, as to mills of small size, but the localization both as to plants and spindles in New England is marked. (Cl

Thompson,

ls south of Virginia had power looms prior to 1840." (Ibid., p. 321.) Cf.

in Building of Nat

South in Building of Na

ted in P

ted in P

alth and prosperity at large. With all the material and elements for manufacturing, we annually expend millions for the purchase of articles manufactured in Europe and in the North out of our own raw material. At this rate the state is on the road to bankruptcy. There must be a change. But how is this important revolution to be accomplished? We unhesi

ecklenburg County, Vol. I,

Mills of South C

pp. 553 ff. Cf. Ibid., in South in Building o

n Mills of South

he wealth of forests of pine, live oak, cypress, and other woods in which the South abounded, did not even attract from other parts sufficient capital to devel

. Hart, The Souther

elper,

tory of Mecklenbur

Vol. II, p

that "the entire nation flung itself back upon the land, with as fatal an impulse as when a river, whose current is suddenly impeded, rolls back and drowns the valley which it once fertilized", and S

Cf. Ibid., The Cultivation, Picking, Baling and Manu

book by a practical manufacturer intended to point the way to technical success in mill management.

throttled by an out grown Economic System." (F. T. Carl

ural Methods were 'stereotyped'." This writer did more than any other in showing the charac

s of the South, and the Industri

Essays on Domestic

the cotton gin, and the legal documents in the dispute over the rights to it, cf. ibid., Cotton and Cotton Oil, pp. 19 to 31, inclusive, and appendix. "We abandoned a once leading factory system; we imported slaves; we let all public highways become quagmires; we destroyed every possibility

outhern Sidel

herer,

Walter H. Page, The Rebuilding

e Social Economist, Oc

rd Slave States, pp. 140-141.

s: Improvement and progress in South Carolina is forbidden by its present system." (I

aboard Slave Sta

id., pp

unkett,

uthern Sidelig

outhern Sidel

our peculiar institutions, and formidable barriers to the success of our native mechanics. Not so, however, with another class who migrate southward-we mean that class known as merchants; they are generally intelligent and trustworthy, and they seldom fail to discover their true interests. They become slaveholders and landed proprietors; and, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, they are better qualified to become constituents of our institution, than even a cert

tory of Mecklenbur

bid., Vol.

Seaboard Slave

, The South Since t

Seaboard Slave

Seaboard Slave

ays on Domestic

nged out of our hard earnings by a lazy set of scheming Yankees, to get rid of this delusion, needs only seat himself on the Charlest

d out of our hard earnings by a lazy set of scheming Yankees, to get rid of this delusion, needs only seat himself on the Charleston wha

interesting illustrations of dependence upon the No

ted. Missing nothing, Olmsted said, in a description of a rail journey in North Carolina, "The principal other freight of the train was one hundred and twenty bales of Northern hay. It belonged ... to a planter who lived some twenty miles beyond here, and who had bought it in Wilmington at a dollar and a half a hundred weight, to feed to his mules. Including the steam-boat an

opes ... consumated, South Carolina would present a delightful picture. Every son and daughter would find healthful and lucrative employment; our roads, which are now a disgrace to us, would be improved; we would no longer be under the necessity of sending to the North for half made wagons and carriages, to break our necks; we would have, if not as handsome, at least as honestly and faithfully made ones.... Workshops would take the place of the throngs of clothing, hat, and shoe

Seaboard Slave

sted, Seaboard Sla

Seaboard Slave

Seaboard Slave

rish temperament and that of the people of the South-how prone both have been to obscure to themselves real issues in public affairs for a joke's sake.

ays on Domestic

Burkett and Poe, Cotton, pp. 312 and 313, a

Seaboard Slave

heves' position, and defining what Gregg meant by "domestic manufactures"-not household industry, but the erection of steam mills in Charleston, of cotton factories there and throughout the State; "I mean, that, at every village and cross-road in the State, we should have a tannery, a shoe-maker, a clothier, a hatter, a blacksmith ... a wagon maker ... this is the kind of manufactures I speak of, as being necessary to bring forth the energies of a country, and give healthful and vigorous action to agriculture, commerce and every departme

on Domestic Indust

ys on Domestic In

Ibid.,

ech on Blue Ridg

ech on Blue Ridg

ind among the Virginians.... The agency by which commodities are transferred from the producer to the consumer, they seem to look upon as a kind of swindl

se of the mechanic's hammer should break in upon the slumber of a real estate holder, or importing merchant, while he is indulging in fanciful dreams, or building on paper, the Queen City of the South-the p

erection of a manufacturing city?... The divine, lawyer, doctor, schoolmaster, guardian, widow, farmer, merchant, mechanic, common labourer, in fact, the whole community is made tributary to these great enterprises. The utility and safety of such institutions is no longer problematical.... If we shut the door against associated capital and place reliance on individual exertion, we may talk over the matter and grow poorer for fifty years to come, without effecting the change in our industrial pursuits, necessary to renovate the fortunes of our State. Individuals will not be found amongst us who are willing to embark their 100, 200 or $300,000 in untried pursuits: ... If liberal charters were granted, one hundred successful establishments would spring into existence, where one, of feeble order, could be expected from individual eff

in Building of Natio

Seaboard Slave

id., pp.

ty; in the industrial belt the prisons were always occupied. In like manner and for the same reasons Southern and Western hospitals for the insane and homes for the poor often showed very small percentages of these unfortunates." (William E. Dodd, Expansion and Conflict, p. 231.) Cf. the map o

about $52,000,000 invested in textile manufacture, of which much still lay in the South. In 1828, when he reversed his positi

century the tariff was not a matter which was exclusively political.... The subject ceased to be an economic one and became a political one in proportion as slavery grew in the South and diminished in the North, and in inverse proportion as manufactures dried up in the South and became of greater importance

ns, Tariff a

. V, p. 316 ff. See pp. 30-31-32. Contrast Tompk

nger that the North would crush slavery and place the South under complete submission to tariff aggressions, congressional representation for the latter section finding a stop in the limit to slave territory: "Under these circumstances, the true policy of the south is distinct and clearly marked. She must resort to the same means by which power is accumulated at the North, to secure it for herself. She must embark in that system of manufacturing which has been so successfully employed at the north.... All civilized nations are now dependent upon our staple to give employment to their machinery and their labor.... If, then, we manufacture a large portion of it ourselves, we reduce the quantity for export, and the competition for that remainder will add greatly to our wealth, while it will place us in a position to dictate our own terms. The manufactories will increase our population; increased populat

ginia General Assembly of "an act for encouraging adventures in iron-works"; South Carolina forges built in 1773 are dwelt upon. His original investigations reveal valuable facts as to iron-making in North Carolina and upper South Carolina-details are given of the works of E. Graham & Company, formed in 1826 and later merged with the King's Mountain Iron Company; the Magnetic Iron Company, 1837, near the former pla

bid., p

monds, p

been said, "A delusion of great wealth was created in the listing as taxable property of slav

Edmond

Ibid.,

dmonds,

d., pp. 2

p. 21. Cf. Ib

phy, The Presen

urphy,

rphy, pp

Murphy

fish and unsound, as for the purpose of retaining slavery, and if they did not lack, that fire and conviction which marked the full movement commencing fifteen years later, they were fruitless of large results. "We are going

server, Raleigh,

timental politics to the woods." (

and Courier, Charlesto

n a Southern gentleman and a Northern malignant. They know that the former cannot prevaricate, while the Northern leaders of the Republican party and the malignants are usually devoid of per

in News and Cour

Avalanche, in The Daily Constitut

ourier, March 18, 1881. The w

"A man who has been in the whirl of New York or in any of the brand new cities of the great West coming into Charleston might readily enough come to the conclusion that the old city was

ler, smilingly sn

these good goss

ts wanderers ma

y, in their

aim thy spirit

dost not bow

reat unuttera

ry T

are now leading in the restoration of the South to prosperity, and on a basis that must speedily give the reconstructed States a degree of substantial

consequence in South Carolina that has not improved its business and enlarged its boundaries since the overthrow of Radicalism in 1876. But cotton mills will soon make amends for the vicissitudes and hopelessness of the past, and for that reason The News and Courier takes the warmest possible interest in the cotton mill campaign at Columbia." The Observer, Raleigh, N.C., July 11, 1800: "... when our people once begin to mingle freely, having a community of interests and a common purpose, sectional feelings will be obliterated, and we will forget that there has been an East, a center, or a West, and remember only that we are all North Carolinians, sharing the same fortunes, blessed with a common hope and

brain, its own energy, attend to its own business, make money, build up its waste places, and thus force upon the North that recognition of our worth and dignity of character to which that people will always be blind unless they can see it through the medium of material,

in News and Cour

esents the consideration that the cotton crop of Tennessee, amounting to 200,000 bales, 90,000,000 pounds at 6? cents an average pound, gave the producers 11? per cent. profit on their investment, while the manufacturers of the same crop made 24 per cent. profit-more than twice as great. "Are there any so blind as not to see the advantages of the system?" Much earlier Southern statements of the true fact from manufacturing cotton was to be found, but in the delirium of the latter days of slavery these were lost sight of. Wm. J.

rominent place in the history of cotton manufacturing in the South. The editorial concluded: "This is the logic of the investment of money in cotton mills in Charleston.

was hailed in the papers with an enthusiasm like the joy of a child in a new-found plaything. Properties of soils, the use of the telephone, the most profitable employment for State convicts were some of the topics of interest. There was, of course,

nctly moral in tone, as, e.g., the wide form

nd Courier,

n for the searching out of opportunities for productive industry. The following gives an insight into the better times that had begun: "The year that is just finished will be to the present generation a red-letter one, for it brought to an end the long and weary period of enforced economy and restricted business that followed the panic of 1873, and put every branch of industry at work. Agriculture was encouraged in the West and South by good crops and remunerative prices, the factories received more orders than they could fill, the railroads were

uth and the Industrial Classes of the North. "The cotton mill to the cotton field

ry 31, 1881. Before long it had come to be a phrase in everybody's mouth, and proved to be apt beyond any

d little, that will turn a dollar's worth of raw material into more tha

n Daily Constitut

nd Courier,

b. 22, 1881, se

., January

ton Manufacturing Company, the News and Courier was starting a force that would grow in power through the years: "When this pioneer company shall have made a good start, other companies will speedily follow...." (January 28, 1881). And again (Observer, January 2, 1880): "Another large cotton factory. The Charlotte Observer chronicles the erection in the immediate future of a cotton factory in that city, and regards it as the beginning of a prosperous growth of manufactures." An item in the Barnwell, S.C. Sentinel, reprinted in the News and Courier, Feb. 8, 1881, declared: "The people of Charleston should have never hesitated as long as they have about embanking in the manufacture of cotton goods, and we firmly believe, as the ball is started, that it will be kept moving...." The Keowee Courier, in an editorial al

the News and Cour

the News and Cour

n. 27, Mar. 20

in the South, printed in that issue of the paper, had these words: "Major Hammett was the founder of the Piedmont Factory, which, under his management, is one of the finest and most profitable cotton mills in the

nd Courier,

es and aptitudes. We have in the midst of us the raw material, so to speak, of a magnificent prosperity. We lack knowledge, population and capital. These may be slowly accumulated in the course of years, or they

nd Courier,

subscriptions of $1,000 each having been received from private individuals, and eleven of $500 each from like sources. Railroad subscriptions at this date were: Western and Atlantic Railroad Company, $10,000; Louisville and Nashville, $5,000; Richmond and Danville Road, $2,500; East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Road, $2,000. By the first day of April (News and Courier still) New York bankers seemed likely to increase

nd Courier,

id., Oct

nd Courier,

d Mr. Hemphill as staff correspondent at the

what you will do in this matter." "I told you last year you needed the savings bank more than any other institution; there is a vast unused capital in your Southern States in the hordes of the working people waiting for us, but there is one condition precedent to the savings bank-you must set up schools." This paragraph illustrates Mr. Atkinson's ideas singularly well. His advocacy here of common schools

motive power and less labor." He had arranged to take to Boston to lay before the New England Cotton Manufactures' Association samples of cotton from all the gins on the grounds. "Mr. Atkinson has proposed another trial of every kind of gin, cleaner, press and picker, to be made in the building of the New England Mechanics' Institute in Boston, in December, 1882. Every man in the South who is especially interested in cotton production and manufacture will be invited to plant a specific acre for use at this trial, which will be the second step in what has been so well begun in Atlanta. The picking and saving the cotton wasted on the ground, the cleaning, ginning and packing of the staple in good condition, offers to the Southern States a branch of manufacturing the most important in t

ng, shipping, marine risks and freight and cartage to interior towns, which amounts in all to some seven dollars per bale. The Northern mills also lose from receiving cotton poorly ginned, containing a good deal of leaf and sand, which is computed at six per cent. of the entire crop. The difference between the cost of a bale sent to Fall River, Mass., and a bale sent to Columbia, Ga., is eight dollars and six cents. This makes a tax of eighteen p

1881. (In the same issue excerpt

abiding faith in her manufactories, despite Mr. Edward Atkinson, and people outside seem to think as well of them, at any rate they are willing to invest their money in such enterprise.... For such factories as the Augusta, the Enterprise and Sibley and the King are of immense importance to

lone, that our fight must be made within th

en recovery seemed assured, the paper said this: "One thing the President's desperate illness has unquestionably effected. It has done more than years of ordinary events in bringing the North and South to

Day" had these words: "It does not strain the probabilities to believe that the visit of the First Connecticut Regiment to Charleston is the outgrowth and sentiment and interest which found expression when the President of the United States lay dying, and when after his long agony he died. Had not President Garfield been slain, and the South felt differently and, therefore, acted differently, this present unpremeditated fraternization would have been impossible. There is no shock now in removing mourning trappings to make room for the wreaths and garlands of joy. It is the fit succes

In the New York Herald, reprinted

spatch, Richmond,

nd Observer,

d Observer, M

atch says: "The estimates of the subscriptions here has (have) been raised, in view of the encouragement received already, to at least $125,000, and

nd Courier,

Observer, Ralei

Dec. 2

, quoted in News and

News and Couri

anuary

(Jan. 27, 1881): "The advantages, direct and incidental, accruing to every citizen of Charleston from this industry about to be started in our city are so man

nd Courier,

News and Courier

News and Courier

nd Courier,

Thomps

spondent in News and

nd Courier,

rrespondence, Ibid

d., Feb.

Apr., 6, 18

with Southern capital and brains." The editor of The Observer, Raleigh, paid a visit to Durham and Winston, North Carolina, and went back to his desk glowing with enthusiasm for what they had accomplished. In an editorial (May 19, 1880) headed "Manufacturing Towns"; he wrote of Durham: "Literally the town has been created through the ene

nd Nashville Railroad; the interview was re

from Spartanburg to News

id., Feb

nd Courier,

nd Courier,

mes are all, or nearly all, old ones in South Carolina, and some of the men are still among the first citizens of the capit. The committees

d., Mar.

Dispatch, Ibid.

nd Courier,

See

nd Courier,

nd Courier,

d., Mch.

from Barnwell to News an

hron, quoted in News an

nd Courier,

d., Mar.

ws and Courier,

rver, June

orgia, did not represent the method of appeal of his fellow Georgians, when he said tritely and smugly: "The t

of the South, and the Industrial C

nd Courier,

or and the provincial quality of his utterance are clearly seen in such ph

Industrial South declared: "I am tired of hearing the deprecating cry of 'We want Yankee brains and enterpri

News and Couri

Feb. 1

nd Courier,

News and Couri

d Courier, Annual Trade

olina) News, quoted in New

July 3

News and Courier

or $8,000, and he invested $10,000 additional in the plant. The building was frame, two and half stories high, all was burned in March of 1881,

d., July

d., Nov.

nd Courier,

d., Jan.

a, Georgia, was increasing its capital by $400,000, President W. C. Sibley received from Bost

nd Courier,

d., Mch.

d., Mch.

rtly influenced by the purpose of Mr. Atkinson to have the Exposition furt

Jan. 2

arch 21

nd Courier,

of subscription of the Charleston Manufacturing Company were opened January 27th; on March 29th the directors called for the payment of the first instalment of 10 per cent., and at 2 o'cl

d., Feb.

id., Feb

id., Feb

nd Courier,

, interview, Concord,

, interview, Gastonia

interview, Gastonia,

e Robinson, interview, Gast

d., Feb.

Courier, S.C.

de Review, August

ue of Feb. 26th spoke of the additional stock as being $350

ry, N.C., Nov. 9, 1887, quoted in mi

nd; the minute book record is sig

F., interview, Salisbu

interview, Spartanbur

nd Courier,

J., The Cotton Que

arch 18

orth, interview, Greenvi

, interview, Concord

interview, Concord,

erview, Gaffney, S.

nd Courier,

nterview, Greenville

n Field to Cotto

terview, Concord,

interview, Gaffney,

rview, Gaffney, S.

erview, Spartanburg,

interview, Anderson,

view, Gaffney, S.C

3]

terview. Concord,

interview, Gastonia,

, interview, Charlotte

interview, Salisbury

terview, Concord,

, interview, Charlotte

erview, Spartanburg,

interview, Greenville

rtanburg, S.C., Sept. 5, 1916. The mills around Spartanburg had a nucleus of local capital,

view, Gaffney, S.C

view, Gaffney, S.

rview, Anderson, S.

rview, Spartanburg,

interview, Raleigh,

erview, Spartanburg,

interview, Charlotte

interview, Salisbury

rview, Gastonia, N

view, Gaffney, S.

rview, Gastonia, N

on, interview, Raleigh

nterview, Greensboro,

rview, Spartanburg,

nterview, Greenville

rview, Anderson, S.

nterview, Greenville

interview, Concord,

rview, Greenville,

2]

rview, Greenville,

view, Charlotte, N

nia, N.C., Sept. 14, 1916; also H. D. Whea

erview, Greenville,

7]

C., Sept. 4, 1916, also J. A. Brock, in

astonia, N.C., Sept. 14, 1

rview, Charlotte, N

onia, N.C., Sept. 14, 1916; also Ragan, in

erview, Greenville,

rview, Anderson, S.

., Sept. 5, 1916; also Boyce and Robinson,

on, interview, Gastoni

rview, Anderson, S.

view, Gaffney, S.

nd Courier,

pril 28

nd Courier,

d., Apr.

took all the bonds of a mill. A. A. Thomps

view, Gaffney, S.C

nd Courier,

d., Jan.

on, interview, Gastonia

nterview, Greensboro,

rd, interview, Richmon

nd Courier,

view, Salisbury, N

nterview, Salisbury,

ncord, previously referred to as having been financed on the co-operative plan was

, Columbia, S.C

n, interview, Concor

tie, interview, Columb

nterview, Columbia,

ompson,

her retirement from the presidency of the Batesville, S.C. Mill, was the only woman cotton mill president in America, said that the Boston commission house which owned and operated th

erview, Greenville,

, interview, Anderson

interview, Anderson,

we ran the city on the commission plan and didn't know it. I used to draft ordinances in my own handwriting, show them

e in its form to the conservatism of the company, and to the peculiar conditions of its inception. One director

interview, Greenville

erview, Charlotte,

Loyless, intervi

rview, Augusta, G

interview, Augusta,

, Cotton Mill, Comme

erview, Greenville,

nterview, Winston-Sale

rview, Charlotte, N

Mar. 1

nd Courier,

rver, Feb.

News and Courier

] p.

ompson,

erview, Greenville,

iew, Anderson, S.

erview, Spartanburg,

a Trade Revi

view, Gaffney, S.C

rview, Salisbury,

nterview, Greenville,

nterview, Anderson,

, interview, Anderson

k, interview, Columbi

pson, pp.

n, interview, Augusta

interview, Savannah,

, interview, Charlesto

, interview, Charlesto

interview, Charleston

nterview, Charleston

interview, Charlesto

on, interview, Gastoni

erview, Greenville,

on, interview, Gastoni

view, Gastonia, N.

n, letter, Gastonia,

tonia, N.C., Sept. 14, 1916, and Robinso

, interview, Gastonia

tter, Gastonia, N.

view, Gastonia, N.

rview, Augusta, G

erview, Spartanburg,

a leader is wanted at the top, as for the president of a mill, a man is still cho

rview, Salisbury,

rview, Charlotte, N

Trade Review

a., Dec. 30, 1916, and Tracey I. Hickman

rview, Augusta, G

Trade Review

d Observer, N

Trade Review

erview, Augusta, G

nd Courier,

d., Aug.

d., Aug.

view, Charleston,

view, Salisbury, N

view, Salisbury, N

a, S.C., Jan. 3, 1917, and Dav

ew, Anderson, S.C.,

ompson,

, Columbia, S.C

oldsmit

ton Mill, Commercia

oldsmit

said: "The money actually paid in was more or less local in those days (the early years o

, letter, Greenville,

view, Charleston,

nd Courier,

, Dec. 30, 1916. He knew of no Souther

erview, Augusta, G

erview, Augusta, G

erview, Columbi

9]

view, Gastonia, N.

erview, Augusta, G

th, The Cotto

rview, Augusta, G

view, Charleston,

view, Columbia, S

k, interview, Columbi

view, Gaffney, S.

view, Columbia, S

espondent in News and

ll correspondent in News

, interview, Spartanbur

erview, Spartanburg,

a Trade Revi

d Observer, N

a Trade Revi

erview, Augusta, G

view, Salisbury, N

8]

view, Gastonia, N.

tter, Gastonia, N.

riber'

hical and spelling err

rected to "evi

rrected to "be

rected to "Ame

ected to "powe

rrected to "cont

rrected to "Caro

cted to "I

ected to "bu

rected to "new

rected to "prosp

ected to "mana

ected to "te

cted to "sta

rected to "adv

in" added

ected to "steam

ected to "suc

rected to "dec

rected to "Cal

cted to "fel

ected to "qu

rected to "imag

ected to "repea

rected to "repro

rected to "expre

ected to "text

ected to "w

ected to "s

ected to "we

ected to "pers

ected to "chan

cted to "a

rected to "adv

rected to "prev

rected to "under

rected to "min

rected to "He

cted to "swar

rected to "offic

cted to "Sta

cted to "an

cted to "gre

ected to "happe

is" added

rrected to "back-

ected to "welco

ected to "bou

ected to "abhor

cted to "who

ted to "do"

ected to "philos

ected to "telep

ected to "camp

cted to "loc

ected to "nat

rrected to "capi

cted to "urge

ected to "Sout

cted to "naiv

ted to "have

ected to "strug

rected to "remune

rected to "Chro

ted to "It"

cted to "An

ected to "Hera

cted to "188

rected to "pre

ected to "prob

ted to "the

ted to "to"

cted to "adde

cted to "wa

cted to "nea

cted to "mil

cted to "stoc

cted to "som

ted to "is"

cted to "orig

cted to "ye

ected to "outr

rected to "conside

ected to "inten

cted to "buil

ted to "of"

rected to "pros

cted to "Unti

cted to "annu

rected to "Sali

ected to "want

ected to "decis

ected to "th

rrected to "unpro

ected to "lad

rected to "inheri

ected to "Commerc

ed to "up" (

ed to "2nd"

ected to "destro

ected to "Commerc

cted to "Greenvil

cted to "suicida

ted to "Ibid."

cted to "agains

ected to "Olmst

ed to "Blue"

ted to "into"

ted to "internal

ted to "1881"

" added (fo

ected to "solicito

ed to "the"

ed to "to" (

cted to "acclai

cted to "Nashvil

cted to "unused

ed to "your"

cted to "rebuil

ed to "Ibid."

cted to "Greenvil

cted to "Greenvil

inconsistencies in spelling and hyphena