THE NEW SLAVERY OF THE SOUTH
Silverstein, Louis
THE NEW SLAVERY OF THE SOUTH »$1,000,000 Mercer Bonds ^tnc Syndicate Gives PUna ¦ the Con?M>n«lation of 14 ominous Companies By Louis Silverstein fNDER this heading, there appeared in the...
...this same district increased because of the diversion of order* from tba North...
...iroo%-natured folk, SUing to accat industrial advantage m asking' On* a fair return for their bear...
...he would say, and in a moment add...
...Nicola was aa accordion player...
...violently, sometime* went, sometimes refused to escort them-home, aa the mood dictated...
...Since New 'Tear's the' professional speculators—the inf aiders—have been gambling among themselves...
...Say, do you suppose, he could forget gray hairs long enough to sUng a leg with me...
...Over but eon-sdousnosa'a scorn of displeasure floated, chacurtag- ta* memory of the first sharp pleasure ba bad bad in finding Brlcktop...
...marry bun in the passion of the dance, then release bun regretfully...
...In the midst of the most Joyous movements, an almost human moan from the saxophone, some Interlude of pleading from a violin, propelled through the hush of brass and woodwinds, some inadvertent chord of beauty, probed depths of unconscious feeling, and smote hhn with sudden sadness...
...It in...
...gomery...
...took a girl in hi* arms and whirled off...
...Maxzinl...
...During the great steel strike of the same year the output of steel Ga...
...They floated away on' a tumult of colorful song.' As Brlcktop citing to him, he felt triumphant, nearer to bar than at any other hour of the evening...
...His mental pain was broken by animation at the door...
...The machine-like routine of his work bad been made durable by the promise of the evening...
...The evening was young yet...
...10,000,000 corporation was anned...
...Finished, he took additional pains with his best suit, white shirt and flowered tie, not without wishing that he had new clothes for the coming session of the legislature...
...Before turning l out the gas...
...Dan felt a twinge, not so ranch of Jealousy as of disappointment...
...Textile...
...la ethor words, the iafwoaaa,ta.tbM^*wfr^'ta^snuaaraMvay taObw 9 tba *mpl*ye baa resolved aa<|ifi mmP^*mmmJ&im .taw e—ptoyar ta setting less labor «or thasasna snis^utad ssaawgyahaw-ws«are...
...The foUowlng figures for Montgomery, Ala., for last year are typical: TABLE I Hourly Rate* Average Av.Mont- ,t . North...
...She danced well, gUded rather than sprang over the floor...
...Dan looked around to eee if anyone noticed bis dlscomfltur...
...He wanted her to accept him...
...The lwv**tig»*f ta tar «**» Ws*i*nal Coritwaaaa award . know tbtar Tbeir statistical *sn*«l*n*%aa»^tba*a and obey tucked away In a paragraph ef their a.iweMnesmawt ¦** l*a> atataHMnt that tbeir figures "cover average amount of tabor.la wanaa'Sf **aa bear*, and da net take , into account kind and quality ef work as »h*wns* ta labor awtalepcy.'' ' Exactlyi Due ta speeding a* *aabaoaa af preduetteii and incrsasiWs use ef autcntatie machinery aaaMtaliets have bean raaaWing e*n*e par^wark- < sr than ever before...
...Tou're one of those smart guy* from Minneapolis...
...In tabor circles this Is plain scabbing...
...Full-time earnings 4jer the United States' were 61M7...
...Ralph grinned sheepishly, but gave no further...
...Sometimes Nicola's face seemed to be the face of a girl overcome by passion.' Sometimes Nicola seemed a kind of animate Buddha, the god Of Jasz himself...
...Tonight he had chosen The Tamborlne, a place in St...
...He was due for a "bat," he t,old himself as he climbed four flights of the musty, dark stairs to the attic room...
...Leave her with the kid, aad you come/ttfth me...
...Last year laborers ta foundries worked on the average SZ.S hours per full-time week in the United' States as a whole...
...Dan turned and looked into the face of Ralph Minturn...
...It is the chief ataction that this, section of the country olds out to industry...
...S. Price* of commodities measured ^by Prof...
...there were wild smashes of discord...
...Unlike 'most of the young men, gang...
...They halted...
...It least, invest their surplus funds in this new Industrial paradlae...
...Northern manufacturers are being constantly reminded *t the blessings of the South...
...In the vary near- future we shall discuss this ta coma detail...
...He hummed a baritone to bar contralto as thetr w> safttT- the flower-strewn rapids ol syncopation...
...At the tans of the lflt coal strike the coal mines at Birmingham, Ala., were but little affected...
...Dan traveled alone...
...a round, fat little man with a red, coarse face—the envy of Daa...
...Having gone, having danced madly, he was satisfied, vfent home, resumed his "work, day dreams, until he was impelled by secret Inner wish to seek excitement...
...He was awkward, tai adept, unlovable, be told himself...
...1.24 ' • AO TABLE II Industries Employing Chiefly Women...
...About two or three years ago this firm, with headquarters in Atlanta...
...Upon thi* boy's face Dau_ looked In fascination...
...expected that most of the other employers who have not signed the union agreement yet will do so before Ions*.,, as they have not been able to secure any strikebreakers...
...It was bis "act of prayer," this momentary gift ol homage which he laid before the Inexpensive print of the Italian philosopher-politician...
...They danced, Brlcktop and he, without rest, It seemed for hours...
...CaU me 'say,'" she flung back derisively...
...there were great claps of melody...
...sign of recognition, as he...
...could aay with taa ardor of a <relialou* enthusiast: * "When Cod made the world He left North...
...It is well to have sihjer-power, but ia the ••South it means tip exploitation of the lr>or called fortbi>y the mills and facOsfe** that springfinto existence, ft »osta, Oa,ftmkes an even more W^kJ P*"*- *Wflre is no labor probKjsJy.'^^S'f/ufacturer In the AuHjT .^Wfc^Vuta acres are peopled rantbe pui iflBh'iiisfo-Saxon stock to »e found in ameica—a sturdy, dependble...
...Fisher's Index number rose again to 159.2 from 168.7 for1 the week preceding...
...far Massachusetts 632.22, but tor North Carolina 817.2...
...Oh...
...Be wore a permanent smile, a smile !l»at.ataa $n>.tt tlw>v*aatg6Se va^ a child, or of a handsome idiot...
...Te Be Continued Newt Week) ¦ 2,000 Htsmntitchers (¦ In General Strike Two thousand workers' employed in the hemstitching, pleating and tucking trade walked out of their factories in response to a strike call Issued by their union, which Is Local 41 of th* . Internet IsnaJ Ladles' Garment Workers* Union...
...maintain the' negro in subjection—that means harmonious relations between employer and employee...
...The general investing public baa not yet been tempted, to bite...
...There was aa attempt made to feign anxiety, but nobody took the matter seriously...
...blue heavens, the...
...He did not want to bring fellows be knew out of their rooms to accost him...
...There are smiles"—the capUvaUng lilt of a dancer song trailed through bis clear brain...
...To this she made no response...
...Common labor.'......50.78 V4 50.2* Brick masons........1.44 1.00 Plasterers...
...y eB, now, Arlene...
...And so we might go on taoafiaitely...
...The workers responded to the strike call so effectively that the entire Industry ia practically tied up...
...Making bis...
...The rickety steps, crumbling foundation, the unpainted walls were concealed under the romantic coloring of evening, while its shapely bulk and once - handsome appointments were still disclosed...
...Cake-'eaters from your berg," hi* partner informed him...
...how's the, old anntaf WttlngT" ¦ •• - .^"2t...
...be at last replied, unable ta -conceal that be was piqued...
...Ba waa not satisfied...
...Sometimes It was for a little dainty girl no bigger than a child to claap and cling impassively to him as he swayed—his great legs moving softly like twin sixes—through the dizzy steps...
...She was slender and petite, with brick-red hair which she wore in...
...At times...
...he stopped for a moment-^before the portrait of Maszlnt, which he bad brought with him from his mother's house...
...He indulged in, a diversion...
...As he beheld her...
...North Carolina, the second highest...
...labor at present is wholly American, lsjntelllgent and fair minded, having a reputation for harmony between the employer and employe...
...Chamber of Commerce.of Sheffield qnd Tuscumbla, Abu, ' heart of the Muscjfe Shoals region...
...There a Iesl...
...I&acetertf for the South talk gUbly afthe adnntage* of such a docile laSB sappt...
...For Alabama Iron the corresponding flflures were 60.6 hours, 36.2 cents and 623.82...
...and at one rime even 8 per cent bonds, as compared -with 6% and 6 per cent ef competing companion because labor is cheap "down' there...
...clarinets niurmured...
...There Is an abun,8lfo»j*lahor...
...Governor Minturn, Governor Minturn,' the kettle drums rumbled...
...1 No fonder the Conuniaioner ef Labor and Printing for North Carolina, in an address a short while asjo...
...They boast of the prev;^pee efthe American Flan or even ,Wi bnienly , of "exclusively open ¦jfmp" eSkdftions...
...but always there was rhythm, the beat of passion, emotion, which . Invited him to skip, seek, frisk to frolic Always be longed for women—Woman—aad never the same woman...
...He went out whistling...
...a The Joint announcement, of the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Board at Washington...
...The woaaon and amOdren at* parttcutarty available far the textile mills thtflt are be*na' established, everywhere...
...The ranks of the employers are completely routed...
...He wanted her to feel about him as be felt about her...
...ta Alabama they were employed 58.1 hours, in Georgia 55.7, ta Sfarylanrf 5J.S...
...Nicola th* a tar, the pet, of Tango Stair's Rainbow Bubbles...
...That, in brief, is the labor situation i the South today...
...The white stock on the tanuTnd in the mountains are de^Hawbyts of-colonial pioneers, chiefly, |S«J6or whites" of pre-Clvll War Tkm W—kly Trmmd 1. The atock market - ta mon parlance fa "neither here nor there...
...Suddenly Brlcktop ceased dancing, dropped his hand abruptly and giggled...
...ta Georgia 114.57 and in Maryland UL4S...
...why break the old lady's heart...
...Dan's partner asked...
...He was warm with an Immense vitality...
...Jet us not fcrget, as aniher prophet puts it, that *>'"bi charaaerlzed in its tractlblUty rat is raretf susceptible to those disfijrhmg infrences common in sections ¦acre the^rorelgn element dominates ibbtdustial field...
...Carolina for the final and complete manifestation of Hie goodness to man...
...Come on, Agnes, let's go...
...Picks out a grandmother to chaperon* him...
...Tonight' be exhausted hi* vocabulary in an effort to guess bis partner's name...
...He was filled with a delightful languor...
...GOVERNOR MINTURN A Labor Novel of the Northwest By M. H. HEDGES CHAPTER III Saxpphones and Clarinets I MRS...
...Only about thirty...
...He wanted her to find in his coming a stranger out of anonymity, a symbol'of the eternal accident of love, as his dance hall expeditions seemed to him the re-enactment of the primitive drama of male capturing female...
...Horns laughed, squealed wantonly...
...sweet daddy...
...Chambers of ommerce gloat over it...
...The negroes are..chiefly need for- unskilled, heavy work, one-half of the miners being of Abclr race...
...like an animate doll in his arms, as he felt her strong legs press against his, aad saw the glittering, unresponsive eye, the carmine lips, he felt thwarted, almost sad...
...She laughed a guarded- ear little laugh...
...puffa over the ears...
...Aa we know, the big money is made by selling to outsiders when prlcea are high end buying back front them when prices are low again...
...12.00 «0 Pickles mfg—1.50 50 Laundry j...
...Belle Tavern—as Mrs...
...There was a suggestion of languor, of curbed energy, in aU bar movements...
...adventures had no attraction for him...
...Well, old dear, you'll never find out my name...
...Ga„ opened a modest little office on Forty-second street...
...Did you, Mr...
...Skillful social welfare work keeps them contented...
...Oh, my God...
...But it was to Nicola that Dan gar* most ft hi* admiration...
...Tango Stair was...
...The rtn>-.--':o*,] „t the advocates of child tabor is In the South...
...hardworBng...
...Something in him compelled secrecy...
...Come down and Join us," runs the appeal...
...Nicola was a. spectacle, a living symbol -of the tunes he played, a totem for the civUtxation he represented...
...He might j barn turned to the redllght district for -solace, but he decided to go to a theatre...
...So the girl of Dan's choice greeted him tonight...
...Relieved at finding that all ths wriggling, swaying marionette* were Indifferent to him, he made hi* way across the floor, and when ilia former dancing mate had lost herself ta the crowd," aUpped outdoors...
...On the third floor he ceased his noise...
...Got . aenae, anyway...
...that they have arranged to publish th* figures torloans made to stock brokers caused hardly a flurry...
...Their average full-time weekly earplugs for the United States were tz6.Sk, bat in Alabama they were $16.87...
...Tonight he did not ponder Mazilnl's democratic theory...
...Slowly it spread Its lanauor over all" his thoughts, flowing downward, to set life tingling along the spinal nerve ways- He felt refreshed, nimble, free, as though Uquor had taken hold of him...
...But that is only ratatlvaty true...
...brisk crowds, lights, tba towartae' ojflee buildings, mysteriously lost in the upper areas of the sky,/fitted hlni with Immeasurable satlsfaotlonAnot merely becau**e of themselves, but because ol the gypsy wish, which bad colored bis existence all d$y...
...his nephew...
...he asked, ¦*have affairs with women...
...that is, romanUcatiy...
...AU right, sweetie," he whispered...
...ViAad as-for negro labor...
...The average tor 1912 is 100...
...Sometimes he sought argirl as tall as he, athletic, almost male in her abandon, whirling with him, but dominating, directing, leading...
...There was at times something wistful, aweet and even child-like about it...
...by the promoters, chief nong them being C. Bascom emp, erstwhile secretary to resident Coolidge...
...Round and round they went, her hare arms caressing his neck, her young breast heaving...
...ERICKSON'S looked imposing in the heavy twilight of the late November day...
...7.50 Sf The Boss—Poor Thing...
...THE NEW SLAVERY OF THE SOUTH »$1,000,000 Mercer Bonds ^tnc Syndicate Gives PUna ¦ the Con?M>n«lation of 14 ominous Companies By Louis Silverstein fNDER this heading, there appeared in the financial section of the New York rs of January 26, 1926, the ¦iption.of a plan to combine properties of fourteen coal mipanies in Eastern Kentucky, outhw|«rera Virginia and adcent territory in West Virginia...
...Paul...
...He might as well have said It tor- the whole South, for hi* compatriots below the Mason and Dixon line would have said "Amen...
...There is aft ample supply of skilled and unslciled labor of both sexes,'' writes thet...
...Dan turned from watching the fat, darkeyed girl with whom Ralph was traversing the "street of wax" to the entrance...
...Do you think she's vary old...
...They are more than anxious to come down to the factories, break the solitude of tbeir lives and stop struggling with their small patch of soU for a living...
...praise the native whits* they make quiet, respectable workmen...
...They seemed to him after a while, in his almost delirium, like one piece of finely oiled machinery...
...per week...
...Wbat he saw in the dim mirror, after his labors were over, gave him' satisfaction...
...He's cny baby nephew...
...Who would expect the two august institutions concerned to be hostile AU that it indicates la a curiosity as to what amount of our credit Is based oa stock speculation and a further warning to business to be cautions in making new loans...
...Know him...
...be told himself...
...history...
...It held unlimited poexibilitle* for adventure, gayety...
...Machines...
...The irresistible rhythm of Tango Stair's jazz orchestra ate Its way into Dan's brain...
...prise cattle at a dairy show...
...This nameless one, as with many another unknown girl whom Daniel bad held in his arms, always somehow disappointed him on the emotional side, she was good to the eye, to the touch, his sense reached out toward her, but she was cold psychicaUy, uncommunicative, distant...
...The vast majority of the employers' mMBOcia.tton have broken away in order to sign up with the union, gran ting Its demands...
...He tasted the alow poison of feeling Inferior...
...she exclaimed, "there'* 1 my steady," - - Without eeremoney she left him and cached toward a tall, thin, sandyhaired young man who approached, smiling...
...Dan had the habit of hailing gat* whom he met cn these dance h*H expeditions by a series of names until be bit upon the right, one...
...It now served as Ma Erickson herself said a* a "first-class boarding house...
...He was' attracUve —looked above his class...
...How cheap are these wage slaves...
...Recent data of the U. S. Bureau of' labor Statiatlca supplies confirming evidence...
...WeU...
...lu the mining of iron aad other metals, figures for 1624 show that the average full-' time Week ia the United States •consisted of 61 hours, the wage earning* per hour were &5.S cents, the average weekly earning* $26.62...
...s v At this point in the ever-tngls career . aew arrival* again rustled - In...
...He played the vioUn ravishingly, and conducted his smashing, swaying, syncopating buddies, by eloquent Jerking* and nodding* of hi* little bullet head...
...All day the blood had been pounding in hi* veins...
...Ho turned on the gas In the huge brass chandelier overhead, and began the formaUty of shaving by pouring cold water In the Un wash basin and frisking a brush, iu It, He tried ta whistle while he dexterously conducted the blade through three days' growth of beard...
...wept, pleaded, seduced caressingly: viollps whispered languorously, or screamed like virgins calling...
...He sat upon a camp stool weU out in front of the others, hi* toe* barely touching the floor...
...More than usual, hit noticed women as they passed him on the street...
...New TorkJ . Today it has its rivals.' who deal with Northern real estate, genuinely worried...
...Let's catch a breath, and give them the once-over...
...he thought, "can't I get away from machines...
...body an ' instrument, too, hs swayed back wd forth in tune with the lagtime melBdy, while.hi* legs and toes wriggled and' frolicked beneath bun...
...t • i • * ¦ The same condition prevails throughout th'e entire South...
...Lurking >n syncopation were notes uttering the very sche of life Itself—tears...
...With ; this sense of - Inferiority came a wild | mania, a mood of desperation, the frustration of the young lover...
...Always there was in the music the faint beginnings of power—then realization—Immense dreams of success Intermingled with love incongruously, grotesquely—the individual soul lost In the thrust and beat of mass emeUon...
...He had more plea suae in going alone.' . For years as desire swept fitfully through Mm, Dan bad gone to dance hnUs^varlans tmes—had fatten in with girls, danced long and...
...His face caught the spell of the rag time blue...
...cjuicta • cold...
...Mew eewtee waVto *^e"j4»©ffaTst ¦ftaspwa^watp^^- $J&B^iikG^fl*n\r^m\wmm*\*\»\r \\wjm\\ wa^r^rwJ^jweee - tba* n the employer* dollar braafy wjaaasj .asagt 6B% af it* an vnswe, * hi ataa tree that the asaawnayp ds^ h^wtafllbi* ataliiPlta *swy wertb SS3...
...Her face, Dan noted, was not over-painted...
...In cotton* goods manufacturing, in •fhlch the South Is fast replacing In New Sngland ta aradoentaaaea, the average full-time week ASS4) for the whole country was 52 boore,' «w compared wltth 4t.« hours tor jSasancbuaetta, the leading Bute in th* Industry, and 66A for...
...it (a most entirely native, and working inditions are good...
...Love and women as yet-belonged with the' reUcences of life, like1 one'* own thoughts about one'* aelf, one'* ambitions for power and prominence, not to be paraded In a cabaret, "Ukp...
...Representative Dental Minturn came home whistu*a<—>* -Silver, sad...
...the finanil advertisements announcing e* sale of the bonds this sentence Iood out in bold fare type: "Labor ia entirely non-union...
...Sometimes his heart craved some skilled danseuse, who moved Uke part of" himself through the dance maze...
...A -new party waa arriving...
...1.61 1.25 Carpenter...
...A promttent New York concern specializing in leal estate bonds-secured by first mon> rages on Southern property frankly tells Us patrons that it is able to offer i. TV...
...Looked at in the tight of the** fact* we can understand the economic basis for the Ku Klux Klan: Keep out the foreigner*, otherwise known aa agitator...
...Aver, wage Working - . , k per week, " hours women...
...Erickson's was officially called—was one of the few mansions of the last generation situated well-in, which had survived the march of the business section southward...
...than t-wo per cent ^foreign->odi in this aecUon...
...H* felt bitterly that be bad been cheated out of aometbirajf Mr* owed him...
...business men -om the Xorth marvel at It, and, flndfis that it is true, move southward or...
Vol. 3 • January 1926 • No. 3
