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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



to the conditions of the market. In the larger mills, especially 

 when owned by a corporation, the establishment must be of suffi- 

 cient size to command the services of the most competent men, 

 especially in the manufacturing department. 



Does it not follow, from all these facts which I have submitted, 

 that the competition of the Southern with the Northern factory, 

 down to this time, has been more theoretical than practical ? Is it 

 not yet to begin, if it is felt in any considerable measure in respect 

 to the home consumption of the East, the Middle States, and the 

 West, aside from a very few heavy sheetings which have been 

 sold in our Northern markets ? 



I must, therefore, again repeat the word of warning which I 

 have so often given to my Southern friends : Beware of the 

 isolated cotton-factory, and also beware of the small corporation; 

 do not proceed upon the idea that, because the factory is near the 

 cotton, it possesses any great advantage. Men who begin in a 

 small way and who grow up with their business, or who have 

 learned it elsewhere, may succeed, as many are now succeeding ; 

 but those who subscribe to the stock of an isolated Southern 

 cotton-factory with the notion that a cent a pound or less advan- 

 tage over the North in the price of cotton will assure success may 

 get their experience at a high price when some other shrewder 

 man buys the mill at a low price. In any event, under present 

 conditions, not less than ten per cent a year on the cost of machin- 

 ery should be charged off to depreciation. In many mills which 

 I have visited, at least that portion of the machinery was going 

 into the cost of the goods ; in some cases without the knowledge 

 of the owners. 



Now, as to the future center or situs of the cotton manufacture. 

 If you glance over the history of nearly all the principal arts, you 

 will find that there has been a tendency for them to concentrate 

 in special sections of given countries or states. Where and how 

 such arts may originate may be to a certain extent a matter of 

 chance ; but, once established, it seems as if not only the manual 

 skill and aptitude but the mental force of the whole neighborhood 

 adjusted themselves to the special condition of these particular 

 arts. Some one man invents or improves the machine, begins his 

 work in one place, and makes money at it. This attracts attention ; 

 others gather in the neighborhood, and presently that place 

 becomes the center of that specific art. 



Go to Gloversville, in New York, away off on the high hills 

 north of the Mohawk River : the whole population makes gloves 

 and mittens. The art has existed there for so long a time that it 

 has affected the language. If you are invited out to tea, when 

 you are offered sugar and cream the hostess will ask you if you 

 "take trimmings with your tea." 



