s were built. The number in operation
in 1880 was about the same as in 1860, but the number of spindles was
nearly twice as great.

The Cotton Exposition at Atlanta in 1881 and the New Orleans Exposition
in 1884 gave an impetus to the construction of mills. There were
prophecies of future success in the industry, though some self-appointed
guardians of the South proved, to their own satisfaction at least, that
neither the section nor the people were adapted to the manufacture of
cotton and that all their efforts should be devoted to the production of
raw material for the mills of New England. Difficulties were magnified
and advantages were minimized by those whose interests were opposed to
Southern industrial development, but the movement had now gained
momentum and was not to be stopped. Timidly and hesitantly, capital for
building mills was scraped together in dozens of Southern communities,
and the number of spindles was doubled between 1880 and 1885 and continued
to increase.

In developing this Southern industry there were many difficulties to be
overcome, and mistakes were sometimes made. Seduced by apparent
cheapness, many of the new mills bought machinery which the New England
mills had discarded for better patterns, or because of a change of
product. Operatives had to be drawn from the farms and needed to be
trained not only to work in the mills but also to habits of regularity
and punctuality. The New England overseers who were imported for this
purpose sometimes failed in dealing with these new recruits to
industrialism because of inability to make due allowance for their
limitations. Accustomed to the truck system in agriculture, the managers
often paid wages in scrip always good for supplies at the company store
but redeemable in cash only at infrequent intervals. The operatives
therefore sometimes found that they had exchanged one sort of economic
dependence for another. Another difficulty was that a place for Southern
yarn and Southern cloth had to be gained in the market, and this was
difficult of accomplishment for the product was often not up to the
Northern standard.

Managing ability, however, was found not to be so rare in the South as
had been supposed. Some of the managers, drawn perhaps from the village
store, the small town bank, or the farm, succeeded so well in the
broader field that others were encouraged to seek similar industrial
success. As the construction of new mills went on, the tem