could not have been raised
otherwise and had also certain distinct social consequences. According
to this plan, the subscriptions to the stock were made payable in weekly
instalments of 50 cents or $1.00 a share, thus requiring approximately
two or four years to complete payment. Those having money in hand might
pay in full, less six per cent discount for the average time. Since
almost or quite a year was usually necessary to build the mill and the
necessary tenements for the hands, the instalments more than paid this
item of expense. The weekly receipts and the payments in full were kept
in a local bank, which also expected future business and was therefore
likely to be liberal when credit was demanded. Often the officers and
directors of the bank were also personally interested in the new
enterprise. The machinery manufacturers gave long credit and often took
stock in the mill. Commission houses which sold yarns and cloth also
took stock with the expectation of controlling the marketing of the
product.

Many mills built on this plan were so profitable that they were able to
pay for a considerable part of the machinery from the profits long
before the last instalment was paid, and some even paid a dividend or
two in addition. Such mills started operations with many things in their
favor. The ownership was widely distributed, since it was not at all
uncommon for a hundred thousand dollar mill to have a hundred or more
stockholders, some of whom held only one or two shares. Further, since
the amount of money paid in the immediate neighborhood for wages, fuel,
and raw material was large, every one was disposed to aid the enterprise
in every way possible. Town limits were often changed almost by common
consent in order to throw a mill outside so that it would not be subject
to town taxes. Where the state constitutions permitted, taxes on the
mill were even remitted for a term of years. Where this could not be
done, assessors were lenient and usually assessed mill property at much
less than its real value.

Not only did some Northern corporations build branch mills in the South,
but a considerable amount of Northern capital was invested in mills
under the management of Southern men. It is of course impossible to
discover the residence of every stockholder, but enough is known to
support the assertion that the proportion of Northern capital is
comparatively small. The greater part of the investment in Southern
mills has co