me from the savings of Southern people or has been earned by
the mills themselves. Lately several successful mills have been bought
by large department stores and mail-order houses, in order to supply
them with goods either for the counter directly or else for the
manufacture of sheets, pillowcases, underwear, and the like. Marshall
Field and Company of Chicago, for example, own several mills in North
Carolina.

The mills of the South have continued to increase until they are now
much more numerous than in the North. They are smaller in size, however,
for in 1915 the number of spindles in the cotton-growing States was
12,711,000 compared with 19,396,000 in all other States. The consumption
of cotton was nevertheless much greater in the South and amounted to
3,414,000 bales, compared with 2,770,000 bales in the other States. This
difference is explained by the fact that Southern mills generally spin
coarser yarn and may therefore easily consume twice or even three times
as much cotton as mills of the same number of spindles engaged in
spinning finer yarn. Some Southern mills, however, spin very fine yarn
from either Egyptian or sea-island cotton, but time is required to
educate a considerable body of operatives competent to do the more
delicate tasks, while less skillful workers are able to produce the
coarser numbers.

Southern mills have paid high dividends in the past and have also
greatly enlarged their plants from their earnings. They had, years ago,
several advantages, some of which persist to the present day. The cost
of the raw material was less where a local supply of cotton could be
obtained, since freight charges were saved by purchase in the
neighborhood; land and buildings for plant and tenements cost less than
in the North; fuel was cheaper; water power was often utilized, though
sometimes this saving was offset by the cost of transportation; taxes
were lower; the rate of wages was lower; there was little or no
restriction of the conditions of employment; and there were
comparatively few labor troubles.

With the great growth of the industry, however, some of these early
advantages have disappeared. Many mills can no longer depend upon the
local supply of cotton, and the freight charge from the Lower South is
as high as the rate by water to New England or even higher; the
transportation of the finished product to Northern markets is an
additional expense; wages have risen with the growth of the industry