Textiles

by Percival S. Howe Jr. FROM ITS EARLIEST days New Hampshire’s development and prosperity have been dependent in large measure upon its water power and its forests, for industry sought out sites upon its rivers, and from its forests have grown the lumber industry. In the past decade, however, industry in the State has not only ceased to progress, but has been seriously on. the decline. As the forests have been cut down, ruthlessly and without regard for scientific reforestation, the value of the timber and allied wood products of the State has inevitably lessened. As New England farming came into competition with organized agriculture in the West and Northwest, the stony soil of New Hampshire was no longer competitive and its farm products have receded to a position of relatively less importance. However, through the establishment of great tracts of State and National Forests, the construction of camps and trails, and the commendable work of the Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests, some loss of income from industry has been replaced by that from recreation, which has increased to almost seventy-five millions of dollars per annum, a figure, second only to the State’s largest source of income, derived from its greatest and oldest industry—Textiles. It is an old adage that “familiarity breeds contempt,” and it is all too frequently that the State of New Hampshire gives appearance of taking the permanency of its textile industry too much for granted. With agriculture, forestry, and a number of less important industries in the State on the decline, it is difficult to understand why the people of New Hampshire are not more conscious of the necessity of preserving what is left of their textile industry. One has only to take a trip through New Bedford and Fall River, in Massachusetts, to witness the devastating and annihilating effect of competition from efficiently equipped and well managed Southern mills. While it is true that much of the difficulty of the Northern textile industry lies in wage differentials, predicated in theory upon a lower cost of living in the Southern states, the survival of some mills demonstrates that this wage handicap can be overcome at least in part by other advantages. It can be forecast with certainty, however, that the State’s textile industry will continue to decline over a period of years in the value of its product, in the size of its payroll, and in the number of its employees, unless it received in the immediate future a different measure of cooperation from state and 1ocal authorities and from the citizens of the many communities in which the mills are located. Various measures have been introduced from time to time in the state legislature for the alleged purpose of social and economic reform which, if enacted, would unquestionably have depleted the industry’s resources to such an extent that more mills would have been liquidated. Such legislation has been opposed by industry on practical grounds, for no manufacturer worthy of the important trust of management can fail to have a profound interest in the welfare, comfort, and security of his employees, or a desire to secure for them an income as high as competitive conditions will permit. Improvement in working conditions in an individual state is not accomplished by legislating its industries out of business. Anyone familiar with industrial operation in the Middle Atlantic and Southern States knows of the extent to which industry in those sections has been able to rely upon cooperation from the State and the community. Taxes have been held within reasonable limits, Chambers of Commerce have assisted management in periods of difficulty, and every possible effort has been directed toward the building up of industry and employment. In some instances, the cities of New Hampshire have evidenced their willingness to tax their industries out of existence; in other cases, unnecessary industrial strife or inability to meet competition have driven large enterprises into liquidation. Today the cities of Newmarket and Somersworth bear witness to two great tragedies of the past decade. One could enumerate many other instances where the State’s textile plants are carrying on with the greatest of difficulty and unable to maintain operation sufficient to provide steady or adequate employment. The encouragement of industry is one of New Hampshire’s greatest economic considerations at the present time, for in its successful solution lies the fundamental answer to its problem of unemployment and relief. The textile industry as an institution is perhaps less spectacular than the procession of automobiles filled with recreationists which tour the roads of the State during two or three months of the year. It is the textile industry, however, that provides employment and meets payrolls every day and every week in the year and brings into the State its largest income through an annual production with a value of nearly ninety million dollars. Progress in every field must come as a result of education, and the people of New Hampshire need education in the method and the urgency of preserving its textile industry. Percival S. Howe, Jr. Chesham, N. H. August 1, I935