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rThe Civil War made Sanford Blackinton a rich man — one of the three richest in Berkshire County. Whether he shared anv of his largess with his hard-working employees is doubtful in as much as he paid Archer only $2,698 the year the war ended. The laborers grumbled more and more about their long hours and small pay. Paternalism was coming to an end.In 1873, the country- experienced another crisis similar to the Panic of 1857. When the market crashed in October 1873, the Blackinton Mill began running half-time beginning in November. The workers accepted an hourly reduction. When, near Thanksgiving, the company announced a 12 1/2-percent reduction in wages, a vote was taken at a meeting for employees to walk out.Archer attended the meeting. When the vote was taken, he advised against it, saying the mill was financially unsound. He toldwwhere there was a secondary loca-wtion. At Blackinton, the superintendent had retired after 17 years. He was replaced by an out-of-towner, a man from Connecticut. At Bravtonville, there must have been some resentment of the new superintendent named Penmman, for in December his barn burned to the ground in a blaze thought to be arson. He was considered bymthe employees as having been responsible for the 10-pcrcent wage reduction at Blackinton in January.Baker continued her findings: “The wage reduction coming at a time, according to Archer s diary, when the mill was thought to be profitable, was the immediate issue underlying the strike. For the first four day's, Archer said, the strikers were ‘sullen and mean and appeared determined to ‘stick it out.’ Some of the discouraged workers left Centervilleto return to Wales. By the fifth0day there was talk of going back to work. On the sixth day of the the continuing panics and recessions. Some, we know, went back to their homelands; others more fortunate, found employment at Williams College, but only a few. Some of the women left the woolen industry to become0domestics.“In April, 1876, Blackinton put his mills on half-time. The depression extended into the summer. Six manufacturing firms closed in Adams. At Blackinton, further reductions took place in June. Wage cuts of 10 percent for day laborers and 15 percent for weavers were announced. In July Archer s books showed a seven-month loss of $30,000. The management announced that the mills would run on three-quarters time plus an additional 45 minutes a day for three-quaiters pay. Several times the workers at Blackinton asked Archer to present their case to SanfordShe wrote:“To conclude this study ofmevents that occurred on the local scene so long ago, it is not the intention of the writer to place the blame for the cause of so much unhappiness for the Welsh and other British Islanders. But, if Sanford Blackinton had heard them out; had he responded to their notion of paternal justice; had talked with them instead of through their superintendent, it might have made for a better climate in the village. When he turned down the workers’ bid for tne paternalism due them whenthev crossed the Atlantic Ocean¥at his behest to become virtual slaves in his mill, Sanford Blackinton violated his obligation to assure the welfare of his workers.Roger Rivers of Adams, % years young, loves to spin tales from the past about the city of his birth.
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North Adams Transcript
North Adams, Massachusetts, US
Sat, Apr 18, 2009
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