TENNESSEE: A GUIDE TO THE STATE
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The Working Man
Rich natural resources and almost unlimited possibilities for cheap electric power seem destined within the next few decades to sweep Tennessee into the main stream of industrialism. The transition period has already begun. But thinking in terms of the group - the natural corollary to mass-production - has shown only rudimentary signs of development: The working man is still an individualist, carrying over into his new industrial environment the traits of the small farmer and tenant. His employer tends to think and act in terms of land ownership. In general, the relationship between employed and employer rests on a man-to-man footing, in the old tradition of agrarianism. This one fact, the key to many a paradox, must be borne in mind in any discussion of the Tennessee working man, his past, present, and future.
Until at least 1820 the Tennessean lived in a frontier region. Of his 422,000 neighbor Tennesseans, one-fifth were Negro slaves. The largest city, Nashville, had but 3,000 persons and throughout the State only 7,680 devoted themselves to manufacturing, mostly of locally consumed necessities. From the mountain coves of East Tennessee to the Mississippi bottomlands, the remainder of the working men - roughly 100,000 - were engaged in farming.
Great plantations, worked by slave gangs and based on a cotton economy, were slow in obtaining a foothold in Tennessee. Only the bottomlands of West Tennessee were ideally suited to the plantation, but even here the people were too typically yeomen in character to fall naturally into the system. The Tennessean of ante bellum days was inclined to continue the small farming practices of his immigrant fathers. The census of 1850 showed 118,941 farmers, none of whom were classified as planters. In significant contrast are the census figures of South Carolina for the same year: 8,407 planters, as against 32,898 farmers.
In the mountains of East Tennessee, frontier conditions lingered; few slaves were owned and the farmer found it necessary to do all tasks about his farm with only such help as his family could give. And as for most of the necessities, he became accustomed to the philosophy of "make it yourself or do without."
Artisans were of such importance in early Tennessee towns that they are estimated to have constituted at least 10 per cent of the population. But two factors were at work to doom the influential craftsman class. As a rule, the artisan who had come into the State worked at his craft only long enough to buy land. And the hard system of apprenticeship, virtual peonage, was failing rapidly in this new country. Newspapers of the time carried many advertisements offering rewards for the capture of runaway apprentices. But few were returned to their masters; the temper of the people was against it.
In Middle and West Tennessee Negro slaves began to assume increasing importance. As early as 1808 Montgomery Bell, of Nashville, advertised for "ten Negro fellows" to man his iron works on the Harpeth River. Even earlier a few slaves were employed in crude mining operations in East Tennessee. Nashville and many smaller towns kept Negroes for municipal repair and scavenger work. With the coming of the steamboat and railroad, large numbers of company-owned Negroes furnished the unskilled labor. Very soon Negroes began filtering into the artisan class as well. So many white craftsmen had become landowners that by 1802 "when General James Winchester built his stone house, Cragfont... near Gallatin... he had to import working men from Baltimore to do the interior finishing." Most of the ante bellum homes, churches, and public buildings were the work of slave artisans and laborers. The slaves fell heir to brick making and brick laying, carpentry, blacksmithing, and metal working. Principally, however, they were agricultural workers or domestic servants.
The white farm hand at that time could draw $8.67 per month with board. A day laborer got 58 cents per day; 43 cents if he boarded in. Carpenters commanded $1.38 per day, and female domestics, of whom there were few, $1.00 per week. Behind all these was the threat that the work they did could be equally well done by the slaves, who could be hired from their masters or owned at two-thirds the cost of white labor.
Reconstruction for the South meant a readjustment for the Tennessee working man. Faced with fallow fields and run-down industries, he had to enter upon what was almost a second pioneer period.
Many of the freed Negroes migrated to the cities in search of work, or to the North. They made places for themselves in a few industries - mining, iron - and steelwork, the railroads; and in service and trades - as domestic servants, laundresses, and porters. However, in the main they became "the proletariat of the odd job" or returned to the soil as hands or "croppers" and later as tenants.
The small white farmer rented land, if his own had been lost, and began life again in the only manner he knew. Money was scarce; capital was in the North. The landowner needed a cash crop to meet his obligations, but the tenant, Negro or white, saw little cash from one year's end to another. His family of from six to ten persons, living in a ramshackle shanty, worked from dawn to dusk. He sank ever deeper in debt to the commissary, which in turn was in debt to the wholesaler. The owner himself could buy in no way but on credit. The result was a vicious circle from which it was difficult for either the tenant or the landowner to escape. This condition grew in West Tennessee and to a lesser degree in the middle counties. Tenant-operated farms constituted 30 per cent of those within the State by 1890 and had increased to 40 per cent in 1900.
E. Miller, editor of the Southern Agriculturalist for many years, voiced the plight of the tenant farmer in "The Cropper Speaks":
And twice a farm I've tried to buyBy 1900 the same fundamental forces were at work in East Tennessee Mills, factories, and mines attracted small farmers from "leached-out" mountain farmsteads. Although the pay was low and conditions deplorable in light of the present day, the worker at least did not face prolonged starvation and attendant pellagra for himself and his family.
But couldn't gather, low nor high,
The cash I had to have in hand
To get possession of the land.
* * *
A slave to toil that has no end
And does not help the lot to mend.
The textile mills, often poorly ventilated fire-traps, were crowded with machinery, and little provision was made for the safety of workers. Children worked beside the women and men. Company-owned mill towns were monotonously alike - hideous rows of flimsy boxes, roofed with tar paper and as innocent of comfort as of plumbing. Away from the town, the houses of the poor whites became empty of young folk. They had gone to the mills, sometimes as children on contracts signed by the parents in order to supplement their own earnings. The scale of wages and hours had been improved but there were still many working from 40 to 75 hours a week for wages ranging from $1.63 to $15.00.
In early deeds-registries several "Labor Temples" are entered, but these were purely fraternal amusement halls. With the background of an agricultural, landholder-controlled economy, there was little opportunity for a united labor movement. In the urban areas only, where the Memphis and Nashville Typographical Union locals were formed before the War between the States, did labor organization make headway. The Knights of Labor, which organized locally in 1867 and was never highly effective in the State, merged with other national organizations to form the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881. In 1886 the objectives of this group were amplified and the name changed to the American Federation of Labor, which, after 1893, became the dominant labor organization. The "big four" Brotherhoods (Locomotive Engineers, Locomotive Firemen, Trainmen, and Conductors) were organized in 1882. Though they co-operate with one another, none of the four is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor or the recently formed Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Through the country at large, labor organization throve in industrial centers that were crowded with European immigrants. In Tennessee there has never been more than three per cent foreign-born population, and strikes grew from spontaneous protests against existing conditions rather than from organized labor. Attempts by outsiders to direct or advise the strikers were often met with indifference, suspicion, and at times hot resentment.
Between 1880 and 1887 there were thirty-two strikes, principally in the textile and metal industries, of which twenty were organized and seventeen succeeded. The causes were various: wage reduction, working with Negroes, and employment of non-union labor.
The first major strike in the State's history took place in the summer of 1891 among the miners of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway Company at Coal Creek and Briceville. A principal complaint was the "yellow dog" contract which the miners were compelled to sign, pledging themselves to remain unorganized. Unable to reach an agreement with the operators, the miners struck.
Then the company brought in convict labor, as it was permitted to do by a legislative act of 1865, empowering the prison authorities for a period of fifteen years to lease convicts to the operators. Although leasing of convicts was condemned by progressives as vicious, the system had gathered strong momentum. In opposing the system purely from the standpoint of the threat to their livelihood, the miners incidentally forced the harsh picture upon public attention.
On July 14, 1891, Coal Creek miners marched on the convict camp at Briceville, overpowered the guards, and put the convicts on a train for Knoxville. Governor Buchanan arrived with the State militia and returned the convicts. On July 20 the miners a second time compelled the convicts to return to Knoxville.
An armed group of miners released more than 300 convicts at Tracy City in August 1892, burned the stockade, and put the convicts on a train for Nashville. In the next few days similar steps were taken at Oliver Springs and Inman. The State militia was mobilized, and during a running battle at Coal Creek there were many casualties. The State was aroused, and the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway Company ceased using convict labor. In 1895 leasing was finally abolished, though prison shops and the State-owned Brushy Mountain coal mines continued operation under the account system "by which the State itself undertook production with prison labor and marketed the product to the general public."
The building trades, metal and shop workers, and other crafts were gathered into the American Federation of Labor during the years 1900-1920. The World War boom, with its campaign for cooperation between capital and labor, brought about further unionization. When the United Garment Workers, an A. F. of L. affiliate, called its 1914 convention in Nashville, dissension among the delegates resulted in a split within the ranks, out of which came the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. This organization later affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
One of the first conflicts, if not the first, in the Southern textile field broke out March 12, 1929, when 800 employees of the American Glanzstoff Corporation, rayon manufacturers at Elizabethton, walked out in a fumbling strike, poorly organized and not under union leadership. They demanded wage increases and the company ordered the plant closed the following day. On March 19 the adjoining plant, under the same management, was also closed and its 3,000 employees joined the ranks of the strikers, all native Americans. The courts quickly granted injunctions against the strikers and two companies of National Guardsmen were rushed to Elizabethton by Governor Henry Horton. On March 22, after the strikers had joined the A. F. of L., a settlement was reached and the mills reopened. However, on April 15 the workers walked out again, charging discrimination against the union. On May 6 the plants reopened with National Guardsmen present to quell disorders and prevent property damage. When later in the month the company agreed to arbitrate workers' grievances and recognize the right of union affiliation, the strike ended.
On July 8, 1932, some 600 members of the United Mine Workers at Wilder and Davidson came out on strike, when the Fentress Coal and Coke Company refused to renew their contracts. No wage increase was demanded; the strike was for union recognition. The company fought the miners with evictions, injunctions, imported strike breakers, and National Guardsmen. State troops were withdrawn when the company refused the services of the State Commissioner of Labor as arbitrator. The union had agreed to accept the decision of the commissioner or any arbitration board appointed by the Governor.
In 1933-34 the industrial towns of East Tennessee, predominantly textile, were the scenes of numerous strikes and labor disputes. Strikes occurred in Chattanooga, Rockwood, Harriman, and Knoxville. Wages and hours were finally agreed upon, the unions recognized, and the workers went back to the factories. Several of the mills, however, have never been reopened.
In the latter part of December 1936 the Zenith Coal Mine, 18 miles from Jamestown, refused to recognize the United Mine Workers Union and closed. It reopened March 8, 1937, with a few non-striking workmen. The sheriff was wounded by snipers; non-striking miners were fired on in their company quarters. On June 17 the general manager of the mines was killed from ambush and the commissary clerk wounded. State troops were dispatched to the scene and order was finally restored.
The fabricating plant of the Aluminum Company of America at Alcoa ceased operations on May 18, 1937, when 3,000 workers led by the A. F. of L. demanded a wage increase. On July 8 non-striking workers returned under police protection. A pitched battle between strikers and police took place; two men were killed and twenty-one wounded. The National Guard was ordered out and remained on the scene until the strikers returned to work July 12, under an agreement negotiated by the representative of the A. F. of L. Demands of the strikers, however, had not been met.
Little legislation affecting labor directly was contained in the State's constitutions of 1796 and 1834. Only two articles in the bill of rights touched on the subject. One prohibited the imprisonment of debtors except in cases of proven fraud. The other declared monopolies to be "contrary to the genius of a free State." It was on grounds of piety, rather than from a consideration of workers' rights, that work on Sunday was prohibited by an act in 1803.
The first law directly influencing organized labor was enacted in 1875. It limited the conditions under which an employee might enter into a contract. Child labor laws were passed as early as 1893, making it unlawful to employ a child less than twelve years of age in workshops, mines, mills, or factories. In 1901 this law was amended to read "children under fourteen," and to limit work to a weekly maximum of sixty-two hours. An act of 1897 made provision for sanitary conveniences in places of employment for women, and subsequent laws have further amplified these requirements.
Protective mine laws, passed as early as 1881 placed restrictions on slopes, washrooms, lamps, and inspection. The acts of 1897, and later ones, attempted to control company stores and issuance of scrip. The protection afforded mechanics and landlords was extended to shield the laborer from attachment of future wages and to give him a lien on corporations for wages due. Various successive commissioners of labor declared that, as it was impossible to get operators to furnish information on which to base legislation, it was obvious that existing laws could not be enforced.
Before the World War, laws were passed concerning wages, exempting them from garnishment, prohibiting misrepresentation of wages by prospective employers, and requiring payment in legal money at least twice a month on definitely stated paydays. Other special laws prohibited false advertising for purposes of getting labor; plumbers, electricians, and loan companies had to be licensed; employment agencies were regulated. In 1915, in a State report on prison conditions, it was "deemed desirable" for Tennessee "to retire from the whole system of contracting or leasing the labor of convicts."
Children were considered in various bills of 1911. The age limit was raised, work hours reduced to fifty-eight weekly, work certificates required, and the employment of children forbidden in hazardous occupations, including virtually all work in which machinery was used. In 1915 a mothers' pension law represented the beginning of a type of legislation that had received much attention from organized labor and social workers. Further legislation provided for examination of the qualifications of foremen in mines, workshops, and bakeries.
Laws passed in 1919 gave police power to factory inspectors and established food inspection. These were amplified in later enactments. The system of contracting for the output of prison shops was changed so that, in theory, convict labor would not compete directly with free labor. Further child labor regulations went into effect in 1921, the year that the Mothers' Pension Law was amplified. A vocational rehabilitation law made the State eligible for Federal grants for this purpose.
Labor leaders consider that the greatest stride made by Tennessee during the post-war prosperity period was the Workmen's Compensation Law, passed in 1911 and amended in 1923. Amendments to this and other laws made during the twenties strengthened labor's position in the State.
Current legislation has kept pace with Federal leadership in recognition of the plight of workers in the lower income brackets. Disputed decisions of the Labor Relations Board are reviewed in the courts, and compensation cases are heard daily before the bar. The Unemployment Compensation Law, Tennessee's first step toward social security, was enacted in December 1936 at a special session of the legislature. The Tennessee State Employment Service has developed from the national services begun as relief measures in 1933. An industrial hygiene unit of the State Department of Health was organized in 1937 to study occupational diseases and outline a program of prevention and control. The prison industries contract law was repealed in 1937, but a two-year extension was granted to mines and a one-year time limit to other prison contracts still in force. In 1937 the use of coal and coal products mined and processed by convict labor on State property was prohibited, except for State or charitable purposes. Use of prison-made goods was also limited to State institutions.
Federal grants of assistance in construction, through the Civil Works Administration, the Public Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration, have been utilized by most communities to relieve unemployment. In many PWA contracts awarded under this program there have been provisions concerning hours and rates of pay.
Two-fifths of all Tennesseans worked for a living in 1930, according to reports of the University of Tennessee extension service. Men outnumbered women four to one. There were 273,783 farmers in 1935 (U.S. Census), of whom 239,387 were white and 34,396 Negro. Of the total, 46.2 per cent were tenants. For the three State divisions, tenancy ran as high as 63 per cent in West Tennessee, 42 per cent in Middle Tennessee, 32 per cent in East Tennessee. A report of the division of workshop and factory inspection for 1930 listed 1,988 firms employing 113,885 persons, of whom 71,059 were men (15 of these were boys under sixteen years of age) and 42,826 women.
Unionization in Tennessee has made its chief headway in railroads, trades, mines, mills, and pressrooms. The A. F. of L., which was the dominant influence until the advent of the C. I. O. in 1936, had central labor councils in Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Johnson City. The State Federation of Labor directs the A. F. of L. legislative program and maintains a legislative agent at the State Capitol during the sessions. A few trade schools are sponsored by the unions. At the Pressmen's Home, near Rogersville, there is a hospital as well as a trade school.
When the schism between craft and industrial unionism resulted in the formation of the C. I. O., the numerical strength of the United Mine Workers in East Tennessee assured its recognition as an influence. Since then, organizational activity within the State has paralleled that of the nation. Independent unions are in the minority. Company unions function in a few places. Chattanooga, perhaps the most highly industrialized city in the State, is the best organized in its labor activities. Memphis is predominantly an A. F. of L. city. Both the C. I. O., through the clothing and textile workers, and the A. F. of L., with its older craft unions, claim supremacy in Middle Tennessee. East Tennessee, with miners and mass industry works, is predominantly C. I. O. territory.
Today the working man, agricultural or industrial, lives in a changing environment. New industries born of TVA and industrial farming are reshaping Tennessee's old agrarian system. The sons and daughters of the small farmers, forced by circumstances to tend machines, are now writing the history of labor in Tennessee.
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TENNESSEE: A GUIDE TO THE STATE