Cinders and Smoke #6
“However, you must cease staking out your territory. Neither of you impresses me as being so insecure that you must mark every lamp-post in the area.
“Begin considering yourselves as joint stewards of Marlborough. Without the mill, Mr. Higgins, the workers will have nothing. Without the workers, Mr. Thornton, the business will cease to exist, eradicating your dreams and throwing your family into penury yet again. Given where matters stand right now, a day’s delay can result in disaster.
“Both of you believe that you have the resources to outwait the other.
“You are woefully incorrect.”
Her glare speared them, and she added, “While I find much to admire about you, I also appreciate that the traits that made you the men you are can also become barriers to finding a route which leads to the greater good.
“Your stubbornness will be your downfall…that Achilles Heel which will break more than just yourselves.
“You seem, however, to trust me. For that I commend your excellent judgement.
“I submit to you that you ought to plead your cases to me—both grievances and demands—and consider me an impartial arbiter. You ought to allow me to craft a compromise that will meet the needs of owner and worker alike.
“Sadly, whatever we decide upon here will be binding…and only after Mr. Higgins’ men approve the agreement…solely upon Mr. Thornton and Marlborough. The other mills will have to deal with their own employees as they wish. That will have to be enough.
“I can only hope that both of you will find something about which to complain because then I will know I have found the middle ground.”
Throughout this extraordinary speech, Miss Hale had not released either man to settle back into his chair. She did not free them until they had offered their grudging acceptance of her terms.
What immediately became apparent was that both men toiled under hidebound illusions of the bad intent of the other.
Higgins was convinced that Thornton wanted to push his workers to the breaking point.
Thornton, in his turn, was convinced that the workers wanted nothing less than to work fewer hours for greater pay.
On top of that, Higgins objected to the universal practice of not paying workers if the machines broke down, even though those workers were required to stand around and wait while mechanics bent to their repair.
Thornton responded that the owners believed that workers would sabotage their looms simply to take paid breaks.
Higgins growled back that wrecking was at the very least a transportable offense, and most loom-men could not foul a machine in a manner to avoid detection, thus ensuring arrest and conviction.
Margaret stopped them here.
“As I see it, John” (she had determined to use Christian names to eliminate any lessers and betters bias) “justifiably fears the drain upon resources and income if workers are paid for not working.
I will set aside the somewhat specious argument that employees would be inclined to damage the equipment to avoid working while still being paid.
“Nicholas, with equal justification, worries that his members are being penalized when the machinery fails because owners refuse to maintain the apparatus, preferring to milk as much profit as possible out of old looms.
She paused and looked up at the ceiling, worrying her lower lip in a manner that utterly captivated Thornton. Then she delivered her verdict.
“Nicholas is correct in that no reasonable man would risk his family’s welfare by damaging any equipment.
However, John also has a point when he bridles at paying for idle hands.
As I have come to know John to be a responsible man, I doubt if he would allow any of the machinery for which he has paid dearly to deteriorate to the point where it fails.
The best defense against both of your concerns becoming reality is to ensure that machinery is producing cloth throughout an entire shift.
That way John would be secure in his income without bearing undue costs for laborers being paid without working.
And for the workers, they would be confident that they would not be punished for owner greed.
“However, I do not believe that a worker should be paid his entire wage for standing and puffing his pipe while mechanics work. Half pay seems sensible.
“Perhaps a competent overseer or foreman who knows the equipment and could be trusted to reassign workers to other tasks in the event their primary employment is temporarily unavailable…” She sent a knowing glance at Thornton.
Thornton squirmed. Would allowing Higgins into Marlborough be akin to permitting the camel to stick her nose under the edge of the tent? What would the other owners think?
A revelation stuck; he had never cared what men like Hamper really thought of him…
only in how their opinion might affect his ability to raise capital.
Yet Mr. Bell had been a gilt-edged reference whenever Thornton had stepped outside of Milton’s clannish banking community.
In the past, those fat-fingered, beady-eyed City gentlemen gently smiled upon his pleas whenever he had handed over plans endorsed by Mr. Bell.
If Hamper, Slickson, and Watson decided to combine and try to drive him out of Milton because he acceded to Higgins’ demands, it would only be a convenient excuse.
Thornton knew he already was a threat to their curated status quo.
The other manufacturers would gladly try to shutter Marlborough simply for being too successful. It was a matter of time.
He was not concerned about this threat. Thornton realized he had beaten their likes before.
They had been at the top of Milton’s social pyramid for so long that they had become fat and lazy.
Thornton was the lean and hungry cheetah sowing terror in the herd of slack-bellied antelopes that spread across the mercantile savannah.
And a working Marlborough Mills pouring money into his coffers and stealing orders from factories owned by less enlightened men was the supreme defense against his competitors’ shenanigans.
He became aware of both Miss Hale and Higgins staring at him. Thornton coughed into his hand and cleared his throat before saying, “You have distilled the question, Miss Hale,” he stopped at her quelling glare, “…Margaret…to its essence. I can find nothing objectionable here.
“I will accept the half-pay provision with the caveat that Nicholas agrees to become that foreman/overseer you described.
“However, he would have to resign his position with the union, as he must be either fish or fowl—worker or manager.
I do realize that this will complicate his life.
However, this is an alienation which he must accept, or the employees will refuse to follow his orders…
.and I will refuse to move ahead in this conversation.
“I have become convinced that Marlborough Mills can become the greatest producer in the Midlands only if it persists in attracting the best employees. That starts at the top with a man like Higgins being at my right hand.
“Yet, an idea just crossed my mind. What do you, Margaret and Nicholas, think of allowing the union members to elect their lead men? That way they would feel empowered in the operation of the mill. Nicholas and I would meet to determine the orders to be run. Nicholas would meet with the lead men to parcel out the work.”
Higgins chimed in, “I could see it workin’, but only if there be an incentive, something which would ensure that the best man and not the most popular win.”
Margaret added, “Linked to quality and efficiency!”
The three looked at each other and nodded as one. The dam had been broken.
Higgins’ tacit acceptance of Thornton’s job offer led to productive and far-reaching negotiations.
Thornton agreed to the union’s role in the mill, instinctively understanding that he could not hold back the tide.
Work conditions, safety concerns, a dining hall, and a school were all explored and negotiated, in addition to wage scales.
Performance bonuses and even some modest profit-sharing were to be implemented on trial to learn if they would encourage greater productivity and attract competent workers.
Dixon had busied herself in the small kitchen below the master’s room. She had been shuttling hot tea and coffee onto the small table set for that purpose between Margaret’s divan and the two men’s chairs.
As the conversation died down, the question of the Irish remained.
Higgins was worried about the idea that the newly-arrived workers would be so desperate if they were abandoned to the streets of Milton that they would instantly cross other picket lines.
He addressed Margaret with an eye on Thornton, “The Paddies are a problem. I canna see how ye can keep any o’ ‘em, let alone a portion. I am no fool. Ye canna pay two workforces.”
Margaret’s aura, a halo of compassion, enveloped John and led him through the cracks in his prejudices.
“The idea that I would throw men, families, into utter privation makes me ill.
“True, in the past, I would have waved Liberalism’s flag and allowed that they should find employment at other mills or simply move on to another town. Yet I know that Hamper and Slickson…I have contrary hopes for my soon-to-be brother Watson…would take advantage of their dire straits.
“I could pay their fare back to Ireland. Of course, that would be false compassion as I would be sending them home to starve like so many others. Other men might find their consciences resting easy not having to watch grieving parents lower tiny blanket-wrapped bodies into the ground.
“I brought them to Milton. Thus, I must find a solution,” he said, looking hopefully at his partners.
Higgins shrugged. He had no suggestions.