As for the operators themselves, they are so varied, there are so many problems which they have to face, and such difficulties which those who employ and direct them have to solve, that anything like adequate consideration is impossible. From the impersonal viewpoint, leaving out of account the human elements, the problems of wages, and the correlated problem of trade organization, there remains the question of individual efficiency. It is that which we have chiefly to consider.
Inspecting finished cloth
The number of men, women, and children employed in the cotton mills of the country has increased at a very high rate, but there has been an interesting diminution 61 in the proportionate percentage of women and children under sixteen years of age employed.
The United States Census of Manufacturers gives the following figures:
AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYES IN AMERICAN COTTON MILLS
| Men | Women | Children | Total | |
| 1870 | 42,790 | 69,637 | 22,942 | 135,369 |
| 1880 | 59,685 | 84,539 | 28,320 | 172,544 |
| 1890 | 88,837 | 106,607 | 23,432 | 218,876 |
| 1900 | 134,354 | 123,709 | 39,866 | 297,929 |
| 1910 | 190,531 | 141,728 | 38,861 | 371,120 |
In percentages these figures express themselves as follows:
| Men | Women | Children | |
| 1870 | 31.5 | 51.4 | 17.1 |
| 1880 | 34.6 | 49.0 | 16.4 |
| 1890 | 40.6 | 48.7 | 10.7 |
| 1900 | 45.1 | 41.5 | 13.4 |
| 1910 | 51.3 | 38.2 | 10.5 |