Some wanted the old man to run a general store on the same plan of community of interest, the goods and necessities of life to be bought at first cost and only the actual expenses of keeping the store added. But he wisely shook his head, saying: “No, that will not do; that's forming a trust ag'in the tillers of the earth an' the workers in every other occupation. That's cuttin' in on hones' competition, an' if carried out everywhere would shut off the rest of the worl' from a livin'. We're makin' our livin'—let them make theirs.”
The old bishop was proud of the men he selected to carry out his plans. Captain Tom was manager of the Model Mill.
“Now,” said the old man, after the mill had run two years and declared a semi-annual dividend, both years, of eight per cent each, “now you all see what it means to run even business by the Golden Rule. Here is this big fortune that I accidentally stumbled on, as everybody does who makes one—put out like God intended it sh'ud, belonging to nobody and standing there, year after year, makin' a livin' an' a home an' life an' happiness for over fo' hundred people, year in an' year out, an' let us pray God, forever. It was not mine to begin with—it belonged to the worl'. God put the coal and iron in the ground, not for me, but for everybody. An' so I've given it to everybody. Because I happened to own the lan' didn't make the treasure God put there mine, any mo' than the same land will be mine after I've passed away. We're only trustees for humanity for all we make mo' than we need, jus' as we're only tenants of God while we live on the earth.”
As for children, the bishop settled that quickly and effectively. His rule was that no boy or girl under sixteen should be permitted to work in the mill, and to save any parents, weakly inclined, from the temptation, he established a physical standard in weight, height and health.
He found afterwards there was really small need of his stringent rule, for under this system of management the temptations of child labor were removed.
Among the good features of the mill, established by Alice Travis, was a library, a pretty little building in the heart of Cottontown. It was maintained yearly by the mill, together with donations, and proved to be the greatest educational and refining influence of the mill. It was kept, for one week at a time, by each girl in the mill over twenty, the privilege always being given by the mill's physician to the girl who seemed most in need of a week's rest. It came to be a great social feature also, and any pretty afternoon, and all Saturday afternoon,—for the mill never ran then—could be seen there the young girls and boys of Cottontown.
To this was afterwards added a Cottontown school for the younger children, who before had been slaves to the spinner and doffer carts.
And so it ran on several years, but still the Bishop could see that something was lacking—that there was too much sickness, that in spite of only eight hours his people, year in and year out, grew tired and weak and disheartened, and with his great good sense he put his finger on it.
“Now, it's this away,” he said to his directors, “God never intended for any people to work all the time between walls an' floors. Tilling the soil is the natural work of man, an' there is somethin' in the very touch of the ground to our feet that puts new life in our bodies.
“The farmin' instinct is so natural in us that you can't stop it by flood or drought or failure. Year in an' year out the farmer will plant an' work his crop in spite of failure, hopin' every year to hit it the nex' time. Would a merchant or manufacturer or anybody else do that? No, they'd make an assignment the second year of failure. But not so with the farmer, and it shows God intended he shu'd keep at it.