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WILLIAM FINGER:

I was just curious in kind of your impression of the state of the industry. I know that, you know, World War II really put the textile industry firmly on its feet, with the war orders.

LAWRENCE ROGIN:

Well, there was no question that the industry in the South was a mixed industry: that is, there were some efficient mills and there were some inefficient mills. The efficient mills paid a little more; but they must have been making money, or could have with a decent management, because there was still at that period (the early days) … enough of a differential between northern and southern wages. And in hosiery this was particularly true. In hosiery this was particularly true; there's no real question about it. A low wage industry tends to be wasteful of workers (you know, everybody knows that); you're wasteful of workers, and you also don't care… You have enough workers around so that you don't enforce your rules very much: that is, a guy goes out, you know, if you fuss with him, and so on, all that kind of thing. Now, later on… And the industry was already an old one; that's the other thing about the South. When I went to work a hard time getting people to understand. I don't know yet what effect it has on your organizing, and so on, but it really is a thing. [Interruption] A lot of northerners went South organizing for the hosiery workers and textile workers. I remember—when did Cash's book, Mind of the South come out? About '33, '34, later?

WILLIAM FINGER:

Yes, a little later, I guess.

LAWRENCE ROGIN:

A little later. We tried to get it. I guess I sold more copies of that than were sold outside of academic communities, because we used to give it to everybody. It was a hard book, but at least they'd have some understanding of the South when they went down there.