BY GREGORY DL MORRIS
BOOK REVIEW
that a pronunciation guide would have been a great help to us benighted colonials ?
The climax of the Charlotte ’ s career as an industrialist was a renewed period of labor unrest . The two chapters titled “ The Ironmaster ” and “ The Strike of 1853 ” could stand alone as a compelling story of management firmness and fairness . The fact that matters did not descend into violence as in 1831 can be credited mostly to Charlotte .
In a classic wage-and-price inflation scenario , the owner of one big mill determined to refuse his workers ’ demands for higher pay . He then sought collusion with the other mine and mill owners for a general lockout to bring the masses to heel . Charlotte refused , saying she had always
done well by her workers and they by her . The lockout collapsed , and the reluctant owners reached a compromise with their workers .
What goes around comes around , however , and not long after Charlotte ’ s workers themselves struck for higher wages . She understood their economic situation , but she realized the spiral of wages and prices had to end somewhere . She was pressed on the outside by a slumping market for iron and steel , and on the inside by a twinge of betrayal after she had stuck up for her workers , literally into the face of the other mill owners .
Charlotte held firm and prevailed . Workers agreed to come back for a token raise and improvements in working
conditions . There were no hard feelings either way , but the ordeal left Charlotte drained . What had been exciting as a partnership with her husband was just a chore alone . She promoted trusted lieutenants to supervisory positions , and with one last tweak of convention , remarried to a younger man and retired from active management .
Gregory DL Morris is an independent business journalist , principal of Enterprise & Industry Historic Research ( www . enterpriseandindustry . com ) and an active member of the Museum ’ s editorial board .
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ENCOURAGING COLLECTING SINCE 1978 NO . 115 - APRIL 2021
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