ABSTRACT
It is well known that mid-nineteenth-century New England textile mills paid a good deal of money for the services of the dry-goods commission houses which marketed their products. A large cotton mill with a wholesale value of output of $1,000,000 per year spent at least $15,000 per year on commissions. In comparison, the same corporation paid its top manager, the treasurer, a yearly salary of $5,000 to $7,000 for general supervision of operations and finance, for buying stock, and for dealing with labour problems; its top technician, the mill superintendent, was paid a salary of less than $5,000 per year to supervise production. 1
