What do we know about the actual structure of the venture which Frank Goodyear created? Plenty. We know he designed the lumber mill to be a centrally located operation which would be equipped with the most technologically practical equipment of its day. By concentration of the sawmill operation Frank hoped to fully utilize the equipment and thus reduce the cost per lumber foot of production. Additionally it would afford the ability to manage the labor of the mill by one leader who would be a Goodyear loyalist. This afforded the family the ability to more easily manage the operation from afar which was another goal. It eliminated some of the inefficiencies which had plagued Frank in his multi-mill operations in the North.
By concentration of the workers who processed the lumber Frank was able to spread the cost of developing a world class city in the economically deprived deep south. This was an important goal of the Jekyll Island drinking club which meet after dinner to discuss world and nation politics/business. Frank aligned his economic development with the desire of the club to have a demonstration of the advantages of a combined business/governmental/worker society lead by of course the business community. This made his Great Southern Lumber Company a proponent of the political/economic model the drinking club desired to have the United States adopt. Again by aligning the goals of the Great Southern Lumber Company to the goals of the Jekyll Island Club core membership he assured their full support and continued support through out the ventures life. This reduced the risk of failure to the Goodyear family.
The use of rail services were designed to lower the cost of transportation of the very heavy bogalusa pine which Frank was harvesting in a large geographical area. His rail line would afford the community access to outside markets and lower the cost of developing the world class city Frank's demostration product demanded. It also afforded Frank the opportunity to use Jewish merchants who could be very easily controlled by the Great Southern Lumber Company due to religious intollence of the day and their dependance upon the rial system to transport the products they sold in Bogalusa. The railroad provided Frank with the opportunity to secure profits and control from the Jewish merchants trade in a manner that was not obvious to the working class. The rail system and its various lines were crucial to the development of the worlds largest sawmill in Bogalusa because it afforded ready tranportation to the plant from the various remote lands which the limber was harvested from.
In keeping with the JP Morgan style Frank sought to consolidate the rail service in the area to lesson the competition and consolidate power. Frank bought out the Northshore rail system which serviced the lower Pearl River Basin timber community and thus assured his dominance of the rail system and those who used the system. It is not known what role the alligator skin bags noted by Charles Goodyear placed in the procurement of the local railsystem which had been paid for by tax payers and sold by politicans played if any?
The actual site of Bogalusa was choosen based upon the desire to have the community and lumbermill totally dependant upon the rail system for its existance. It was politically desided to establish the City in Louisiana for what the family describes as political and legal reasons. More research would be needed to confirm the exact legal issues which faced the company.
The issues of race and religion were considered in the location of the City. The racial compisition of the city was set by the Goodyears to be 40 percent black and 60 percent white. The Goodyear family were experts in the psychology of the southern white male, the southern black male and racial dynamics. The history of Bogalusa written by the Goodyear family notes a strong religious intollence of protestant faiths in the area during the Spanish rule. This is accurate. The Goodyear family established a community which welcomed protestant faiths which is good. However, the history of Bogalusa as told by the family demonstrates not only a good understanding of the past oppresions of protestant faiths but a willingness on the part of the Goodyears to cast aspersions at those of the Catholic faith who lived in the area. This leads one to suspect not only race but religius issues were used to control the community which developed in Bogalusa.
Schools, hospitals etc were planned by Frank to ensure their availability and for their use in controlling a population. Frank also made sure the local media would be loyal to the Great Southern Lumber Company by domination of the rest of the community. The city itself was planned professionally by leading city planners of the day. This assured a world class city would result. It also assured a rapid time line for the development which was used by the Goodyears to draw attention to the advantages of the private sectors efforts. One important function which the Company instituted was a police force which was provided by the Company but patrolled the local community. This was the ultimate in corporate government alignment and one which should not be overlooked.
Lastly, the use of community pride was crucial to the development. Those who rule by government/business/labor consolidation rely upon development of strong civic pride among the workers to keep the community focus on pro social activities which lead to business success. It also keeps the focus off money which is of course the focus of the business leaders who run the operation. Better for labor to focus on the glorious things being done in their community on their behalf by the paternalistic business/government union which is more efficient. The goal of the operation was to make the Great Southern Lumber Company the focus of the community to the exclusion of government, workers and religion. IE all competition to the company for focus of the community were either bought off, eliminated or controlled directly by the company.
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