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This capital-versus-labor drama is a bit unusual in that the workers are the ones who are ultimately made out to be the bad guys. Arthur Stillman (Robert Broderick) and his partner (Frederick de Belleville) own a cotton mill which is the main support of the city of Rockton, Massachusetts. This doesn't matter one bit to Stillman, who closes the mill down because he has found a way to secretly buy cotton and hang onto it until the price rises. With the mill shut down, the town's workers face hardship and starvation. When one of them, Sam Lloyd, goes to the next town to look for work, he discovers the warehouse where Stillman is keeping the cotton. The workers elect one man to get either justice or revenge from the mill owner. Lloyd tells his fiancee, Dell Hamilton (Laura Sawyer), about their plans, and she goes to Stillman to warn him of the impending trouble. Stillman, who has been lusting after the girl for a long time, finally offers to reopen the mill only if she marries him. She agrees and he quickly arranges a mock wedding. The mills open and Stillman goes to his country home with his new bride. Eventually Stillman grows to truly love Dell, and when she goes back to the mills she is repulsed as a traitor. Her father denounces her and Lloyd is engaged to someone else. Dell realizes that Stillman is the only one who really cares about her, and she returns to him.