New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-09-14

Traders with regard 70 tie comparative P';ces Of
British and American fabrics are confronted By
the most garing facts. A, this moment We aTs
largely rivsiing English fabrics in 81! the open
me. .sts of the world. The advance ofcu iab'ics
from the depressed prices Of the first months OF
1913 was caused directly By purchase C! J'riy
thousand bale, Of these goods 10: the China mai
ket. This purchase was made By shFewd. intel
l;gent business nen, "for Inc szcellen! me!czn-
tile reason that thsy could make money by IT."
They are chiefly Free Traders, and they know
the value of every pattern OF British as well as
American fabrics. II they could have bought
goods even five per cent. cheapsrin England thcy
would not have taken bale from US. And they
sill keep baying American Cotton fabrics Tor
China, in spite of the advanced but now recsd'ng
prices We have the highest authority tor s'st
ing that the most profitable branch Of The Cotton
Nqnujacture for the last sir months has been
tia, Of supplying the China Market On this
ten of the twenty-five Cotton Mills Of Lowell
have been steadily employed. Il is this new END
large demand which advanced and has kept up
prices. 1t is this which has made tie Cotton
Manufacture more profitable for the past year
than before. At this moment, the British army
in India is in good part clothed IN American Cot
tons, bought in preference to the Journal Of Com
nArce's seven cent British shirtiDgs, because the
latter are made OF short staple Madras and Su-
rat Cotton, while the former made Of long sta
ty-Ica r,pnh and
over, while tie fabric weighs nearly twice as
much. In other words, there is about twice as
much cloth 10 the same surface il the American
as compared with the British. John Chinaman
understands this perfectly well, and buys accord
ingly, in spite of his friend Bulls flmsy pleus-
biiies.
We have abundant evidence-if any body can
need evidence-of the fact that good, substantial!
their British rivals. We have been shown AmcTi
can Sheetings now selling here at eleven cents
per ward side by side with similar British fabrics
which cost eleven cents at wholesale in Manches
term 1912. The American fabric is heavier, and
in no respect inferior. So again: We have En-
rGsh heavy Brown Shee.ings, 40 inches wide,
bought this season in Manchester at G. cents per
yard, which are by no means equal in quality to
the similar Brown Sheetings made in Paterson,
which are row selling in this City al y cents
per yard. Here, says Free Trader, is i cent a
ward difference in favor of The British fabric. But
no-apa.t from the superiority in quality, the
British piece Of 81 yards weighs 8 lbs. Is or.
while piece of the Paterson goods of 80 yards
weighs IL lbs. 8 OF. Thus the British cloth,
which seems TO be cent yard cheapest, actually
costs "a cents pound, while the rival American
Is selling for l9I cents pound. This fact illus
,rates the general difference between the rival ia
brcs. A hundred weight of British cloth IS spread
over more surface than SO much American, and
therefore is said to be cheaper.
X is possible that lot Of British Co.tons,
which has failed TO find market elsewhere and
been sacrificed, may be bought so IS 10 be i'm
ported without loss under our present Tariff
long as there are paope here ready 80 buy goods
for what they seem to be rather than for what
they are. Bat that they can be made in Eng.
lang SO as to supply this market without loss Is
VIGOROUSLY impossible. At this moment, the very
man who manufactures most of the Free Trade
statistics for this market, and who furnished the
Journal with its y cent goods has calicoes 10
sell, on which the importer has lost one hundred
dollars per case. This is the way British Cot
tons are now selling here and some American
which have been held Cor high prices, may not
do much better
We were boarding in 1888 in mechanics
boarding house in this city, where several Eng
lishmcn lived, one of them but three weeks in the
country OF course, he was comparing every
thing American with their English counterpalts,
not st ali to the advantage of alc former. Al
lest, he remarked. " Your fish are not so fine as
those OF England. -" That, suppose" said a
dry Yankee who had heard till his patience was
exhausted, "s because they have cosrser water
to swim I'M The company laughed, and the
Englishman finished his dinner in silence.