Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-01-30
THE COTTON SUPPLY.
short Time " in the Trade-AIarm
Among the Cotton Lords.

1
a marked attention in England; and
which, in view Of the decreased produc.
ton Of cotton, is becoming one of serious
inquiry in this country:
The cotton manufacture appears TO be
in bad way, between high>priced raw
material and low>priced cotton goods.
The Manchester manufactures, at a great
meeting Of their body on Tuesday, re-
solved to try to set themselves right
with the cotton importers on the one
hand and the public of consumers on the
other by running their machinery only
three days week. They hope by les
SEEMING the consumption of cotton to
cheaper it, and by lesssning production
to raise the price Of the manufactured ar
ticle, and thus to kill two birds with one
stone. This strike against these rival in
terests they propose shall continue DUR
ng the months of January and February
ensuing, after which they hope that the
piece goods market will show more IA
yorable aspect than at present, for them.
It is not easy to see how this hope,
under the circumstances, can be realized,
if we have regard to the home and for>
eign aspects Of the trade. The cotton
operatives and those Of the working peo-
pie who indirectly depend on the cotton
manufacture form no inconsiderable frac>
ton of the goods consuming public. The
reduction of the hours Of factory labor to
one>half attended by corresponding re-
ductlon in the wages of the workers, will
so for as they are concerned extinguish
all demand for cotton goods so long as,
and for some time after, this short time
system may prevail. The terror of short
work prepagates itself into other employ
ments also, and affects the feelings Of the
people, leading them to curtail all per-
sonal expenses to the utmost. On the
other hand, it seems highly probable in
these days of telegraphy that an avowed
purpose on the part Of the British manu-,
lecturers to reduce for period the con-
sumption Of raw cotton, in the hope of
lowering its price, will at once affect the
imports from America, Egypt and India,
reducing them, and checking also at the
same time the demand for cotton goods
from those countries. 1t may, in fact,
turn out that consequences the very re-
verse OF those contemplated by the Man
chester men may befall the trade from the
policy they have resolved TO pursue.
French and Belgian cotton manufacturers
are inattentiVe to what goes on in the
trade IN this country, and an embargo
laid upon 1t here will be equivalent to an
impulse given to it abroad, and lead to
an importation Of foreign cottons in sue
cessful competition with our own. Il is,
In any view Of it, exceedingly iniudicious
to tamper restrictively with a great in
dustry, as the effects never terminate
within the limits that we incline to set
to them.
No doubt it is grievous thing for the
manufacturers to find that the increase
In the price of the raw material should
have the effect of transferring all profit
to the pockets Of the cotton importer,
leaving them now for two entire years to
work at positive loss. We should not
forget, however, that there has been a
prodigious extension of this great industry
since the American war. Many new es-
Establishments have sprung up, and cid
ones have enlarged their powers OF pro-
ductiOn, so that the cotton manufacture
ofthe kingdom, estimated by the num-
Der OF spindles at work, has increased
some ten or twelve per cent. Ono OF the
speakers at the Manchester meeting com
planned that they had not now a supply
which would enable them to use 81, 900
bales week. The experience of the
great year of cotton import and manufac-
ture, 1866, never rose above 40, 900 bales
week. The same speaker remarked
that in lSG0 he could get
higher price for shirtings, with
cotton at 64d, than in 1867, with cot
ton at Id" IL we take account of the
diminished exports of the raw material
from America, and allow for the increase
in the meantime of our imports from In,
dia and elsewhere, the present compa-
ratIVely high prices Of cotton, which is
running away with the manufacturers
profits arises mainly from the great
competition for the raw material among
the manufacturers themselves. We are
now getting in the cotton crop of Ameri-
ca for the year, and out Of 559, 789 bales
received at the. American ports since
September l, not less than 166, 600 bales
have been sent to this country, against
81, I9S bales during the same period "a t
year. The cotton manufacturers of the
kingdom have the consolation Of knowing
that the price Of the raw material is fall
ing considerably, and that for reasons
which they have had nothing to do with
originating. Any attempt of theirs IN
duly to expedite its descent is not likely
to do much to that end, any more than
are their efforts to raise, by an artificial
stimulus, the price of manufactured
goods.
A suspicion seemed to exist in the
Manchester meeting that neither the
manufacturers at the meeting nor those
avowedly sympathizing with its objects
elsewhere would loyalty carry out the
half time proposition. Some seven hun>
dred and twelve answers in regard to it
had been received by the Cotton Spin
ners' Association, and 81 per cent. of
those who replied agreed to act upon it
eff their neighbors did the same" The
case cannot be very hard with people
who stake what is supposed to concern
their own commercial well being so very
intimately upon such an alternative.
About 60 per cent. were already works
ing short time, averaging AZ days
week-a condition considerably more ia
vorable to the operatives than the three
days, TO which the resolution of the
meeting would have them restrict them
selves. One thing notable in this con-
nection is the fact that there is no com
plant of want Of demand for cotton
goods, either at home or abroad. The
question turns on the price, which, at
present and for some time past, has not
been remuneratiye. A falling Gotten
market promises TO meet, to a considera-
BILE extent, the difficulty of the case,
and the falling food market should give
the great working class greater command
over the means Of buying textile stuffs.
The conjunction of these several tenden-
cies should favor the result aimed at by
the manufacturers, and we rejoice at it,
for it never can be for the interest of the
community, any more than Of the manu-
facturers, that the latter should run their
machinery on any other condition than at
a reasonable profit.
CONSUMPTION OF MEAT.-The cons
sumption Of meat in France and England
is computed as follows:
France consumes 10000 tons of meat
annually, while the English devour
100000 tons, or 10000 more, not
withstanding the fact that the pop
ulation of France exceeds that OF
Great Britain by at least seven millions