Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-08-30
The Cotton Manufactures of the
United States.

, United States.
Speaking broadly il may be said tha
. the prospects Of the cotton manu-
facturers of the United States were nev
/ er better than they are now. We hav
some advantages over all other nation
. for the manufacture of coarse cot.or
, goods, and We are confident that at II,
distant day they will tell in our favor
enableing us to regain and extend tn,
export trade i'll cottons which We hat
before the war. That trade was Target,
with the South American States. Tn,
stoppage of the cotton supply from the
United States Occasioned by the wal
stimulated the production of the sta
Pile in various other countries, and il
was natural consequence that Soutl
America, not having the enterprise tc
manufacture for herself, should take
cotton goods from Great Britain in ex-
change for the raw material she pro-
duced.
The war was not less unfavorable in
it's effects on this industry in Great
Britain than in our own country. We
| find on page 125 of Mr.. Brassey's book
on "Work and Wages" some interest
/ ing statistics of the textile manufac-
/ lures of the united kingdom, from
which it appears that the number of
cotton mills decreased from 2.Ss7 in
! 1861 to 2,549 in 1868. and the number
of persons employed from 4jl 500 to
40l ,06i. In the United States the nun
ber of establishments fell from 1,O9l in
1860 to go in 1870, or in about the
same proportion as in Great Britain.
Owing to the defective manner in which
our census is taken the remaining sta
tisticS. at least those collected in 1850.
cannot be depended on. even for purpo-
ses of comparison. There appears to
be falling off in the quantity of cotton
worked up, and at the same time an III
crease in the number of persons and
spindles employed, which is, 10 say the
least. improbable.
Within the last three or four wears a
number of large factories have been
built at Fall River, Cohoes and other
places, including some fine mills in the
south, and the trade reports show a
gratifying increase in the quantity of
cotton taken by manufacturers for con-
sumption in the United States. The
average number of bales consumed in
this country in each of the three years,
lS5S-9-6O, was not quite S00.0OO. The
average for the three years 1S7O-1-2 is
nearly 100000. This is fully COM
mensurate with the increase in popula-
tion, though the price of the raw cot |
ton used is nearly double,, The crop
of the cotton year just ending has only |
fOur times been surpassed, three times !
before the war and once since. 1t is |
certain that with any approach to good
government in the south the average
cotton crop would surpass the crops Of
the ante-war period, and the trade and
of that region receive
a corresponding benefit.-N y. Tf-
JUHC.
FROM the returns of the British
board of trade for June, brief summa-
" of which is given as usual hv the
London Times, 1t appears that the rise
n prices has at last told upon the Guan-
titles of exported goods to such an ex
ent that there is a positive loss in
7alues. The declared value of all ex-
PORTS from Great Britain in June was
cl9, AGO, ,0S3, against f20, 223, ,62l for
|une, 1872, being general decline of
learly four per cent. Even this does
iot tell the whole story. for the value
If the coal shipped was forty-five per
ent. greater than last year, while the
quantity had declined four per cent
The value of the iron exported was as ,
,reat as last year, but the quantity had :
twenty-One per cent. The :
'ercentage of decline in other leading :
rticles was also very il avy: thirty
even per cent. in copper, forty in lead, :
ottOn piece goods six per cent. in J
n value, linens twelve per cent. wooden !
lOths four per cent, worsted stuffs q
hirty-six per cent. in quantity and /
fty-three in value, cotton yarn four =
cen per cent. in quantity and twenty in 0
alue, earthen ware ten per cent, hard |
'are ten per cent, silks eighteen per +
ent., painters colors fourteen per cent. 9
.pparel, beer, glass, machinery and Z
.ool are the only leading articles of the v
xports that show an advance. The i'm I,
ortations for the month show less than 4
yo per cent. increase over the same {,
eriOd in 1872, and almost the whole of {.
lls was due to the larger quantities of I
,od imported. The tai increase in u
lie value of expectations for the first n
X months of 1873 now amounts to but N
per cent, and as we have explained g
eretOfore. this value represents very v
luch smaller quantity of goods. The h
Ondon Times notices the extraordinary s
decline in the consigments to the r
nited States" as "the most notable n
ature in this case" !,