New-York tribune., 1875-10-07
tl{EpIf ~ SILKS

Whether the silk industry III tins country Is
t!c offspring Of protective legislation or not
il must bc pronounced at present healthy
infant. An interesting record OF its recent
growth is supplied by the annual report OF the
silk Association OF America. There Is cyl-
IDENTITY "A grra. deal of vitality about the child,
and it has survived some pretty hard knocks.
II is not among those that are blubhcring
about hard times, though it has had its
share OF that visitation Daring bad
attack in 1874, American ribbons were thrown
up all over the market. But these symptoms
have, PASSED away, and even threatened
strike has since been happily aycrted. There
i, no begging for new boluSe3 from Congress ;
MI ,hat is asked is that the laws be honestly
enforced. On this point the report has good
deal to say. The frauds upon the revcnue IN
IN" silk importing business reach large dl-
pau,ionS There was Il system OI importing
silk ribbons a. mixed goods under a reduction
of dnty the mixture consisting of thread or
two of cotton which served 10 give Stiffness to
the ribbon. over two millions oi dol
lars were lost ~ thr revenue by tins
dc,icr. The "litlc tariff" bill put Il
stop Oh the performance. on the sih Of Feb
rrary last. The developments i'll what are
known IA the silk fraud eases, revealed a sys-
t,n of .ma.aling that had gone on steadily
for many wears, most estimates of the Swind-
ling effected, exceeding million dollaIS
some details of the art of smuggling that are
given indicate that clerks and portcls AMI ear
men ioin hands wih their employers III carry
iug ont the ra,cGiitics. \ more efficient force
in the Custom house i, dccmcd necessary to
meet thc n,,y emergencies. The whole arCu-
nlrnt OF the report on this subject tends TO
on? po.nt to strengthen thc hand, OF the
SECRETARY of the Treasury, 80 that the laws
whatever they are, may be homes ly enforced.
The chief reason for the success Of the silk
Industry in this country has been the improve
ilcl;t of the goods produced. II does not seem
very long ago when imported silks were sought
bv the better classes of purchasers. simply be-
cause American goods were considered inie-
ror. All that i, clngcd now. The best silks
are made here. Even in novelty and beauty
Of design our manufacturers have surpassed
the foreign looms, and American goods are
s.nt abroad IT. samples, for Europeans to copy
who hope to compete. Even in he pure and del
icltc c0lors Of what are known ~ fancy silks,
we have cquacd and cxccllcd the finest Of
foreign make The advantage does not end
with this. Fashion is cdpricious, and styles
suddenly change Dealers have discovered
that they can order to better advantage, in
small lots aS they require, from our own fac
tories lhan to send their instructions to Eu-
rope and perhaps get the goods just after they
have gone ont of fashion.
4 business has thus grown up which in GER
tain departments surpasSeS, and a. a whole
very nearly approaches, that of importing
manufactured silks If the growth of our home
industry continues as there Is fair reason To
expect, it will exceed the import trade within
year or two at furtheSt. II gives lucrative
and not unwholcsome employment to 1l,500
operatives. paying them last year nearly
$i,500,O00. Consid rrGbly more than the half
of these are women and girls. The capital in
vested in manufacture is 81 100000 As
vet the raw .ill, is all imported from
China aud japan, but there are good
reasons for hopiag that California will event
ually yell a supply; the present difficulty not
being in raising the ,lkworm, but in more
profitable d"miud for the eggs than for the