The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1877-04-28
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KING s1FI'S
The HeneHs ihe somsh ~ fssnarrins thF
FsarII.
Is, Y. lIetald. /

H. Y. Herald
Cotton belongs to this continent.
When tho Bpnniars.s first entered
Mexico tho natives were found 10 bs
clothed in cotton. and the art Of weaving
and dyeing had been chtrisd to n high
state Of perfection for thnt time nmoug
them Then ms now tho best and u ost
prolific valisties of the cotton plant
existed there, md the plant Is doubtless
Indigenous in Mexico. In tho United
States II esnturyng0 cotton was scarcely
known Ms III important production. md
not until the invention Of Tho saw gin
by Eli Whitney. in 1893. did IL become
so that invention renewed The life
Of slavery. To-day tho United States
furnish nll the cotton used In their own
limits and In Canada. and nearly three
foutths tho quantity consumed in thelr
own limits aud in Europe combined.
There arc no data by which the guam
tity produced aud consumed elsewhere
can be determined accurately. the pro-
duction Of Asin and Africa being un-
known. but tho inhabitants OF these
two continents are clothed in cotton, to
II very large extent, Of their own pro-
duetion and manufacture.
II We consider our production Of cot
ton in the light Of II service rendered, we
then find that IL stands first in rank
among the material services which we
render to humanity. In the cotton fhe-
tories Of Europe and the United States
there are n little over GB DD0, 900 spindlee.
worked by about 900. .0DD men. women
md children. In the operation of these
spindIes. IL little moro than 6DD.0O0 bales
of cotton. Of the average weight of Amer
lean bales. are annually converted into
10, ,O0O, ,DD0. 900 yards OF cloth, aver
aging one yard wide and four yards to
tho pound. or ton pounds to piece
Of forty yards. or into the equivalent OF
such cloth in other fabrics. AS nearly
us can be ascertained. the fabric called
by the trade II four-yard eheeting Is
about the average fnbric made on the
country the average would be heavier
In Great Britain lighter. The fabric
made by the Lawrence Manufacturing
Company, known as LII, Is IL represen-
tatiye Of this average.
This quantity OF cloth would furnish
500 6OD, 900 persons five pounds or twenty
wards each annually. OF the G,000 0OG
bales ef cotton the United States nov fur.
nish about 4 100000 in each year, and
our proportion is year by year increas-
ing.
We seem to be nearly MS much behind.
/ hand in cotton manufacturing III we ez
| tGl Li1 WoIla ~ @yeeSA s5hS"A'Fts
have but 2is spindles per thousand Of
population, while Great Britain has
i.1so per thousand Of her people, and
We export but seven per cent OF our total
cotton manufactures, while Great Bri-
tain exports eighty five per cent OF hers.
We have multitude OF people unem
| ployed, and 1t is evident that our manu-
featuring capacity, even at time when
everybody is rigidly economMing at
home, is but trifie ahead Of the
home demand. We consume, at this
time, at home, all but seven pei
cent OF the cotton goods we
make. With the return OF good times
and the natural increase In consumption
out cotton manufacturers would be
hardly able to supply the home market,
and If. as seems not improbable, we
shall have steadily increasing foreign
demand for our goods, VIC shall need
more cotton mills. Indeed. we know ol
prudent and we'll informed cotton man.
ufacturers who believe that il the
Southern troubles are happily settled
and q speedy return to specie payments
were probable, it would be safe anC
profitable to invest money in new mills
at once, selecting the most favorable
localities and putting In the best ma
chinery, 80 rs to compete on the mos
| favorable terms with the old mills.