The Osceola times., 1878-02-23
COTTON MANUFACTURING.
The Fsssre Of the Trade I'm the South

The cotton industry can scarcely be
said to be one hundred years old. At
the close of the revolutionary war, in
1888. only 100000 pounds OF cotton
were annually spun in Great Britain,
being about six days spinning IN this
country at the present time. From this
small beginning has grown up gigantic
industry, 30 important that Tor long
time cotton has been bOastfully called
"kisg," and our southern brethren were
at one time deluded into the belief that
they held the key of the situation, and
that all nations must come to them for
the sll-important staple. After the war
Of 1872, when business had begun to
revive, 1t is matter of history that the
distinguished statesmen of South Caro-
lima, CALHOUN and Lowndes, succeeded
in having the famous protective tari i OF
1916 carried through congress, in spite
OF the strenuous opposition Of the Massa-
chusetts delegation. II the south had
not been held down by the incubus Of
slave. y, it is probable the design OF these
statesmen could have been carried out,
and cotton mills would have been estab-
lished there insteadof the cold regions
of the free north. The disgust of Cal
houn was very great when he found that,
intsead Of furthering the interests Of the
south, he had built upSa great indus
try in the north, and he and his
friends became bitter opponents to
the protective system, while the
New England statesmen went
over to the other side as most ardent
converts to the new doctrine. We all
know how this bitter feeling eliminated
in the late unfortunate war of the rebel
lion.
At the close of the rebellion, print
cloth (the plain white cloth on which
calico is printed) was selling at twenty
cents a yard. This led TO an oyerstock-
ing of the market, and prices began to
fall very rapidly until July, 1876, when
the same goods were sold for three and a
half cents. No business can bear such
extraordinary commissions as this, and
many manufacturing establishments were
compelled to suspend operations and
others were entirely bankrupt. The
home market was SO cOmpleteiy giutted
by the sudden sale of heavy stocks of
prints and plain cloths, that it became
necessary for the mill owners of Massa
chusetts to look about for foreign msrts,
and the Fall River manufacturers actu
ally had the audacity to ship their wares
directly to Manchester. Since the exploit
of Lord Timothy Dexter in sending
warming-pans to the West Indies, moth
ing so preposterous as this has been heard
of in commerce. OF course, the English
mill owners laughed, and the joke was as
good as an extra bottle of part after din
ing, until the melancholy discovery was
made by them that the American goods
were not only cheaper, but great deal
better than their own manufactures, and
that the foolish people were disposed
to buy th,m at their very doors.
The Lancashire mill owners found
themselves beaten on their ground.
They had boasted that in the
nature of things there could be
no great demand for American cotton
manufactures in competition with them
The American goods were of a superior
quality, and for that reason must always
be confined to limited market. They
thought to themselves Lancashire
receives cotton from all countries; she
can mix America with Surat, Brazil or
West Indian, so as to give the requisite
amount of quality and strength for the
minimum cost. This is an advantage
which will always enable her 10 sell to a
great mass of consumers, and with which
cloths made from American cotton only
never can compete" They might have
added that, by loading the cloth with
China clay and patent sizing, they could
cheaper them still more, and thus make
sure of the markets of the world. They
are now beginning to discover that they
have overreaehed themselves. Even
their own colonies prefer the American
manufactures, and New England shipped
5000 cases OF cotton goods in 1877, and
will probably double that amount this
year. We required 100000 bales of
cotton in 1876, and in 1877 consumed
100000 more. The struggles between
New England and Old England may
now be considered as fairly inaugurated.
Old England is handicapped by the pro-
duction CT an inferior and adulterated
quality of goods; New England has a
larger staple, better machinery, raw
material close at hand, and an unim-
paired reputation. A direct trade in
cotton goods has sprung up with many
foreign countries, and there is every
prospect of continued increase if the
manufacturers. remain honest and are
not trammelled by the taritf.tinkers. in
Washington. And now comes the op-
portunity for the south, The north will
have its hands full in looking after
the fcreign trade, while the ever-increas-
ing demands OF the home market ought
to be supplied by southern mills. Al
ready mills are springing up in Georgia,
where, in Columbus alone, there are six.
ty thousand spindles and four thousand
looms. In North and South Carolina,
in the Old Dominion and in other states
mills are going up, and the whole coun-
try is alive to the Importance of the new
order of things. The southern states
are recovering from the effects of the
war; the whites are once more obtaining
control OF the governments OF those
states land order, peace and security
are restored. In the manufacture of
cotton goods, the raw material represents
from nearly one-hslf to nearly three
fourths OF the cost of production; and it
follows that the cheaper the raw mate.
rial is grown, and the less the draw back
OF transportation, the lower must be the
cost OF production. 1t ison the raw ma
terial, in fact, .morc than all other cir
cumstances combined, that the cost of
production depends. English manufac.
turers say that New England is SO dis
tant from Charleston that freight charges
from Charleston to Boston are very little
less than from Charleston to Liverpool,