Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-10-05
The Cotton Corner in England.
MetU OrLeans DenOcraJ

The telegraph announces that the fierce
and prolonged struggle between the CottoI
Spectators and the Cotton Spinners' Asso-
citation is practically ended, and that the
corner has whipped the fight" forcing
manufacturers to come to their terms.
The contest has been very exciting and
involved vast sums of money. Both sides
were determined and plucky, and both were
backed by unlimited means, so that It was
no child's play from the beginning. The
manufacturers finding themselves caught in
"corner" concluded to adopt the heroic
method of revenge and deliberately shut Ut
their mills, saying to the men who held the
staple, "1f your cotton is worth what you
ask for 1t we do not want it."
The spectators who had shrewdly man
aged to secure all the cotton on hand and to
arrive, were not to be beaten by such tac.
tics, and resolutely determined to wait, feel
ing sure that the spinners could not stand
the strain as long as they could.
The stoppage OF the mills involved ter
rible hardship to thousands of operatives
who have no other means of support, and,
who have, as a rule, no money put away for
a rainy day. A number of mills were forced
to close some time ago, and there was great
distress among the operatives, who, through
no fault of their own, were thrown out of
employment, and who had to stand idly by
ner" men and the mill men was settled.
The only people who seriously suffered
were the employees, who though they have
not INDUCED this year in their customary
strike for higher wages, find themselves
locked out by reason of a gigantic specula-
ton, the character and meaning of which
they cannot even understand.
The corner which wrought all of this
trouble was formed last spring, early IN
xuho fba 81 a. 4
owing to the great trade depression in
England, to about sixpence per pound. A
large English operator and capitalist con-
cluded to buy all he could, either in India
or America, for delivery In August and Sep
tember, and this he proceeded to do. How
we'll he succeeded we may partly guess by
the tremendous struggle between our local
bulls and bears last August. Many of
the spinners, 1t appears, did not
appreciate the situation, and falling
to see any good reason for a rise
in the price Of the staple only made such
purchases as were necessary to keep their
mills going. The price gradually ran up
from six pence in May to seven and half
pence in August, and the spinners finding
themselves squeezed, concluded finally to
close their mills as their only means of
defense. The London correspondent of the
New York World, In 3 very interesting let
ter to his paper, gave the history of this
extraordinary attempt on the part Of few
bold operators to control the cotton pro-
duct OF the world, and we extract from his
letter the following:
Although the mills have nominally been
closed only week, there is really no telling
when they will open again. A month is the
shortest period assigned by many Of the old
hands In the trade, and q month might GER
tafnly test the endurance of the spectators
pretty sharply, whereas a week would
scarcely make the least impression upon
them. Who can tell, indeed, how much
capital they may have at their backss l
have heard in business circles-I heard 1t In
Manchester and Oldham-that the Liverpool
dealer has an ally, or more than one in the
United States. II 1t be true, as trade re-
port statee, that Sin the New York and New
Orleans markets a million and half bales
were dealt in last week." It would seem to
show that money for the speculation is be-
ing found elsewhere than in Liverpool.
In fact there is no doubt In my mind
that the entire business is being engineered
by syndicate with two heads one of
which YOU must look for In New York. It
is to be observed that several large cotton
spfnners have refused to close their mills,
and why Because they have an ample
supply Of cotton In hand to 20 on with.
They, too, you see, made a "corner" on
their own account. Was that immoral |?
We must leave it to the wise men to decide
the point, and merely hope in the mean
time that the workingmen will not long be
kept out Of employment. A short suspen-
sion Of work may perhaps only lead to bet
ter wages and full time when the spindles
are once more set going, for orders will ac-
cumulate, and old stocks will be cleared out
OF the market. If this is the worst that
happens the cornerers and the spinners will
alike have reason to cry: "AlIs well that
ends WE'LL"