Los Angeles daily herald., 1884-12-23
THE SILK INDUSTRY.
its present statas Ia the unised

From time 10 lime we read in American
and European papers alleged statistics OF
the silk industry Ia the United States. Re
Gently d German wool paper had an article
referring to The production Of American sill
manufactures In which tile production for
1884 ls estimated as being worth SO, ,O0u COO
This amount Is ~ an probability at
least sib,000o10 too high, for last year
(lsssl the production amounted TO Ai
00u. COO aud slnee Jan. Isl the pfpdnrtion has
been greatly restricted aud VIII hAfdl y over
reach thia OF 1873, lhe consequences nf the
restTiction are severely felt IN al the large
silk producing poiuts, especially al Patief-
son. N. j, where, 4 Is said, about ave thou-
| sand SILK operatives are Idle The predomi-
nance Of velvet, yelvetcens and pinshes for
ladies' dresses IN place 81 silk. and the ten,
dency OF fashion toward the English lus-
lrOus g0oes, as silk warp Heuriestas
have u y large extent fnterfered with
the production OF American dress silks
Ribbons, which ID prior years formed a
Eare. are only produced Ia limited qasnti-
ties fa0st of the mils now working only
ihree-quartef time, The Importation OF silk
goods ior The first nino mouths of is8f were
r excess q these Of the corresponding pc
rfod q last year, owing 70 the heags imports
OF velsets and plpshes, and probebiy the
imports ef iaa4 viii excel the total OF last
year.
a dertaey trade paper recently said that
the English siik manufacturers could no
langer compete with the ribtnn mills OF
Paterson. \ J., and the broad goods Of
Manchester, conn. II The same article &
Is pretended that the American working
classes prefer costly SILK dresses 20 other
had reached such Dimensions that the pro
duciion of France Is not sufficient to supply
the American consumption. True, the Eni-
ted stites consume ptoporlionateiy great
er amount OF silks than any other couutay
China, perhaps. excepted The amount
may be estlfneted at Dlo.000000 including
the duty Of fifty per cent on the true value
Of the imported goods q eh!cn ~, 600 900
represents the foreign hita ff5,e19.0 600 the
kiaeriean production
FrOn the foregoing getatemenf--fhai France
Is not able to supply the American mafkel
It might be concluded thai the French SIX
Aine 5ieH thAs they olnnct Gil them; while Ia
reality the French, tfernan and Swiss man.
ufActurers are loudly complaining Of the
total absence of orders from the United
States and oonsequence stagnation Of the
silk trade The American SIX fnanaiactnr-
efs, with few exceptions. arc also com.
piainfng OF the depression
The subjoined hgurea are intended 10 ena-
Ole the European papers % form an idea Of
the expansion Of the silk industry IN the
manufacturers IN This country. Including
those engaged IN fnrlwins aud weaving,
! 81 which number US are ia New York Getty
aud s.aiel 10 10 New Jersey q In Penn
ehuAetts, In California. 8 IL Illinois, Ia
Msryla0d, in Ohio III Utah. ! ia Della
I ware, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, feB
Hampshire and Hhode island each. The
| largest weaving establishments are at Man
chester, Conf, ia New York city, West
( Haboken and Peterson, n T. 1h5fe afe
I fal mills producing Dress sopdS, aafins,
hsadkerchiefs and flhhetlE the remainder
msnuiacture sewine silks. machine twists
dress and oioak trimmings servings and
lsizi mllla are found principally IN Ihe New
( England States, trimming manufacturers
are mostly located IN New York Philafel-
/ pals, Beslon and otharlarge cities. Although
these mills produces about $4,000, 30 worth
OF goods, The imports since 1852 have not
materially decreased In the volume Of goads,
! for prices Two years ago were from 10 to 70
per cent higher ~ than q present ssa ressine
oi lsss at <th.lo0eoo a difference nf
S. 800 oo0is apparent on the lnyoioo value,
but ihis is fully eqgaiised by the shriukage
Of prices. ~ ather words, we Imported Tor
q ~ nosn' ~ "a Ss II tbe bfgs nresioS sss q JAP M
AS stated above he imports for 1854 largely
exceed those Of fhs3 and, consequently, the
situation Of tho Ainegican silk Industry is
nof serg brilliant, owing 70 the excessive
Why win fF7 mills ia tho united States
the raw material Is NOT produced here Is the
question asked b the foreigners Many
sttempfs have been and are aiil being
made to raise silk, hut The pr0ducl Is In
yariably 10 hirh In cost that ne mAnufae.
turer could entertain the thought of using
american raw silk The Almost tetal lack u
Ine1peflsuced bands, thohigh cost Of let0r,
and The duty on imporicl feellue machin
cry, swel the rosi price. and II, a. the SILK
cnltnrsts imaEine. ~ should be realizea for
Ameriosn SIX, such price for raw rneieriai
would, PM an end 10 the industry ID this
eouustl, What inauenee the free dissFlhtl-
tion 81 e2gs ~ the government Will have 70.
mains tn3pe seen. II Dfy Goods Bulletin.