Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-08-02
A Southern Cotton Manufacturer on Tariff

Southern Cotton Manufacturer on Tariff
Matters.
The Boston journal, in recent
special report of hearing on the
Morrison tariff bill, by the ways
and Means committee, gives the
following views of a southern cot
ton manufacturer Mr.. Hanson,
of Macon, Ga, the president of
cotton manufacturing company, eX-
planned the conditions of the cotton
industry in the south, and presen-
ted figures to show that, nOtWith-
standing the better climate and the
cheaper raw material in Georgia,
il costs nearly as much to produce
a given quantity of cloth there as it
does at Lowell, Mass. He says tits
a mistake 10 suppose that anything
which unfayorably effects the cot
con manufacturing industries OF
New England would not also, and
to the same extent, injure the cot
ton manufacturing of the southern
states. For example, he SAID, the
yarn mills of the south, which are
scattered all over the middle belt
of the southern states, from North
Carolina to Tennessee, ship north
ward every week about 200,OOO
pounds of No. yarns, which are
used by northern manufacturers in
making Brussels carpets. To close
the carpet manufactures of Phil
adelphia and other Northern cities
would, therefore, cut off the mar
ket for this large quantity of south
ern yarns, and compel the mills TO
suspend operations. He said it
would not help the cotton manufac-
turers of the south at all to have
free machinery, provided that there
should be coupled with ii free inn
portatiOn of manufactured goods.
Mr.. Hanson said that the yarn
manufactured in the southern mills
is not so good in quality as that
manufactured in New England.
For example, Rhode Island cotton
yarn, No. s was selling yesterday
in Philadelphia at one cent per
pound more than Georgia cotton
yarn, No. 10, being finer quality.
The south, he said, was just as
much interested in the preservation
of the tariff as was New England.
A few men had indicated a willing
ness for free trade, but they were
men who had not studied the ques-
ton thoroughly. The panic of 1878
did not try the cotton manufactur-
ers of the South as they are now
being tested by the uncertainty due
to the present agitation OF the tariff
question. The southern manufac-
turers have been in consultation at
Augusta for the last two or three
weeks as to whether they will be
compelled to work on short time.
lie thought the result will be that
they will be obliged to do so. He
said that in his own factory 800, 900
of the capital belongs to an ElgliSh-
man, who had said that if it should
ever be decided to repeal or
greatly reduce the duties on cotton
goods, he should sell his stock at
once for whatever he could get. Mr..
Hanson thought it would be more
desirable to maintain the present
social and industrial conditions of
the United States, than it is to re-
ceprices through foreign compe
tition. 1t is the general prosperity
of the country which is at stake,
and which should be maintained.
lie said they had endeaVOred to
find a market in England for their
cotton yarns, and had sent samples
to John Bright, who returned them
with letter, saying that they were
so much better than the material he
used for the manufacture of carpets
that he could not afford to use them.
He enclosed samples of the materi-
al used by him, which Mr.. Hanson
described as being made from cot
| ton waste.