St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-24

sherman Act EARLY any Mills
Will Be Forced to Shut Down
Altogether.
New YORK, July 23.-The Herald's
Boston correspondent says: A review
of the situation among the cotton fac
tories of New England is not assuring,
but there is nothing to occasion any
alarm. Managers of the companies feel
that they are in perpleXing situation,
such as has never been forced on them
at any former period in a quarter of
century. Ordinarily at this season il is
nothing strange for some Of the facto-
rieS to close down, but the shutting OF
| the doors now has much significance
far more than common. There is an un-
certainty in the air which may swell
into mOmentous proportions or dWindle
into nOthingneSs, just as the wind watts,
and a canvass of some Of the leading
cities indicates that silver has much to
do with this situation. Some of the
manufacturers go so far as to say that
they await the decision of congress on
the question whether the silver law
shall be repealed with
Fear and Frepidation.
and the companies in other industries
which are more or less allied to cotton
maintain similar views. In Fall River
cloth is not selling for the cost of pro-
duction. and continuance of this state
of affairs will cause irretrievable ruin if
a halt is not called. That city has a
| population of about 65, 900, and one-third
of that number is employed in the mills.
1t is the typical mill city of the cOun-
try-in prints especially-and stagna-
tiOn there will have a far-reachIng eff
feet. Anything affecting the business
of mills at once necessarily affects the
whole community. Deliveries On con-
tracts and the very light sales at present
made will only take care of half the
production, and with 100000 pieces phi
ing up each week the manufacturers
will soon begin to talk of measures for
relief. By the first week in August
there promises to be half a million
pieces on hand, and then the manufact-
urers will begin to talk seriously of
A General Shutdown.
There will be no running shorter
hours, but a general shutdown for a
stated period. The print cloth market
is proverbially uncertain, and the mill
men are not without hope that one of
those unexpected booms may come at
any time. 1t is practically certain that
they will stop production when the
stock on hand will reach 1000, 900 pieces,
if not before. In fact, shutdown
would be enforced unless the demand for
cloth picked up, for, of course, the mills
could not keep on spending money
with none coming in to replace. In
| the present state of the money market
the printers cannot get money to buy
cloth, or do not dare to risk a possible
| panic by doing So and so cannot buy.
| Neither can the manufacturers borrow
| to carry on their business, and so
| shutdown is inevitable unless the busi-
ness of the whole country improves
before the summer is over. These facts
have been obtained by interviews with
several officials in the leading corpora
tions, particularly Simeon B. Chase,
! treasurer of the King Philip mills.
James Whitehead, secretary of the
| Weavers' Progressive association, was
| of the opinion that the money trouble
was responsible for the general depres-
sion, and for the depression
In the Cloth Trade.
1t would not pay the manufacturers
to make cloth to pile up with a loss of
interest on the capital invested, and
there might be shutdown. This would
not be unwelcome to the operatives as
class if it were not for too long a time,
and might we'll prove beneficial to the
manufacturers in the matter of health.
1t certainly would be to the operatives
Such a shutdown in hot weather had
been more than once proposed by GER
tain manufacturers even in prosperous
years, on the ground that it would
prove of more benefit to both sides than
would the profits and wages lost during
a period of rest. In Lowell a lack of
orders is troubling mill men, and one
concern has but half its looms running.
The outlook is very depressing, and, if
the present condition continues, there
is every probability that several indus
tries will have to shut down. Lowell
people are absolutely dependent on the
mills, and a shutdown would mean
great hardship and suffering to the
working classes. There is absolutely
no new business there at present. All
the mills are
Running on Old Orders.
and when these give out there is no tell
Ing what may happen. If no new or
ders come in there must be a shut
down. With the uncertainty which
prevails at present no mill is going to
manufacture goods ahead, SO that, un-
less there are new orders ahead, there
will be nothing to do. At present there
seems very little prospect of new or
derS, and, to make matters worse, a
large number of orders have been can
celed. As things look now, there is
every indication that, unless the condi-
tons change, the machinery will be idle
within thirty or sixty days. This means
no work for more than 10,0Oe persons.
but it all depends on the attitude of
congress in regard to the Sherman law.
Lawrence Is feeling the effects of
the depression, and there are diverging
opinions whether the repeal of the
Sherman law will be beneficial to the
trade. 1t Is certain that if the great
dLlouul VI OftI-pIOuuCllOH continues,
which must be the case with all hands
employed, then shutdown must fol-
low in the half dozen milIs-worsted
and cotton-with their 5000 hands. But
the owners hope to tide against this
alternative, and await anxiously the
Attitude of Congress
on the silver question. In New Bed
ford for six months business in the
textile industries have been extremely
dull-so much so, in fact, that in
several instances the mills have NOT
not received an order for goods since the
first of the year. This is due largely ts
the uncertainty as to what action viii
be taken by congress regarding
the currency problem. Just at