Griggs courier., 1894-09-07
SIX IN The UNITED STATES,
Importance ~ . Manufacturlng Iaterese-
Attempts 70 Produce Raw silk.


Importance ~ . Manufacturine Iaterese-.
Attempts % Produce Raw sllk.
One Of the largest among he varied
manufacturing interests in the United
States is the silk interest. The value
Of the silk, silk ribbon, and silk velvet
product of the United States was in ex.
cess of 500. .OOO. 600 in 1892 The number
of looms returned by the census Of 1850
was =: 500, and the number of weaveYs
and Wrappers employed was $4,000 The
present congress, though it has reduced
the average rate OF duty imposed on
forei9n-made silk goods, has sought to
Offset this probable impeachment to silk
manufacture by providing for five ex-
perimentaI stations, under the control
OF the department Of agriculture for
the cultivation of raw silk.
Since 1883 the average annual i'm
portation of raw silk, some from France,
some from China, some from Italy and
some from Japan, has been in excess of
hOO0.OOO pounds. divided during the
last two years as follows: Fifty per
cent. japanese, twenty-five per cent
European and twenty five per cent. Chi
nese.
The usc Of silk for all purposes is
largest, in proportion to the population.
in England. which, however, produces
less than fifty per cent of the manu-
factured silk used. This percentage is
almost exactly reversed in France
which produces twice as much silk as
is repaired, the other half being ex-
ported. Italy and Switzerland produce
considerably more manufactured sills
than is required for the local market.
the margin for export being about ten
per cent. in Italy and more than 800 per
cent. in Switzerland.
Germany and Belgium have been adj
vancing rapidly of late years in silk
manufacture, but their ratio of increase
is insignificant when compared with
the strides which the industry has been
taking in the United States, in which.
between the years 1880 and 1890, the
percentage of growth in capital in
vested was 166 per cent. The val
of the importation of raw silk
during the fiscal year ending June
80, 1892. was $a5,OOO,OOO and during the
same period ending June 50, 1898, it
was Ss9, $780, 900. The importations of
silk goods during the year first named
amounted to $3l, ,OO0, 900 and last year
to nearly $39, ,OOO, 900, showing a greater
rate of increase than did the importa-
tions of raw silk.
OF late years the opinion has grown
to be general among many persons
that the soil and climate of southern
California so nearly approximates those
of Italy and southern France, that all
the agricultural products of those two
countries can be duplicated upon the
Pacific. In respect to fruit this claim
has been pretty thoroughly estab-
lished, and there has been vast in
crease in the exports as we'll as in the
quality of California wine.
But whether the Golden state will
become a serious rival of Italy in the
product OF raw silk is a question which
can hardly, students of such matters
think, be answered at this time. The
Mid-Winter fair has served to agaiE
call attention to the exceptional nat
ural advantages of California, but in
respect to the manufacture Of silk,
easily obtaina bic from China at a much
less cost than freight charges imposed
upon eastern factories, California has
shown little growth, the silk product
Of the state for 1890 being $268, 200.
against $25, ,OOO, 600 in New Jersey, ST.
100000 in New York, 100000 in
Pennsylvania, and $s,OOO.00o in Con-
nccticut. These four states are at the
head of the column of silk manufac-
turers, New Jersey being at the top
n. Y. Sun.