The San Francisco call., 1896-02-02
CHEAP JAPANESE GOODS,
The Cotton Industry of the
United States in Great
Danger.
Manufacturers in Japan Will Soon
Flood the Market With Cheap
Labor Products.

The special joint committee from the
| Manufacturers and Producers Associa.
| ton and the Chamber of Commerce, max
ing an investigation of the dangers arising
from the importation of products of cheat
Japanese labor, are not letting the grass
| grow under their feet. Reports have been
made to both bodies, and the latter con.
sidered the case of such Importance that
| the committeeman were instructed tc
/ carry out the suggestions made in theil
report. One was that general meeting oil
| both organizations and all others inter
ested be called with the view of presenting
a memorial to Congress to make an official
/ investigation and provide for such pro-
lection as the case demands. No time has
been lost by the joint committee, which
has issued the following call to hundreds
of citizens of this locality:
| To the Manufacturers and Producers Assocsa-
/ tion of California and ISGn Francisco Chamber OF
| Commerce.: On Friday, February z, 1896, at
! P. NJ, in the rooms of the Chamber of Com
| merce, So Merchants Exchange, there viii be
q Joint meeting of the members OF the Manu-
| facturers and Producers Association of Cali
| fornia and of the Chamber of Commerce, for
the purpose of considering the question of the
Japanese invasion of our manufacturing
ipld'' and taking such action as may be
deemed wise and expedient.
Addresses will be made by prominent per-
sons, VINO are 1uily cOnVerSant with the SUD-
ject.. It's hoped that every member of these
two bodies will be present and take part in the
discussion OF this most important question. By
order Of the joint committee,
HUGH CRAIG, Chairman
JULIAN SoNNTAG, Secretary.
At that meeting interesting addresses
will probably be made by Julian Sonntag.
William Rutherford, Hugh Craig, who
will preside, George III. Collins and others.
All OF these gentlemen have been gather
ing data upon the subject of American
laborers competing with the seven-dollar-
a-month coolies of Japan, and the Ameri-
can manufacturers competing with those
of Japan. Much of the information they
have obtained has been published in THE
CALL.
Some new and important information
will 5e presented that they have not had
the opportunity of securing before, bear
ing upon the manufacture OF cotton goods
by the japanese for the American markets
at prices that will. if not checked, close
every cotton-mill in the United States
The information comes from no less an au-
thority than Colonel John A. Cockerill,
special correspondent for the New York
Herald. Colonel Cockerill is now in
Toxic, Japan, and, in recent letter to his
paper, he sounds the alarm of danger
that threatens the cotton industry of the
entire United States. Under the date of
January g. he says:
A. II. Butler, q California capitalist who has
successfully 'spromoted' watch company in
Osaka, and who has been trying for some time
to induce the Japanese Government to estab-
1ish line of steamers between Osaka Yoko-
hama and Salina Cruz, on the west coast of
Mexico, has been compelled to give up his
project, temporarily at least. Mr.. Butler, some
time ego, made a combination of cotton goods
manufacturers in Osaka, which is now known
as the. Japan Cotton Trading Company. 1t was
in the interest of these manufacturers that he
proposed to establish the line of steamers re-
ferred to, his theory being that cotton could be
taken from our. Gulf States from Galveston to
Coatzacoalcos, the eastern terminus of the
Tehuantepec Railway, carried across the 18TH
mus and thence by steamer to Japan, at
much less cost than by the way of Liverpool
and the SueZ.
The Mexican Government was greatly inter-
ested in the enterprise and was willing to
afford all facilities. The Tehuantepec Railway
is 130 miles in length and is now open TO
traffic. Mr.. Butler being interested in the
Tepustete iron mine, some forty miles south OF
San Diego and directly on the coast, hoped to
be able to introduce this high quality OF iron
subsidized line of stes mers. But the Japanese
have. Inany projects on hand ana they are
greatly taken up now with their proposed
direct line of freight and passenger steamers
between Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki and Lon
don. AS for iron, they insist that they have
all they. want at home. AS a matter of fact
they have not as yet developed any iron de-
posits of high character, though the country
may be full of it.
Last summer Mr.. Butler went to the United
States to investigate the cotton business. He
found that the railways OF Texas would charge
him 65 cents per hundred for hauling cotton
from San Antonio or the interior to Galveston.
To ship from there to the Gulf terminus OF the
Tehuantepec Railway would add another
heavy charge, and at this point he was forced
to drop the matter. He, however, secured a
rate with the railways reaching san Francisco
enable him to begin shipping American cotton
to Japan by the established lines. He has con-
tracts with forty-two manufacturers in Japan
who will take only American cotton from him,
and he will begin with a monthly shipment of
something over 1000 bales He expects soon
to run this up to 5000 q month. and he hopes
to double this shipment in the course of q year.
He will. be able to place American cotton at
the door of the Japan manufacturer at some
thing like 20 cents Q pound, and ne predicts
that from this time forward not bale of our
cotton will reach Japan by way of Liverpool.
The japanese will still continue to be con-
sumers OF large quantities of India cotton,
mixing its short fiber with the American sta
pie, and henceforth turning out better quail
to place their sheetings and prints in the
American market and they will certainly do
so unless .prevented by the tariff AS to the
line of steamers between Japan and some port
of the American coast that will probably come
when the Japanese are able to build ali Of their
may be mentioned that the Mitsu Bishi ship
building concern of Nagasaki-a japanese or
ganization-has just taken contract to build
a 75O0-ton merchant vessel Tor the Nippon
Yusen Kaisha people. The Mitsu Bshi people
propose 20 duplicate the ships five in number,
which the company has recently ordered in
England. They have never built vessel of
such tonnage, but they are willing to lose
100, 900 yen or SO for the sake of the experience
and In the way OF patriotism, The Japanese