The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-01-21
THE COTTON SITUATION.
Views OF the Textile Record on tho
subject


Views OF the Textile Record on tho
subject
The most important OF the incidents
of the past month In the textile industry
was tho reduction Of wages in the cot
ton mills of Fall River, Mass. Dullness
has fallen upon the cotton manufnctur-
ers. and, In the presence OF reduced de-
mand for their products. and low prices
for goods SOLD, they have ielt an impera-
tive necessity to cut down wages. The
smaller demand for the Eastern fabrics
hos been attributed To the sharp ana
growing competition from the Southern
mills which among other advantages.
run longer time and pay less wages. III
there really be production OF cotton Tab
RIGS beyond the consuming power OF the
people, the only true remedy must be TO
stop, and to stop permanently, some OF
the mills, Ncrtn or south. For stoppsee
Of some OF tbsmIby financial ruin will be.
in any event, certain If attempts be made
persistently 10 reduce wages and other
expenses in the hope of winning prefer
enoe In gorRed market. When the North
shall have reduced the costs of produc-
tion to the Southern level, the south will
begin 10 cut and then there will be a
struggle for life In which some concerns
will cease to live. 1t ID queer situation:
Raw cotton represents wealth. but the
more wealth the Southern planters pro-
duce, the poorer they get Cotton cloth
is wealth but the greater the quantity man.
uractured the poorer the producers be-
come and the harder 1t is for the mass Of
the people in humble circumstances to
obtain enough comfortable clothing.
But Is there, in truth, overproduction
of cotton fibre and cotton clothY Emphat-
ically MOI At this very moment there
are many hundreds Of thousands of
Americans. in all parts of the country,
who cannot afford to buy cloth enough TO
cover their nakedness. In European
countries there are millions In the same
unfortunate condition. In the barbarous
and partly civilized lands there are tens
of millions whose most mesgre wants
have never beon supplied We say with
the holiness OF positive conviction tnat
IL every human being in our own land
could obtain cotton cloth enough for his
mere comfort, the domestic mills could
supply the demand with difficulty. II,
besides, all of these people could satisfy
their reasonable desires over and above
their necessities, we doubt IL the AineIi-
can mills now in existence could meet the
requirements of the home market
The real trouble. then, is not at all
that the mill product is in excess of any
possible demand, but very decidedly that
the demand is not presented, and there
fore the mills cannot sell, because great
armies or our own fellow-citizens are too
poor to buy. In the cotton growing re-
gion itself we find planters selling for
less than tive cents pound cotton which
cost more than five cents to produce
This production at a loss makes the
planter poor, and inevitably 1t makes
poor oil the people who depend upon his
prosperity for their prosperity. The same
results appear In nearly all the indus
tries, agricultural and manufacturing.
All are selling with small profit or no
profit. The wheat growers alone get good
prices. But for their good fortune the
condition Of things would be bad, indeed.