The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-10-10
INCREASE OF THE
SILK INDUSTRY
ITS RAPID GROWTH IN THE
UNITED STATES.
Compiled Statements by the Treas
ury Bureau Of Statistics Show That
the Imports of Manufactured Silk
Have Been Greatly Reduced Dur
ing the Past Few Years.
Special to the Scranton Tribune.


ing the expectation of their products
adds interest to some recently com
piled statements by the treasury bu-
reau of statistics regarding the silk
manufactures and importations and
expectations of this country during the
past few years These figures show
that the manufacture Of silk in this
country has increased enormously, that
the imports of manufactured silk have
meantime been greatly reduced, and
the expectations of silk manufactures
are now increasing very rapidly, the
total exports for the present calendar
year being more than 20 per cent. in
excess of the corresponding months of
last year, and for the full year will be
six times as much as in 1890.
The manufacture of silk in the Uni
ted States. which in 1860 amounted to
s6,60II7l in value doubled in the fol-
lowing decade. being, according to the
figures of the census OF 1870 $l2,2lO,662,
more than trebled in tie next decade,
being i'm 1880 Sal ,O}3.0i5, and again
doubled from 1850 to 1890. being in the
latter year. SSI.293.iji; while recent
compilation by the secretary of the
American silk association shows that
in the Eve years since 1890 the rate of
increase has even accelerated, making
it probable that the silk production of
the United states today amounts to
nearly or quite sl5O,00OO0O per annum
In value.
Meantime the importation of manu-
factured silks has fallen rapidly, that
of 1890 being S3S,6SG,a74 and that of 1898
only s23, 523,11O
THE INCREASE.
That the manufacture of silk goods
In the United States has increased
very rapidly within the past year is
apparent. lmportations of raw silk
which in the fiscal year 1897 were 6,513.
6l2 pounds, were, in 1898, 1O,315,l61
pounds, and the total value of raw
silk imported in 1898 was $31, ,446, ,S0O
against S1S91S,2S3 in the preceding
year. This enormous increase in the
importation of raw silk is doubtless
accounted for, not only by the activity
in the great silk manufacturing centers
of this country, but also by the recent
announcement that numerous cotton
factories in the New England and the
Middle states have substituted silk
manufacturing machinery for that for
merly used in the manufacture of cot
ton goods now largely supplied by the
mills located nearer to the cotton
fields of the South.
The growth in the importations of
manufactured silk which OF course
measure the manufacture of silk, has
been steady and rapid during the past
thirty years. In 1868 they amounted
to $2.520,404 in value: in 1873, $685.
567; in 1858. SIS, 1881 ,6S2 and in 1898, s31.-
446.s00. In the single item of silk raw,
In1 4
importations of 1SGS were 512,449
pounds; in 1875, 1,1s2,75O pounds; in
1885, 5,173,S40 pounds, and in 1925, TO-
Sl5,161 pounds. During the earlier part
of this period importers held their own
in the contest for the field, but in the
last decade have fallen practically out
OF the race. In 1868 the importations
of manufactured silk We're $17,T77, ,627:
in 1873, s19,S37972; in 1883. s33, $50, ,99s;
i'm 1890, $SS, S,6s6,374 and in 1898, $685.
10
Meantime our manufacturers have
apparently begun giving their atten-
ton to the foreign market; their ex-
ports which in 1878 were Sl9, ,032 having
Increased to S56,659 in 1883, 1851 ,613 in
1898, and s297074 in 1925. During the
month of August, 1898, the exports
were S2725l, against SCI, 100 in August,
1897, an increase of 80 per cent in
single year.
SUCCESS OF AMERICAN PRODUCT
The success of American manufac-
turers in supplying the home demand
and obtaining a foothod in the mar
kets OF the world is the more strongly
marked since other nations have failed
in their efforts to compete with the
great silk manufacturing nation of
the world, France. The statistical alb
stract of Great Britain just issued
shows that the expectation OF sill;
manufactured from the United King
dom has fallen 50 per cent in the last
decade. being in 1897, 1,33S,161 pounds
sterling in value, against 1864, PA
pounds sterling in 1883, while the Off
cial reports of the German government
show that the silk importations Of that
country have decreased in a like pro-
portion, being S45, ,0oO, 900 in 1889, and
S26, 600 in 1897, France alone having
barely held her own in this line her
exports of silk manufactures in 1890
being $52, S52, 700 and in 1897, So 2SS, 700
SILK manufacturing in the United
states, while begun nearly a half-cen-
tury ago, seems to have developed al.
most exclusively in the last half of
that period Prior to 1870 the impor-
tations of raw silk for use in the man
ufacturies in this country had never
reached 10O0,00O pounds, while. as al
ready stated, they were i'm 1895 more
than 10000 0n0 pounds. During the
civil war and in the years Immediately
following the manufacture of plain
dress silks was begun. while at the
present time brocaded silks and satins
are manufactured on large scale, and
the manufacture Of silk plushes and
all varieties OF upholstered goods mas
recently been successfully developed
In 1850 our manufacturers of silk sup
piled but about Is per cent of the
consumption in the United States: by
1870 they were supplying so per cent
Of the amount consumed in the United
States; by 1885, more than so per cent. !.
in 1890, 20 por cent, and today il is
estimated that IS per cent Of the silk
goods used in the United States are
the products of our own factories.
NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS.
The following table presents the
number of silk manufacturing estab-
lishments III the United States and
value of their products, shown by each
census since 1860:
No of estab- Value OF
Year. ments. Products
1860 .''............,... l30 6607,77