The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-07-26
OUR COTTON CLOTHES
ALMOST ENTIRE WORLD
America Furnishes IS Per
Cent OF the Staple.
FAR AHEAD OF ALL RIVALS
Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naked
Savages Yet to Be Covered, and IN
creased Production Co1tinues-Tak-
ing Place OF Flax, Wool, and Silk.

! bulletin Just issued by the Depart
ment CT Agriculture on the subject OF
The Future Demand for American Cot
ton" argues that the expansion Of the
industry depends upon the amount OF
clothing worn by the world
The consumption of cotton, according
to this bulletin. has increased so greatly
within the last quarter OF a century that
there would appear to be no real limit
to its future possibilities. It is esti-
mated that Of The worlds population OF
l.500, 100000 about 600. geo 600 regularly
wear clothes. About $50 zoe COO are
partly clad. and ESQ 000. 60 habitualiy 60
naked. OF almost so, e that to cIothe
the entire population o. rEe world It
would require the production OF $4,000,
000 bales CT 500 pounds each. 1t there
fore seems more than likely. says the
department bulletin, that the cotton in
dustry viii continue to ex 2and until all
the inhabitants of the ear5h are clothed
with the products Of the looms. This IS
not regarded as an unreasonable con
clusion when it IS considered that cot
ton is the cheapest macsriaI for cloth
ing known to man.
Cotton as Wool's Rival
IN a general history OF the cotton in
dustry, showing its great growth and
future possibilities, the bulletin adds;
1t was not until the planters Of the
United States began supplying an abUn-
dance Of raw material much cheaper
than wool or fax that European nations
recognized its merits and its PCssi0il-
tiles IN textile manufacture. IF we 90
back just q few years beyond 1793, the
date Of the invention OF the saw gin we
find that in Great Britain. which then
led the world in textile manufactures.
VOC. held the first lace in the value
Of such industries, linen the second, and
cotton the third.
Less Flax Used Now.
"A complete revolution has taken
place in the consumption of textile fab
RIGS since 1890. More lax was then used.
than either wool or cotton, but Il has
now dropped TO the third rank, AID the
amount consumed is barely double that
OF 100 years ago. Wool has increased
y
creased nearly thirty-nine times, and
there is now more than three times as
much cotton used as wool. and more
than seven times as much fax"
IN referring TO the increase IL the
consumption Of cotton the bulletin says:
Since 1870 the increased consumD-
ton on the Continent, in the
United States and in India has been
enormous It has also been very large
in Great Britain, though much less than
IN the United States ara Germany. In
deed, the United States is now the
largest cotton consuming coHntry in
the world, having in 1893 t.skea the lead
from Great Britain. whicf; had held the
supremacy il the cotton industry for
over q century
Continually Increasing Crops.
Undoubtedly this expansion could
never had taken place. outside Of India.
except for the continually Increasing
crops OF the Southern States. We are
supplying the world with more than SIS
per cent OF the cotton it manufactures
into clothing, an authority declared
some years ago, when our crops were
very much smaller than now, that the
cotton crops OF the United States pro-
vide the raw material 1or more than
half the calico used by TIC entire hu-
man race, from which he Inferred that
there was q great deal mora nakedness
in the world prior to the development
Of the cotton industry in the South than
there is at the present time.
All Countries Consumed More.
Without q single exception every
foreign country has increased its con
sumption Of American cotton, and some
of them to astonishing proportions.
This Is true particularly OF Germany,
France. Belgium. and Spain But the
most astonishing development of our
trade has occurred in the Far East In
1870 We did not ship pound of cotton
10 that part of the world, but since then
cotton manufacturing has taken such
progress IN Japan that in 1900 ser spin
ners took 323, POP bales OF An, rican cot
ton East India and China are also be-
ginning 10 appreciate the merits of our
cotton. and within the past six years
shipments have been made to both Of
these countries"
LIVE Y GAME PROMISED