The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1903-07-27

more than half of their annual consump-
! tive wants has been bought at prices to
| dividends are declared they will have to
| be less than formerly or taken from
! past years earnings. These mills still
stand in need of over 100000 bales of cot
| ton before September /, If they intend to
! keep their spindles ordinarily busy, and
| there is no show of obtaining this supply
except at an eXorbitant cost. compared
| with the selling price of the manufactured
! product There Is only one safe course
for mills with a short supply of cotton to
pursue, and that is to curtail operations
to the lowest practicable point without
prejudice to their labor organization
| The visible supply of American cotton
at the end of this season will proba bly,
be not far from 100000 bales less than
| that of last year, when 1t was at such a
| low point as to excite apprehension as to
| the future of the cotton industry. This
| apprehension will be augmented with the
| approaching harvest season. which may
| show a less yield even than that of last
year, notwithstanding an increase of acre
| age which, under conditions similar to
| those prevailing year ago, should add to
| the production some 100000 bales. There
Is no apparent relief to the situation. of
| any moment, to be expected from foreign
| cotton fields. Viewed from the side Of
| supply Of the raw material. the prospect
| for cotton manufacturing for next year Is
anything but cheerful, and when this Is
taken in connection with the tendency
of trade toward retrenchment it is dole
| full
The conditions affecting the trade In
| cotton manufactures from the ordinary
i growth OF America motion are reflected
in that OF manufactures from the longer
| stapled cotton. The latter are suffering
| from the same causes. short supply and
| high price OF the raw material, from
which there Is TO prospective relief.
| - F-, f,,re
down to satisfactory level with the mar
ket price OF the goods. The sea island
cotton crop of this season Is the largest
that has ever been gathered. yet no.
withstandng this it has not been SUM-
| cient for the requirements OF onr mills.
| Some increase in the Egyptian crop may
be expected next fall, because OF the IN
| aCguration of the improved irrigation
| system by the completion of the ASSouan
/ dam across the river Nile; but at the
best, this increase will not exceed % per
! cent, or not enough to meet the demand
under ordinary conditions. The high price
| OF Egyptian cotton during the current sea-
| son, and that of the long sta pied cotton of
| the Mississippi valley, has stopped many
spindles running on fine yarns, equivalent
| t. a complete ideness, as near as can be
estimated, of 100000 spindles on this class
ton for fine spinning during the fiscal
year ending June 30 1908, will be about
25 per cent less than during the previous
fiscal year, while the average price VIII
be about 20 per cent more
Another factor of considerable potency
that is initiating against the profitable
ness Of cotton and other textile manu-
featuring is the aggressive stand that is
taken by labor unions in their demands
for more wages and less working time
Three organizations have taken a mos
inopportune time to force upon employ
ers their demands. but it would appear
that of late they are coming to their
senses. as exemplihed at Lowell. The
labor troubles. however. in the textile
trades of Philadelphia remain unsettled,
which is being keerly felt by spinncrs
who depend upon the looms Of that city
for their product Wages nave now
reached a point beyond which they can
not very well go. and unless there is
decided change for the better employers
will be compelled to enforce reduc-
ton or stop operations There is only
enc possible recourse left for manufac-
turers to pursue. if wages are to be kept
upon their present level. and that Is the
adoption of devices and machinery
whereby the labor cost of the production
can be lesseneG. Inventions have been
taxed to their utmost utility to accom-
I.lish this object. and thus far they have
succeeded to a remarkable eXtent,So that
with the improved methods employed in
the transaction of business and leSsened
cost of transportation and distribution,
they have materially reduced the cost
of goods to the consumer while allowing
the maintenance of relatively nigh
scale of wages. There is no denying
the fact that labor is receiving its full
share in the improvements brought about
by these inventions.
The automatic loom. by which the care
of the weaver is almost limited TO the
II annual labor of occasionally supplying
n magazine or receptacle with welt, is
effecting wonders in lowering the cost
of production in other respects than a
So wing in wages per unit of product Yet
this loom may be said to be in tenta-
tive state with its possibilities way be-
fore it. At present it is confined to the
manufacture of plain fabrics. and has
not yet entered the domain Of what is
senominated fancy weaving, Then again,
it's advantages are now confined to the
cotton. and not is the woollen, mill. The
spindle has attained a wonderful de-
gree of relative perfection. with its pres
ent limitations circumscrbed by the
strength Of the material to be spun and
the dexterty of the fingers Of the OPP
era tor.