Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-10-17
LIVING ON BOILED
| POTATO PAR|NCS.
Suferings Of English Cotton Weay.
ers Because of the Sharp Ameri-
can Corner
BANK ACCOUNTS WITHDRAWN.
Furniture in Pawn, and Starvation
Ayeited Only by Scanty Charity
Not Enough Cotton.
Special Correspondence.

Special Correspondence.
London, Oct S.-Whlle a few optim-
istlc mill owners In the Lancashire cot
ton spinning district seem hopeful that
the distress caused by lack OF raw ma
terial has passed It's crisis, present con-
dtlons indicate that the effect OF the
big corner In American cotton, which
yielded n profit OF $l4,00O,0OO TO its
manipulators In New York and New
Orleans will be keenly felt for some
time yet Dealers who have grown
old in the cotton business on this side,
say that even the terrible depression
caused by the American Civil war when
England depended for practically her
whole cotton supply upon the few ships
able to get past the blockaders Of the
Union fleet, was nothing compared to
the present sufferings.
As eighty percent Of the worlds cot
ton supply comes from the United
States, the effect of the big corner was
felt In England almost Immediately af-
ter Its formation last spring, Yarn
jumped from eleven cents a pound to
fifteen and the mills soon ran only
enough looms to Ill immediate orders
OF course this cut the working week of
the operatives from six days TO three
or four and men capable of superyis-
ing four looms had only two or three
to look after
OUT OF THE BANK.
AS the months went by with no i'm
provement in the situation the little
rainy-day boards came out OF the saw
ings- banks, bit by bit. One bank in
small town where deposits from one
penny up We're received. had charge Of
more than $780, 900 belonging to the mill
operatives, but constant Withdrawals
have shrunk this sum almost to the
vanishing point.
In ordinary times when the usual
number Of mills are running, the Ian
caahire weaver, capable Of handling
four looms, earns about 1925 week
Since the cotton supply from the Unit
ed States began to fail, these operatives
have been lighting starvation with N.25
a week.
NO RELIEF FUND.
As no public relief fund exists. 1t has
fallen to the unions to which most of
the operatives belong, to do what they
can toward alleviating some OF the suf-
fering, and their representatives tell
many stories Of pltful discoveries. In
one settlement right in the heart OF the
great cotton district hundreds of oper-
atives have been working only four
days a week since Easter and In an
other town, there is a family OF four
In which the mother Is a cripple, one
son is in the hospital and the father
and remaining son have had less than
three days work a week for months
| Another family is reported to have been
reduced to boiling potato Feelings for
food.
GREAT DISTRESS,
The great distress found by the work.
ers unions Is confirmed by the trades
men in the Lancashire district. In
the town of Bury where the weekly
payroll Of one mill had been reduced
from $3.50 to less than $3.50 by laying
off 400 men, and where other mills have
shut down altogether the shopkeepers
report a falling off Of 80 per cent in
their receipts
Almost the whole Lancashire district
tells the same story. for the recent
Liverpool corner In Egyptian cotton
| puts the mills which spin only this va
rlety In the same nx with those de-
| pendent upon American cotton, maxi
| ing impossible any contributions from
the splnners to their unfortunate fell
low craftsmen. Although failure now
has smashed this corner, the supply 10
still so uncertain that many Of tn. mills
! prefer to shut down for a while rather
than spin at uncertain intervals.
SOUP KITCHENS.
SO far nearly $4,000 has been distrib-
uted by the relief committees. Promi-
| nent residents in the districts have con-
1 tributed money and food and at the
soup kitchens which have been estab-
| llshed IN many places long lines OF hum
| cry oilers wait TO receive a quart OF
soup with half a loaf of bread An
| other committee has distributed over
| 1000. 25-cent meal tickets.
This work VIII go on as long as the
| funds hold out, but Of course II Is only
| temporary relief and neither redeems
| the furniture which long ago went to
| the pawnshop nor makes provision for
| the cold weather which is not far of,
Not the least important result Of the
present stagnatlon is the loss to the
Lancashire district of the weavers and
| spinners themselves. Since last April
| large numbers Of the operatives have
| given up their homes to emigrate Ia
| America, where they hope to fnd work
| In the mills, Should these pioneers ba
successful there Is no telling how many
more VIII follow their example,
All the operators agree that their
only protection from repetltions Of the
present situation lies In empire grown
cotton Several years ago the British
Cotton-Growlng associations was form
cd To experiment with tho plant on
Brilih soil md the st crop now ex-
h'bited ls pio iouuced by experts 10 be
excellent In quality, West Africa seems
TO be best suited for cotton cultivation
and members OF the association say
that " tho government would subsidlse
the project with sufficient funds enough
cotton could be raised In this one coll
ony alone to supply all British needs.
COTTON rs SCARCE.
Meanwhile the millowners are con-
fronted with the problem Of what TO
do until some arrangement can be
made TO obtain the raw material from
British soil During the last 10 years
the consumption OF cotton In the
United states has inc, .ased more than
SO per cent, and II the mills continue TO
be built In America at the rate they are