The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-26
AGAINST COTTON
 GROWS IN EUROPE
AMERICAN co0sULs ABROAD GIVE WARNING OF THE DEFER MINED MADE TIC FIND NEW SOURCE or SUP PLx-R RESENT DEPENDENCE UNITED STATES

Washington, D. c. Special to N. Y. Herald.--High prices of cotton and oth- CT considerations have caused in Eu- rope what American Consuls term revolt against cotton" Consul Gem eral Mason, of Berlin, writes to this government as follows:
 "Foremost among he economic move ments in Europe which may have serious meaning for important inter- ests in America is the present simul- taneous effort of Great Britain. France and Germany to emancipate their tex tile industriesR from dependence upon American cotton. The causes of this movement. which has been gathering force and inspiration for several years, are obvious to any one familiar with the cotton trade and have been brought into special prominence by the events of the last season. This, will be appar- ent from a brief resume of the present situation.
 "Germany imported in 1902 34s,So2 metric tons of raw cotton, Of which 2s7, 900 tons, or 76 per cent. valued at s7S,4Ss,600, came from the Uuited states. The total imports from Jan uary i to October S1, 1903, were SO6,- 427 tons, of which 205,101 tons, or 67 per cent were of American origin.
 Add to this lhe importations of cot ton waste and of weaving yarns from Great Britain, Switzerland and Bel gium that are spun in these countries | from American fibre and it will be apparent that the cotton textile indus | tries of this country practically de- pended upon American cotton, which ranks first in value and importance among all German imports from the United States. The same relative de- pendence upon American fibre Is more | or less true of the cotton industries of Great Britain, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
 Resent Dependence.
 "The portentous feature of the situa- ton Is that there is not only in Ger many, but throughout Europe, a grow ing feeling of resentment against this dependence and determination that their spinning and weaving industries must at any cost be emancipated from such .vassalage by the development of wholly new sources of supply.
 Tn England this movement has in- spired the organization of the British Cotton Growing Association. which after two years of more or less sue cessful experiments in Sierra Leone has within the last few days received from the Province of Lagos, West Af- rica, a sample shipment of thirty tons from this season crop WnlCn IS pro nouneed equal to the best American upland, both in length and quality of fibre.
 France has likewise a colonial cot ton association, which is experiment. ing in the Sudan with such success that the samples received from there are reported as having reached ap- proxImately the grade of Egyptian cot ton and are therefore adapted to the mercerizing process, which has of re- cent years consumed large and grow ing percentage of the Egyptian staple.
 Germany Most Active.
 But 1t is the German campaign for a colonial cotton supply that is at present most vigorous and interesting For this activity there are three ob- vious and controlling reasons.
 ''The first of these is the fact that the German colonies in Africa have been hitherto economically disappoint- | ing, and there is a natural desire on
 the part of the government and of the more influential classes that these pos i sessions may be utilized and their ac- auisition justified by making them the means of securing a permanent future supply of cotton from source under
 the German control