The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-05
BIG STRIKE MAY COME
LABOR TROUBLE THREATENED IN
 LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND.
United States Interested in De- veIopments-SOme Special COrrespOndence.

Cotton growers and cotton manu1ac- turers in this country are at the mo- ment interested in the reported strike developments in Lancashire, England. Bearing upon it Is special correspon- dence from England published in this weeks Issue of The Manufacturers Record. This. written two weeks ago, and having the possibility of a strike in view, says:
 "Whatever the result of the negotia- tions now afoot there Is the likelihood that more labor in the industry will be wanted. Ready. half-ready or in project are building schemes which call for 10000 work people in the spin ming mills alone, and the extension of weaving departments holds out an op- portunity for 5000 other workers. There are forty-eight spinning mills. containing over 100000 spndles. coming into action. Some 7S0.000 spindles out of this total are already revolving. Nobody pretends that these endorsements are to be viewed as net additions to the productive plant of the industry. Their advent prepares the death warrants of some old and ill., equipped mills that have been in chron- ic distress for years back. Yet on the balance 1t may be supposed that the new mills will create a further de- mand for raw cotton. Success. if 1t come at all, will come partly on the in- dependent merits of the new enter prises and partly at the expense of less efficient competitors"
 Reviewing the movement of raw cot ton to Great Britain and its consump- tion there, the correspondence notes that the gross imports for the half year give a most favorable complexion to the demand for American cotton in comparison with Brazilian and East Indian. and adds
 Reports of prospects and possibili ties of cotton culture in British terri tories are plenty, but thus far the re- ceipts are immaterial. In twentysev- en weeks we have received 5000 bales, being 3,355 from the British West In- dies and 1,676 from British West Africa. The volume doubtless is destined to in- crease, but the present quantity con- trasts poorly with the visible growth of demand for American grown. Such colonial staple as Is, by reason of its defects, unsuited to use in England may perhaps be viewed more favorably in India, where production still in- creases. Figures for the year ended March show that for a second time In dia has put forth 57S,000,0 900 pounds of yarn and has beaten all records by pro- ducing 30,000,000 pounds (457,000.000 yards) of gray goods, besides improving on pre- yious achievements in fancy and miscellaneous cloths. Adding this to India's import of $150,00O00 worth of textiles, American manufacturers may catch a glimpse of Indias intrinsic inn portance as a market for cotton and other goods.
 50 much for statistics. Other con- alterations are favorable to the con sumption of cotton in this country. The high prices of wool which have been forced upon people here by American example are disabling branches of the wool trade and are making the way easier for cotton. Already towns in districts formerly given over to. wool goods rival Lancashire industrial centers in their necessities for cotton in the form of yarn Be- tween coarse wools and cotton there is always some conflict, and when wool prices were at their lowest few years ago the curious spectacle of wool oust- ing cotton was seen in some branches of business. The drift now is In the other direction, and the tendency Is for the displacement to become permanent. Half cotton goods are being replaced by all cottons, and 'woolens.' which owe nearly all their strength to cotton, are playing havoc with the worsteds that have been made too dear to suit buyers purses. A portion of the lost ground will be regained when wool returns, as 1t always does in a short time. to lower values, but some of it will be lost irre- trievably, and the American planter rather than any other planter, is likely to profit in that process. Popular in- terest in the work of the Cotton Crow ing Association is fiagging somewhat. and subscriptions no longer flow with their early spontaneity. strike at this juncture would interfere with the supply of funds and create in the minds of those who are not concerned directly in the industry an impression that their offerings would be gifts to em- ployers or to employed rather than to the trade that every Englishman Is so- licitous to uphold and further But