The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-04-12

cotton Mills IN Ciilii"' " - ~'''''N =
INV J. W. JAMESON, British com
.noiaI attache in that country is a
,...+ Of unusual Importance, espe-
'ug ~, 70 the cotton manufacturers OF
a'l+ .;+od States, 40 per cent OF whose
lDS ~ ~ exports are marketed in Chi
'uD The following is an abstract OF
Ia rsoort in question, copy ofwhich
liV ~ w. been received by the depart
Id commerce and labor at Wash
.D,+on through its bureau OF statis-
~! ~ according to the report, dated
NJ 1905. there are seventeen es-
'l;shroents in China and Hong Kong
snotod bv means of steam-driven
Vp abinery. their total number of spin
l L.. boino 6l9, 648. OF these nine es-
Ol '5;.b,oents with 325,0 spindles,
located in Shanghai alone, and
a a at Hongkong, with $4,000 spin
wv The spinning of cotton into yarn,
=. Mr. Jameson, and the weaving
s.to+ warm into cloth are industries
,rbicb while not anterior to the manlp-
.l.4on of silk and of hemp fibers,
S.ro owl sted in China for over 1000
roors Carried on practically
tbroucbout the whole empire their
,ra.t center has for centuries been
tbo conntry where cotton is grown to
tbo hest advantage; that is to say,
tho seaboard around the mouth of the
yanctze and the Hangebow Bay and
tho level plains of the Provinces of
Hupet And it is there where have
boon established the various mills for
treating raw cotton by means of
stoam-driven machinery. The initial
evneriment on modern lines was made
IN 1891, when a semi-official Chinese
syndicate started at Shanghai. Its
orcinators claimed for themselves a
quasi monopoly and prohibited out
.iders who were not prepared to pay
q fixed royalty for the privilege from
engaging in similar enterprises.
Although certain Chinese accepted
this onerous condition foreigners re-
sented if as an undue interference
with treaty rights, and it was only
when Japan, in 1895, after the war
with China, inserted in the treaty of
Shimonoseki an article providing for
the freedom of japanese subjects to
engage in all kinds of manufacturing
industries in the open ports Of China,
and permitting them to import ma
chinery for such purposes, that out
siders were afforded an opportunity
|of exploiting the rich field for com
|mercial development thereby thrown
Eopen
The Hongkong Cotton Spinning
Weaving and Dyeing Company was
started in 1898, with a view to cater
Eng to the wants of southern China,
and hoped to find in BoneO a source
of supply of raw material. Such hopes
were not realized, however, and in
lgOO it got into serious difficulties. A
on the basis of writing
down its 500 shares to $40 each fol-
loved, and it has succeeded in paying
a dividend on its reduced capital.
Four of the mills at Shanghai rep
resent 100000 pounds of European
capital sunk in cotton mills after the
japanese war, on the assumption that
With the aid of cheap labor, skilled
and abundant supplies
OF excellent cotton a handsome profit
lnereon would be earned. They all
paid small dividends in 1878, but
nave been struggling to keep their
heads above water ever since. One
OF the Shanghai establishments, the
shanghai Cotton Spinning Company,
IS under Japanese management and
control, the present owners having
oought it at half the cost price from a
ofelgn bank, into whose hands it fell
through inability to discharge it's fl