New-York tribune., 1907-09-09

The earnings and disbursements of the large mills
whose financial management centres in Boston, nave
attracted widespread attention in the last two years
and little need be added here to emphasize the re-
markable change which has come about 1t Is SUIT
fcient to say many of the Lowell mills, wfere
an uncalled for strike occurred a few years ago.
have justified all that then said about them as
possible dividend payers when the changes or PROD
lIct then contemplated could be accomplished They
sounder footing than they nave oeeh
since the Southern mills became factor III Ihe
nat ationai development of the industry.
What has been said of the increased productive
and dividend paying capacity Ct the mills thus Idr
conveys only a faint idea of the real development
of the last few years in the use of cotton grown
here and in the dversfcation and improvement
of the output 1t is this direction that national
pride industry will find its greatest sausIac-
ton. for it appears that progress is being mace
on lines that appeal equally to the layEan ana 10
the expert.
American mills took 5195,750 bales. of which 2 Vs-
6s2 bales went TO mills in the North and z4s''oSS
bales to mills in the South. English mills tooK
3.7ses4 bales of American cotton In the same pc
riod. Although takings of cotton by the CIlteu
States mills are larger than ever before they 90
not represent the full possible consumpuNe "a
pacitv OF the spindles as they now stand. 1his Is
due to the fact that despite the prevalence OF tne
highest wage rates ever paid in the mills In TINS
generation sufficient labor could not De eeCuIeo ~
operate all the available machinery
Southern mills have practically exhausted H4e
s,,nn Of native labor in that section not because
labor is still unavailable numerically nut peo<au9
cotton mill employment is not as attractive a9 o'4i
forms of employment that have been opened up as
a consequence Of the wonderful industrial ana ssil
cultural deveopnent IN section in five years
The point has been reached where ln1nlisra'ioh -
desirable but Southern community life Is not YET
st the stage where all races are made welcome.
Conseouently those manufacturers VINO nave 'ieu
To induce immigration of foreign families IN large
numbers with the avowed intention OF mahlng
them available for mill workers have ehCou
the same preiudices that beset New England manu-
facturers at different periods when they iouiiu @ 1t
ble TO use the services of French CanaolanS'
I,or+,,gnAse Greeks Poles and other non-Enslish
speaking races.
TRADE WITH CHINA.
7.,s the oninton of the best Judges of this stu
e+ion that these prejudices will pass away IN 'he
South as they did elsewhere but IN the mean ',e
., r-iu affect the volume of the output adVersely,
although it will not reach the point WIeIe " ~, ~
discourage investment and mill building Inc
r,ost remarkable cotton mill development In 1le
South has been the demonstrated ability 10 oi-
versify the product This dlVefsinca'ioii We,
forced in the last year by the absence OF uaue "'
china and by the demands of the domestic mar
kets. - os
In 1eoa-,o6. China took 474,s09510 yards OF goods
from this country. and they were largely mace IN
southern mills In the following year TINS saro-
.e -,ss Increased TO 4es.5214o2. In the fiscal year
"a nos wards vast falling of, which is explained
tn two WAYS The heavy buying Of the TWO pre-
vtous years largely speculative In ahuCila'i0
of the earlv opening of the Manchuran markets. d
fact which cid not become apparent until WITHIN
short time Moreover, there have been other re-
.-r,,,,one m a normal distribution Of goods IN
China so that the accumulaIions OF rnerclaiiuise
there became serious, but are now oelflg apSop
In any ordinary year the slow trade Win lima
would peralyze the Southern industry, Tor many
cd there supply NSaNN-
weight fabrics used almost exclusively IN tna'
country ,...
Meanwhile the demand for goods for the domestic
market continued 70 grow rapidly ana sou'1eiiI
,,l1 managers were urged by their selling agents
- make 1he slight changes in equipment tnat
would permit the production Of IghteF "tieh.
fabrics These changes have been accohnp4'sHeu
TO an extent that believed impossihie TWO
years ago. and Southern mills are today making
the widest variety of fabrics in their history ana
are doing so at enormous profit. limited only as
stated by the difficulties attending fuh supply o
1ahor New England mills have been suffering
from shortage of labor, and 1t is attributed 10 'e
great prosperity Of the workers and the aoItE 10
find rerunerative employment in less arduous fields
Finer cloths are being made in this country IN
larger volume every year, and the abillty OF CON
sumers TO pay the prices for them has sumula'ed
their production to notable degree. Southern ana
nCor,berr mills have participated this develop
raent II has been aided materially by the AHef-
can advancement in bleaching, dyelng, nhlsflHs
and rrinting fabrics, and the point has no" beeh
reached in many manufacturing institutions where
the goods turned out sought eagerly by the
most fastdgous users in preference 10 the imported
lines Much is being made Of the decrease IN me
exporfs Of American cotton goods in the last year
ecause Of the high price level prevailing, but sight
IS being lost Of the fact that a positive gam Is
heng made in the export sale Of American finished
fabrics because Of their intrinsic and artistic
worth In this connection # IS worthy OF note that
the importation OF Nottingham lace curtains has
almost ceased, while Canadian buyers have begun
TO seek American goods of this character because
of the distinct American styles and the merit OF
the fabrics themselves
The expectations OF American printed goods have
shown wonderful increase in the last two years.
without anv special effort being exerted by manu-
facturers TO bring them about. The woven fab
rics now produced here from colored yarns rank
high and II Is significant that the Southern fnlIs
have kept pace with Northern mills in this dfrec-
ton. 1t is estimated that greater impetus In a
practical way has been given in the last twelve
months in the South 10 the development in this
direction than in any similar period in history
The volume of dress ginghams. chambrays, cheV1ot
and madras shrtings made in the South COM
pares favorably with the whole New England out
put fifteen years ago. while the advancement in
the same direction in Northern mills in five years
has been remarkable The development in spindle
age does not represent il so much the increased
beauty ard intrinsic merit Of the output seen in
the shop windows Lacking the ability TO en-
courage the manufacture of these goods because
OF the inability to pay for them. American con-
s,irners would be still dependent mportatiops.
DEMAND FOR FINE FABRICS.
The craze for sheer snirtwaists and fine lingerie
in the last four or five years has given notable
impetus TO the production of fine combed yarn
fabrics The shortage in the Sea Island cotton
crop year. together with the damage done last
fall in the storm stricken districts in the lower