The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-01-19


settlement, was one OF principle and not
personal one.
manufacturers to encourage the construc-
ton of new mills and the ability of con-
sumers of the manufactured product to
purchase.
At present prices of all products manu-
factured from lint cotton the mill owners
would make handsome dividends, although
the raw material cost II cents a pound
when passing from the hands of the farm
ers
The prices now being paid for labor
place the manufactured products easily
within the reach of consumers, and this
would be true even If the manufacturer
were compelled to add his additional
charge for the manufactured product
based upon cotton at 15 cents a pound
The present price, however, of the man
ufaetured products tend to extend their
use and 70 encourage the increase of con-
sumption. If the price of u cents per
pound could be fixed as the stable selling
price by the farmers, the mills using the
cotton would prosper. They could rely
upon the ability of consumers to pay for
their output, and could constantly antic-
ipate a steady increase of demand, not
alone due to the increase of the worlds
population, but even more on account of
the advance of civilization and the re-
quirement of better clothing for the use
Of the people of the world.
Has No Serious Rival.
Lint cotton must be sold at a price at
which 1t can successfully compete with
wool, fax and silk as the raw material
out of which clothing and similar goods
are to be made If we consider the usual
selling prices of flax wool and silk and
the cost of their production, no argument
L.. = fAf%oA t1,A a,.,Itt t-fa f11nE
as against these three raw materials the
products manufactured from lint cotton
would have nothing to fear, even though
lint cotton cost Is cents a pound
Nor is there any danger that lint cotton
raised In other countries could take from
the lint cotton of the southern states its
practical monopoly, even If our cotton
were selling at 10 cents a pound.
Lint Cotton Raised Abroad.
We can trace the history of the use of
lint cotton for many years. More than
1000 years before Europe, England and
America conceived the idea of applying
modern machinery to cotton manufacture
ing, a system of handspinning and weav-
ing existed In India, and by these meth
ods the principal clothing of the people
oe India was manufactured. In an an
cient digest of the laws OF the Hindoos,
prepared by Manu-, 800 years before the
I
visions applicable to cotton and cotton
cloth appear. One of them is as follows:
"The sacrificial thread of the Brahman
must be made of cotton to be put
over the head in three strings" Heroditus
| wrote that there are trees which grow
! wild in India. the fruit Of which is wool
exceeding in beauty and goodness that of
the sheep. The Indians make their clothes
| OF this tree WOOL
The cultivation of cotton seems to have
been confined to gardens. and up to that
| time It was described by the Chinese
| poets and exto1led as beautiful flower"
| For several centuries large quantities of
| cotton have been raised in China, but it
has been raised principally on farms for
| domestic use the members of each family
spinning and weaving for themselves.
while have only mentioned India and
China among the earlier producers of
| lint cotton, investigation shows that cot
| ton for several centuries has been grown
| to limited extent in nearly all parts of
the world where the climate approximated
| her own
| The year 1861 marked an epoch in the
| history of cotton production. The great
| source of the worlds supply the United
| States) was cut off by war. ana the cot
| ton growing resources of every part or
| the globe were tested to their utmost to
| srnn'v The demand of FOREIGN mills
| In 1862 representatives of thirty-hve diff
ferent countries met to discuss measures
| by which the loss Of the American crop
| could be supplied. A great stimulus was
| given to the cultivation of cotton in In
| dia, Egypt. Africa, Brazil and wherever
cotton could be produced. BY 1864 the
| supply of cotton from these different
| countries was very greatly Increased, but
| five years after war the south had al
most regained her proportionate part of
| the markets of the world and an effort
| in 1872 to hold a second congress of ma
| tions for the purpose of considering the
| production of cotton outside of the United
| States found but few of the original
| countries again represented. and many
| Of those present were forced to admit
| that their experiments In raising cotton
| had not been successful.
! The cultivation of cotton Is therefore,
| very old industry. 1t remained for the
| southern states of our country to make a
| great success of its growth.
| Foreign Cotton Cannot Compete.
The cotton plant is greatly affected by
the atmosphere. requiring different condi-
tions at different periods OF its growth
| and development. The great advantage
| that we have In the south over those
| sections which seek to compete with us
| in producing cotton is that they as
| rule are compelled to depend upon irri-
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